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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Edna Belle Pemberton passed away on April 13, 2025, |
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at the age of 81, leaving her family, friends, and neighbors to |
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reflect on her remarkable life and her many years of dedicated |
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service to Dallas's Oak Cliff community; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 27, 1944, Edna |
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Pemberton grew up as the youngest of nine children; she married the |
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love of her life, DarNell Pemberton, on September 19, 1964, and |
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together, they raised four daughters, Edna Jean, Rita, Lisa, and |
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Myra; the couple later relocated to Richmond, California, and |
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adopted eight nieces and nephews, becoming a family of 14; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Pemberton was employed as a manager at Kmart, |
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and she continued her career with the company after moving with her |
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family to Dallas, where she made her home in the Oak Cliff |
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neighborhood and became highly involved in civic life; through |
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Kmart, she initiated a number of school supply programs; she also |
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advocated for her employees by collaborating with the City of |
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Dallas and DART to establish Route 66, a bus line serving residents |
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of Oak Cliff; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the years, Mrs. Pemberton benefited numerous |
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people by organizing clothing giveaways for flood survivors, |
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establishing a citywide homeless program called Bridge Over |
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Troubled Water alongside her husband, and successfully campaigning |
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for a juvenile curfew ordinance to keep youth off the streets and |
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away from criminal activities; she was an active supporter of |
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several youth programs at Concord Church, and in the aftermath of |
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Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she organized members of her church and |
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coordinated with various agencies to help provide relief to |
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evacuees; in recognition of her efforts, FEMA offered her a job as a |
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volunteer liaison and credited her with aiding approximately 84,000 |
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people, many of whom subsequently relocated to Dallas; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Pemberton found time to serve other |
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organizations as well, among them Friends of Red Bird Airport, Camp |
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Wisdom Now, Operation Community Care, and Parkland Hospital; she |
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also held membership on the boards of the Martin Luther King Center |
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in South Dallas and the Dallas NAACP, which named a community award |
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in honor of her and her husband; together with Mr. Pemberton, she |
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established the group Positively Oak Cliff to help strengthen the |
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local economy and introduce valuable initiatives such as an |
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aviation education program for young teens at Red Bird Airport and |
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youth etiquette programs at Red Bird Mall; and |
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WHEREAS, In the later years of her life, Mrs. Pemberton was |
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deeply invested in maintaining and revitalizing Red Bird Mall, and |
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she was appointed by Mayor Tom Leppert to act as a liaison between |
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the mall's tenants and the City of Dallas as community officials |
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sought to save it from closure; she further volunteered her time as |
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a voter registrar and precinct chair, and in addition to receiving |
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several governor's awards, she had the distinction of carrying the |
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Olympic torch through Dallas in 1996; and |
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WHEREAS, Edna Pemberton was a woman of great compassion and |
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generosity who dedicated much of her life to serving the needs of |
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her community, and although she will be profoundly missed, her |
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legacy will live on in the hearts of the countless people touched by |
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her many good works; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Edna Belle |
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Pemberton and extend sincere sympathy to all those who mourn her |
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passing; and, be it 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 House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Edna |
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Pemberton. |