SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 212 Offered February 10, 2006 Celebrating the life of Lacey Virginia Barkley Harrison. ----------
Patrons-- Ruff, Bell, Blevins, Chichester, Colgan, Cuccinelli, Deeds, Devolites Davis, Edwards, Hanger, Hawkins, Herring, Houck, Howell, Lambert, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, Martin, McDougle, Miller, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, O'Brien, Potts, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Rerras, Reynolds, Saslaw, Stolle, Stosch, Ticer, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins, Whipple and Williams
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WHEREAS, Lacey Virginia Barkley Harrison of Richmond, First Lady of Virginia from 1962 to 1966, died on January 16, 2006; and

WHEREAS, a Lawrenceville native, Lacey Harrison was the widow of former Governor and Virginia Supreme Court Justice Albertis S. Harrison, Jr., who died in 1995; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Barkley attended Huntington College in Montgomery, Alabama, and Stuart Hall School, where she studied music, art, and voice; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Barkley and Albertis Harrison first met at Lawrenceville High School, and when she returned home on a visit during her first year at college, the couple met again at a dance and a long courtship commenced; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Barkley and Albertis Harrison were married at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Lawrenceville on May 8, 1930; and

WHEREAS, Albertis Harrison became a commonwealth's attorney in 1931 and was elected a Senator of Virginia in 1948, Attorney General in 1957, and Governor in 1962; and

WHEREAS, before moving to the Executive Mansion in Richmond, Governor and Mrs. Harrison lived at Saddletree Farm, their 1,500-acre home place near Lawrenceville, where the couple retired after their time at the Capitol in Richmond; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Harrison presided at the Executive Mansion with graciousness and amiable informality and often greeted guests at the door herself, because she was unaccustomed to being waited upon by servants; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Harrison had the basement of the Governor's home modernized, added a greenhouse, and had the state seal added to the state china; and

WHEREAS, in an effort to give the mansion to the people, Lacey Harrison satisfied her great "wish that more Virginians could visit the mansion" by commissioning a booklet of color photographs of all of its beautiful rooms and gardens; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Harrison was a member of the Brunswick Garden Club, a choir member, choir director, and president of the Women of the Church at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church;  she moved from Lawrenceville to Richmond in the late 1990s; and

WHEREAS, Lacey Harrison will be sorely missed by her family, her numerous friends and admirers, and the congregation of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of a beloved First Lady of Virginia, Lacey Virginia Barkley Harrison; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Lacey Virginia Barkley Harrison as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for her memory.