| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Family and friends will long cherish their memories |
|
|
of Penny Payte McLeaish of McAllen, who passed away on April 23, |
|
|
2009; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The daughter of Peter and Virginia Payte and sister |
|
|
of Virginia Payte Steib, the former Penny Payte moved to the Rio |
|
|
Grande Valley in 1946 with her family and graduated from Pharr-San |
|
|
Juan-Alamo High School in 1953; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, After two years at The University of Texas at |
|
|
Austin, she began her teaching career at Sharyland High School |
|
|
while attending Pan American College, from which she graduated with |
|
|
honors in 1958; over the course of more than four decades as an |
|
|
educator, Mrs. McLeaish taught senior English and American history |
|
|
and government, and she coached state championship teams in debate |
|
|
and informative and persuasive speaking as well as district and |
|
|
regional championship teams in current issues; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Named a Shining Star by the Hidalgo County Zonta |
|
|
Club, Teacher of the Year for the Sharyland Independent School |
|
|
District, and a Distinguished UT Pan American Alumnus, she also |
|
|
received 1 of 10 statewide Denius-UIL Sponsor Excellence Awards; |
|
|
moreover, in 1999, she was honored with the naming of the Penny |
|
|
Payte McLeaish Learning Resource Center; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mrs. McLeaish and her husband, Robert, shared a |
|
|
fulfilling marriage that spanned more than half a century, and |
|
|
together they welcomed into their family five children, Laurel, |
|
|
Heather, Janet, Robert, and Jeremy; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Not only an esteemed educator but a citizen fully |
|
|
engaged in her community, Mrs. McLeaish made time for involvement |
|
|
with the League of Women Voters of Hidalgo County and the Reviewer's |
|
|
Guild of McAllen, both of which she served as president, and with |
|
|
the Democratic party; she was also a valued member of Our Lady of |
|
|
Sorrows Catholic Church; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Penny McLeaish led a life of service and generosity |
|
|
that touched many other individuals, and she will long be |
|
|
remembered with admiration and affection by all who were fortunate |
|
|
enough to know her; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby honor the memory of Penny Payte McLeaish and |
|
|
extend sincere condolences to the members of her family: to her |
|
|
husband, Robert McLeaish; to her children and their spouses, Laurel |
|
|
McLeaish, Heather Butler and her husband, Bill, and Janet Robinson |
|
|
and her husband, Dave Swain; to her grandchildren, Jesse and |
|
|
Brittany Robinson; to her brothers-in-law, Mickey Steib and Jim |
|
|
McLeaish; to her nephew, David Steib; and to her many 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 Penny |
|
|
McLeaish. |