MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Harden

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE OF SHERMAN EDMOND STIMLEY. 

WHEREAS, Sherman Edmond Stimley was born August 2, 1944, to Charles Edmond Stimley and Bernice Allen Stimley and as the eldest of four children demonstrated at an early age a penchant for academic excellence that set the standard for all his siblings who followed; and

WHEREAS, in 1962, he graduated from Lanier Jr.-Sr. High School in Jackson as Salutatorian of his class and was one of the first African-American students to attend the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, during its pre-affirmative action era, where he received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering with an academic engineering record which was the equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa; and

WHEREAS, while at KU, he was a member of the varsity basketball team, joined the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternal organization, was selected to be a KU "Hilltopper" and served as President of Tau Beta Pi and as Treasurer of Sigma Tau; and

WHEREAS, after graduating in 1967, he began his professional career as one of the first Black practicing engineers with Humble Oil & Refining Company at its corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas; and

WHEREAS, shortly thereafter, during one of his trips to Jackson for visits with his family and hometown friends, he met Ruth Ann McGee, of Utica, Mississippi, whom he would later marry on August 2, 1968; and

WHEREAS, he later joined his sister, Pernila, and brother, Frank, at Harvard Law School in his continuing pursuit of knowledge; and

WHEREAS, his pursuit of academic excellence also led him to seek dual degrees while at Harvard, and in 1974, he received both his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and his Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; and

WHEREAS, upon graduation, he became the first African-American attorney to join the prestigious law firm of Vinson & Elkins in Houston, Texas, where he worked in the firm's corporate and banking sections; and

WHEREAS, in 1985, he opened his own firm which became the first African-American firm in Texas to render legal services exclusively in the tax-exempt bond area and the first such firm in the State of Texas to be listed in the bond "Red Book"; and

WHEREAS, he was an active member of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas; and

WHEREAS, he was active in many civic and social organizations, including the Houston Shakespeare Festival (Board of Directors), the Houston Symphony Advisory Board, the Harvard Law School Black Alumni Organization, the President's Task Force/Thurgood Marshall School of Law, the Buffalo Bayou Task Force and the Houston Municipal Employees' Pension System; and

WHEREAS, he is survived by Ruth Ann, his wife of 28 years; his sons, Daryl and Courtland; his mother, Mrs. Bernice Allen Stimley; his brother, Frank; his two sisters, Pernila Stimley Brown and Charlene Priester; his nephews, Chad William Brown, Jr., Melvin V. Priester, Jr., Jonathan Lloyd Priester and Vincent D. Stimley; his nieces, Kahrna C. Stimley, Bernice P. Brown; and a host of other relatives and friends:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MISSISSIPPI STATE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we hereby extend to Ruth Ann, Daryl and Courtland Stimley, and to all the many other family members and friends, the heartfelt sympathy of the Legislature upon the untimely loss of Sherman Edmond Stimley.