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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A full and productive life drew to a close on June |
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23, 2009, with the death of Virginia Francis Webb Shahan of |
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Brackettville at the age of 93; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Del Rio to Elisha and Fanny Webb on February |
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15, 1916, the former Virginia Webb belonged to a proud West Texas |
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pioneer lineage; her family moved from their ranch in Edwards |
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County to another in Kinney County when she was 11, and she |
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continued to reside there for the rest of her life; as a child, she |
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delighted her father with her cowboy skills, and in her teen years, |
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she accompanied the owner of a neighboring ranch to horse sales to |
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put steeds through their paces; and |
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WHEREAS, While a student at Baylor University, she met James |
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T. "Happy" Shahan, and they married after graduation; the couple |
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raised their three children on the 18,000-acre ranch, which became |
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famous after the entrepreneurial Mr. Shahan successfully promoted |
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the location to producers of the John Wayne movie The Alamo; the |
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elaborate set built for the film in 1957 was subsequently rented for |
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numerous television shows and movies, among them Gunsmoke and |
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Lonesome Dove, and the Shahans eventually opened the Alamo Village |
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compound to tourists and for weddings, corporate retreats, and |
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other events; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Shahan continued to operate the ranch after her |
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husband's death in 1996 and worked diligently in behalf of tourism |
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in the Lone Star State; most recently, at the invitation of the |
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Texas Historical Commission, she participated in the May 2009 |
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ceremony launching the new Texas Pecos Trail Region guide; her |
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lifelong fascination with West Texas heritage continued to evolve, |
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and in her later years, she took up arrowhead hunting as a hobby, |
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taking enormous delight in finding superior specimens; and |
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WHEREAS, A woman of faith and integrity, Virginia Shahan |
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demonstrated true kindness to others and was especially devoted to |
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her family; although she will be deeply missed, those who were |
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privileged to know this remarkable Texan will forever remember her |
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with great admiration and affection; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life of |
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Virginia Francis Webb Shahan and extend sincere sympathy to the |
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members of her family: to her daughters, Jamie Rains and her |
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husband, Walt, and Tulisha Wardlaw and her husband, Hadley; to her |
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son, James Shahan II and his wife, Darlene; to her grandchildren, |
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Lashawn and Rick McIvor, Leisha and Tony Ashley, Dutch and Casey |
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Wardlaw, James and Jackie Rains, Shelley Rains, Jennifer and Seth |
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McIntosh, Will and Dee Shahan, and Dr. Jared Ty Shahan and Candace |
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Shahan; to her great-grandchildren, Webb and Walt Ashley, Jacob and |
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Ryleigh Rains, Hadley and Maverick McIvor, Cuatro and Cinco |
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Wardlaw, Hayden McIntosh, Regan and Addison Shahan, and Sienna and |
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Avery Shahan; and to her other relatives and friends; and, be it |
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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 Virginia |
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Francis Webb Shahan. |