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78S30203 JNC-D

By:  Denny                                                        H.R. No. 55 



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The affinity and deep respect Dorothea Griffith 
Oliver has for all things pertinent to the Lone Star State make it a 
pleasure to recognize her 90th birthday and to bestow on her the 
title of Honorary Texan; and
	WHEREAS, Born October 18, 1913, and raised in central Ohio, 
Mrs. Oliver earned a degree in English and Latin from distinguished 
Denison University and went on to teach in Kirkersville, Ohio; and
	WHEREAS, This devoted mother raised three accomplished 
children: Joseph Brooke, her oldest son, graduated from Princeton 
University and became a prominent architect; her second son, Price 
Curtis, was an accomplished jazz pianist and interior designer in 
Chicago; and her daughter, Deborah Hollifield, is a four-term 
justice of the peace in Denton County; and
	WHEREAS, Determined to establish her legacy in Texas, Mrs. 
Oliver saw to it that her daughter became an elected county official 
and insisted that she marry Celina rancher Chris Hollifield, a 
27-year employee in the state comptroller's office; in 1981, she 
moved heaven and earth to arrange for her grandson, Jacob, to be 
born in Lewisville; and
	WHEREAS, Finally, Mrs. Oliver had everything in place The Way 
It Ought To Be; after a three-decade retirement in Arizona (where 
she had waited for details to be worked out in Texas), she 
celebrated the new millennium by deciding to spend the next 1,000 
years in the Lone Star State (as that's where everyone wants to be 
from, and where everybody eventually ends up); and
	WHEREAS, On her arrival, the former Latin teacher added Texan 
to her language skills and now routinely uses phrases like "fixin' 
to" and "git me" as though they were the King's English; in 
addition, she now measures distance in hours, rather than miles--as 
in, "It's about four hours to Austin"; and
	WHEREAS, Her cultural acclimation has included tours of the 
great State Fair of Texas, the Dallas Arboretum, and the Bluebonnet 
Trails, concerts at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, and the 
Fourth of July celebration at Prestonwood Baptist Church; she has 
also become a fan of the Vocal Majority; and
	WHEREAS, As does any native daughter, she eats her 
sweet-and-sour shrimp at Royal China in Dallas, steak at the 
Stockyards, and pie at the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls; a noted 
shopaholic, she has spent plenty of money in Dallas, Fort Worth, 
Celina, Plano, McKinney, Denton, Salado, and Fredricksburg (and if 
she's missed your town, she wants you to know she still has a little 
set aside for when she gets there); and
	WHEREAS, After 90 years of impatiently waiting for her to 
arrive, the Texas House of Representatives is proud at long last to 
grant Texas citizenship and the full rights and privileges accorded 
to individuals native to the Lone Star State to Dorothea Griffith 
Oliver; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas 
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby recognize Dorothea 
Griffith Oliver as an Honorary Texan and extend to her sincere best 
wishes for good fortune and happiness in the future; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That this resolution serve as formal proof of Mrs. 
Oliver's new status.