SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 65

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Michael S. Sanchez

A JOINT MEMORIAL

CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF PATTY JENNINGS AND EXPRESSING SINCERE CONDOLENCES TO HER HUSBAND, SENATOR TIMOTHY Z. JENNINGS, AND THEIR CHILDREN, COURTNEY, ELLIOTT, KATHERINE, ZEPH AND ZACHARY.

     WHEREAS, Patricia K. Jennings, known to all as "Patty", was an amazing woman of compassion, wisdom and strength whose life and accomplishments are well worth celebrating; and

     WHEREAS, Patty had a distinguished career as an advocate for early intervention, special education and health care services for children and adults with special needs; and

     WHEREAS, she crafted the legislation that created the New Mexico medical insurance pool in response to her personal experience of being unable to purchase health insurance for her daughter, Courtney; and

     WHEREAS, together with her husband, Senator Timothy Z. Jennings, she successfully lobbied for a bill to establish a partnership between the university of New Mexico cancer center and the university of Texas M.D. Anderson cancer center to conduct inflammatory breast cancer research; and

     WHEREAS, her health care and disability advocacy and her efforts to enhance access to services for individuals who are underserved or who have special needs will be her legacy through the Patricia K. Jennings Foundation, which was established in January 2009; and

     WHEREAS, although she was tireless in her advocacy for these and other important efforts, she was first and foremost a wife to Senator Jennings and mother to their five children; and

     WHEREAS, her children and husband were her primary passions and focus, and they and her parents, siblings and friends were the recipients of her unconditional love; and

     WHEREAS, her life is characterized by her many friends and her family as one of selflessness and generosity, and her daughter, Katherine, expressed it well by saying, "We never felt second to anything or anyone. She was enamored with her children, but she never knew how much her kids were enamored with her"; and

     WHEREAS, she was blessed with clarity of purpose and the ability to express herself with conviction, and, in the words of John Foley, "She was one who found it natural to see justice done on this earth"; and

     WHEREAS, she brought compassion and devotion to everything she did, showing herself to be a determined, loving woman whose life was well-lived; and

     WHEREAS, Patty Jennings, after a courageous four-year battle with breast cancer, died on Valentine's day, February 14, 2009, surrounded by her loving family at her home in Roswell; and

     WHEREAS, her life and death remind us all to reach out to those less fortunate, to live each day to the fullest, to face each day with optimism and a smile and to leave the world a better place;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the life of Patty Jennings be celebrated on this day and that condolences be expressed to Senator Timothy Z. Jennings and their children; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that appreciation and condolences be expressed to the family and friends of Patty Jennings, a woman who will always have a special place in our hearts; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of the memorial be transmitted to Senator Timothy Z. Jennings and his family.

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