82R23381 KO-D
By: Miles H.R. No. 1510
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Glenda Faye Purham-Brown, the beloved mother of our
esteemed colleague Representative Ron Reynolds, passed away on
April 8, 2011, at the age of 54; and
WHEREAS, Born in Tennessee on July 26, 1956, to Louis and Mary
Purham, the former Glenda Purham graduated with honors from high
school and went on to attend Lane College, where she earned a degree
in business administration in 1978; she moved to Houston four years
later and worked as a legal assistant and office manager at several
prominent law firms; and
WHEREAS, Intent on becoming an attorney herself,
Ms. Purham-Brown relocated to Atlanta, where she earned a doctor of
jurisprudence degree from the Atlanta Law School in 1991; she was
admitted to the Georgia State Bar that same year and later to the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia;
after returning to Houston, she was admitted to practice before the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and
cofounded Brown, Brown & Reynolds, one of the largest and most
successful minority-owned law firms in the state; as one of the
firm's three name partners, she worked alongside her husband,
Conrell Brown, and her son, Ron Reynolds, and focused her practice
on social security disability; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Purham-Brown served her professional community
as a member of the Gate City Bar Association, the National Bar
Association, the National Organization of Social Security Claims
Representatives, the American Bar Association, and the Houston
Lawyers Association; moreover, she was an active member of the Beta
Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a service organization
that encourages the empowerment of women and advocates for basic
human rights; and
WHEREAS, In her free time, Ms. Purham-Brown found pleasure in
gourmet cooking and hosting gatherings of her family, which, in
addition to her husband and her son Ron, included her son Chris, her
daughter-in-law, Jonita, and her granddaughter, Lacey; a woman of
deep faith, she also drew support from her fellow congregants at
Brookhollow Baptist Church and found great joy in helping others;
and
WHEREAS, Glenda Purham-Brown was a woman of strength and
compassion whose belief in overcoming injustice through faith,
education, and determination will long inspire all those who had
the good fortune to share in her life; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Glenda Faye
Purham-Brown and extend sincere sympathy to her family: to her
husband, Conrell Brown; to her sons, Ronald Reynolds II and his
wife, Dr. Jonita Reynolds, and Christopher Brown; to her
granddaughter, Lacey Reynolds; to her parents, the Reverend Louis
Purham and Mary Purham; to her brothers, the Reverend Aaron
L. Purham and his wife, Deborah, the Reverend Reginald Purham and
his wife, Corrie, and Sidney Purham; to her sisters, Patricia
A. Baldwin, Antoinette Windham and her husband, Audrey, and Arnita
F. Lovett and her husband, Sam; to her godchildren, Morgan Miller,
Ryian Reed, Vaughn Veal, and Haven Williams; to her niece and
closest friend, Marceil Veal; and to her many other relatives and
friends; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Glenda
Purham-Brown.