| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Family and friends are mourning the loss of |
|
|
Wilhelmina Daisy Cullen Robertson Smith of Houston, who died on |
|
|
January 26, 2009, at the age of 86; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The former Wilhelmina Cullen was the daughter of |
|
|
Hugh Roy Cullen and Lillie Cranz Cullen; she attended Sweet Briar |
|
|
College in Virginia during World War II, but she returned to Texas |
|
|
and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Houston in |
|
|
1944; the following year, she married Corbin James Robertson, Sr., |
|
|
who was serving in the Army Air Corps at Ellington Field; the couple |
|
|
nurtured a fulfilling relationship until Mr. Robertson's passing in |
|
|
1991; fortunate to find love a second time, she was joined in |
|
|
matrimony to Edgar A. Smith, Jr., in 1998; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, An active philanthropist, Mrs. Smith helped launch |
|
|
the magnet program in Houston's public schools, and she led her |
|
|
family's organization, the Cullen Foundation, for five decades, |
|
|
through which she assisted numerous local institutions, including |
|
|
Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Medical Center; she also |
|
|
established three trusts to benefit higher education, health, and |
|
|
the performing arts; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mrs. Smith was especially devoted to the University |
|
|
of Houston, and she was one of her alma mater's most dedicated |
|
|
supporters; her parents also have a place in UH history, as they are |
|
|
regarded as its founding family and the school's first major |
|
|
benefactors; through the years, Mrs. Smith continued her parents' |
|
|
legacy, and she shared this commitment with her first husband, who |
|
|
supported the university's early athletic programs and for whom |
|
|
Corbin J. Robertson Stadium is named; a life member of the UH Alumni |
|
|
Organization, Mrs. Smith was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in |
|
|
1988 and a Distinguished Alumni award in 1989; moreover, the UH |
|
|
Board of Regents approved the construction of the Wilhelmina |
|
|
Robertson Smith Pavilion, a sports complex to be built at Robertson |
|
|
Stadium; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Dedicated to her community, Wilhelmina Smith was an |
|
|
inspiration to all who were fortunate enough to know her, and she |
|
|
leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of generosity and goodwill |
|
|
that will not soon be forgotten; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Wilhelmina Daisy |
|
|
Cullen Robertson Smith and extend sincere sympathy to the members |
|
|
of her family: to her husband, Edgar A. Smith, Jr.; to her children, |
|
|
Wilhelmina Elizabeth "Beth" Robertson, Corbin J. Robertson, Jr., |
|
|
Lillie Therese Robertson, Carroll Christine Robertson Ray, and |
|
|
Alison Susan Robertson Baumann; and to her other relatives and |
|
|
friends; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Wilhelmina |
|
|
Smith. |