| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Family and a host of friends will forever carry with |
|
|
them the memory of the love and affection they shared with Nidia Ann |
|
|
Leal, who lost her life on Memorial Day 1999 at the age of 40; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Nidia was born in Wichita Falls to Lucia and Alfredo |
|
|
Garcia of Rio Grande City on November 30, 1958; she and her older |
|
|
brother, Noel, were raised with great love and devotion by their |
|
|
parents until Mr. and Mrs. Garcia's early passing; the children |
|
|
were then cared for by their aunt and uncle, Faustina and Reynaldo |
|
|
Molina, who instilled in them the power of faith, the importance of |
|
|
honesty, the value of work, and the significance of an education; |
|
|
and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Nidia attended Rio Grande City High School, where |
|
|
she participated in the local 4-H Club and graduated in three years' |
|
|
time as valedictorian of the Class of 1976; she then enrolled at |
|
|
Texas A&M University and completed her studies there in two and a |
|
|
half years, earning her bachelor's degree, with a major in English |
|
|
and a minor in Spanish, in December 1978; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Nidia's rapid progress through college was all the |
|
|
more striking because during that same time she married and started |
|
|
a family; wed to Mario Guillen, she gave birth to her first child, |
|
|
Ryan, in 1977, and to her daughter, Kimberly, a few years later; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Nidia subsequently earned a master's degree in |
|
|
education from The University of Texas--Pan American; over the |
|
|
course of two decades, she enjoyed a respected career as a teacher, |
|
|
counselor, assistant principal, and director of adult education for |
|
|
the Region One Education Service Center; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Her own modest upbringing, coupled with lessons she |
|
|
absorbed as a child, engendered in Nidia a deep sense of empathy, |
|
|
and she contributed to a number of charities, among them St. Jude |
|
|
Children's Research Hospital, The University of Texas M. D. |
|
|
Anderson Cancer Center, and the Salvation Army; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Nidia and her second husband, Patricio, shared a |
|
|
rewarding union; in her free time, she enjoyed camping and hiking |
|
|
with her family, walking her dogs, dancing, and singing country |
|
|
music; she also regularly attended her husband's soccer games and |
|
|
readily helped her children with their 4-H projects; for many |
|
|
years, she was a staunch booster of the FFA and 4-H programs; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This beloved woman wore a beautiful smile and made |
|
|
friends everywhere she went; a trusted mentor to countless youth |
|
|
and adults in her community, she especially sought to be a strong |
|
|
role model for her two children, and she committed herself |
|
|
wholeheartedly to supporting their academic and personal success; |
|
|
in her speech to the top graduates of the Rio Grande City High |
|
|
School Class of 1999, just before her death, she expressed her pride |
|
|
in her children's achievements; both her son and her daughter |
|
|
followed in her footsteps and graduated from Texas A&M; Kimberly |
|
|
Guillen now owns a business in the Rio Grande Valley and Ryan |
|
|
Guillen represents the people of District 31 in the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Nidia Ann Leal brought to her many endeavors an |
|
|
inexhaustible dedication and generosity of spirit, and though her |
|
|
journey on this earth ended far too soon, her life continues to |
|
|
enrich all who knew and cherished her; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby join the family of Nidia |
|
|
Ann Leal in honoring her exemplary and inspirational life; 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 Nidia Ann |
|
|
Leal. |