SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 6

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Steven P. Neville

 

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STATE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO NAME A PORTION OF NEW MEXICO HIGHWAY 173 FROM AZTEC TO NAVAJO DAM THE "ABE CHAVEZ, JR., MEMORIAL HIGHWAY".

 

     WHEREAS, requests for the designation or dedication by name of any department of transportation road are submitted to the state transportation commission for approval; and

     WHEREAS, a requested designation by name is intended as a memorial to an event, a person or persons of significance or intended as an honor to a person or persons of national esteem; and

     WHEREAS, Abe Chavez, Jr., a respected and successful businessman of Navajo Dam, died on April 21, 2019; and

     WHEREAS, Abe was born in Belen, the first of five children in his family; and

     WHEREAS, Abe and his wife, Patsy Atencio, were married for sixty-five years; and

     WHEREAS, Abe built his first duplex in Farmington at the age of sixteen; later, Abe and Patsy worked tirelessly to build a very successful business, Abe's motel and fly shop, in Navajo Dam on the San Juan river; and

     WHEREAS, Abe and his family's business endeavors went on to include a post office, gas station, convenience store, restaurant, motel and boat storage; and

     WHEREAS, the family fishing supply store, along with its restaurant and motel, has been a popular destination over the past six decades in Navajo Dam; and

     WHEREAS, it would be a fitting honor to recognize Abe Chavez, Jr., who was instrumental in making the San Juan river the destination it is today for the fishing community, by having a section of a highway named after him;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state transportation commission be requested to rename a portion of New Mexico highway 173 from Aztec to Navajo Dam as the "Abe Chavez, Jr., Memorial Highway"; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the state transportation commission and the family of Abe Chavez, Jr.

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