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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The life of a distinguished, world-renowned heart |
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surgeon drew to a close with the death of Dr. Denton Cooley of |
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Houston on November 18, 2016, at the age of 96; and |
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WHEREAS, Denton Arthur Cooley was born in Houston on August |
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22, 1920, to Mary and Ralph Cooley; he graduated from San Jacinto |
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High School and attended The University of Texas on a basketball |
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scholarship, competing on the team that won the Southwest |
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Conference championship in 1939; and |
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WHEREAS, After earning a degree in zoology in 1941, |
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Dr. Cooley began his medical training at The University of Texas |
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Medical Branch at Galveston and completed it at the Johns Hopkins |
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University School of Medicine in Baltimore, where he graduated with |
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highest honors in 1944; from 1946 to 1948, he served as a military |
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doctor in Linz, Austria, before returning to Baltimore; there he |
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met his future wife, a surgical nurse named Louise Thomas, and they |
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were married in 1949; the couple shared 67 years together, until her |
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death in October 2016, just one month before his; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Cooley completed his surgical residency under |
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Dr. Alfred Blalock, whom he assisted during the first "blue-baby" |
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operation; he went on to work at the Brompton Hospital in London, |
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taking part in the first intracardiac operations in England; |
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Dr. Cooley then returned to Houston, and for 18 years, he served as |
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a professor of surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine; in 1962, |
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he founded the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal |
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Hospital, and he was surgeon-in-chief there for more than four |
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decades, performing operations until he was 87 years old and |
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continuing to make rounds until the final year of his life; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Cooley greatly contributed to the development |
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of groundbreaking heart and cardiovascular surgical techniques, |
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including a method of reducing the need for blood transfusions |
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during open-heart surgeries as well as procedures for the repair |
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and replacement of heart valves and the treatment of cardiac |
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anomalies in children; in 1968, he performed the first successful |
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human heart transplant in the United States, and in 1969, he became |
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the first to implant an artificial heart in a human being; over the |
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years, he took part in some 120,000 open-heart surgeries; and |
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WHEREAS, Among his peers, Dr. Cooley was greatly admired for |
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his speed, dexterity, and grace under pressure; after watching him |
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operate, the great South African heart surgeon Dr. Christiaan |
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Barnard wrote, "It was the most beautiful surgery I had ever seen"; |
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Dr. Cooley authored more than 1,400 scientific papers and 12 books, |
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including 100,000 Hearts: A Surgeon's Memoir, and he was an |
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influential mentor to countless younger surgeons, some of whom went |
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on to found the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Cooley was recognized with honorary degrees |
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from many American and foreign universities and with prestigious |
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awards from surgical societies around the world; among the |
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facilities that bear his name are the student fitness center at |
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Johns Hopkins, the animal hospital at the Houston Zoo, the UT |
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basketball pavilion and student center, and a building at the UT |
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School of Dentistry at Houston; moreover, he received the Theodore |
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Roosevelt Award from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, |
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the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton, and |
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the nation's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, from |
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President Ronald Reagan; and |
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WHEREAS, A man of boundless energy and good humor, Dr. Cooley |
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delighted in the time he spent with his family at his Cool Acres |
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Ranch along the Brazos River, his water-ski shack on the San Jacinto |
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River, and his "CooleyBunkport" beach house in Galveston; he was |
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the proud father of five daughters, Mary Craddock, Susan Cooley, |
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Louise Davis, Helen Fraser, and the late Florence Talbot Cooley, |
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and his life was further enriched by his 16 grandchildren and 16 |
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great-grandchildren; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the course of a long and extraordinary career, |
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Denton Cooley dedicated himself to pioneering techniques that have |
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saved countless lives in operating theaters around the world, and |
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his passion, commitment, and innovation will continue to inspire |
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generations of surgeons who will remain forever in his debt; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Dr. Denton Cooley |
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and extend sincere sympathy to his family and many 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 his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Denton |
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Cooley. |