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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Family and friends are mourning the loss of Jo Ann |
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Darden of Waco, who passed away on April 21, 2011, at the age of 78; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Born on October 6, 1932, in Woodville to |
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Stephen B. Owens and Margaret Allie Owens, the former Jo Ann Owens |
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graduated from high school in Beaumont in 1949 and then attended |
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Lamar University, earning her degree in 1953; while in high school |
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and college, she was a member of the notable singing group the |
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Melody Maids, traveling to numerous military bases as well as New |
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York and Mexico City to perform and also taking part in the opening |
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ceremonies for the Shamrock Hotel in Houston; and |
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WHEREAS, She met the love of her life, Robert F. Darden, Jr., |
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while in college, and the two were married in 1953, five days after |
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he received his United States Air Force commission; with her |
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husband, Mrs. Darden soon left for Schilling Air Force Base in |
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Kansas, and they spent a total of 58 years together while residing |
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in Alabama, California, Washington, Virginia, Japan, and Texas and |
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welcoming three children, Robert, Steven, and Danni; and |
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WHEREAS, A devoted homemaker and mother, Mrs. Darden loved to |
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cook for her family, who especially enjoyed her shrimp gumbo, |
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cornbread dressing, chicken enchiladas, and potato salad; she was a |
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skilled piano player with a remarkable ability to play a piece after |
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hearing it just once, and she also took pleasure in decorating, |
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gardening, and caring for her dogs; and |
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WHEREAS, This industrious Texan found time over the course of |
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her busy life to teach remedial math in public schools and work in |
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an elementary school library; after coming to Waco, she assisted |
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with student registration at Baylor University and served as a |
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dormitory mother at the school, became a part of the Waco Center for |
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Youth's public responsibility committee, and cooked for more than |
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two decades for the Seventh and James Baptist Church's Meals on |
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Wheels program; in addition, she was a member of the Philanthropic |
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Educational Organization, which supports education for women; and |
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WHEREAS, Strong in her faith, Mrs. Darden was a member of the |
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Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco and participated in the |
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Friendship Sunday school class; she sang with the Columbus Avenue |
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church's Singing Saints and also in the Baylor University Senior |
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Choir, and she hosted a women's weekly Bible study group; and |
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WHEREAS, Those fortunate enough to have known Jo Ann Darden |
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will long remember her for her joyful and compassionate spirit, and |
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although she will be greatly missed, her legacy will live on in the |
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hearts of the many people whose lives she touched; now, therefore, |
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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 memory of Jo Ann Darden and |
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extend sincere sympathy to the members of her family: to her |
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husband, Robert F. Darden, Jr.; to her sons, Robert F. Darden III |
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and his wife, Mary, and Steven L. Darden and his wife, Ellen; to her |
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daughter, Danni L. Mayfield, and her husband, Dan; to her brother, |
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Brunson "Sonny" Owens; to her sister-in-law, Peggy Sue Brammer; to |
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her grandchildren; and to her other relatives and friends; and, be |
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it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Jo Ann |
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Darden. |
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Anderson of McLennan |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 2201 was unanimously adopted by a |
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rising vote of the House on May 26, 2011. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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