|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
WHEREAS, The State of Texas has lost an admired lawmaker, |
|
conservationist, and education advocate with the passing of former |
|
state senator Don Kennard on March 17, 2011, at the age of 81; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born in Houston on May 6, 1929, Donley C. Kennard was |
|
the son of Don and Clayton "Honey" Kennard; his prowess on the |
|
Arlington Heights High School football team won him an athletic |
|
scholarship to North Texas State College, and he also attended |
|
Texas Christian University before completing his bachelor's degree |
|
in business administration at The University of Texas at Austin; |
|
and |
|
WHEREAS, He began a successful campaign for a Fort Worth seat |
|
in the Texas House of Representatives during his senior year of |
|
college, declaring his intention "to represent all the people, not |
|
just the select few"; having served his constituents with great |
|
dedication from 1953 to 1963, he ran for the state senate and |
|
represented District 10 for another decade; Senator Kennard was |
|
senate president pro tempore during the 60th and 61st Texas |
|
Legislatures, and he gave generously of his time over the years as a |
|
mentor to his colleagues; and |
|
WHEREAS, A fierce champion of public education, he served on |
|
the education committees in both chambers and helped secure initial |
|
funding for what would become Tarrant County College; he worked |
|
diligently to raise the profile of Arlington State College, which |
|
had sought to become a senior college for more than a decade, and |
|
his efforts culminated in a filibuster that lasted 29 hours and 22 |
|
minutes; he got the votes to make the school a four-year |
|
institution, and in 1996, the school, which had become The |
|
University of Texas at Arlington, named Senator Kennard to its new |
|
Walk of Fame; and |
|
WHEREAS, This dynamic legislator demonstrated his commitment |
|
to working Texans in another filibuster designed to kill a proposal |
|
to extend the sales tax to food; strolling into the senate with a |
|
sack of groceries, he illustrated how much more fruits and |
|
vegetables would cost under the bill; Senator Kennard was a strong, |
|
progressive voice for civil rights, historic preservation, and |
|
environmental issues, and he brought his passion for those causes |
|
to the numerous committees on which he served; in addition, he |
|
chaired the Federal Relations, Public Health, and Parks and |
|
Recreation Committees, and he was vice chair of the Conservation |
|
and Reclamation and Parks and Wildlife Committees; and |
|
WHEREAS, Also during his tenure, Senator Kennard |
|
filibustered to secure a one-cent portion of the per-pack cigarette |
|
tax to create a reliable revenue stream for the Parks and Wildlife |
|
Department; he borrowed a falcon from the Fort Worth Zoo to draw |
|
attention to this need, and his victory directed tens of millions of |
|
dollars to our state parks in the ensuing decades; and |
|
WHEREAS, Senator Kennard worked between Texas legislative |
|
sessions in Washington, D.C., running the office of U.S. |
|
Congressman Jim Wright; on his return to private life, Senator |
|
Kennard established the Natural Areas Surveys with the LBJ School |
|
of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and served as |
|
its director; the research produced was instrumental in the |
|
preservation of Enchanted Rock, among other natural treasures; |
|
returning to Washington, he became a consultant for a public |
|
relations firm, and he was appointed to the New Jersey Pinelands |
|
Commission; and |
|
WHEREAS, Married during his college years to his childhood |
|
sweetheart, the former Jackie Porterfield, Don Kennard became the |
|
proud father of a daughter, Karen; after the untimely passing of his |
|
first wife, he was fortunate enough to find love a second time with |
|
the former Mary Jo Williams, and he welcomed into his family her |
|
children, Eric and Paige; he eventually knew the joy of becoming |
|
"Grandpa Donnie" to six cherished grandchildren; and |
|
WHEREAS, Long a student of history, Senator Kennard moved to |
|
Charles Town, West Virginia, with his wife and restored the former |
|
home of a nephew of George Washington; moreover, the couple became |
|
co-owners of Indian Hot Springs, a historic site on the Rio Grande |
|
in Trans-Pecos, where Senator Kennard periodically hosted |
|
conservation and preservation forums for fellow legislators and |
|
clients; Senator and Mrs. Kennard moved to the Austin area in 2003 |
|
to be closer to their children and grandchildren; and |
|
WHEREAS, Through his determination to improve higher |
|
education and to preserve the natural beauty of the Lone Star State, |
|
Senator Kennard left an enduring legacy, and those who were |
|
privileged to share in the richness of his life will forever |
|
remember him as a man of vision, compassion, and conviction; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
Legislature hereby pay special tribute to the memory of the |
|
Honorable Donley C. Kennard and extend sincere condolences to the |
|
members of his family: to his wife, Mary Jo Kennard; to his |
|
children, Karen Gordon and her husband, Dr. Leo Gordon, Eric Austin |
|
Williams and his wife, Melanie Castro Williams, and Paige Williams |
|
Smith and her husband, Keith Smith; to his grandchildren, Daniel |
|
Gordon, Aimee, Jack, and Ethan Williams, and Vivian and Oliver |
|
Smith; and to his other relatives and many friends; and, be it |
|
further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Senator Don |
|
Kennard. |