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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A life made rich through meaningful service drew to |
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a close when restaurateur, rancher, and activist Benjamin N. Matta |
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of Pecos died on November 4, 2010, at the age of 90; and |
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WHEREAS, Ben Matta was born in Saragosa on April 1, 1920, to |
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Sebestian and Margarita Matta; he learned the value of hard work at |
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an early age, leaving school after the sixth grade; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1939, Mr. Matta was managing a grocery store in |
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Pecos when he started his first restaurant in a house on the corner |
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of Fourth and Walnut Streets; by 1960, Ben's Spanish Inn had moved |
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to its fifth location on West Third Street, seating 450 patrons; the |
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restaurant was known throughout West Texas for its popular chile |
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relleno, and Mr. Matta designed and built a chili roaster that could |
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roast 500 pounds of chilis in an hour; and |
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WHEREAS, Throughout his life, Mr. Matta was a champion for |
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civil rights; in 1943, he refused to accept a seat in the upper |
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balcony of the Grand Theater in Pecos, where Hispanics usually had |
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to sit; from 1949 to 1952, he led a successful campaign to obtain |
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pavement and gutters for the East Pecos neighborhood, and in the |
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early 1950s he helped to stop the segregation of Hispanic students |
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in Pecos schools, despite a boycott of his restaurant; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Matta continued to be a leader in his community, |
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serving as a Pecos city councilman, president of the League of |
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United Latin American Citizens, and president of the Pecos |
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Development Association; he was a 20-year member of the Pecos Lions |
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Club, and in 1970 he was named as an Outstanding Director of the |
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Pecos Chamber of Commerce; he attended St. Catherine's Catholic |
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Church; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1978, Mr. Matta retired to his ranch near Fort |
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Davis, where he continued to demonstrate his skill at design and |
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engineering, constructing an irrigation system for his vegetables |
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and fruit trees that used half the water of a traditional system; he |
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relocated to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1992 and then returned to |
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Pecos in 1997; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Matta was joined in matrimony to the former |
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Jesusita Chuy, and together they were blessed with six children, |
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Ben, Jr., Louis, Jerry, Raymond, Hilda, and Mary; a passionate |
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believer in education, Mr. Matta devoted much of his earnings from |
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his restaurant for many years to sending his children to college; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Ben Matta lived a full and generous life centered |
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around his family and his community, and his devotion to both will |
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continue to inspire all those who knew and loved him; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Benjamin N. Matta and |
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extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his |
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wife, Jesusita Chuy Matta; to his sons, Ben Matta, Jr., Louis Matta, |
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Jerry Matta, and Raymond Matta; to his daughters, Hilda Kershman |
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and Mary Hollopeter; to his brother, Thomas Matta; to his sisters, |
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Elvira Garcia and Maria Matta; to his grandchildren and |
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great-grandchildren; and to his other relatives and friends; and, |
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be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Benjamin N. |
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Matta. |