H.R. No. 2999
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Family and friends are mourning the loss of El Paso
businessman and civic leader Richard Nathan Azar, who died on May
21, 2009, at the age of 88; and
WHEREAS, Dick Azar was born in Clayton, New Mexico, on
January 13, 1921, to Nathan and Elizabeth Azar; he was a graduate of
Raton High School and went on to attend Trinidad State Junior
College and New Mexico Military Institute; and
WHEREAS, Answering his nation's call to duty during World War
II, Mr. Azar joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941; a bomber pilot
in the Pacific Theater, he once flew Eleanor Roosevelt on a Red
Cross tour; and
WHEREAS, A successful businessman in El Paso for many years,
Mr. Azar pursued a diversity of interests; the president of
Dickshire Coors Distributing for 34 years, he also spent 20 years in
the maquiladora industry in Juarez; in addition, he helped develop
a number of hotel projects in El Paso, and he owned a restaurant, a
forklift sales business, and a smoke shop; for two years in the
1950s, he owned a minor league baseball team, the El Paso Texans,
now known as the El Paso Diablos; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Azar never lost his passion for flying; he and
his wife, former El Paso mayor Suzie Azar, ran Blue Feather Aero
flight school, and Mr. Azar also helped found the Amigo Airsho in
1981; he continued to work as a flight instructor well into his
eighties; and
WHEREAS, A man of strong religious faith and civic
commitment, he was recognized by the Catholic Church in 1961 as an
outstanding Catholic layman; throughout his life, he was active in
dozens of community organizations; and
WHEREAS, Dick Azar lived a full and generous life, and
although he is no longer with us, he leaves behind many treasured
memories that will live forever in the hearts of those who knew and
loved him; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Richard Nathan Azar
and extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his
wife, Suzanne Azar; to his sons, Richard, Robert, and Greg Azar; to
his daughter, Cheryl McCown; to his stepdaughters, Christine and
Michelle Gardy; to his grandchildren, Richard N. Azar III, Ben,
Bryan, Robert, Steve, and Alan Azar, Kim Shepperd, Michelle and
James McCown, Dena McCown Belvin, Chantal, Gino, and Mateo
Guerrero, and Vinson Ratcliff; to his great-grandchildren,
Richard, Tucker, Carli, Traylor, Zizi, and Abbey Azar, John Ben and
Ava Shepperd, Jay and Josh McCown, and Lauren, Leslie, and Leah
Reynolds; 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 Dick Azar.
Chavez
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 2999 was unanimously adopted by a
rising vote of the House on June 1, 2009.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House