| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
| |
|
|
WHEREAS, Residents of the Coastal Bend area lost an admired |
|
|
civic leader with the death of Mary Frances Diedrick Haas of Corpus |
|
|
Christi on February 1, 2013, at the age of 98; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Born in New Jersey on July 22, 1914, the former Mary |
|
|
Frances Diedrick was the daughter of Philip and Josephine Diedrick; |
|
|
she left home at the age of 14 to attend Trenton State Teachers' |
|
|
College, where she earned her bachelor's degree in English and |
|
|
history and her teaching certification; she taught special |
|
|
education classes for a time, and she also sold encyclopedias |
|
|
door-to-door and worked at Macy's book department; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, She met Paul Haas at a church social, and they were |
|
|
married in 1936; the following year, the couple moved to Houston, |
|
|
and in 1941, when Mr. Haas was hired by an oil and gas company, they |
|
|
relocated to Corpus Christi, where Mrs. Haas became deeply engaged |
|
|
in community life; she helped to create what is now Texas A&M |
|
|
University--Corpus Christi, serving on the original board that |
|
|
worked to establish an institution of higher education in the city |
|
|
and later as the president of the board of directors for the |
|
|
school's foundation for development and expansion; she was |
|
|
appointed by Governors Bill Clements and Mark White to the |
|
|
University System of South Texas Board of Trustees, becoming the |
|
|
first female member of that body and later its president, and she |
|
|
played an instrumental role in the negotiations that resulted in |
|
|
the three state universities in Corpus Christi, Kingsville, and |
|
|
Laredo joining the Texas A&M system; she also served on the |
|
|
TAMU--Corpus Christi president's council and assisted in the |
|
|
creation of the school's Early Childhood Education Center; she |
|
|
received an honorary doctorate from the school in 1995; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, She and her husband established the Paul and Mary |
|
|
Haas Foundation in 1954, and Mrs. Haas guided the foundation in its |
|
|
mission of philanthropy for half a century; the organization |
|
|
awarded more than $3 million in scholarships to over 1,000 |
|
|
deserving students and donated some $15 million to worthy |
|
|
organizations in the area; in addition, the Haas Foundation |
|
|
established endowed chairs in English and history at TAMU--Corpus |
|
|
Christi and a chair in genetics and an endowment for urologic cancer |
|
|
research at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; a lifelong supporter |
|
|
of education, Mrs. Haas annually selected a book to be presented to |
|
|
each member of the graduating class at the Paul R. Haas Middle |
|
|
School; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, For three decades, Mrs. Haas served as a "Pink Lady" |
|
|
at Spohn Hospital, and she was recognized for her efforts at the |
|
|
hospital with an award for volunteerism; she also chaired the |
|
|
citizens' board of directors of Martineau Juvenile Hall and was a |
|
|
member and officer of the Coastal Bend Youth City School; a lover of |
|
|
music and theater, she served on the board of directors of the local |
|
|
symphony and a municipal arts commission, and she served as |
|
|
secretary of the Patrons of De Pineda and as president of the La |
|
|
Retama study club; in addition, she was a member of the local |
|
|
library and YWCA boards as well as a founding member and trustee of |
|
|
the Parkway Presbyterian Church; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In her leisure, Mrs. Haas enjoyed knitting and doing |
|
|
needlepoint, and she sewed blankets for premature babies born at |
|
|
Driscoll Children's Hospital; she also liked to golf and to go |
|
|
dancing with her husband, with whom she shared 72 years, before his |
|
|
passing in 2008; moreover, Mrs. Haas was a devoted mother, and she |
|
|
took great pride in her children and their spouses, Rheta and Robert |
|
|
Page, Raymond and Amanda Haas, and Rene Haas and David Perry, as |
|
|
well as in her 10 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Although this remarkable and accomplished woman |
|
|
will be deeply missed, she leaves behind an extraordinary legacy |
|
|
that will continue to resonate in South Texas and beyond for years |
|
|
to come; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Mary Frances |
|
|
Diedrick Haas and extend sincere sympathy to her friends and loved |
|
|
ones; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Mary |
|
|
Frances Diedrick Haas. |
| |
|
|
Hunter |
|
|
Herrero |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 785 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
|
rising vote of the House on March 20, 2013. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |