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2012 SESSION

12103835D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 340
Offered February 8, 2012
Celebrating the life of the Reverend Glenwood Paris Roane, Sr.
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Patrons-- Scott, J.M., BaCote, Brink, Carr, Dance, Johnson, Kory, McQuinn, Morrissey, Plum, Ware, O. and Watts; Senators: Barker, Howell, Marsden, Marsh, McEachin, Petersen, Puller and Saslaw
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WHEREAS, the Reverend Glenwood Paris Roane, Sr., Esq., was born on July 26, 1930, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, as the seventh of 10 children of Ruby Richardson Roane and James Randolph Roane; and

WHEREAS, Glenwood P. Roane was raised in the Templeman’s section of Westmoreland County and graduated in 1946 from A.T. Johnson High School; and

WHEREAS, Glenwood P. Roane attended Virginia State College, now Virginia State University, where he joined the Beta Gamma Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; enrolled in the Senior ROTC Program, known as the “Trojan Warrior Battalion”; was honored as a “Distinguished Military Graduate”; and graduated with a degree in agronomy in 1952; and

WHEREAS, upon graduation from Virginia State College, Glenwood P. Roane was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps, where he served during the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, following his military service, Glenwood P. Roane entered Howard University School of Law, the oldest historically black collegiate law school in the United States, where one of his schoolmates was L. Douglas Wilder, and received his Juris Doctor degree in 1957; and

WHEREAS, after working briefly as a teacher in Westmoreland County, Glenwood P. Roane then went to work for the federal government in Washington, D.C., as a procurement and contracting attorney for the United States Department of the Navy; and

WHEREAS, Glenwood P. Roane transferred to the United States Department of State in 1966 and worked for the Economics Assistance Agency, later being named director of equal opportunity for the Agency for International Development in 1977; and

WHEREAS, during his diplomatic service, Glenwood P. Roane did graduate study at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and at Georgetown University; and

WHEREAS, while at Tufts University, Glenwood P. Roane met the love of his life, Lucie Porter, in February 1970; they were married in Boston in May 1970 and had three children; and

WHEREAS, while working for the Department of State and stationed in Washington, D.C., Glenwood P. Roane was called to the ministry, ordained in the Baptist church, and served as a pastor to several churches; and

WHEREAS, Glenwood P. Roane served as a Foreign Service Officer in Kenya, Egypt, Liberia, Ghana, and several Asian countries, including Vietnam, from where he and his wife were evacuated during the fall of Saigon in April 1975; and

WHEREAS, during his 26-year career in the federal government, Glenwood P. Roane was awarded the Superior Performance Award and the Meritorious Honor Award, was appointed to the Senior Executive Service, and served as Diplomat-in-Residence at Virginia State University; and

WHEREAS, upon retiring from federal service, Glenwood P. Roane and his wife moved to Vienna, Virginia, where he opened a private law practice; and

WHEREAS, a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Glenwood P. Roane was elected President of the Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP, where he served for six years; and

WHEREAS, Glenwood P. Roane was appointed by the Vienna Town Council to its Board of Zoning Appeals, where he became vice-chairman, and appointed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to its Advisory Board; and

WHEREAS, Glenwood P. Roane and his wife, Lucie, moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in November 2000, where he opened another law practice, was ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ, and served as the pastor of Second Congregational United Church of Christ; and

WHEREAS, a member of the bar of Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Tennessee, Glenwood P. Roane was inducted into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame, which honors attorneys licensed to practice for 40 years or more and who have made significant contributions to the cause of justice; and

WHEREAS, in 2011 Glenwood P. Roane was presented with the African American Legacy Award from the African Methodist Episcopal Church for his significant contributions to the Civil Rights Movement; and

WHEREAS, a Renaissance man who was a champion of the underprivileged and oppressed and was known for his sunny disposition, generosity, and love of life, Glenwood P. Roane passed away on December 30, 2011, and was laid to rest in his native Westmoreland County; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly note with great sadness the loss of a distinguished and singularly accomplished Virginia native, the Reverend Glenwood Paris Roane, Sr.; 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 the Reverend Glenwood Paris Roane, Sr., as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.