SR428 - In memory of Marie Flickinger of Houston.

        SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 428       In Memory   of   Marie Flickinger            WHEREAS, Residents of southeast Houston lost a beloved   community activist and civic leader with the passing of Marie   Flickinger on November 11, 2024, at the age of 82; and          WHEREAS, Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on September 1,   1942, to Alexander and Mary Spence, the former Marie Spence grew   up with the companionship of two siblings, Morris and Alexis;   after graduating from high school, she exchanged wedding vows   with David Flickinger in 1962, and the pair went on to share in   the joy of raising two sons, Fred and David; her family later grew   to include three granddaughters, Kimberly, Courtney, and   Natalie, as well as seven great-grandchildren, Abigail, Jackson,   Penelope, Kelvin, Noah, Elliana, and Isabella; and          WHEREAS, Mrs. Flickinger and her husband resided in   Minnesota before relocating to the Houston area, where they   eventually settled in the Sagemont subdivision; in addition to   being a homemaker, she found her way into the journalism field   when she was recruited by an editor for the Friendswood News ;   after gaining experience reporting on issues in the South   Belt/Ellington community and Pasadena ISD, she joined a friend,   Bobby Griffin, in co-founding the South Belt-Ellington Leader ,   and she served the weekly newspaper as publisher until her   passing; and          WHEREAS, Through the years, Mrs. Flickinger developed a   reputation as a tireless advocate for her community, earning the   moniker "the mayor of South Belt"; although she covered hundreds   of news stories throughout her career, she was perhaps best known   for a series of investigative articles that exposed the dumping   of toxic waste at the Brio Superfund site in the 1980s, and her   central role in uncovering the scale of contamination in its   neighboring subdivision led to her being tapped to serve as the   Environmental Protection Agency's community liaison for the   site; for many years, she was also integral in securing   infrastructure improvements to mitigate flooding, including the   construction of the South Belt Stormwater Detention Basin; and          WHEREAS, During the 1990s, Mrs. Flickinger had the   distinction of being the first woman to be elected to the San   Jacinto College Board of Trustees, where she served for nearly 30   years before recently retiring as its chair; among her many   achievements, she was a founding member and inaugural president   of the South Belt-Ellington Chamber of Commerce, and she oversaw   the introduction of an Early College High School program in   Pasadena ISD, for which the district named her its Distinguished   Citizen of the Year in 2015; moreover, she was known for   organizing community events such as the annual Fourth of July   parade and Christmas drive for the needy, and she demonstrated   her strong Catholic faith as a parishioner at St. Frances Cabrini   Catholic Church and later as one of the founding members of St.   Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church; and          WHEREAS, Mrs. Flickinger was inducted into the Hall of Honor   at Dobie High School in 2015 and received the M. Dale Ensign   Trustee Leadership Award from the Association of Community College   Trustees in 2013; she was also recognized by Governor Greg Abbott   with the Governor's Volunteer Award for her role in coordinating   emergency relief efforts during Hurricane Harvey; and          WHEREAS, Through her widespread civic contributions, Marie   Flickinger had a profound and positive impact on her community,   and those she leaves behind will continue to find inspiration in   their memories of this extraordinary woman; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th   Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the life of Marie Flickinger   and extend deepest sympathy to the members of her family:  to   her husband, David Flickinger; to her sons, Fred Flickinger and   his wife, Leslie, and David Flickinger and his wife, Ellie; to   her granddaughters, Kimberly Lipina and her husband, Matthew,   Courtney Durham, and Natalie Abarca and her husband, Jose; to   her great-grandchildren, Abigail, Jackson, and Penelope   Durham, Kelvin Lopez, Noah and Elliana Abarca, and Isabella   Delgado and her husband, Sebastian; to her siblings, Morris   Spence and Alexis Lochner; and to her other relatives and   friends; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be   prepared for her family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns   this day, it do so in memory of Marie Flickinger.     Middleton     Alvarado Hagenbuch Menéndez   Bettencourt Hall Miles   Birdwell Hancock Nichols   Blanco Hinojosa of Hidalgo Parker   Campbell Hinojosa of Nueces Paxton   Cook Huffman Perry   Creighton Hughes Schwertner   Eckhardt Johnson Sparks   Flores King West   Gutierrez Kolkhorst Zaffirini     Patrick, President of the Senate             ________________________________          President of the Senate               I hereby certify that the     above Resolution was adopted by     the Senate on April 23, 2025, by a     rising vote.             ________________________________          Secretary of the Senate             ________________________________           Member, Texas Senate