Bill Text: TX HR753 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Congratulating Ebby Halliday of Dallas on the occasion of her 100th birthday.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-03-18 - Reported enrolled [HR753 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HR753-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 753 | ||
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| WHEREAS, On March 9, 2011, Ebby Halliday is celebrating her | ||
| 100th birthday with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, famed tenor | ||
| Mario Frangoulis, and a distinguished group of donors to the Ebby | ||
| Halliday Fund of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished | ||
| Americans; and | ||
| WHEREAS, This iconic Dallas entrepreneur and philanthropist | ||
| was named a Distinguished American by the Horatio Alger Association | ||
| in 2005, and her birthday gala benefits the fund supporting college | ||
| scholarships; Ms. Halliday began commemorating her centennial in | ||
| February with a benefit that raised some $700,000 for the | ||
| Foundation Fighting Blindness, of which she is a national trustee; | ||
| in the course of that splendid event, she greeted hundreds of | ||
| prominent Texans and danced with Tony Orlando as he serenaded her | ||
| with "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Born Vera Lucille Koch in Arkansas on March 9, 1911, | ||
| the daughter of Louis and Lucille Koch grew up on a farm in Kansas; | ||
| she entered the sales field at the age of eight, riding her pony to | ||
| sell Cloverine Salve to neighbors; after graduating from high | ||
| school, she rode a bus to Kansas City and applied for a job at the | ||
| largest department store; she became a star of the millinery | ||
| department, and, at the suggestion of a fellow clerk, adopted the | ||
| suitably effervescent name Ebby Halliday; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Ms. Halliday won promotions to Omaha and then | ||
| Dallas, where she headed the millinery department at the W. A. Green | ||
| store; a wise stock investment allowed her to open her own popular | ||
| boutique, Ebby's Hats; a good customer was married to a developer of | ||
| insulated-cement homes, who wondered that since she could sell his | ||
| wife "those crazy hats," could she sell maybe his "crazy houses" | ||
| too; taking a visionary approach, Ms. Halliday brought in | ||
| attractive furnishings to make the modest homes more appealing, an | ||
| example of "staging" long before the term was coined; she sold all | ||
| the properties and launched her own real estate company in 1945; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Through the years, Ebby Halliday, REALTORS, | ||
| expanded extensively, making "Ebby" a household name; guided by | ||
| founding principles of service to the client, the industry, and the | ||
| community, she served in countless leadership roles; she founded | ||
| the Dallas Chapter of the Women's Council of the National | ||
| Association of Realtors and served as its president before becoming | ||
| president of the National Women's Council; moreover, she was the | ||
| first female president of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce; | ||
| numerous realtors advanced in the profession through her mentoring, | ||
| and she developed the talents of many women who went on to start | ||
| their own businesses; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Naturally driven, Ms. Halliday learned the | ||
| importance of balancing work and home life in 1958, when she was in | ||
| Beaumont for a speaking engagement and met an attorney named | ||
| Maurice Acers; the couple married on April 29, 1965, and enjoyed a | ||
| rewarding relationship until his passing in 1993; Ms. Halliday | ||
| shared with her husband the motto "Do something for someone every | ||
| day," and she has lent her considerable energies to myriad | ||
| charitable and civic endeavors; in 2008, she received the | ||
| prestigious Linz Award from the Junior League of Dallas for her | ||
| contributions, and she has received a host of other accolades, | ||
| among them the 2010 Public Service Award from Phoenix House of | ||
| Texas; she is a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame and the | ||
| Texas Business Hall of Fame; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The "grande dame of Dallas real estate" today | ||
| presides over the largest independently owned residential real | ||
| estate firm in the Lone Star State, which ranks as one of the | ||
| largest in the country, with 30 offices, two boutique firms under | ||
| its umbrella, and leasing, property management, mortgage, and | ||
| personal insurance businesses; as chair, Ms. Halliday continues to | ||
| put in regular hours at her office, where two assistants help her | ||
| manage her busy schedule; she credits her longevity to a simple | ||
| program: "I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't retire"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Ebby Halliday blazed a trail for other women in the | ||
| real estate industry and the business world, and her enduring | ||
| commitment to her community is a source of inspiration to all who | ||
| are privileged to know of her; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby congratulate Ebby Halliday on the joyous | ||
| occasion of her 100th birthday and extend to her sincere best wishes | ||
| for continued success and happiness; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for Ms. Halliday as an expression of high regard by the | ||
| Texas House of Representatives. | ||
| Button | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 753 was adopted by the House on March | ||
| 17, 2011, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
