0001|                    SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 39
    |
0002|     42ND LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION,
    |
0003|     1996
    |
0004|                         INTRODUCED BY
    |
0005|                        MANNY M. ARAGON
    |
0006|     
    |
0007|                                
    |
0008|     
    |
0009|     
    |
0010|     
    |
0011|                        A JOINT MEMORIAL
    |
0012|     HONORING THE LIFE OF EDWARD J. LOPEZ, MAJORITY LEADER OF THE NEW
    |
0013|     MEXICO STATE SENATE.
    |
0014|     
    |
0015|       WHEREAS, we are occasionally called to reflect upon the
    |
0016|     lives of individuals who have passed before us and whose lives
    |
0017|     touched ours; and
    |
0018|       WHEREAS, the sudden death of Senator Edward J. Lopez,
    |
0019|     majority leader of the senate, is one such occasion; and
    |
0020|       WHEREAS, Edward J. Lopez began his legislative career in
    |
0021|     the house of representatives, serving ten years as a member of
    |
0022|     the Santa Fe delegation; and
    |
0023|       WHEREAS, in 1983, Senator Lopez was appointed and
    |
0024|     subsequently elected to the New Mexico state senate, a position
    |
0025|     he held until the time of his death; and
    |
0001|       WHEREAS, in 1993, Senator Lopez was chosen by his
    |
0002|     colleagues to be majority floor leader of the senate, a position
    |
0003|     well-served by the senator's calm demeanor, fairness, quick wit
    |
0004|     and knowledge of legislative process; and
    |
0005|       WHEREAS, no one knew as much about state taxation and
    |
0006|     finance as Senator Lopez; he possessed a knowledge and expertise
    |
0007|     that cannot be replaced and will be sorely missed in the senate,
    |
0008|     in the legislature and in the state; and
    |
0009|       WHEREAS, Eddie, or "Cowboy" as many of us called him, was a
    |
0010|     true gentleman, with a quiet politeness, a dry wit, fierce
    |
0011|     loyalty and compassion and graciousness under pressure--qualities that his friends and adversaries alike admired and
    |
0012|     appreciated; and
    |
0013|       WHEREAS, Senator Lopez was a master of the legislative
    |
0014|     process--a man of action, not of talk; a man of few words, but a
    |
0015|     man of his word; a man who held power, but wielded it
    |
0016|     gracefully; and
    |
0017|       WHEREAS, after over twenty years of service in the
    |
0018|     legislature, Senator Lopez remained loyal to the people of Santa
    |
0019|     Fe and New Mexico who could not afford housing or could not
    |
0020|     afford to finance small community projects on their own; and
    |
0021|       WHEREAS, despite the demands of public office and the glare
    |
0022|     of public scrutiny, Senator Lopez always remained a gentleman,
    |
0023|     and he chose to continue his valuable contributions to a society
    |
0024|     that long ago forgot the personal sacrifices that one makes in
    |
0025|     the name of public service; and
    |
0001|       WHEREAS, Senator Lopez set a standard of quiet dignity and
    |
0002|     public service that will long be remembered in the state
    |
0003|     capitol;
    |
0004|       NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
    |
0005|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the remainder of the forty-second
    |
0006|     legislature, second session, be dedicated to the memory of
    |
0007|     Edward J. Lopez, majority leader of the New Mexico state senate;
    |
0008|     and
    |
0009|       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the memory of Senator Lopez not
    |
0010|     fade and that all legislators and all New Mexicans remember the
    |
0011|     importance and the sacrifices of public service and the
    |
0012|     knowledgeable, quiet graciousness with which that service was
    |
0013|     epitomized by Edward J. Lopez; and
    |

0014|       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
    |
0015|     transmitted to members of Senator Lopez' family and friends.
    |
0016|                              
    |