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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, On March 9, 2011, Ebby Halliday is celebrating her |
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100th birthday with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, famed tenor |
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Mario Frangoulis, and a distinguished group of donors to the Ebby |
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Halliday Fund of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished |
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Americans; and |
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WHEREAS, This iconic Dallas entrepreneur and philanthropist |
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was named a Distinguished American by the Horatio Alger Association |
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in 2005, and her birthday gala benefits the fund supporting college |
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scholarships; Ms. Halliday began commemorating her centennial in |
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February with a benefit that raised some $700,000 for the |
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Foundation Fighting Blindness, of which she is a national trustee; |
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in the course of that splendid event, she greeted hundreds of |
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prominent Texans and danced with Tony Orlando as he serenaded her |
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with "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree"; and |
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WHEREAS, Born Vera Lucille Koch in Arkansas on March 9, 1911, |
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the daughter of Louis and Lucille Koch grew up on a farm in Kansas; |
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she entered the sales field at the age of eight, riding her pony to |
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sell Cloverine Salve to neighbors; after graduating from high |
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school, she rode a bus to Kansas City and applied for a job at the |
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largest department store; she became a star of the millinery |
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department, and, at the suggestion of a fellow clerk, adopted the |
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suitably effervescent name Ebby Halliday; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Halliday won promotions to Omaha and then |
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Dallas, where she headed the millinery department at the W. A. Green |
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store; a wise stock investment allowed her to open her own popular |
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boutique, Ebby's Hats; a good customer was married to a developer of |
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insulated-cement homes, who wondered that since she could sell his |
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wife "those crazy hats," could she sell maybe his "crazy houses" |
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too; taking a visionary approach, Ms. Halliday brought in |
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attractive furnishings to make the modest homes more appealing, an |
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example of "staging" long before the term was coined; she sold all |
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the properties and launched her own real estate company in 1945; and |
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WHEREAS, Through the years, Ebby Halliday, REALTORS, |
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expanded extensively, making "Ebby" a household name; guided by |
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founding principles of service to the client, the industry, and the |
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community, she served in countless leadership roles; she founded |
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the Dallas Chapter of the Women's Council of the National |
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Association of Realtors and served as its president before becoming |
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president of the National Women's Council; moreover, she was the |
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first female president of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce; |
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numerous realtors advanced in the profession through her mentoring, |
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and she developed the talents of many women who went on to start |
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their own businesses; and |
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WHEREAS, Naturally driven, Ms. Halliday learned the |
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importance of balancing work and home life in 1958, when she was in |
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Beaumont for a speaking engagement and met an attorney named |
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Maurice Acers; the couple married on April 29, 1965, and enjoyed a |
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rewarding relationship until his passing in 1993; Ms. Halliday |
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shared with her husband the motto "Do something for someone every |
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day," and she has lent her considerable energies to myriad |
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charitable and civic endeavors; in 2008, she received the |
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prestigious Linz Award from the Junior League of Dallas for her |
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contributions, and she has received a host of other accolades, |
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among them the 2010 Public Service Award from Phoenix House of |
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Texas; she is a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame and the |
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Texas Business Hall of Fame; and |
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WHEREAS, The "grande dame of Dallas real estate" today |
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presides over the largest independently owned residential real |
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estate firm in the Lone Star State, which ranks as one of the |
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largest in the country, with 30 offices, two boutique firms under |
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its umbrella, and leasing, property management, mortgage, and |
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personal insurance businesses; as chair, Ms. Halliday continues to |
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put in regular hours at her office, where two assistants help her |
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manage her busy schedule; she credits her longevity to a simple |
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program: "I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't retire"; and |
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WHEREAS, Ebby Halliday blazed a trail for other women in the |
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real estate industry and the business world, and her enduring |
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commitment to her community is a source of inspiration to all who |
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are privileged to know of her; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby congratulate Ebby Halliday on the joyous |
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occasion of her 100th birthday and extend to her sincere best wishes |
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for continued success and happiness; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Ms. Halliday as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |