79R10299 JTR-D

By:  Gonzales                                                     H.R. No. 800



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, With the passing of attorney James Cole Abbott of 
McAllen on February 17, 2005, at the age of 86, area residents have 
lost a valued member of the community, and we join his family and 
friends in mourning this loss; and
	WHEREAS, Mr. Abbott graduated from the University of Tulsa, 
where he earned his bachelor of arts degree, and he went on to earn 
his doctor of jurisprudence degree from Cumberland School of Law at 
Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama; he served this nation as 
a first lieutenant in the United States Air Corps and further 
distinguished himself as commander of Air and Sea Rescue in the Gulf 
of Mexico from 1942 to 1946; and
	WHEREAS, A skilled attorney, Mr. Abbott was a senior partner 
with the law firm of Ewers and Toothaker and was associated with the 
law firm of Kittleman, Thomas, Ramirez, and Gonzales, PLLC;
licensed to practice law before both the United States Supreme 
Court and the Texas Supreme Court, he was a member of the Blue Key 
National Honor Fraternity, the State Bar of Texas, and the American 
Bar Association; and
	WHEREAS, His contributions to his fellow Texans were many and 
varied, and over the years he served as a special master for the 
United States District Court, as a United States commissioner, as 
the chairman of a special commission on Falcon Dam, and on many 
local community boards; and
	WHEREAS, A well-rounded individual, Mr. Abbott was known for 
his love of travel, art, literature, and golf, as well as for his 
affection for animals, and his wide range of interests and 
enthusiasm for living enriched the days of all those who were 
fortunate enough to know him; and
	WHEREAS, Although his death brings great sadness, his loved 
ones may take comfort in the certain knowledge that his was a life 
well lived; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of James Cole Abbott and 
extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: to his wife of 
30 years, Trudie Elmore Abbott; to his daughters, Patricia Ann 
Abbott, Mary Stahl Cable, and Pamela Casey Voss; to his sons, Robert 
Abbott Fowler and James Cole Abbott, Jr.; to his grandchildren, 
Casey Quintanar, Laura Kelsey, Robert Cole, Gracie and Drew Cable, 
Lauren Barner, Collier Jones, Arley and Chapin Fowler, and Madison 
and Lucas Abbott; and to his many other family members and friends; 
and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for the members of his family and that when the Texas House 
of Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of James 
Cole Abbott.