HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5105 Offered June 20, 2006 Celebrating the life of Elizabeth Burgess Davis. ----------
Patrons-- Nixon, Cox, Dance, Hall, Ingram, Jones, D.C., Reid, Waddell and Ware, R.L.
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WHEREAS, Elizabeth Burgess Davis, admired educator and longtime member of the Chesterfield County School Board, died on June 12, 2006; and

WHEREAS, a native of Altavista, Elizabeth "Beth" Burgess Davis earned a bachelor's degree in early-childhood education and a master's degree in elementary education from Radford University; and

WHEREAS, Beth Davis started her career in 1973 as a kindergarten teacher in Pulaski County, where she taught for three years; and

WHEREAS, after moving to Chesterfield, Beth Davis became involved in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at Hopkins Elementary School, where her children attended school, and eventually became president of the Chesterfield County Council of PTAs and Parent Teacher Student Associations; and

WHEREAS, first named to a partial term on the Chesterfield School Board in 1990, Beth Davis was appointed to a four-year term in 1991 and retained her seat when the school board was elected for the first time in 1995; she served as the board’s chair in 1993 and in 2003; and

WHEREAS, Beth Davis also served as an executive board member of the Richmond District PTA and lobbied the General Assembly in favor of elected school boards; and

WHEREAS, Beth Davis was the director of the school renovation foundation for Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in the late 1990s and president of the Virginia School Boards Association in 2001; and

WHEREAS, in 2002 Beth Davis joined the staff of Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts and Technology and became its assistant director; and

WHEREAS, Beth Davis will be fondly remembered for her passionate commitment to excellence in education and the individual development of all of the young people of the Commonwealth and will be missed by her devoted husband, B. James Davis; her two sons and their spouses; her three grandchildren; her loving siblings and numerous other family members and friends; and the citizens of Chesterfield County; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of an outstanding Virginian, Elizabeth Burgess Davis; 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 Elizabeth Burgess Davis as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for her memory.