Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HR1691 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.R. No. 1691
	1	+	84R17005 JGH-D
	2	+	By: Davis of Harris H.R. No. 1691
2	3
3	4
4	5		R E S O L U T I O N
5	6		WHEREAS, A life defined by extraordinary strength and
6	7		resilience drew to a close with the death of Walter Kase of Houston
7	8		on March 4, 2015, at the age of 85; and
8	9		WHEREAS, Walter Kase was born Wladyslaw Kasrylewicz on August
9	10		17, 1929, in Lodz, Poland, where his parents, Chaim and Evalina,
10	11		owned a dyeing factory and a commercial laundry; he grew up in a
11	12		happy and loving household enriched by music, shared meals, and the
12	13		celebration of the family's Jewish faith; and
13	14		WHEREAS, This idyllic boyhood was shattered in 1939, when
14	15		Germany invaded Poland; Mr. Kase's family lost their home and all
15	16		their possessions and were forced to live in the ghettos of Lodz and
16	17		Kielce; as the Nazis began their program of extermination, Mr. Kase
17	18		witnessed the murder of his little sister, Rysia, and he and his
18	19		parents were shipped in a packed freight car to the concentration
19	20		camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau; and
20	21		WHEREAS, Mr. Kase's mother was sent to another camp, and he
21	22		and his father kept each other alive throughout the war, first at
22	23		Auschwitz, then in the camps at Pionki, Sosnowiec, Dachau,
23	24		Bergen-Belsen, Mauthausen, and Gunskirchen, where they were
24	25		finally liberated by the United States Army on May 5, 1945;
25	26		Mr. Kase's father died of malnutrition shortly after the war, and,
26	27		all told, 70 members of his family were lost in the Holocaust; only
27	28		Mr. Kase, his mother, and a cousin in Sweden survived; and
28	29		WHEREAS, In 1947, Mr. Kase was one of 400 young Holocaust
29	30		survivors selected by the U.S. Children's Committee to begin a new
30	31		life in America, and he settled in Kansas City, Missouri; equipped
31	32		with a Polish-English dictionary, he taught himself the language
32	33		and worked through high school and junior college together in just
33	34		two years, ultimately landing a sales job with a wholesale costume
34	35		jewelry company; he also met an American girl at the Jewish
35	36		Community Center, and at the age of 20, he married Lila Greenstein;
36	37		around the same time, he was able to bring his mother to the United
37	38		States; and
38	39		WHEREAS, After serving proudly in the U.S. Army in Germany,
39	40		Mr. Kase moved to Houston with his wife, where they were blessed
40	41		with two children, Risha, who was named for his late sister, and
41	42		Kenneth; Mr. Kase resumed his career, expanding the company's
42	43		territory into Texas and Louisiana and becoming one of its most
43	44		successful sales representatives; he also became a silent partner
44	45		in an import company and eventually left his sales job to help run
45	46		the business full-time; he shared the last four decades of his life
46	47		with his second wife, Sylvia Christine Oshman; and
47	48		WHEREAS, After Mr. Kase retired in 1990, he devoted much of
48	49		the next 25 years to speaking to high school audiences about his
49	50		experiences during the Holocaust, and he shared with thousands of
50	51		students his hard-won wisdom about the effects of bigotry and
51	52		prejudice; his efforts earned him the St. Augustine Award from
52	53		St. Thomas University, the Houston Civil Rights Hero Award from the
53	54		Anti-Defamation League, a lifelong honorary membership from the
54	55		national commission of the ADL, and the State of Texas Governor's
55	56		Award for Volunteers, among many others; the ADL's annual Walter
56	57		Kase Teacher Excellence Award and the Walter Kase Commons at
57	58		Hamilton Middle School were named in his honor, and in 2011, he
58	59		received an honorary doctorate from the University of Houston for
59	60		his support of its graduate college of social work; he also served
60	61		on the board of the Houston Holocaust Museum; and
61	62		WHEREAS, Over the course of a remarkable life, Walter Kase
62	63		endured some of the worst cruelties that people can inflict on one
63	64		another, and yet he survived to become a loving father and husband,
64	65		a successful businessman, and a champion for freedom, tolerance,
65	66		and human dignity; now, therefore, be it
66	67		RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
67	68		Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Walter Kase and
68	69		extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his
69	70		wife, Sylvia Christine Kase; to his daughter, Risha Dozark, and her
70	71		husband, Patrick; to his son, Kenneth Kase, and his wife, Linda; to
71	72		his grandson, Daniel Dozark; to his stepdaughter, Heidi Massin, and
72	73		her husband, David; to his granddaughter, Kaitlyn Massin; to his
73	74		stepson, Randy Oshman; to his cousins, Sara Mankowitz and her
74	75		husband, Lennart, and Jonny Belchatowski; and to his many friends;
75	76		and, be it further
76	77		RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
77	78		prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
78	79		Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Walter
79	80		Kase.
80		-	Davis of Harris
81		-	______________________________
82		-	Speaker of the House
83		-	I certify that H.R. No. 1691 was unanimously adopted by a
84		-	rising vote of the House on April 23, 2015.
85		-	______________________________
86		-	Chief Clerk of the House