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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The Texas House of Representatives joins the family |
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and friends of the Honorable Nancy Hanks McDonald in mourning the |
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loss of this esteemed former legislator, who passed away on May 14, |
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2007; and |
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WHEREAS, A seven-term state representative from El Paso, Mrs. |
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McDonald first served in the 1984 special session that enacted |
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major reforms relating to public education; she was elected to a |
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full term in the fall of 1984 and continued to serve through 1996, |
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when she declined to run again; and |
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WHEREAS, The only R.N. in the house when she first came to the |
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Capitol, Mrs. McDonald played a key role in securing funding for |
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health and human services programs, authored landmark child |
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immunization legislation, and advocated for AIDS patients; her |
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committee assignments included the vice chairmanship of the |
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appropriations committee, longtime service on the public health |
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committee, and service on such other committees as ways and means |
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and labor and employment relations; and |
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WHEREAS, Nancy McDonald was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, |
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on October 21, 1934; she graduated from St. Thomas School of Nursing |
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in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1954, the same year she married Willis |
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Burr McDonald; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the course of the next two decades, Mrs. |
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McDonald graciously handled the responsibilities of an army |
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officer's wife while raising the couple's 10 children with "calm, |
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pragmatic wisdom"; in 1966 she and her family moved to El Paso, |
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which would become their home until she relocated to Austin with her |
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husband some 30 years later; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. McDonald resumed her nursing career in 1975 and |
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became active in the Texas Nurses Association, eventually serving |
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as president of the governmental affairs committee and forming a |
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TNA political action committee; she also held membership in the |
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National Organization for Women and took part in the 1980 march in |
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Washington, D.C., in support of the Equal Rights Amendment; and |
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WHEREAS, Nancy McDonald leaves a legacy of exemplary public |
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service, and she is remembered with deep affection and admiration |
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by all who were fortunate enough to share in the richness of her |
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life; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Nancy Hanks McDonald |
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and extend sincere sympathy to the members of her family: to her |
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husband, Willis Burr McDonald; to her children, Chuck McDonald and |
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his wife, Donna, Chris McDonald and his wife, Cindy, Stephen |
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McDonald and his wife, Vicki, Greg McDonald and his wife, Laura, |
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Brendan McDonald and his wife, Cheryl, Mark McDonald and his wife, |
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Joyce, Mary McDonald and her husband, Kent, Nancy Siefken and her |
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husband, Mark, and Catherine Binswanger and her husband, Lewis; to |
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her sister, Betty Phillips; to her 27 grandchildren and three |
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great-grandchildren; and to her other relatives and friends; and, |
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be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of the |
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Honorable Nancy Hanks McDonald. |