Bill Text: TX HR990 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of George Quentin Breazeale of Austin.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-04-12 - Reported enrolled [HR990 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HR990-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 990 |
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WHEREAS, Family, friends, and fans from across Central Texas | ||
are mourning the loss of longtime Austin American-Statesman | ||
sportswriter George Quentin Breazeale, who passed away on September | ||
25, 2010, at the age of 80; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Burnet County to George P. and Winnie | ||
Breazeale on July 20, 1930, George Breazeale experienced a | ||
life-changing event when he saw his first football game in Marble | ||
Falls in 1944; immediately infatuated with the game but personally | ||
ill-equipped to battle linemen with his six-foot-two-inch, | ||
135-pound frame, he soon put his enthusiasm to good use reporting | ||
Burnet High School's game results to the Austin paper; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale moved to the Alamo City after high | ||
school and worked for the San Antonio Express, and he relocated to | ||
Austin in 1950 to take a job as a sportswriter for the | ||
American-Statesman; he served two years in the United States Army | ||
from 1951 to 1953, returning afterward to Austin, where he worked | ||
for the paper and majored in English and history at The University | ||
of Texas; his notable tenure with the American-Statesman would | ||
ultimately span four and a half decades as a full-time reporter; and | ||
WHEREAS, Originally covering the high school sports beat, Mr. | ||
Breazeale switched to college sports, particularly UT football, | ||
basketball, and baseball, in 1960; he attended the Cotton Bowl for | ||
many consecutive years, including the UT national championship | ||
seasons of 1969 and 1970, and memorably documented several trips to | ||
the College World Series as well as the UT men's basketball team's | ||
successful journey to New York to win the National Invitation | ||
Tournament in 1978; in the early 1970s, he served as the public | ||
address announcer for UT baseball games, and in 1976 he broke the | ||
news that legendary coach Darrell Royal was retiring; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale returned to covering high school | ||
sports in the late 1970s; every year at the end of the summer he | ||
drove to schools throughout Central Texas to visit in person with | ||
coaches and players, and he maintained an extensive list of | ||
contacts representing every community in the region to call on for | ||
the most recent scores and reports from the field; following his | ||
official retirement in 1995, he continued his association with the | ||
American-Statesman for more than 14 years with occasional columns | ||
about high school sports history and predictions for upcoming games | ||
and seasons; even in his seventies, he kept working the phones three | ||
nights a week during the school year to ensure local teams got their | ||
due in the next day's edition; and | ||
WHEREAS, A contributor to Texas Football magazine for many | ||
years, Mr. Breazeale drew on his expertise in the writing of Tops in | ||
Texas, an account of University Interscholastic League football | ||
championships since 1920 that he published in 1993; his skill as a | ||
reporter, his encyclopedic knowledge of the games he covered, and | ||
his strong rapport with athletes, coaches, other writers, and fans | ||
were recognized with his election as president of the Texas Sports | ||
Writers Association in 1978, his selection as Sportswriter of the | ||
Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches in 1982 and the | ||
Texas High School Coaches Association in 1990, and his induction | ||
into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale also shared his time and talents as a | ||
West Lake Hills City Council member from 1973 to 1975, and he | ||
enjoyed the fellowship of many at Central Presbyterian Church in | ||
Austin, serving the congregation as an elder, deacon, greeter, and | ||
usher; and | ||
WHEREAS, While working at the American-Statesman in 1960, Mr. | ||
Breazeale met the love of his life, Carolyn Cole; they were married | ||
on June 30, 1961, and together experienced nearly 50 years of | ||
fulfilling partnership and the joys of raising a son, Paul; and | ||
WHEREAS, The members of a team and their shared efforts and | ||
sacrifices help weave the social fabric of the communities in which | ||
they live; George Breazeale understood that truth, and his passion | ||
for getting the story and his conscientious, fair, and accurate | ||
reporting have ensured that his professional achievements will | ||
continue to resonate in the Lone Star State for years to come; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of George Quentin | ||
Breazeale and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: | ||
to his wife, Carolyn C. Breazeale; to his son, Paul Q. Breazeale; to | ||
his sister, Beryl Oltman; and to his other relatives and many | ||
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 George | ||
Breazeale. | ||
Howard of Travis | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 990 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
rising vote of the House on April 7, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||