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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A full and generous life drew to a close with the |
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death of Donald Benjamin Fielding of Dallas, who passed away on |
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January 20, 2017, at the age of 94; and |
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WHEREAS, Donald Fielding was born in Dallas on July 7, 1922; |
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he graduated from Forest Avenue High School as valedictorian at the |
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age of 15, and that same year he enrolled in the Wharton School at |
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the University of Pennsylvania, in pursuit of a career in the |
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foreign service; and |
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WHEREAS, After graduating from the Wharton School in 1942, |
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Mr. Fielding attended the University of Havana briefly before his |
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induction into the U.S. Army; he attended the Infantry Officer |
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Candidate School and went on to serve as an operations and training |
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staff officer until his discharge at the rank of second lieutenant |
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in 1946; and |
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WHEREAS, Following his return to Dallas, Mr. Fielding joined |
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the family business, National Shoes, where he worked for 42 years, |
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opening several additional locations in 1958, 1968, and 1977; |
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National Shoes was the oldest family-owned business in downtown |
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Dallas at the time, and, thanks to Mr. Fielding, the first downtown |
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retail establishment to hire an African American salesman; the |
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business also joined with a charity, Brother Bill's Helping Hand, |
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to provide shoes to needy children; and |
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WHEREAS, A powerful voice in Dallas politics from the 1960s |
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until the 1990s, Mr. Fielding took a particular interest in |
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education; he played a leading role in the establishment of the |
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Citizens' Committee for Better Schools and the League for |
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Educational Advancement in Dallas, which provided textbooks to poor |
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and underserved students in South and West Dallas, and he founded |
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Operation Employment, a Neighborhood Youth Corps project that |
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helped school dropouts obtain meaningful and productive work; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Fielding also helped found Citizens for |
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Representative Government, a group that was instrumental in pushing |
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for single-member districts; an active participant in the civil |
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rights movement, he marched for the integration of the Piccadilly |
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Cafeteria; he held several leadership positions in the Boy Scouts |
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of America, including chair of the High Trail Scout District, and he |
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started the first Hispanic Boy Scout troop in West Dallas; |
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moreover, he was the author of a book, Assassination and Education: |
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A Guide to Dallas; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Fielding married Virginia Lee Tipton in 1950, |
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and they shared a rewarding union that spanned 63 years, until her |
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death in 2013; the couple were the proud parents of four children, |
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Ronnie, Linda, B. Donald, and Paul, and they were blessed with many |
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grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and |
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WHEREAS, A devoted family man and an engaged citizen, Donald |
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Fielding lived a life rich with purpose, and he leaves behind a |
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record of service that his loved ones can remember with pride; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Donald Benjamin |
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Fielding and extend sincere condolences to his relatives and |
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friends; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Donald |
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Fielding. |