| 2 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 3 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
|---|
| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Family and friends will forever feel the loss of |
|---|
| 6 | 7 | | Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper David Irvine Rucker, who |
|---|
| 7 | 8 | | died in the line of duty on September 29, 1981, at the age of 37; and |
|---|
| 8 | 9 | | WHEREAS, Trooper Rucker was shot and killed during the course |
|---|
| 9 | 10 | | of a traffic stop; he left behind a wife and three children; and |
|---|
| 10 | 11 | | WHEREAS, Born in Brownsville on October 21, 1943, David |
|---|
| 11 | 12 | | Rucker was the son of Bracht and Hazel Dawn Rucker; he grew up in |
|---|
| 12 | 13 | | Homestead, Florida, where he graduated from South Dade High School |
|---|
| 13 | 14 | | in 1963; he studied liberal arts at Texas Southmost College in |
|---|
| 14 | 15 | | Brownsville and went on to graduate from the Dade County Police |
|---|
| 15 | 16 | | Academy; from 1966 to 1968, he served as a patrol officer in the |
|---|
| 16 | 17 | | Homestead Police Department; and |
|---|
| 17 | 18 | | WHEREAS, On September 15, 1969, Mr. Rucker took the oath of |
|---|
| 18 | 19 | | the Texas State Highway Patrol; he was appointed patrolman in 1973, |
|---|
| 19 | 20 | | and that same year, he was promoted to patrolman II; at the time of |
|---|
| 20 | 21 | | his death, he was assigned to Region 3 in Port Isabel; and |
|---|
| 21 | 22 | | WHEREAS, In 1997, a memorial was placed at the site of Trooper |
|---|
| 22 | 23 | | Rucker's death, and a street was renamed in his honor in Isla Blanca |
|---|
| 23 | 24 | | Park on South Padre Island; the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center |
|---|
| 24 | 25 | | near Olmito bears his name, and in 2012, the Texas Department of |
|---|
| 25 | 26 | | Public Safety named a river patrol boat in Trooper Rucker's memory; |
|---|
| 26 | 27 | | and |
|---|
| 27 | 28 | | WHEREAS, Though David Rucker was taken far too soon, his |
|---|
| 28 | 29 | | legacy of public service and devotion to his family will continue to |
|---|
| 29 | 30 | | inspire all those who hold him close in their hearts; now, |
|---|
| 30 | 31 | | therefore, be it |
|---|
| 31 | 32 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
|---|
| 32 | 33 | | Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of David Irvine Rucker |
|---|
| 33 | 34 | | and extend heartfelt sympathy to his family and many friends; and, |
|---|
| 34 | 35 | | be it further |
|---|
| 35 | 36 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|---|
| 36 | 37 | | prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|---|
| 37 | 38 | | Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of David |
|---|
| 38 | 39 | | Irvine Rucker. |
|---|