81R15072 JGH-D
By: Deshotel H.R. No. 1057
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Family, friends, and fellow residents are mourning
the loss of civil rights activist and community leader James A.
Roberts of Orange, who died on February 3, 2009, at the age of 65;
and
WHEREAS, "Zay" Roberts was born in Geneva, Texas, and
graduated from Emma H. Wallace High School in Orange in 1962; he
went on to attend Lamar University; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Roberts worked for many years at the former
Orange Memorial Hospital, and in more recent years, he was a sales
representative at a local Ford dealership; and
WHEREAS, This esteemed Texan distinguished himself as the
first African American to serve as president of the local chapter of
the American Heart Association and of the Orange County Council on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse; he was also the first African American
member of Gideons International in the Golden Triangle area; and
WHEREAS, Long active in the struggle for civil rights, Mr.
Roberts organized the first annual Martin Luther King Day March in
Orange in 1986 and continued to do so every year since; he served as
vice president of the Texas NAACP and as president of the Orange
chapter; moreover, he was president of the local chapter of the
Texas Coalition of Black Democrats and he was a delegate to local,
state, and national conventions of the Democratic Party; and
WHEREAS, A man of strong religious faith, Mr. Roberts was a
longtime member of Salem United Methodist Church, expressing his
devotion as a lay leader, Sunday school superintendent, treasurer,
and chair of the Board of Missions; a member of United Methodist
Men, he was the first African American from his area to serve as a
delegate to the church's Jurisdictional and General Conference; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Roberts also worked to raise money for the
United Negro College Fund, the March of Dimes, and the American
Heart Association, coached Little League football, and was active
with the Boy Scouts; and
WHEREAS, Energetic, generous, and impassioned, James Roberts
dedicated his life to the causes in which he believed, and his many
contributions will long resonate in the community of Orange and
beyond; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of James A. Roberts and
extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his
brothers, Truman B. Ikner, Billy Roberts, Jerry Roberts, and Johnny
Roberts; to his sister, Shirley Hooper; to his stepmother, Doris
Swindle; to his aunt, Dainer B. Edwards; to his close friend of 34
years, Betty Wade; and to his other 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 James A.
Roberts.