2013
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       HOUSE MEMORIAL 13-1001
       
       BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Dore,  Buck, Buckner, Conti, Coram, Court,
       DelGrosso, Duran, Everett, Exum, Fields, Fischer, Foote, Garcia, Gardner,
       Gerou, Ginal, Hamner, Holbert, Hullinghorst, Humphrey, Joshi, Kagan,
       Kraft-Tharp, Labuda, Landgraf, Lawrence, Lebsock, Lee, Levy, May,
       McCann, McLachlan, McNulty, Melton, Mitsch Bush, Moreno, Navarro,
       Nordberg, Pabon, Peniston, Pettersen, Primavera, Priola, Rankin,
       Rosenthal, Ryden, Saine, Salazar, Schafer, Scott, Singer, Sonnenberg,
       Stephens, Swalm, Szabo, Tyler, Vigil, Waller, Williams, Wilson, Wright,
       Young, Ferrandino.
       
          MEMORIALIZING FORMER SPEAKER CARL BEVERLY
       "BEV" BLEDSOE, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH,
       RECOGNIZING SPEAKER BLEDSOE AS THE LONGEST
       SERVING SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
       
          WHEREAS, Our former respected colleague, Carl Beverly "Bev"
       Bledsoe, a past member of the House of Representatives, departed this
       life on June 5, 2012, at the age of 88; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe was born in Aroya, Colorado, on
       October 6, 1923; and
       
          WHEREAS, After attending grade school in Aroya and graduating
       from Kit Carson High School, Speaker Bledsoe attended the University
       of Colorado for one year; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe interrupted his university studies to
       enlist in the United States Army in 1942; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe received basic training at Camp
       Crowder, Missouri, teletype training at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and
       additional training at Pendleton Army Air Base in Oregon; and
       
          
          WHEREAS, After a 30-day trip across the Pacific to Townsville,
       Australia, Speaker Bledsoe was assigned to the U.S. Army Signal Corps
       as a teletype repairman for the Fifth Army Air Corps in the Pacific,
       serving honorably in New Guinea, on the islands of Leyte and Luzon in
       the Philippines, and on Okinawa until the end of World War II; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe returned to New Jersey, where he had
       met Alice Cotellessa while training at Fort Monmouth, and they were
       married in Paramus, New Jersey, on September 14, 1946; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe and Alice returned to Colorado where
       he resumed his studies at Colorado State University, earning his
       Bachelor's degree in animal husbandry; and
       
          WHEREAS, In 1949, Speaker Bledsoe moved his family to Hugo,
       Colorado, and built a house there that remained his home for the rest of
       his life, and he began a successful career as a cattle rancher, maintaining
       an agricultural heritage passed from his father to his sons and
       grandchildren; and
       
          WHEREAS, During this time, Speaker Bledsoe also served as
       president of both the Kit Carson School Board and the Colorado
       Cattlemen's Association, and also worked as a volunteer lobbyist for the
       Colorado Cattlemen's Association for four years; and
       
          WHEREAS, In 1972, Speaker Bledsoe was appointed to complete the
       term of Representative Robert Schafer in the Colorado House of
       Representatives and was elected later that year to a full term, and Speaker
       Bledsoe went on to serve eighteen and one-half years in the House; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe served ten of those years, from 1981 to
       1991, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, longer than any
       Speaker in Colorado history, with his avowed goal always to do what he
       thought was best for the state as a whole, while keeping in mind the
       welfare of rural Colorado and agriculture; and
       
          WHEREAS, During his tenure in the House, Speaker Bledsoe served
       on many committees, including the committees on Rules, Labor and
       Employment Relations, Appropriations, the Executive Committee of
       Legislative Council, and the Legislative Audit Committee; and
       
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe took an active leadership role in the
       1982 reassessment of property in Colorado, and he also directed his
       attention to education and school finance issues, seeking changes to
       improve the funding of Colorado schools and kindergarten through
       twelfth grade education in Colorado; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe maintained a continuing interest in and
       influence on all issues of importance to Colorado, and he was honored by
       many Colorado organizations with awards for his service, including
       awards from the University of Denver for his support for higher
       education, the Future Farmers of America for his support of young people
       in agriculture, and the Colorado Association for Rural Schools for his
       service to rural schools; and
       
          WHEREAS, Additionally, Speaker Bledsoe received the Veterinary
       Medicine Association Distinguished Service Award, the Colorado
       Cattlemen's Association Life Member Award, and was honored as
       Outstanding State Legislator of the American Legislative Exchange
       Council; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe was termed the "greatest legislative
       mind in Colorado history" by Lyle Kyle, long-time Director of Research
       of the Legislative Council of Colorado; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe's admonition to all who served with
       him, many of whom remember the exact words to this day, was "You
       don't have to make a commitment on a bill, but if you make one, I expect
       you to keep it"; and
       
          WHEREAS, Speaker Bledsoe personified the traditions and values of
       an earlier Colorado, and he provided leadership during a period of
       transition and growth in our state; and
       
          WHEREAS, Upon retiring from the House of Representatives in
       1991, Speaker Bledsoe returned to lobbying, joining the firm of Bledsoe,
       DeFilippo, Rees for a number of years until retiring to his beloved ranch
       in Hugo; and
       
          
          WHEREAS, The Bledsoe family includes three sons, Robert Carl,
       Thomas Beverly, and Christopher Joel, as well as four grandchildren and
       six great-grandchildren; and
       
          WHEREAS, It is fitting that we, the members of the House of
       Representatives of the Sixty-ninth General Assembly, pay tribute to the
       long and dedicated service of Speaker Carl Beverly "Bev" Bledsoe, and
       express our deep regret and sorrow occasioned by his death; now,
       therefore,
       
          Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-ninth
       General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
       
          That, in the death of Carl Beverly "Bev" Bledsoe, the people of the
       State of Colorado have lost a dedicated public servant and outstanding
       citizen, and that we, the members of the House of Representatives of the
       Sixty-ninth General Assembly, do hereby extend our deep and heartfelt
       sympathy to the members of his family and pay tribute to a man who
       served his state well and faithfully.
       
          Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be sent to
       Speaker Bledsoe's wife, Alice Bledsoe of Hugo, and sons Robert Bledsoe
       of Hugo, Thomas Bledsoe of LaSalle, and Christopher Bledsoe of Flagler.
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       ________________________________________________________
       Marilyn Eddins                      Mark Ferrandino 
       CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE        SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
       OF REPRESENTATIVES                OF REPRESENTATIVES