| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Port of Port Arthur commissioner Linda Turner Spears |
|
|
has greatly benefited the citizens of Southeast Texas through her |
|
|
exceptional record of civic engagement; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A veteran educator and Port Arthur native, |
|
|
Commissioner Spears is currently secretary/treasurer of the port; |
|
|
for two years, she served as president, becoming the first Black |
|
|
commissioner to hold that office; she is the founder of Camp |
|
|
Seaport, an educational program designed to introduce high school |
|
|
students to careers in the maritime industry; in 2010, the camp was |
|
|
honored by the American Association of Port Authorities for its |
|
|
success; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Commissioner Spears graduated from Thomas Jefferson |
|
|
High School in 1971 and attended Lamar University; she began her |
|
|
rewarding career in education as a teacher's aide in Germany before |
|
|
returning to Texas; for 17 years, she worked for the Port Arthur |
|
|
Independent School District as an instructional aide in the special |
|
|
education department; she then went on to earn her bachelor's and |
|
|
master's degrees as well as an associate of applied science degree; |
|
|
though she retired in 2015, she returned to the classroom three |
|
|
years later, and today she teaches 11th-grade students at Woodrow |
|
|
Wilson Early College High School; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Dedicated to her community, Commissioner Spears is a |
|
|
founding member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Support Group of |
|
|
Southeast Texas; a certified family life minister and a member of |
|
|
Greater Grace Temple Church of God in Christ, she serves as an |
|
|
evangelist missionary with the Texas Gulf Coast Ecclesiastical |
|
|
Jurisdiction; moreover, she was employed for seven years as the |
|
|
district coordinator for former state representative Joe Deshotel; |
|
|
she and her husband, Joseph Spears, shared a rewarding relationship |
|
|
until his passing in 2022; she is the proud mother of four children, |
|
|
and her treasured family also includes 11 grandchildren and 4 |
|
|
great-grandchildren; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Linda Turner Spears has made a lasting, positive |
|
|
difference in her community, and her outstanding accomplishments |
|
|
have earned the admiration and appreciation of countless area |
|
|
residents; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby honor Linda Turner Spears for her contributions |
|
|
to Port Arthur and Southeast Texas and extend to her sincere best |
|
|
wishes for the future; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Commissioner Spears as an expression of high regard by |
|
|
the Texas House of Representatives. |
| |
|
|
Manuel |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 2360 was adopted by the House on May |
|
|
29, 2023, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |