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2006 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 143
Celebrating the life of John Dresden Copenhaver.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, January 26, 2006
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 3, 2006
 

WHEREAS, John Dresden Copenhaver, respected citizen and longtime Roanoke attorney, died on May 16, 2005; and

WHEREAS, John Copenhaver was born on January 19, 1911, in Johnson City, Tennessee, and after moving to Roanoke, attended public schools, graduated from Jefferson High School as valedictorian and president of the class of 1929, and received his undergraduate and law degrees from Washington and Lee University; and

WHEREAS, in 1936, John Copenhaver began his distinguished legal career in Roanoke with Copenhaver and Edwards and maintained a private practice of law for 65 years, retiring in 2001 from Copenhaver, Ellett, Cornelison, and Derrico; and

WHEREAS, during World War II, John Copenhaver served his country in the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1942 to 1944 and, subsequently, was assigned to the Red Cross as field director in the Philippines until the end of the war; and

WHEREAS, a devoted and lifelong member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Roanoke, John Copenhaver was an Eagle Scout and later Scoutmaster of church-sponsored Troop 15; he served as chairman of the Board of Stewards and a lay leader, as well as a member of the administrative board for 25 years and Sunday school teacher for 37 years; and

WHEREAS, committed to the improvement of the quality of life of all the residents of the Roanoke community, John Copenhaver served as chairperson of the Fifth District Planning Commission of the State of Virginia, president of the Friends of the Library and a member of the library board, president of the Children’s Home Society of Roanoke, and vice president of the Pell Foundation; and

WHEREAS, John Copenhaver will be fondly remembered for his ardent devotion to his neighbors and his generous and compassionate nature and will be sorely missed by his family, his numerous friends and admirers, and the congregation of Trinity United Methodist Church; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of an outstanding Virginian, John Dresden Copenhaver; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of John Dresden Copenhaver as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.