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2004 SESSION

044656538
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 249
Offered January 19, 2004
On the death of Lawrence H. Hamlar.
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Patrons-- Ware, O., Fralin, Griffith and Spruill; Senators: Bell and Edwards
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WHEREAS, Lawrence H. Hamlar of Roanoke, well-known and widely respected in the community for his civic leadership and his role in the peaceful desegregation of Roanoke, died on December 31, 2003; and

WHEREAS, a graduate of Virginia State College and the Gupton-Jones School of Mortuary Science in Atlanta, Lawrence Hamlar was president and co-owner of Hamlar & Curtis Funeral Home, a landmark in downtown Roanoke for more than 50 years; and

WHEREAS, Lawrence Hamlar persuaded his longtime friend, the late Noel C. Taylor, to seek a Roanoke City Council seat in 1970, thus launching one of the most successful political careers in Roanoke history; and

WHEREAS, Lawrence Hamlar was a key member of the biracial committee formed in the 1960s to end racial segregation in Roanoke's lunch counters, movie theaters, golf courses, and hospitals--an effort that brought about the City's integration without violence at a time when few other American cities could make the same claim; and

WHEREAS, Lawrence Hamlar's activism and candor on issues of equality, education, and reconciliation won him the respect and affection of the dozens of organizations he served; and

WHEREAS, a member of the board of Roanoke College and Virginia Western Community College, Lawrence Hamlar established scholarship funds at both institutions to aid minority students; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of his long and invaluable service to the community, Lawrence Hamlar was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia Hall of Fame, the YMCA's Wall of Fame, and the Pine Valley Golf Association Hall of Fame and was the 1993 recipient of the Noel C. Taylor Distinguished Humanitarian Award and the 2000 recipient of the Roanoke City Council's Citizen of the Year Award; and

WHEREAS, throughout a lifetime of significant achievement as a businessman, activist, and humanitarian, Lawrence Hamlar built a matchless record of service to the citizens of Roanoke; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of an exceptional citizen of Roanoke, Lawrence H. Hamlar; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Lawrence H. Hamlar as an expression of the respect in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.