|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The death of admired educator Alberto Byington Sr. |
|
on July 21, 2012, at the age of 77, brought a great loss to residents |
|
of South Texas; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born in Falfurrias on April 6, 1935, Alberto |
|
Byington was the son of Alfredo Byington Sr. and Annabel Cruz |
|
Byington; he graduated from Falfurrias High School and served his |
|
country in the United States Air Force before going on to complete |
|
his bachelor's and master's degrees at Texas A&I University; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Byington's career in education spanned nearly a |
|
half-century; he began teaching in Falfurrias in 1961, and two |
|
years later, he became a principal in Encino; returning to the |
|
Brooks County Independent School District, he served as director of |
|
federal programs and assistant superintendent, and in 1973, he |
|
began a noteworthy 23-year tenure as superintendent; he then served |
|
as interim superintendent in Mathis, San Diego, and Ben Bolt-Palito |
|
Blanco, where a six-month appointment turned into a seven-year |
|
tenure; in addition, he was a Texas Education Agency Monitor for |
|
Driscoll ISD; he was asked to return to Brooks County as |
|
superintendent and served until 2010, when he retired from the |
|
district for a second time; and |
|
WHEREAS, Deeply committed to his calling, Mr. Byington was a |
|
kind mentor to countless people, and he served in numerous |
|
leadership roles; he was chair of the University Interscholastic |
|
League Waiver Review Board and a member of the UIL State Executive |
|
Committee and the Region XIV Music Executive Committee, and his |
|
professional affiliations included the Texas State Teachers |
|
Association and Texas Association of School Administrators; named |
|
Educator of the Month by Texas School Business magazine, he also |
|
received the prestigious Golden Molcajete Award from the Mexican |
|
American School Board Members Association and the Tejano Service |
|
Award, which recognized him as the longest-serving Hispanic |
|
superintendent in the state; and |
|
WHEREAS, This civic-minded Texan served the wider community |
|
as a member of the Brooks County Chamber of Commerce, the Juvenile |
|
Board, and the board of the Kingsville Area Educators Federal |
|
Credit Union; moreover, he was a valued member of Sacred Heart |
|
Catholic Church, where he served as lector; above all, he was a |
|
devoted family man; he shared a fulfilling relationship with his |
|
wife, Virginia Susana Byington, and he was the proud father of |
|
Alberto, Kristina, and Ricardo; and |
|
WHEREAS, Alberto Byington was dedicated to providing the |
|
children of rural South Texas with a strong foundation on which to |
|
build, and his outstanding contributions will remain a source of |
|
inspiration to all who were fortunate enough to know him; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Alberto Byington |
|
Sr. and extend sincere condolences to his loved ones; 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 Alberto |
|
Byington Sr. |
|
|
Guillen |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Speaker of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 656 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
rising vote of the House on March 5, 2015. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|