Texas SR 201: Recognizing February 26, 2019, as Texas Pharmacy Day.

Bill Text

89(R) SR 201 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

  

  

  

   

 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 201

  

  

   

 In Memory

   

 of

   

 William Lawson

  

   

        WHEREAS, Residents of Houston lost a giant of the civil 

  

 rights movement and visionary community leader with the passing 

  

 of the Reverend William A. Lawson on May 14, 2024, at the age of 

  

 95; and

  

  

        WHEREAS, In 1962, while serving as director of the Baptist 

  

 Student Union at Texas Southern University, Reverend Lawson 

  

 established Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, which became a center 

  

 for students engaged in nonviolent protests against 

  

 discrimination; he befriended Martin Luther King Jr., inviting 

  

 him to speak at the church; Reverend Lawson chartered the Houston 

  

 chapter of Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 

  

 which he would lead for more than three decades; in the midst of 

  

 upheaval across the nation, he quietly met with local business 

  

 leaders, slipping through the back door of the whites-only Rice 

  

 Hotel; his serenity, compassion, and unfailing good humor were 

  

 crucial in bringing people together and maintaining calm during 

  

 the swift desegregation of public facilities; and

  

  

        WHEREAS, Reverend Lawson worked with other prominent faith 

  

 leaders to address challenges confronting the city, among them 

  

 homelessness, racism, and antisemitism; he persuaded other local 

  

 religious institutions to commit to community development, and 

  

 he set an example by including women as deacons and trustees of 

  

 his church; even after retiring, he remained a tireless champion 

  

 of the vulnerable and disenfranchised; the congregation named 

  

 him founding pastor emeritus, and among myriad other accolades, 

  

 the William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity was 

  

 established in his honor; he received honorary doctorates from 

  

 Howard Payne University, the University of Houston, and TSU; and

  

  

        WHEREAS, The son of William Lawson Sr. and Clarisse Riggs, 

  

 Bill Lawson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 28, 1928; he 

  

 was raised with three siblings in Kansas City, Kansas, by his 

  

 mother and her second husband, Walter Cade; after graduating from 

  

 Tennessee State University, he went on to complete a bachelor's 

  

 and master's degree at Central Baptist Theological Seminary; on 

  

 January 30, 1954, he married the former Audrey Hoffman, and they 

  

 were blessed with four children, Melanie, Cheryl, Eric, and 

  

 Roxanne; he was preceded in death by his beloved wife and son; and

  

  

        WHEREAS, Reverend Lawson left an indelible imprint on the 

  

 city of Houston, and although he will be deeply missed, he will 

  

 remain a source of enduring inspiration to all who were 

  

 privileged to know him; now, therefore, be it

  

  

        RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th 

  

 Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the life of the Reverend 

  

 William A. Lawson and extend sincere condolences to all who mourn 

  

 his passing; and, be it further

  

  

        RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be 

  

 prepared for his family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns 

  

 this day, it do so in memory of William Lawson.

  

  

 Miles, Alvarado, Birdwell

  

 Cook, Eckhardt, West

  

  

  

  

  

 ____________________________________________________________ 

  

      Member, Texas Senate               Member, Texas Senate

  

  

  

  

 ____________________________________________________________ 

  

      Member, Texas Senate               Member, Texas Senate

  

  

  

  

 ____________________________________________________________ 

  

      Member, Texas Senate               Member, Texas Senate

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
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