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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Dorothy Woodruff West of Longview, an esteemed civic |
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leader and a friend to many, passed away on April 30, 2025, at the |
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age of 85; and |
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WHEREAS, The former "Dot" Graves was born to Floyd and Audrey |
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Graves on September 12, 1939, in Atlanta; a 1958 graduate of |
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Marshall High School, she attended business school and was employed |
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by Southwestern Electric Power Company, where she met her husband, |
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Donald Ray Woodruff; they married in 1960 and lived in Marshall, |
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where they raised two children, Mike and Laura, and shared 35 happy |
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years before Mr. Woodruff's death; she was fortunate enough to find |
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love again and wed Jeff West Sr. in 1998; residents of Longview, the |
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couple spent a decade together until Mr. West's passing; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. West served as a secretary at Wesley United |
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Methodist Church in Marshall until 1980, when she was named |
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administrative secretary to the dean of student affairs at East |
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Texas Baptist University; she earned a bachelor's degree while |
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working full-time, and she subsequently became director of the |
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campus student center, bookstore, and post office; after obtaining |
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an MBA in 1995, she served as an adjunct professor of marketing; she |
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retired from ETBU in 2004; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the decades, Mrs. West made invaluable |
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contributions to her fellow citizens; she worked with the Marshall |
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Council of Camp Fire, and she received the Luther Halsey Gulick |
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Award for extraordinary council leadership; continuing to work with |
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youth, she formed the Rainbow Blue Birds Group for girls, and she |
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was presented with honorary life membership in the Texas Congress |
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of Parents and Teachers by the William B. Travis Elementary PTA of |
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Marshall; and |
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WHEREAS, Deeply dedicated to her family, her faith, and her |
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community, Dot West earned the lasting respect and admiration of |
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all who were privileged to know her; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 89th Texas Legislature, 1st |
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Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life of Dorothy Woodruff |
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West and extend heartfelt condolences to the members of her family: |
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to her children, Mike Woodruff and his wife, Thelma, and Laura |
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Woodruff; to her grandson, Josh West; to her nephews, Steve |
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Woodruff, Gil George, and Chris George, and her niece, Sheri |
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Eudaly; and to her many other relatives and friends; and, be it |
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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 Senate adjourns this |
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day, it do so in memory of Dot West. |