83R12628 JGH-D
By: Guillen H.R. No. 879
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, An exemplary life devoted to family, faith, and
public service came to an untimely end with the death of Tommy Dean
Shearrer of Pleasanton on October 10, 2012, at the age of 56; and
WHEREAS, Tommy Shearrer was born to Carl Dean and Beverly
Gail Matthews Shearrer on September 26, 1956; raised on the Perry
Feeder's dairy farm, he attended Pleasanton schools, where he was a
leading member of FFA, serving as the organization's state
president; he went on to attend Southwest Texas State University;
and
WHEREAS, In 1977, Mr. Shearrer married his high school
sweetheart, the former Sharon Lynn Yow, and they shared a loving
relationship for 35 years; they were blessed with two sons, Wesley
and Matthew; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of his career in agriculture, Mr.
Shearrer raised cattle with his family and worked for many years
with the Wilco Peanut Company as a buyer in Jourdanton; he also
established Simco Construction, which has been building homes and
offices in South Texas for three decades; and
WHEREAS, A fifth-generation son of the Pleasanton area, Mr.
Shearrer was a leader in his community for most of his life; he
served as an Atascosa County commissioner for eight years, and he
also served as president of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce and
the Pleasanton Airport Board, as a director of the Pleasanton
Cowboy Homecoming Association and Texas AgFinance, and as a member
of the Alamo Area Council of Governments and the Evergreen
Underground Water Conservation District; and
WHEREAS, In recent years, Mr. Shearrer had become a leading
advocate of weather modification research and technology, serving
as president of the South Texas Weather Modification Association,
the Texas Weather Modification Association, and the National
Weather Modification Association; he had been interviewed about
cloud seeding on the ABC News program Nightline, and he was featured
in the critically acclaimed documentary Owning the Weather; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Shearrer was also a man of deep religious faith;
he helped found Gateway Church in Pleasanton, serving as an elder
and a Sunday school teacher; he was respected and admired by his
fellow congregants as a man who lived according to his beliefs and
ideals and who was able to express his faith in a frank and
plainspoken way; and
WHEREAS, Though it is impossible to gauge the full effect of
one man's life, some individuals leave their unmistakable mark on
the world as they move through it, and Tommy Shearrer has left
behind a legacy that will long resonate in the lives of all who knew
him; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Tommy Dean Shearrer
and extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his
wife, Sharon Shearrer; to his parents, Carl Dean "Tinker" and
Beverly Shearrer; to his sons, Wesley Dean Shearrer and his wife,
Magen, and Matthew Wright Shearrer and his wife, Amanda; to his
brothers, Randy Shearrer and his wife, Sharon, and Justin Shearrer
and his wife, Natalie; to his in-laws, Dan and Dorothy Yow, Johnny
and Mary Yow, Sheryl and Artie Armstrong, and Sandra and Larry
Wheeler; to his nieces and nephews, Megan and James Martin, Mindy
and Mark Giebel, Melany, Cody, Sadie, and Jason Shearrer, Jimmy and
Kandace Bartosh, Jennifer and Chad Wheat, Roper and Amber Yow,
Sheila and Kody Babb, Rowdy and Nikki Yow, Brandy and Clint Smith,
Bodie Armstrong, and Lauren Eickstead; 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 Tommy Dean
Shearrer.