| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, A businessman who excelled in many fields and who |
|
|
was a highly respected community leader in Houston, William James |
|
|
Miller passed away on July 18, 2006, at age 78; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Born March 17, 1928, Bill Miller grew up in Houston |
|
|
and served his country as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 11th |
|
|
Airborne Division, which occupied Japan in World War II; following |
|
|
his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical |
|
|
engineering from Texas A&M University then moved to Massachusetts |
|
|
to attend the Harvard Business School, graduating with a master's |
|
|
degree in 1953; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Returning to Houston with his wife, the former Mary |
|
|
Catherine Farrington, and their children, Mr. Miller began a |
|
|
business career that saw him assume a leadership role in a number of |
|
|
companies; in the energy services industry, he founded Miller Oil |
|
|
and Gas, which he directed for the rest of his life, and he was |
|
|
president of Houston Engineers, Inc., which developed the Hydra-Jar |
|
|
tool used in oil drilling; applying his expertise to the banking and |
|
|
insurance sector, he became president of the Lawrence Ilfrey |
|
|
Insurance Company, chaired the founding board of the Bank of |
|
|
Tanglewood, which later became the Bank of Texas, and was a board |
|
|
member for University State Bank and for Tanglewood Bank, which is |
|
|
now Northern Trust Bank; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The interests of this notable entrepreneur also |
|
|
extended to real estate development; during his 30-year tenure as |
|
|
president of the Tanglewood Corporation, he oversaw the creation of |
|
|
several business and residential complexes in Houston's Tanglewood |
|
|
neighborhood; he was also a driving force in the growth of Uptown |
|
|
Houston, serving as the first president of the improvement district |
|
|
that administered the area and acting as chair of the Uptown Houston |
|
|
Association; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A prominent figure in civic and religious affairs, |
|
|
he was active in numerous organizations, including the Kiwanis Club |
|
|
of Downtown Houston, the Houston Child Guidance Center, and the |
|
|
Texas Medical Center Library, and was a member of the vestries of |
|
|
Saint John the Divine Episcopal Church and Saint Martin's Episcopal |
|
|
Church; devoted to his wife, children, and grandchildren, Mr. |
|
|
Miller frequently brought the family together for boating and |
|
|
skiing excursions, and he also enjoyed tennis, which he regularly |
|
|
played with a group of close friends; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, With a record of achievement that distinguishes him |
|
|
as a business leader of great talent and wide-ranging abilities, |
|
|
Bill Miller made a significant contribution to the economic |
|
|
prosperity of the Lone Star State, and his visionary endeavors |
|
|
contributed to Houston's growth over the past half-century; now, |
|
|
therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of William James Miller |
|
|
and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: to his |
|
|
wife, Mary Catherine Miller; to his children, William Farrington |
|
|
Miller, Catherine Michelle Miller Shedd and her husband, Clifford |
|
|
Ernest Shedd III, James Giddings Miller and his wife, Amy Henderson |
|
|
Miller, and Kendall Farrington Miller and his wife, Cynthia |
|
|
Marshall Miller; to his grandchildren, William Farrington Miller |
|
|
II, Catherine Whitney Lorene Miller, Travis William Shedd, Daniel |
|
|
Oliver Shedd, Austin Truett Miller, Marshall Giddings Miller, and |
|
|
Weston Alan Miller; to his step-grandchildren, James |
|
|
Hazeltine-Shedd, Robert John Hazeltine-Shedd, and Kyle Dalton |
|
|
Pence; and to his many other relatives and friends; 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 William |
|
|
James Miller. |
| |
|
|
Woolley |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 582 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
|
rising vote of the House on March 22, 2007. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |