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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 Lela Mae Hill Wicks of Dallas passed away on April 1, |
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2013, at the age of 86; and |
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WHEREAS, The daughter of Elijah and Earlie B. Hamilton, Lela |
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Mae Hill was born on April 17, 1926, in Peno, Oklahoma, and moved |
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with her family first to Garland and then to Dallas; she graduated |
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from Lincoln High School in 1944 and enrolled in Phillips Business |
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School, and later in the 1940s, she was employed in a clerical |
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position in Washington, D.C.; returning to Texas, she earned a |
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bachelor's degree from Bishop College, where she was a charter |
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member of the Delta Omega Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and |
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she later achieved a master's degree in education from North Texas |
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State University; and |
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WHEREAS, On June 12, 1954, she married Samuel Leon Wicks, and |
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over the course of their 58 years together, their lives were further |
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enriched by the addition of a daughter, Candace; Mr. and Mrs. Wicks |
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shared a talent for writing and helped preserve local African |
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American history by researching and contributing to the annual |
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publication, Black Dallas Remembered; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Wicks was a longtime employee of the Dallas |
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Independent School District; she was initially hired as a secretary |
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at Frederick Douglass Elementary School and began teaching in 1957; |
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during her 37 years of service, this esteemed educator taught many |
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young Texans at Colonial, Erasmo Seguin, and John W. Carpenter |
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Elementary Schools; and |
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WHEREAS, Active in her community, she was a valued member of |
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New Hope Baptist Church and held various leadership positions, |
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serving as a Sunday school teacher, as a member of the deaconess |
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council, and as chair of the Church Archives Committee; in |
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addition, Mrs. Wicks volunteered her time and talents with the |
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Showers of Blessings Ministry at the Martin Luther King, Jr., |
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Community Center, the YWCA, Church Women United, the Bishop College |
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Alumni Association, the Glenview Homeowners Association, and the |
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Dallas chapter of Jack and Jill of America; moreover, she belonged |
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to the Nine of Diamonds Bridge Club for 57 years and remained |
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involved in her sorority through the Dallas Alumnae chapter; and |
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WHEREAS, Lela Mae Wicks possessed a generosity of spirit that |
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expressed itself in myriad ways, and countless lives were forever |
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enriched by her warmth and kindness; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Lela Mae Hill Wicks |
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and extend deepest sympathy to the members of her family: to her |
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daughter, Candace Wicks; to her sister, Willie Sue Jefferson; to |
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her brother, William Earl Hill, and his wife, Joyce; to her |
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sister-in-law, Dorothy Johnson; to her godson, Daryl L. Jones; to |
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her aunt, Dora Neal; and to her other relatives and many friends; |
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and, be 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 Lela Mae |
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Hill Wicks. |
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Rose |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 1670 was unanimously adopted by a |
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rising vote of the House on May 1, 2013. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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