89R25041 BK-D
By: Y. Davis of Dallas H.R. No. 891
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Edna Belle Pemberton passed away on April 13, 2025,
at the age of 81, leaving her family, friends, and neighbors to
reflect on her remarkable life and her many years of dedicated
service to Dallas's Oak Cliff community; and
WHEREAS, Born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 27, 1944, Edna
Pemberton grew up as the youngest of nine children; she married the
love of her life, DarNell Pemberton, on September 19, 1964, and
together, they raised four daughters, Edna Jean, Rita, Lisa, and
Myra; the couple later relocated to Richmond, California, and
adopted eight nieces and nephews, becoming a family of 14; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Pemberton was employed as a manager at Kmart,
and she continued her career with the company after moving with her
family to Dallas, where she made her home in the Oak Cliff
neighborhood and became highly involved in civic life; through
Kmart, she initiated a number of school supply programs; she also
advocated for her employees by collaborating with the City of
Dallas and DART to establish Route 66, a bus line serving residents
of Oak Cliff; and
WHEREAS, Over the years, Mrs. Pemberton benefited numerous
people by organizing clothing giveaways for flood survivors,
establishing a citywide homeless program called Bridge Over
Troubled Water alongside her husband, and successfully campaigning
for a juvenile curfew ordinance to keep youth off the streets and
away from criminal activities; she was an active supporter of
several youth programs at Concord Church, and in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she organized members of her church and
coordinated with various agencies to help provide relief to
evacuees; in recognition of her efforts, FEMA offered her a job as a
volunteer liaison and credited her with aiding approximately 84,000
people, many of whom subsequently relocated to Dallas; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Pemberton found time to serve other
organizations as well, among them Friends of Red Bird Airport, Camp
Wisdom Now, Operation Community Care, and Parkland Hospital; she
also held membership on the boards of the Martin Luther King Center
in South Dallas and the Dallas NAACP, which named a community award
in honor of her and her husband; together with Mr. Pemberton, she
established the group Positively Oak Cliff to help strengthen the
local economy and introduce valuable initiatives such as an
aviation education program for young teens at Red Bird Airport and
youth etiquette programs at Red Bird Mall; and
WHEREAS, In the later years of her life, Mrs. Pemberton was
deeply invested in maintaining and revitalizing Red Bird Mall, and
she was appointed by Mayor Tom Leppert to act as a liaison between
the mall's tenants and the City of Dallas as community officials
sought to save it from closure; she further volunteered her time as
a voter registrar and precinct chair, and in addition to receiving
several governor's awards, she had the distinction of carrying the
Olympic torch through Dallas in 1996; and
WHEREAS, Edna Pemberton was a woman of great compassion and
generosity who dedicated much of her life to serving the needs of
her community, and although she will be profoundly missed, her
legacy will live on in the hearts of the countless people touched by
her many good works; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Edna Belle
Pemberton and extend sincere sympathy to all those who mourn her
passing; 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 Edna
Pemberton.