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2010 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 481
Celebrating the life of Willie D. Cosby III.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 10, 2010
Agreed to by the Senate, March 12, 2010

 

WHEREAS, Willie D. Cosby III, native son, was born on September 21, 1931, at Old Church in Hanover County, and entered into eternal rest on January 31, 2010; and

WHEREAS, Willie D. Cosby III, a Richmond area entrepreneur, was educated at Fair Oaks Elementary School and Virginia Randolph School in Henrico County; and

WHEREAS, he was the owner and operator of Willie Cosby Contractor, a family-owned business established by his father in 1930 with little more than a borrowed mule to plow gardens and grade yards in an effort to help his family survive the Great Depression; and

WHEREAS, his father, Willie D. Cosby, Jr., a man with only a third grade education who could not read or write, built the family business through hard work, perseverance, and determination, and his family credits "divine intervention," with protecting the company and preventing him from ever signing a faulty contract; and

WHEREAS, Willie D. Cosby III began working in the family business at age nine; after his father's death, with the help of his wife who was the office manager and bookkeeper, he assumed responsibility for and operation of the family business, which specializes in clearing and grading land primarily for contractors and home developers; and

WHEREAS, although in the early years Cosby Landscaping Contractors was a struggling business, today it is a flourishing and prosperous enterprise with more than $1 million in assets; and

WHEREAS, Willie D. Cosby III devoted his life to preserving the small family-owned business begun by his father, and to providing opportunities for his children to participate in the family business; and

WHEREAS, a man of faith, Willie D. Cosby III was an active, dedicated, and longtime member of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, where he worshipped all his life and for 40 years served as a member of the Deacons Ministry; and

WHEREAS, Willie D. Cosby III loved gospel music events, was a devoted and loving husband, father, and grandfather, and was purposeful and diligent in all his endeavors; and

WHEREAS, Willie D. Cosby III's memory will be forever cherished and he will be greatly missed by all who loved him and were touched by his life; 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 Willie D. Cosby III; 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 Willie D. Cosby III as an expression of the esteem in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.