SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1049

In Memory

of

Marilyn Nelson Kretzer

WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas honors and commemorates the life of Marilyn Nelson Kretzer, who died April 21, 2011; and

WHEREAS, Marilyn Nelson Kretzer was an exemplary citizen and educator who was widely admired and respected by her colleagues and by the many generations of students who profited from her compassion, her generosity of spirit, and her unqualified pride in their accomplishments; and

WHEREAS, Throughout the course of her 47-year career as a teacher, she took an active interest in the lives of her students and worked with them in such varied roles as senior class sponsor and yearbook sponsor; she often took the responsibility as director of the gifted and talented and advanced placement programs in the schools where she taught, and she always gave her students individual attention and support and strove to create meaningful memories for them all; and

WHEREAS, She won many awards and honors, including Middle School Teacher of the Year from the Texas Council for the Social Studies, and she was the recipient of a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship at Princeton University and a fellowship at the Colonial Williamsburg Summer Institute; she received numerous Impact grants for her work in such areas as intercultural history in the classroom, tolerance, women in American history, and making history come alive through literature; and

WHEREAS, She was the coauthor of two textbooks that stressed the importance of creative activities and the use of primary source material that makes history more immediately relevant to students' lives; she also helped to teach the next generation of educators through her work as a supervising teacher at Rice University; and

WHEREAS, A woman of courage, strength, and compassion, she gave unselfishly to others, and her boundless energy, her unique ability to embrace and love the people around her, and her enthusiasm for living each day to the fullest will not be forgotten by those who knew her; and

WHEREAS, She was a devoted wife and mother, and she leaves behind memories that will be treasured forever by her family and many friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 82nd Legislature, hereby extend sincere condolences to the bereaved family of Marilyn Nelson Kretzer: her husband, Frank; her son, Seth; her daughter and son-in-law, Jessica and Mark Rubinshtein; and her sister, Lois Warner; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for her family as an expression of deepest sympathy from the Texas Senate, and that when the Senate adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Marilyn Nelson Kretzer. Watson

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President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on May 20, 2011, by a rising vote.

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Secretary of the Senate

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Member, Texas Senate