TITLE: In memory of Donald Benjamin Fielding of Dallas.

SUMMARY: In memory of Donald Benjamin Fielding of Dallas.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, A full and generous life drew to a close with the death of Donald Benjamin Fielding of Dallas, who passed away on January 20, 2017, at the age of 94; and WHEREAS, Donald Fielding was born in Dallas on July 7, 1922; he graduated from Forest Avenue High School as valedictorian at the age of 15, and that same year he enrolled in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, in pursuit of a career in the foreign service; and WHEREAS, After graduating from the Wharton School in 1942, Mr. Fielding attended the University of Havana briefly before his induction into the U.S. Army; he attended the Infantry Officer Candidate School and went on to serve as an operations and training staff officer until his discharge at the rank of second lieutenant in 1946; and WHEREAS, Following his return to Dallas, Mr. Fielding joined the family business, National Shoes, where he worked for 42 years, opening several additional locations in 1958, 1968, and 1977; National Shoes was the oldest family-owned business in downtown Dallas at the time, and, thanks to Mr. Fielding, the first downtown retail establishment to hire an African American salesman; the business also joined with a charity, Brother Bill's Helping Hand, to provide shoes to needy children; and WHEREAS, A powerful voice in Dallas politics from the 1960s until the 1990s, Mr. Fielding took a particular interest in education; he played a leading role in the establishment of the Citizens' Committee for Better Schools and the League for Educational Advancement in Dallas, which provided textbooks to poor and underserved students in South and West Dallas, and he founded Operation Employment, a Neighborhood Youth Corps project that helped school dropouts obtain meaningful and productive work; and WHEREAS, Mr. Fielding also helped found Citizens for Representative Government, a group that was instrumental in pushing for single-member districts; an active participant in the civil rights movement, he marched for the integration of the Piccadilly Cafeteria; he held several leadership positions in the Boy Scouts of America, including chair of the High Trail Scout District, and he started the first Hispanic Boy Scout troop in West Dallas; moreover, he was the author of a book, Assassination and Education: A Guide to Dallas;and WHEREAS, Mr. Fielding married Virginia Lee Tipton in 1950, and they shared a rewarding union that spanned 63 years, until her death in 2013; the couple were the proud parents of four children, Ronnie, Linda, B. Donald, and Paul, and they were blessed with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and WHEREAS, A devoted family man and an engaged citizen, Donald Fielding lived a life rich with purpose, and he leaves behind a record of service that his loved ones can remember with pride; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Donald Benjamin Fielding and extend sincere condolences to his relatives 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 Donald Fielding. Button Burkett Villalba Meyer Straus Goldman Oliverson Allen Gonzales of Williamson Ortega Alonzo Gonz lez of El Paso Paddie Alvarado Gooden Parker Anchia Guerra Paul Anderson of Dallas Guillen Perez Anderson of McLennan Gutierrez Phelan Ar valo Hefner Phillips Ashby Hernandez Pickett Bailes Herrero Price Bell Hinojosa Raney Bernal Holland Raymond Biedermann Howard Reynolds Blanco Huberty Rinaldi Bohac Hunter Roberts Bonnen of Brazoria Isaac Rodriguez of Bexar Bonnen of Galveston Israel Rodriguez of Travis Burkett Johnson of Dallas Romero, Jr. Burns Johnson of Harris Rose Burrows Kacal Sanford Button Keough Schaefer Cain King of Hemphill Schofield Canales King of Parker Schubert Capriglione King of Uvalde Shaheen Clardy Klick Sheffield Coleman Koop Shine Collier Krause Simmons Cook Kuempel Smithee Cortez Lambert Springer Cosper Landgraf Stephenson Craddick Lang Stickland Cyrier Larson Stucky Dale Laubenberg Swanson Darby Leach Thierry Davis of Dallas Longoria Thompson of Brazoria Davis of Harris Lozano Thompson of Harris Dean Lucio III Tinderholt Deshotel Martinez Turner Dukes Metcalf Uresti Dutton Meyer VanDeaver Elkins Miller Villalba Faircloth Minjarez Vo Fallon Moody Walle Farrar Morrison White Flynn Mu oz, Jr. Wilson Frank Murphy Workman Frullo Murr Wray Geren Neave Wu Gervin-Hawkins Nev rez Zedler Giddings Oliveira Zerwas Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 405 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the House on February 14, 2017. Chief Clerk of the House