|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
WHEREAS, The death of former state representative Lauro Cruz |
|
on January 29, 2017, at the age of 83, concluded a remarkable life |
|
of service; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born in Beaumont on May 20, 1933, Lauro Cruz was the |
|
son of Manuel Cruz and Margarita Menchaca Cruz; he grew up in |
|
Houston, where he took on adult responsibilities as a boy, |
|
selecting and buying produce for the family grocery store; during |
|
the Korean War, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and on his |
|
return, he applied for a job with the Houston Metropolitan Transit |
|
Authority; he met with significant resistance, but persevered to |
|
become the agency's first Mexican American bus driver; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Cruz purchased a grocery store in the Sixth Ward |
|
while working his way through school; he completed his bachelor's |
|
degree in political science at the University of Houston and went on |
|
to attend South Texas College of Law; recognizing the need for |
|
greater Hispanic representation in the political process, he ran |
|
successfully for precinct judge, and he participated in the 1966 |
|
Farmworkers March; that same year, he won a seat in the Texas House |
|
as the first Mexican American legislator elected from Harris County |
|
in over a century and a quarter; a tireless champion of minorities |
|
and the struggle for social justice, he coauthored the first |
|
minimum wage bill in Texas, strove to ensure the rights of farm and |
|
migrant workers, and secured the passage of a migrant |
|
transportation bill; he was also instrumental in the passage of a |
|
measure regulating hazardous substances in the state; and |
|
WHEREAS, With a young family to support, Mr. Cruz left the |
|
legislature after three terms, and in 1972, he became a special |
|
assistant to Governor Dolph Briscoe; he later served as executive |
|
director of the Greater South Texas Cultural Basin Commission and |
|
led the Texas Good Neighbor Commission; subsequently, he became one |
|
of the state's first independent Hispanic lobbyists, and he helped |
|
educate young Texans about politics and the Mexican American |
|
experience as founder of the Innovation 88 Leadership Program at |
|
the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of |
|
Texas at Austin, where he taught during the late 1980s and early |
|
1990s; in addition, he served as president of the U.S. State |
|
Department—affiliated International Hospitality Council; his many |
|
accolades included the National Benito Juarez—Lincoln Award for |
|
his contributions to the progress of Mexican Americans; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Cruz shared a fulfilling marriage of more than |
|
61 years with his college sweetheart, Clarice Cruz; he was the |
|
father of four treasured children, Chris, Camille, Jerry, and Sat |
|
Nam, and he took great pride in his three grandchildren, Lucas |
|
Tenbrook and Kasey and Cody Cruz; a man of faith, he was a longtime |
|
member of the Lutheran church; and |
|
WHEREAS, Deeply committed to building a more just and |
|
equitable society, Lauro Cruz set an inspiring example of |
|
leadership, and his achievements have helped to better the lives of |
|
countless Texans; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of the Honorable Lauro |
|
Cruz and extend sincere sympathy to his family and friends; and, be |
|
it further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of the |
|
Honorable Lauro Cruz. |