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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Residents of Austin lost a trailblazing journalist |
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and admired educator with the passing of Anita Walker Brewer Howard |
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on February 24, 2019, at the age of 94; and |
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WHEREAS, One of the first female reporters at the Austin |
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American-Statesman, Ms. Howard broke into the business during |
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World War II, as a student at The University of Texas; she was hired |
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to type up the society column and then got a job writing headlines |
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and filing police reports on the night shift; eloquent, personable, |
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and intrepid, she excelled as a reporter, covering politics and |
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education, as well as features; she interviewed everyone from |
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literary giant T. S. Eliot to federal judge Sarah T. Hughes, who |
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administered the presidential oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson |
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following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Howard advocated for the creation of a community |
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college in the state capital, and in 1973, the founding president of |
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Austin Community College recruited her from the Texas Higher |
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Education Coordinating Board to serve as public information |
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officer; the school's first employee, she worked tirelessly to |
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increase support for community college education; she was |
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instrumental in launching the ACC journalism department, and the |
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classes she taught were always full; an outstanding mentor, she was |
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especially encouraging to women writers; she retired in 2010, |
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following 37 years in both full- and part-time roles; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Lampasas on June 17, 1924, Ms. Howard |
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married Marion Weldon Brewer in 1944, and they became the parents of |
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six children, Jimmie, Gregory, Dale, Marion, Don, and Sue; her |
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first husband preceded her in death, as did her second and third |
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husbands, Donald Howard and Eugene Wukasch; she was survived by her |
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children, Marion, Don, and Sue, as well as six grandchildren and |
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many great-grandchildren; and |
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WHEREAS, Anita Howard helped expand the horizons of |
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innumerable people through her endeavors in journalism and |
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education, and those who were privileged to know her will forever |
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treasure their memories of her warmth, kindness, and keen insight; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Anita Walker Brewer |
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Howard and extend sincere condolences to her relatives and 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 Ms. Howard's family as an expression of high regard by |
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the Texas House of Representatives. |