| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, With the passing of Marvin Selig on December 27, |
|
|
2010, the State of Texas lost a man whose achievements as an |
|
|
industrialist, philanthropist, and visionary made a positive and |
|
|
lasting difference in Seguin and beyond; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Marvin Selig was born on November 30, 1923, in |
|
|
Spring Valley, New York; after graduating from The University of |
|
|
Texas with a degree in engineering, Mr. Selig borrowed $2,000 and, |
|
|
in 1947, started a small factory near Seguin, Texas, where he |
|
|
manufactured reinforcing bars from recycled railroad rails; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, His company, Structural Metals, Inc., began to |
|
|
manufacture steel in 1949, and in 1968 it merged with Commercial |
|
|
Metals Corporation; Mr. Selig became CEO of Commercial Metals Steel |
|
|
Group, and he served on the board until well after his retirement in |
|
|
2002; the factory he founded in Seguin, one of the first |
|
|
"mini-mills" that revolutionized the steel industry, continues to |
|
|
thrive; it has been profitable every year since 1947, and today it |
|
|
produces more than 750,000 tons of steel a year; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Selig married Eleanor Berg, and they shared a |
|
|
fulfilling relationship until her death; together they had three |
|
|
sons, Zachary, Peter, and Jeff, as well as five grandchildren; Mrs. |
|
|
Selig served as a Texas commissioner of mental health, and since |
|
|
1950, the couple were active in the quarter horse and thoroughbred |
|
|
horse breeding and racing business; in 2002, the Marvin and Ellie |
|
|
Selig Center of Excellence in Entrepreneurship was established at |
|
|
the UT College of Engineering; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This esteemed gentleman also served his fellow |
|
|
citizens as a commissioner of the Lower Colorado River Authority; |
|
|
on the national and international levels, he served as president of |
|
|
the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and as an |
|
|
economic and industrial advisor to governments in Latin America, |
|
|
Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United Kingdom; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Selig was a man of diverse and passionate |
|
|
interests who loved horse racing, reading, and travel; he was |
|
|
independent-minded and optimistic, confident in his own opinions |
|
|
yet solicitous of the concerns of others, and generous with his time |
|
|
and resources; he remained devoted throughout his life to his |
|
|
adopted community of Seguin, where he raised a family at his home |
|
|
along a bend of the Guadalupe River; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, An innovative businessman and a remarkable leader, |
|
|
Marvin Selig profoundly influenced the steel industry, his |
|
|
community, and the lives of countless people, and he leaves behind a |
|
|
legacy that will continue to resonate for years to come; now, |
|
|
therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Marvin Selig and |
|
|
extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his |
|
|
sons, Zachary Selig, Peter Selig and his wife, Lyn, and Jeff Selig |
|
|
and his wife, Walton; to his grandchildren, Stuart and his wife, |
|
|
Laura, Jocelyn, Aleka, Kiber, and Sam; to his brother, Clyde Selig; |
|
|
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 Marvin |
|
|
Selig. |