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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A rich and purposeful life drew to a close with the |
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death of educator, musician, and community activist Mariana Ornelas |
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of San Antonio on March 6, 2017, at the age of 67; and |
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WHEREAS, Mariana Ornelas was born to Thalia Girdis Sculos in |
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Framingham, Massachusetts, on September 18, 1949; after earning a |
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bachelor's degree in Spanish and French from Marietta College in |
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1971, she studied Latin American literature at the Universidad |
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Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City and fell in love with |
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Latin culture; for five years, she lived in Paraguay, where she |
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learned to play the harp; and |
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WHEREAS, Returning to the United States, Ms. Ornelas studied |
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public policy and citizen participation at Tufts University; it was |
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there that she met Willie Velasquez, the founder of the Southwest |
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Voter Registration Education Project, and after earning her |
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master's degree in 1982, she moved to San Antonio to work for the |
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organization; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Ornelas lived most of the rest of her life in San |
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Antonio, and as a professor of humanities and sociology at Palo Alto |
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College from 1997 until 2016, she taught the school's first Mexican |
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American women's studies courses and introduced her students to |
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civic and political leaders and musicians; and |
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WHEREAS, Active in the community, Ms. Ornelas served on the |
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boards of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center and other |
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organizations; she was a cofounder and president of the Dellview |
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Area Neighborhood Association, and later in life, she returned to |
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the study of the harp, often sharing her music with appreciative |
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audiences at churches and in nursing homes; and |
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WHEREAS, A gifted scholar and musician and a passionate |
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advocate for social justice, Mariana Ornelas devoted her life to |
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furthering the ideals she held dear, and she leaves behind a record |
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of compassion and civic engagement that will continue to inspire |
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all who knew her; 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 Mariana Ornelas and |
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extend heartfelt sympathy to her uncle, Constantine Rockas, to her |
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aunt, Dorothea Fotis, 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 Mariana |
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Ornelas. |