81R12021 BPG-D
By: Darby H.R. No. 899
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The city of San Angelo lost a remarkable
philanthropist with the death of Eva Camunez Tucker on June 24,
2007, at the age of 96; and
WHEREAS, Born in San Angelo on April 9, 1911, the former Eva
Camunez was the daughter of Josefa and Reynaldo Camunez; they sent
her to Incarnate Word Academy in San Antonio because of segregation
in local schools, but eventually prevailed on San Angelo High
School to admit her; she became its first Hispanic graduate and went
on to earn her teaching certificate from Angelo State University;
and
WHEREAS, This gifted educator began her career in Mertzon;
the town hired her to teach Mexican American children, but she could
find no place to live there, so sheepshearers transported her from
her residence in San Angelo; after moving on to Ballinger, she was
soon promoted to the post of principal; she served her country
during World War II as a mail censor and then as a translator for the
state department in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, On December 30, 1948, she married Art Tucker, an
independent oilman; the couple settled in Ballinger, where Mrs.
Tucker began running the office for her husband, a responsibility
she carried out for nearly three decades; the couple relocated to
Lueders after buying a refinery and enjoyed a rewarding marriage
until Mr. Tucker's death in 1975; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Tucker returned to San Angelo in 1976 and built
her husband's legacy into a sizeable fortune through her skill as an
investor; she lived modestly in the home her father had built and
donated millions of dollars to religious, educational, and
charitable causes, as well as to the arts; Mrs. Tucker created the
Up and Coming Scholars program at San Angelo State and provided
funds not only to her own beloved St. Joseph Catholic Church, but
also to churches around the state and in other countries; and
WHEREAS, The myriad beneficiaries of the Art and Eva Camunez
Tucker Foundation included the West Texas Rehabilitation Center,
the San Angelo Symphony, the Concho Valley Home for Girls, and the
West Texas Collection of San Angelo University; Mrs. Tucker was a
patron to such West Texas artists as painter Rene Alvarado and
sculptor Raul Ruiz, from whom she commissioned a bronze statue of
sheepshearers for ASU in gratitude and remembrance of the men who
had brought her to and from her classroom in Mertzon so many years
before; and
WHEREAS, Beloved by her community, Mrs. Tucker was named
Citizen of the Year by the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce in 1995
and received numerous other accolades, among them ASU's first
honorary doctorate and designation by the Women's Chamber of
Commerce of Texas as one of the Texas Women of the Century; she was
invested in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the second
highest and second oldest of papal orders, and was named a papal
lady, the highest award a Catholic laywoman can receive; and
WHEREAS, Eva Tucker earned the lasting admiration of her
community as a benefactor and as a role model, and throughout her
life, she inspired others with her devotion, generosity, and caring
nature; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Eva Camunez Tucker and
that when the Texas House of Representatives adjourns this day, it
do so in memory of Eva Camunez Tucker.