By West H.R. No. 684 77R11109 MDM-D R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, For 35 years, Jay H. Mehaffey provided West Texas 1-2 residents with their daily dose of sports, and the death of this 1-3 broadcast pioneer on March 2, 2001, at the age of 80, has deeply 1-4 saddened all who knew and admired him; and 1-5 WHEREAS, A native of Grinnell, Iowa, he was a 53-year 1-6 resident of Odessa, where he started his broadcast career with 1-7 KOSA Radio after majoring in English and radio speech at Drake 1-8 University; his responsibilities included those of national sales 1-9 manager and play-by-play sports announcer, and in 1955 he was a 1-10 member of the group granted a television license for KOSA-TV in 1-11 Odessa, which brought the first live network television to Permian 1-12 Basin viewers; and 1-13 WHEREAS, Mr. Mehaffey presented evening sports segments and 1-14 handled station management duties, and although he sold his 1-15 interest in a chain of television and radio stations in 1966, he 1-16 continued his dual roles on both sides of the camera until retiring 1-17 in 1976; after a short retirement, he returned to local programming 1-18 as sports director and account executive at KMID-TV, where he gave 1-19 his last sportscast in 1983; and 1-20 WHEREAS, Well respected by his professional colleagues and 1-21 local citizens alike, he received the Excellence for Community 1-22 Service Award for media from the Heritage of Odessa Foundation in 1-23 1995 and the 1988-1989 Addy Award for Excellence in Advertising; 1-24 and 2-1 WHEREAS, Mr. Mehaffey was retired from the United States Army 2-2 with the rank of captain, having served in the 5th Ranger 2-3 Battalion, which led the cliff climb at Omaha Beach and 2-4 Point-Du-Hoc during the Normandy D-Day landings of World War II; he 2-5 received many honors, including the prized French Croix Du Guerre, 2-6 for his part in the invasion, and was a member of the Oil Patch 2-7 chapter of the Retired Officers Association and a life member of 2-8 the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and the 2-9 Veterans of Foreign Wars; and 2-10 WHEREAS, In addition, he was a charter member of the Odessa 2-11 Kiwanis Club and a congregant of Westminster Presbyterian Church; 2-12 in his leisure time, Mr. Mehaffy was an avid golfer who achieved a 2-13 hole-in-one on September 5, 1988, the date of his final retirement; 2-14 and 2-15 WHEREAS, Jay Mehaffey will long be remembered by those whose 2-16 lives he touched through his work as a broadcast journalist and his 2-17 myriad contributions as a leading citizen of Odessa; now, 2-18 therefore, be it 2-19 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas 2-20 Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Jay H. Mehaffey and 2-21 extend deepest sympathy to his family: to his wife, Jeanette Bowden 2-22 Mehaffey; to his stepsons, Larry and Harry Phillips; to his sister, 2-23 Shannon Rae Brown; to his three grandchildren; and to the other 2-24 relatives and many friends of this esteemed gentleman; and, be it 2-25 further 2-26 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 2-27 prepared for the members of his family and that when the Texas 3-1 House of Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of 3-2 Jay H. Mehaffey.