Florida Senate - 2010                            (NP)    SR 2840
       
       
       
       By Senator Hill
       
       
       
       
       1-04288A-10                                           20102840__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the outstanding contribution
    3         of Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., to education and to quality
    4         of life of the people of Duval County.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., was the first African
    7  American elected to a school board in this state and served for
    8  23 years as a member, and 4 years as chairman, of the school
    9  board in Duval County, and
   10         WHEREAS, Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., served for 27 years on the
   11  Board of Trustees of then-Bethune-Cookman College, 11 of those
   12  years as chairman, and has served for 26 years on the Board of
   13  Trustees of Hampton University, his alma mater, and
   14         WHEREAS, Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., has served as a member of
   15  the Community Development Council of First Union National Bank,
   16  the DuPont Community Building Fund Advisory Committee, and the
   17  Better Jacksonville Plan Finance Administration Committee, and
   18  served as chairperson of the Council of Board Chairs of the
   19  Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges,
   20  which represents more than 32,000 members at more than 1,700
   21  colleges and universities, and
   22         WHEREAS, Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., is a life member of the
   23  Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and Founding Sire Archon of Gamma
   24  Beta Boule of the Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, and
   25         WHEREAS, Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., has received more than 100
   26  awards and recognitions for his support of humanitarian causes
   27  and for his community service, including the Distinguished
   28  Leadership Award from the United Negro College Fund and the
   29  Silver Bell Award for Significant Contributions to Education by
   30  the Duval County Classroom Teacher Association, and
   31         WHEREAS, Bethune-Cookman University has recognized his
   32  extraordinary service to the community by naming the newly
   33  constructed business building in his honor, as has Hampton
   34  University, which designated the Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., Men’s
   35  Dormitory, and
   36         WHEREAS, Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., continues to serve as
   37  president of Wendell Holmes Funeral Directors, Inc., in
   38  Jacksonville, where he and his wife, Jacquelyne, continue to
   39  give back to the community through their sponsorship of the
   40  NAACP ACT-SO student competition, and
   41         WHEREAS, of all his accomplishments, Wendell P. Holmes,
   42  Jr., says that his proudest are his two children, Wendell P.
   43  Holmes, III, and Carolyn Holmes Nesmith, as well as his four
   44  grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That the Senate recognizes the outstanding contributions of
   49  Wendell P. Holmes, Jr., to education and to the quality of life
   50  of the people of Duval County.
   51         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   52  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Wendell P.
   53  Holmes, Jr., as a tangible token of the sentiments of the
   54  Florida Senate.