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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The city of San Angelo lost a remarkable |
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philanthropist with the death of Eva Camunez Tucker on June 24, |
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2007, at the age of 96; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in San Angelo on April 9, 1911, the former Eva |
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Camunez was the daughter of Josefa and Reynaldo Camunez; they sent |
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her to Incarnate Word Academy in San Antonio because of segregation |
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in local schools, but eventually prevailed on San Angelo High |
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School to admit her; she became its first Hispanic graduate and went |
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on to earn her teaching certificate from Angelo State University; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, This gifted educator began her career in Mertzon; |
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the town hired her to teach Mexican American children, but she could |
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find no place to live there, so sheepshearers transported her from |
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her residence in San Angelo; after moving on to Ballinger, she was |
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soon promoted to the post of principal; she served her country |
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during World War II as a mail censor and then as a translator for the |
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state department in Washington, D.C.; and |
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WHEREAS, On December 30, 1948, she married Art Tucker, an |
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independent oilman; the couple settled in Ballinger, where Mrs. |
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Tucker began running the office for her husband, a responsibility |
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she carried out for nearly three decades; the couple relocated to |
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Lueders after buying a refinery and enjoyed a rewarding marriage |
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until Mr. Tucker's death in 1975; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Tucker returned to San Angelo in 1976 and built |
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her husband's legacy into a sizeable fortune through her skill as an |
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investor; she lived modestly in the home her father had built and |
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donated millions of dollars to religious, educational, and |
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charitable causes, as well as to the arts; Mrs. Tucker created the |
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Up and Coming Scholars program at San Angelo State and provided |
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funds not only to her own beloved St. Joseph Catholic Church, but |
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also to churches around the state and in other countries; and |
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WHEREAS, The myriad beneficiaries of the Art and Eva Camunez |
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Tucker Foundation included the West Texas Rehabilitation Center, |
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the San Angelo Symphony, the Concho Valley Home for Girls, and the |
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West Texas Collection of San Angelo University; Mrs. Tucker was a |
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patron to such West Texas artists as painter Rene Alvarado and |
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sculptor Raul Ruiz, from whom she commissioned a bronze statue of |
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sheepshearers for ASU in gratitude and remembrance of the men who |
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had brought her to and from her classroom in Mertzon so many years |
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before; and |
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WHEREAS, Beloved by her community, Mrs. Tucker was named |
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Citizen of the Year by the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce in 1995 |
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and received numerous other accolades, among them ASU's first |
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honorary doctorate and designation by the Women's Chamber of |
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Commerce of Texas as one of the Texas Women of the Century; she was |
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invested in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the second |
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highest and second oldest of papal orders, and was named a papal |
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lady, the highest award a Catholic laywoman can receive; and |
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WHEREAS, Eva Tucker earned the lasting admiration of her |
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community as a benefactor and as a role model, and throughout her |
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life, she inspired others with her devotion, generosity, and caring |
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nature; 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 Eva Camunez Tucker and |
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that when the Texas House of Representatives adjourns this day, it |
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do so in memory of Eva Camunez Tucker. |