By:  Barrientos                                                 S.C.R. No. 21 
	(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2005; March 30, 2005, read 
first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; 
April 27, 2005, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8, 
Nays 0; April 27, 2005, sent to printer.)


SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

	WHEREAS, LeRoy Colombo served as a lifeguard in Galveston for 
over 40 years and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World 
Records for having saved over 900 lives; although he became deaf and 
was paralyzed as a child as the result of a devastating illness, he 
regained his ability to walk and swim by using swimming as 
rehabilitation; and
	WHEREAS, LeRoy Colombo was born December 23, 1905, in 
Galveston; a bout with spinal meningitis at the age of seven left 
him unable to hear or to walk; he began swimming and within a year he 
could walk again, but he never recovered his hearing; and
	WHEREAS, He began attending the Texas School for the Deaf in 
Austin and swam in the campus pool for hours; by the age of 18 he had 
become a member of the elite Surf Toboggan Club; the club tested 
prospective members by requiring them to swim continuously for 
three hours; and
	WHEREAS, Over the course of his decades-long career as a 
lifeguard, LeRoy saved a record-setting 907 people from drowning; 
he retired at the age of 62 but continued to swim in the Gulf of 
Mexico every day until his death on July 12, 1974; and
	WHEREAS, Section 2165.005, Government Code, establishes a 
procedure for the naming of a state building by requiring that the 
proposed designation be submitted to the Texas Building and 
Procurement Commission and that a concurrent resolution 
authorizing the designation be passed by the legislature and signed 
by the governor; and
	WHEREAS, Mr. Colombo was an esteemed citizen of this state 
and his achievements in the face of adversity provide inspiration 
to all Texans; the naming of the natatorium at the Texas School for 
the Deaf in Austin in his honor would provide a fitting opportunity 
for all Texans to pay tribute to LeRoy Colombo; now, therefore, be 
it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby approve and authorize the naming of the natatorium at the 
Texas School for the Deaf in Austin the LeRoy Colombo Swim Center; 
and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 
copy of this resolution to the executive director of the Texas 
Building and Procurement Commission.



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