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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A full and generous life has drawn to a close with |
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the death of Dr. John Allen Ehrhardt of Dallas on February 1, 2017; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Houston in 1931, Jack Ehrhardt attended |
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Highland Park High School, where he served as captain of the |
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football team, and Rice University before earning his medical |
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degree at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School; |
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after interning at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, he |
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joined the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of captain; following |
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his military service, he received further medical training at |
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Tulane University and Hermann Hospital in Houston; he maintained a |
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successful private practice in East Dallas for more than 30 years, |
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and he also taught at UT Southwestern Medical School, which named |
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him professor emeritus; held in high regard among his peers, he |
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served as president of the Dallas Academy of Ophthalmology; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Ehrhardt shared 62 years of matrimony with the |
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Honorable Harryette Bushong Ehrhardt, a former member of the Texas |
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House of Representatives who survives him; he took great pride in |
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his five children and his extended family, Ginger Twichell and Sam |
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Leake, Taffy and Scott Nelson, Lynn and Mike O'Neal, John and |
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Melissa Ehrhardt, Katy Henderson, and Mike Twichell, and in his |
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later life, he was further blessed with 13 grandchildren and 4 |
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great-grandchildren; and |
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WHEREAS, Valuing ideals of diversity and inclusion, |
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Dr. Ehrhardt and his wife purchased and restored an old "hippie |
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commune" on Swiss Avenue in Dallas so that their children could |
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attend what was then the only naturally integrated high school in |
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the city; he also took special delight in Halloween, when he would |
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distribute candy to more than 3,000 children and voter registration |
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cards to their parents; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Ehrhardt was a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, and |
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the entire family attended games together; he was also a scuba |
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diver, an underwater photographer, and an inveterate traveler who |
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could lay claim to having visited every continent; among his prized |
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possessions was his collection of 400 owls, which were gifts from |
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grateful patients; and |
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WHEREAS, Jack Ehrhardt lived a life that was rich in both |
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accomplishments and lasting relationships, and his humanity, no |
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less than his achievements, will continue to inspire all those who |
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were fortunate enough to know him; now, 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. John Allen |
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Ehrhardt and extend heartfelt sympathy to his family and many |
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friends; and, be 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. John |
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Allen Ehrhardt. |