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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Helen Araujo Sierra of El Paso is commemorating her |
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90th birthday on June 4, 2009, and this memorable milestone is truly |
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worthy of special recognition; and |
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WHEREAS, Born on that date in 1919 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the |
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former Elena Araujo was the 11th and youngest child of Jose Salvador |
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Araujo and Cruz Melendez; she spent the first decade of her life in |
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Tulsa, but after the tuberculosis epidemic of the 1920s took the |
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lives of four of her siblings, the family moved to Albuquerque for |
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its arid climate; she attended the Third Ward School, where she |
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skipped two grades because of her advanced reading and writing |
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skills, and Washington Junior High and subsequently went to work to |
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help support her family; and |
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WHEREAS, She relocated with her family to El Paso in the early |
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1940s and went to work as a ticket clerk at the Greyhound Bus |
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Station; it was there that she met her future husband, Pablo Edmundo |
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"Eddie" Sierra, who served as the manager of the Knox Hotel and who |
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had recently returned from service in World War II; the Sierras were |
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married on April 8, 1948, at Holy Family Church, and were later |
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blessed with three children, Christine, Edmund, and Theresa; Mr. |
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Sierra became the owner and manager of the hotel gift shop, while |
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Mrs. Sierra was a devoted homemaker and mother; the couple shared |
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more than 43 years together before Mr. Sierra's death in 1991; and |
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WHEREAS, Still residing in her own home, Mrs. Sierra today is |
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the treasured matriarch of a family that has grown to include three |
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granddaughters, Paloma, Andrea, and Cassandra; moreover, she |
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remains an avid reader and corresponds regularly with family and |
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friends; and |
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WHEREAS, Helen Sierra is beloved and admired by all who are |
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privileged to know her, and she may indeed reflect with pride on her |
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nine decades of life well lived; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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Legislature hereby congratulate Helen Araujo Sierra on the occasion |
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of her 90th birthday and extend to her best wishes for continued |
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happiness; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Mrs. Sierra as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |