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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, San Antonio businessman Charles E. Williams Sr. has |
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earned the admiration of innumerable people as a pillar of the East |
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Side community; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Granger in 1937, Charles Williams grew up on |
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a farm and excelled as an athlete at the Crispus Attucks High |
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School; after graduating from Tyler Barber College, he moved to San |
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Antonio and rented a chair at Taylor's Barber Shop; he opened his |
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own establishment six years later and then became the first African |
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American to buy property on W. W. White Road; active in the civil |
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rights movement, he took part in marches, picket lines, and lunch |
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counter demonstrations; he also advocated for the renaming of |
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Nebraska Street in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Williams opened many successful businesses over |
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the years, including a beauty supply store, a catering company, and |
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a car wash, and he invested in residential real estate, as well; in |
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the early 1990s, he founded Williams Barber College, which became |
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an East Side institution, and he was appointed chair of the State |
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Board of Barber Examiners; he mentored many aspiring entrepreneurs |
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and eventually sold the school to a younger barber; dedicated to the |
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community, he served on the city's zoning commission; when he |
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opened the Landmark Coffee Shop in a renovated building in 2009, he |
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included community meeting space and displayed portraits of local |
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luminaries who had inspired his drive for excellence; he has |
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received numerous accolades through the years, and Charles Williams |
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Place street is named in his honor; and |
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WHEREAS, Charles Williams has proven himself a business and |
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civic leader of great vision and ability, and he may reflect with |
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pride on his successful efforts to make San Antonio's East Side an |
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even better place for all; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
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Legislature hereby honor Charles E. Williams Sr. for his |
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contributions to his community and extend to him sincere best |
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wishes for continued happiness; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Mr. Williams as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |