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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Port of Port Arthur commissioner Linda Turner Spears |
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has greatly benefited the citizens of Southeast Texas through her |
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exceptional record of civic engagement; and |
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WHEREAS, A veteran educator and Port Arthur native, |
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Commissioner Spears is currently secretary/treasurer of the port; |
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for two years, she served as president, becoming the first Black |
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commissioner to hold that office; she is the founder of Camp |
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Seaport, an educational program designed to introduce high school |
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students to careers in the maritime industry; in 2010, the camp was |
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honored by the American Association of Port Authorities for its |
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success; and |
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WHEREAS, Commissioner Spears graduated from Thomas Jefferson |
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High School in 1971 and attended Lamar University; she began her |
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rewarding career in education as a teacher's aide in Germany before |
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returning to Texas; for 17 years, she worked for the Port Arthur |
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Independent School District as an instructional aide in the special |
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education department; she then went on to earn her bachelor's and |
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master's degrees as well as an associate of applied science degree; |
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though she retired in 2015, she returned to the classroom three |
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years later, and today she teaches 11th-grade students at Woodrow |
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Wilson Early College High School; and |
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WHEREAS, Dedicated to her community, Commissioner Spears is a |
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founding member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Support Group of |
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Southeast Texas; a certified family life minister and a member of |
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Greater Grace Temple Church of God in Christ, she serves as an |
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evangelist missionary with the Texas Gulf Coast Ecclesiastical |
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Jurisdiction; moreover, she was employed for seven years as the |
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district coordinator for former state representative Joe Deshotel; |
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she and her husband, Joseph Spears, shared a rewarding relationship |
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until his passing in 2022; she is the proud mother of four children, |
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and her treasured family also includes 11 grandchildren and 4 |
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great-grandchildren; and |
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WHEREAS, Linda Turner Spears has made a lasting, positive |
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difference in her community, and her outstanding accomplishments |
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have earned the admiration and appreciation of countless area |
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residents; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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Legislature hereby honor Linda Turner Spears for her contributions |
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to Port Arthur and Southeast Texas and extend to her sincere best |
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wishes for the future; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Commissioner Spears as an expression of high regard by |
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the Texas House of Representatives. |