HLS 201ES-44 ORIGINAL
2020 First Extraordinary Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 9
BY REPRESENTATIVES DAVIS, BAGLEY, BRASS, HILFERTY, JAMES, LACOMBE,
MAGEE, PIERRE, SCHEXNAYDER, STAGNI, AND TURNER AND
SENATORS FOIL, MCMATH, AND WARD
CONDOLENCES: Expresses condolences on the death of Samir Salman, accomplished
civil engineer and distinguished LSU alumnus
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To express sincere and heartfelt condolences upon the death of Samir Salman, accomplished
3 civil engineer and distinguished alumnus of Louisiana State University.
4 WHEREAS, Samir Shamoun Salman died peacefully at his home in Baton Rouge
5surrounded by his loving wife and children on May 27, 2020, after a courageous and
6characteristically tenacious battle with cancer; and
7 WHEREAS, Samir was born to the late Maria Aslan Salman and Shamoun Salman
8on April 1, 1940, in Zahlé, Lebanon; and
9 WHEREAS, after graduating from secondary school in Damascus, Syria, Samir
10worked for four years as a teacher of mathematics and logic and as a soccer coach in order
11to save enough money to come to America in 1963 to study engineering at Louisiana State
12University; and
13 WHEREAS, though Samir essentially spoke no English at all when he arrived in
14Baton Rouge, with incredible determination, he graduated from LSU in 1966, having
15completed in three years a bachelor of science in civil engineering degree program that
16typically took at least five years for most students to finish; and
17 WHEREAS, Samir's distinguished career in engineering began at the agency that was
18then known as the Louisiana Department of Highways, where he worked on the Atchafalaya
19Basin Bridge project and gained experience in the design of major structures, structural
20support systems, and bridge inspection procedures; and
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1 WHEREAS, in 1973, Samir moved overseas to manage large-scale road and bridge
2projects in the Middle East and Turkey; his exceptional talents and knowledge of languages,
3laws, local customs, international construction codes, geography, and geology positioned
4him well to lead globally significant infrastructure projects, which he would do for the
5remainder of a long and productive career; and
6 WHEREAS, beginning in the mid-1970s, Samir led the design and construction of
7the first road to connect the Arabian Gulf by land to the Arabian Sea and also supervised the
8construction of numerous major structures in fast-growing urban areas of Saudi Arabia; and
9 WHEREAS, after coming out of a brief first retirement in 1988, Samir embarked on
10what was perhaps his greatest engineering achievement: building, over the course of twelve
11years, the first of the Trans-European Motorways, a dual three-lane highway through Turkey
12which links Europe to the Middle East; and
13 WHEREAS, a part of this road, the one hundred sixty mile long
14Tarsus-Adana-Gaziantep Motorway in southeastern Turkey, built through an active seismic
15zone and featuring eleven concrete and steel viaducts, one of which is forty-five stories high
16and the third-tallest in Europe, is regarded as a marvel of modern civil engineering; and
17 WHEREAS, while working in Baton Rouge before he embarked on his international
18career, Samir met and married the love of his life, Rita Mae Pizzolatto, a dental hygienist
19and Loyola University New Orleans graduate originally of Houma; and
20 WHEREAS, Rita and Samir would both recall fondly the days of their courtship
21when he introduced her to traditional Lebanese cuisine, which he prepared himself as foods
22such as yogurt and hummus were not yet common here, and brought her to see Louisiana's
23first high-mast road lighting, which he had built, on Airline Highway; and
24 WHEREAS, Rita and Samir were married on February 24, 1973, at Christ the King
25Catholic Church on the LSU campus and they later welcomed into the world a daughter,
26Samira Anne, and a son, Sammer Joseph; and
27 WHEREAS, the couple raised their children both in Baton Rouge and abroad, living
28for periods in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, with shorter
29stints in Syria and the United Kingdom, the children attending school for a time in
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HCR NO. 9
1Switzerland, and they enjoyed the wonders and navigated the challenges of making the
2world their home; and
3 WHEREAS, Samir did not live only to work; he loved to dance and to khafla often
4with friends and family; and
5 WHEREAS, he and Rita hosted countless gatherings of family and good friends and
6they delighted in treating people to good times and wonderful food, serving homemade
7Lebanese fare and classic Louisiana Italian dishes in abundance and with love; and
8 WHEREAS, Samir finally retired in the early 2000s, settled permanently with Rita
9in Baton Rouge, and treasured time with his children, whom he loved fiercely, as they each
10finished their education at LSU and went on to careers in Texas and New York City; and
11 WHEREAS, among his greatest pleasures in his later years were doting on his two
12beautiful grandchildren, seeing his family find happiness and success, and, as a man who had
13come to love American football and also lived in the Tiger Stadium dormitory long ago,
14relishing the LSU football team's amazing performances and national championships; and
15 WHEREAS, left to cherish his memory are his loved ones in the United States,
16Turkey, Syria, Sweden, and the Netherlands: his devoted wife of forty-seven years, Rita
17Pizzolatto Salman; his daughter, son, and daughter-in-law, Samira, Sammer, and Brooke
18Dickerson Salman; grandson and granddaughter Felix and Clara Salman; brother Elie
19Salman; sisters Maha Salman Aras, Huda Salman Saliba, and Muna Salman Gabriel;
20numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, and other beloved members of his extended family; and
21a host of close friends around the world including many engineering colleagues.
22 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
23express sincere and heartfelt condolences upon the death of Samir Salman; does hereby
24recognize his many accomplishments; and does hereby record his singular contributions and
25achievements, which will forever be a source of pride and honor for his family.
26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
27to the family of Samir Salman.
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HCR NO. 9
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 9 Original 2020 First Extraordinary Session Davis
Expresses the condolences of the legislature on the death of Samir Salman.
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