79S30032 MW-D

By:  Woolley                                                      H.R. No. 30 



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost a distinguished Texan on 
January 13, 2006, when Ben Love of Houston passed away at the age of 
81; and
	WHEREAS, Born in 1924 in Vernon, Mr. Love was eight years old 
when he moved with his family to Paris, and he later graduated as 
president of the Paris High School Class of 1941; and
	WHEREAS, At the age of 18, Mr. Love enlisted in the U.S. Army 
Air Force and received his commission and wings from Ellington 
Field in Houston in 1944; serving with distinction in the 351st Bomb 
Group, 8th Air Force, in England, he flew 25 combat missions against 
Germany, concluding his B17 bomber combat tour with 11 decorations, 
including the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the rank of captain; 
and
	WHEREAS, After the war, Mr. Love attended The University of 
Texas, where he met his future wife, Margaret McKean; they married 
in 1947 and soon thereafter established their home in Houston; the 
following year, Mr. Love founded a manufacturing firm, which he 
merged with a New York Stock Exchange company in 1962; and
	WHEREAS, Entering the banking industry in 1956, he served as 
an outside director and later as president of River Oaks Bank &
Trust Company of Houston; in 1967, he joined Texas Commerce 
Bank-Houston and was elected president two years later; in 1972, he 
became chair and chief executive officer of Texas Commerce 
Bancshares, a position he held until his retirement in 1989; and
	WHEREAS, In addition to serving on 12 corporate boards over 
the course of his career, Mr. Love was a director of the 
International Monetary Conference, president of the Reserve City 
Bankers Association, and a three-term member of the Federal Reserve 
Advisory Council; he was named Regional Banker of the Year in 1975, 
and Dun's Business Month designated Texas Commerce Bancshares as 
one of the nation's best-managed companies under Mr. Love's 
leadership; and
	WHEREAS, This esteemed businessman also tirelessly served 
his community as chair of the Greater Houston Partnership, The 
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Council of 
Overseers of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration 
at Rice University, and the Houston Grand Opera; founding chair of 
the Houston Host Committee and the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame, he 
served as director of The Mighty Eighth (Air Force) Heritage Museum 
in Savannah and as president of the Young Presidents Organization 
in Houston and The University of Texas Ex-Students' Association in 
Houston; and
	WHEREAS, Widely recognized for his extensive professional 
and civic achievements, Mr. Love was named a Distinguished Alumnus 
by The University of Texas in 1975 and Texas Business Executive of 
the Year by Texas A&M University's Business School in 1983; other 
honors include his induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame, 
his receipt of the "People of Vision Award", and his selection as 
Key Houstonian of the Year for 1982 and as "Houston's Greatest 
Individual" by the Greater Houston Partnership in 2004; moreover, 
Mr. Love received the Houston Holocaust Museum Lyndon Baines 
Johnson Moral Courage Award in 1995 and the Rotary Club 
Distinguished Citizens Award in that same year; and
	WHEREAS, Ben Love contributed to his community, state, and 
nation through a lifetime of purposeful endeavor, and he will long 
be fondly remembered by all who were privileged to know him; now, 
therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life of 
Ben Love and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his 
family:  to his wife, Margaret Love; to his son, Jeff Love, his 
wife, Kathy, and their children, Benton and Elizabeth; to his 
daughter, Jan Love Simmons, her husband, Tom, and their children, 
Jennie and Charles; and to his other relatives and many friends and 
admirers in Houston and throughout Texas; 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 Ben Love.