78S41717 MMS-D

By:  Hunter                                                       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.