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78S10581 KMP-D

By:  Harper-Brown                                               H.C.R. No. 13 



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, The passing of Jackie Mae Howard Townsell on October 
17, 2002, at the age of 66, has brought a profoundly felt loss to the 
many friends and admirers of this former Irving city councilwoman, 
whose achievements as a civil rights leader, community advocate, 
and public official will long be remembered; and
	WHEREAS, A resident of the Bear Creek neighborhood since 
1949, Mrs. Townsell owned and operated a successful business, 
Townsell's Grocery & Market, in partnership with her beloved 
husband, Jimmie, for 38 years; she was a woman of great courage who 
first appeared on the political scene during the tumultuous decade 
of the 1960s when, at the height of the civil rights era, she 
accompanied children on school buses and walked the halls of the 
local high school to help ensure the peaceful desegregation of 
Irving's educational facilities; and
	WHEREAS, This commitment would later lead Mrs. Townsell to 
assume a more prominent role in municipal policymaking, and in 1977 
she became the first African American ever to win election to the 
Irving City Council; throughout her extraordinary tenure, which 
lasted until 1995, she was a respected champion for low-income 
families and a strong advocate for the expansion of park and library 
services, the issuance of Community Development Block Grants, and 
the annexation of the Bear Creek community; and
	WHEREAS, Mrs. Townsell, who was a devout and active member of 
the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church for more than five decades, 
made innumerable contributions to education, civil rights, and 
charitable endeavors in the Metroplex community; each Christmas 
this woman of faith served dinner and provided holiday baskets to 
her neighbors in need, and she also worked closely with such 
organizations as West Irving Head Start, the Salvation Army, the 
Bear Creek Heritage Society, and the Irving Centennial Celebration 
Committee; she helped to make Irving a more prosperous and 
affordable city for all its residents, serving as a member of the 
Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, 
the Irving Community Development Corporation, the Community 
Development Advisory Committee, and the Metropolitan Housing 
Finance Corporation; and
	WHEREAS, Those who were privileged to know Mrs. Townsell will 
not quickly forget the vision, compassion, and determination she 
brought to every facet of her life; although her presence is gone 
from us now, her legacy will be long remembered in her hometown of 
Irving, which has named both an elementary school and the Jackie 
Townsell Bear Creek Heritage Center in her honor; most importantly, 
her memory will live on in the hearts of all those whose lives she 
touched during her years on this earth; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas, 
1st Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life of Jackie Mae 
Howard Townsell of Irving and extend deepest sympathy to the 
members of her family:  to her husband, Jimmie Townsell; to her son, 
Aaron Townsell; to her sisters, Imogene Rogers and Helen Mosely; to 
her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and 
great-great-grandchildren; to her nieces and nephews; and to her 
many other relatives and friends; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for the members of her family and that when the Texas House 
of Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in memory 
of Jackie Mae Howard Townsell.