R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost one of its cultural 1-2 treasures when internationally renowned operatic tenor Neil Wilson 1-3 Nease of Abilene passed away on August 21, 2000, at the age of 44; 1-4 and 1-5 WHEREAS, Mr. Nease, who adopted the stage name Neil Wilson, 1-6 sang in his hometown church and school choirs as a boy growing up 1-7 in Abilene; he graduated from Southwestern University and Oklahoma 1-8 City University before embarking on his operatic career in 1980 in 1-9 a performance of Verdi's Falstaff at Wolf Trap; and 1-10 WHEREAS, In 1984, this esteemed Texan first sang in Carnegie 1-11 Hall in Dom Sebastian with Opera Orchestra of New York; a year 1-12 later he received international acclaim performing in Werther at 1-13 the Wurttembergische Staatsoper in Stuttgart, which became his 1-14 signature role as he was heard throughout the world in such cities 1-15 as Hamburg, Bologna, Buenos Aires, and Toronto, among others; and 1-16 WHEREAS, Highlights of his brilliant career include five 1-17 seasons with The Metropolitan Opera, work with The Met in the 1-18 Parks, and appearances with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the 1-19 Salzburg Festival; a member of many famous opera companies 1-20 performing in cities worldwide, Mr. Nease was chosen in 1990 to be 1-21 leading tenor at the Komische Oper in Berlin, where he sang more 1-22 than 150 performances and toured internationally as Hoffmann and 1-23 Don Jose; and 1-24 WHEREAS, In February 2000, Mr. Nease reached a long-desired 2-1 milestone when he expanded his repertoire to include the Wagnerian 2-2 Heldentenor roles, beginning with his first, Siegmund in Die 2-3 Walkure in Budapest; at the time of his death, he had contracts 2-4 through the 2003 season for complete Ring Cycles in Meinigen and 2-5 Budapest, as well as Florestan in Lucerne and Saarbrucken, Dimitri 2-6 in Boris Godunov in Kassel, and Edmund in Lear in Innsbruck; and 2-7 WHEREAS, During his distinguished operatic career, Mr. Nease 2-8 won the prestigious Wagner Prize from the Liederkranz Foundation, 2-9 the Baltimore International Operatic Competition, and the Rosa 2-10 Ponselle International Competition; he received grants from the 2-11 Sullivan Foundation and the Gerda Lissner Foundation, and 2-12 productions of Werther and Carmen, in which he sang tenor leads, 2-13 won Opera Welt's Production of The Season Prize; and 2-14 WHEREAS, In addition to garnering honors throughout the 2-15 world, he also had many colleagues and friends who respected and 2-16 admired him for his enormous talent and sense of values; his 2-17 lasting legacy will be greatly treasured by many as his spirit 2-18 undoubtedly will live on in the hearts of the countless people 2-19 whose lives he so deeply touched; now, therefore, be it 2-20 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas 2-21 Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Neil Wilson Nease and 2-22 extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: to his wife, 2-23 Linda Mungia-Wilson; to his mother, Shirley Nease; to his brother 2-24 Nathan Nease and his wife, Belinda; to his sister Nancy Fisher and 2-25 her husband, Bruce Weir; to his sister Nora Del Bosque and her 2-26 husband, Eloy; to his brother Nelson Nease; to his brother Noel 2-27 Nease and his wife, Melissa; and to his five nephews, one niece, 3-1 other relatives, many friends, and myriad admirers; and, be it 3-2 further 3-3 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 3-4 prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of 3-5 Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Neil 3-6 Wilson Nease. Hunter Counts Turner of Coleman Junell Goolsby Laney Goodman Merritt Alexander Goolsby Miller Allen Gray Moreno of Harris Averitt Green Moreno of El Paso Bailey Grusendorf Morrison Berman Gutierrez Mowery Bonnen Haggerty Naishtat Bosse Hamric Najera Brimer Hardcastle Nixon Brown of Kaufman Hartnett Noriega Brown of Brazos Hawley Oliveira Burnam Heflin Olivo Callegari Hilbert Pickett Capelo Hilderbran Pitts Carter Hill Puente Chavez Hinojosa Ramsay Chisum Hochberg Rangel Christian Hodge Raymond Clark Homer Reyna of Bexar Coleman Hope Reyna of Dallas Cook Hopson Ritter Corte Howard Sadler Counts Hunter Salinas Crabb Hupp Seaman Craddick Isett Shields Crownover Janek Smith Danburg Jones of Lubbock Smithee Davis of Harris Jones of Bexar Solis Davis of Dallas Jones of Dallas Solomons Delisi Junell Swinford Denny Keel Talton Deshotel Keffer Telford Driver King of Parker Thompson Dukes King of Uvalde Tillery Dunnam Kitchen Truitt Dutton Kolkhorst Turner of Coleman Edwards Krusee Turner of Harris Ehrhardt Kuempel Uher Eiland Lewis of Tarrant Uresti Elkins Lewis of Orange Villarreal Ellis Longoria Walker Farabee Luna West Farrar McCall Williams Flores McClendon Wilson Gallego McReynolds Wise Garcia Madden Wohlgemuth George Marchant Wolens Geren Martinez Fischer Woolley Giddings Maxey Yarbrough Glaze Menendez Zbranek _______________________________ Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 780 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the House on April 19, 2001. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House