H.R. No. 336
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Abilene has lost a legendary figure with the passing
of Harry Holt on May 6, 2004, at the age of 89; and
WHEREAS, A journalist who championed farming, ranching, and
rural Texas, Mr. Holt was born on June 3, 1914, in Sweetwater; he
became a member of 4-H at the age of six and graduated from Newman
High School in Sweetwater in 1931; with money that he had saved
while farming with his father, he went on to attend West Texas A&M
University in Canyon, where he lived and worked on the college farm;
and
WHEREAS, In 1934 Mr. Holt returned to his hometown as a
reporter for the Sweetwater Reporter News; he joined the Abilene
Reporter-News several years later, and in 1952 he became farm and
ranch director for KRBC Radio; shortly after KRBC-TV, Abilene's
first television station, went on the air in 1953, Mr. Holt also
assumed duties there as its farm and ranch editor; and
WHEREAS, Altogether, Mr. Holt's career as a journalist
spanned seven decades, five of them as a radio and television
broadcaster in Abilene; he filed his last reports for the NBC
affiliate in that city in August 2003; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of his long professional life, Harry
Holt mentored generations of younger journalists and, with the aid
of a remarkably acute memory, developed a sweeping knowledge of
area farm and family histories; and
WHEREAS, Recognized repeatedly by agricultural
organizations, he was twice named Honorary Agricultural
Commissioner of Texas and in 1971 was selected as Man of the Year in
Texas Agriculture; an agriculture scholarship was established in
the names of Mr. Holt and his wife, Mary, in 2000, and in 2003 he
received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the West Texas
Rehabilitation Center; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Holt maintained a ranch himself in Eastland
County, near Carbon; his affiliations included First Baptist Church
in Abilene and the Masonic Lodge in Hylton, both of which counted
him as a valued member; and
WHEREAS, A devoted husband to Mary Holt and the proud father
of two daughters, Mary Jo and Betty Ann, Mr. Holt rejoiced as his
family circle grew to include two grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, This esteemed Texan enjoyed a life that was rich in
family, friends, and accomplishments, and his memory will be
forever cherished by those who were privileged to share in his love
and affection; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas
Legislature, 4th Called Session, hereby pay special tribute to the
life of Harry Holt and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his
family: to his wife, Mary Clark Sturdivant Holt; to his daughters,
Betty Ann Holt and Mary Jo Holt Smith and her husband, Jerrell; to
his grandchildren, Leigh Ann Smith and Matt Smith and his wife,
Rachel; to his great-grandchildren, Morgan, Chandler, and
Eliesabeth Smith; to his sisters, Billye Meadows and Katherine
Dyess; to his brother-in-law, Max Sturdivant and his wife, Oneta;
and to all who join in mourning the loss of this beloved gentleman;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Harry Holt.
Hunter
Craddick Geren Mercer
Allen Giddings Merritt
Alonzo Goodman Miller
Bailey Goolsby Moreno of Harris
Baxter Griggs Moreno of El Paso
Berman Grusendorf Morrison
Bohac Guillen Mowery
Bonnen Gutierrez Naishtat
Branch Haggerty Nixon
Brown of Kaufman Hamilton Noriega
Brown of Brazos Hamric Oliveira
Burnam Hardcastle Olivo
Callegari Harper-Brown Paxton
Campbell Hartnett Pena
Canales Heflin Phillips
Capelo Hegar Pickett
Casteel Hilderbran Pitts
Castro Hill Puente
Chavez Hochberg Quintanilla
Chisum Hodge Raymond
Christian Homer Reyna
Coleman Hope Riddle
Cook of Navarro Hopson Ritter
Cook of Colorado Howard Rodriguez
Corte Hughes Rose
Crabb Hunter Seaman
Crownover Hupp Smith of Tarrant
Davis of Harris Isett Smith of Harris
Davis of Dallas Jones of Lubbock Smithee
Dawson Jones of Bexar Solis
Delisi Jones of Dallas Solomons
Denny Keel Stick
Deshotel Keffer of Dallas Swinford
Driver Keffer of Eastland Talton
Dukes King Taylor
Dunnam Kolkhorst Telford
Dutton Krusee Thompson
Edwards Kuempel Truitt
Eiland Laney Turner
Eissler Laubenberg Uresti
Elkins Lewis Van Arsdale
Ellis Luna Villarreal
Escobar Mabry West
Farabee Madden Wilson
Farrar Marchant Wise
Flores Martinez Fischer Wohlgemuth
Flynn McCall Wolens
Gallego McClendon Wong
Garza McReynolds Woolley
Gattis Menendez Zedler
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 336 was unanimously adopted by a
rising vote of the House on May 17, 2004.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House