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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A full and generous life drew to a close when Elsie |
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Townes Pressler of Houston died on February 12, 2008, at the age of |
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102; and |
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WHEREAS, A fifth-generation Texan, Elsie Townes was born in |
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Beaumont on March 11, 1905, and moved to the Bayou City in 1917 with |
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her family; she attended Randolph Macon Woman's College in |
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Lynchburg, Virginia, and The University of Texas at Austin, where |
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she was a member of Pi Beta Phi, the Mortar Board, and the Orange |
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Jackets; she graduated with the Class of 1927; and |
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WHEREAS, The following year, she married Herman P. Pressler, |
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Jr., and the couple shared 66 fulfilling years of marriage, |
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parenthood, world travel, and volunteerism until Mr. Pressler's |
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passing in 1995; they received the Distinguished Citizens Award |
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from Sheltering Arms in 1987; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Pressler was the granddaughter of John C. |
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Townes, the dean of the law school at The University of Texas at |
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Austin, and Judge C. C. Garrett, the first chief justice of the |
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First Court of Civil Appeals; the UT Law School building was named |
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for Mr. Townes and the Garrett-Townes Auditorium at South Texas |
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College of Law was named for both of her grandfathers; her father, |
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Edgar Townes, was a founder of the Humble Oil and Refining Company |
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and served as its first general counsel, while her husband, Herman |
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Pressler, Jr., was vice president and director of Exxon, USA, and |
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president of the Houston Bar Association; and |
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WHEREAS, Carrying on her family's legacy of service to their |
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fellow Texans, Mrs. Pressler was a member of Houston's first |
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Municipal Arts Committee and the president of the Junior League of |
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Houston, the Women's Auxiliary of the Houston Bar Association, the |
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River Oaks Garden Club, and the Harris County Heritage Society; she |
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served as the Houston group chair of the National Society of the |
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Colonial Dames of America and as a member of the John McKnitt |
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Alexander Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and |
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the Friends of Bayou Bend; she was also a founder and longtime |
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congregant of River Oaks Baptist Church; and |
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WHEREAS, Deeply admired for her graciousness and her zest for |
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life, Elsie Pressler inspired countless people with her many good |
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deeds, and she will forever hold a treasured place in their hearts; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Elsie Townes Pressler |
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and extend sincere sympathy to the members of her family: to her |
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sons, Townes G. Pressler and Judge H. Paul Pressler III and his |
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wife, Nancy; to her grandchildren, Jean Pressler Visy and her |
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husband, Joe, Anne Pressler Csorba and her husband, Les, Terry |
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Pressler Smith and her husband, Tom, Molly Pressler Lamme and her |
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husband, Duncan, Townes G. Pressler, Jr., and his wife, Kathleen, |
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and H. Paul Pressler IV; to her 16 great-grandchildren; to her |
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sisters-in-law, Mrs. E. E. Townes, Jr., Mrs. Christopher G. Townes, |
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and Mrs. Howard R. Barr; and to her other relatives and friends; |
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and, 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 Elsie |
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Townes Pressler. |