2015-2016 Bill 775: Honorable Ramon Schwartz Jr. - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 S. 775 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Senate Resolution 9 Sponsors: Senators L. Martin, McElveen and Johnson 10 Document Path: l:\s-res\lam\007ramo.kmm.lam.docx 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 4241 12 13 Introduced in the Senate on May 14, 2015 14 Adopted by the Senate on May 14, 2015 15 16 Summary: Honorable Ramon Schwartz Jr. 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 5/14/2015 Senate Introduced and adopted ( Senate Journalpage 10) 23 24 View the latest legislative information at the website 25 26 27 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 28 29 5/14/2015 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A SENATE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO CONGRATULATE FORMER SPEAKER OF THE SOUTH 12 CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE 13 HONORABLE RAMON SCHWARTZ, JR., UPON THE 14 OCCASION OF HIS NINETIETH BIRTHDAY, AND TO 15 PROCLAIM MAY 25, 2015 “RAMON SCHWARTZ DAY” IN 16 SOUTH CAROLINA. 17 18 Whereas, the Honorable Ramon Schwartz, Jr. is a distinguished 19 former public official who served the South Carolina House of 20 Representatives in many capacities, including service as speaker of 21 the House of Representatives; and 22 23 Whereas, son of the late Raymon Schwartz and Madge Grossman 24 Schwartz, Speaker Schwartz was born in Sumter on May 25, 1925. 25 He graduated from Edmunds High School and earned an A.B. and 26 LL.B from the University of South Carolina; and 27 28 Whereas, Speaker Schwartz honorably served the United States in 29 the European Theater in World War II; and 30 31 Whereas, Speaker Schwartz began practicing law in 1949 at the 32 law firm of Schwartz and Schwartz, and he currently practices at 33 Schwartz McLeod DuRant and Jordan; and 34 35 Whereas, Speaker Schwartz married Rosa Weinberg on June 24, 36 1950. The couple was blessed with four children, Barbara 37 (Burchstead), Ray, Milton, and Bill; and 38 39 Whereas, Speaker Schwartz was first elected to the House of 40 Representatives in 1968. He faithfully served as speaker pro 41 tempore until his election as speaker in 1980, and held the position 42 of speaker until his retirement in 1986; and

[775] 2 1 2 Whereas, Speaker Schwartz truly is a servant of the people of his 3 district, as one can see through his service as chairman of the 4 Sumter County United Appeal, the Sumter County March of 5 Dimes, the Sumter County Library Board, the Sumter County 6 Bloodmobile Program, the Sumter County Housing Authority, and 7 the Central Carolina Technical College Foundation. He has served 8 as president of the Sumter Rotary Club, the Sumter County Bar 9 Association, the Sumter Chamber of Commerce, the Sumter Junior 10 Chamber of Commerce, the South Carolina Junior Chamber of 11 Commerce, the Sumter County Community Chest, and the Sumter 12 Committee for Progress. He was a member of the University of 13 South Carolina Sumter Foundation Board, a life trustee of the 14 Tuomey Hospital Board, a member of the National Bank of South 15 Carolina Board of Directors, a member of the Carolina Coca Cola 16 Bottling Company Board of Directors, and a city recorder for eight 17 years. He was also on the board of governors of the Sunset 18 Country Club; and 19 20 Whereas, throughout his ninety years, Speaker Schwartz has 21 received honors and recognitions from many organizations. He 22 was named Sumter’s Outstanding Young Man of the Year in 1958, 23 was designated as one of three outstanding state Jaycee presidents, 24 and was named Legislator of the Year by the South Carolina 25 Chamber of Commerce in 1980. He holds honorary doctorate 26 degrees from the University of South Carolina, The Citadel, and 27 Newberry College. Speaker Schwartz was recognized by the 28 American Legion for his years of outstanding service to the 29 community and state. He also received a legislative award from 30 Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Distinguished Citizen Award from 31 the Pee Dee Area Boy Scouts of America, the Citizen of the Year 32 Award from the Council of Education, and the Outstanding 33 Achievement Award from the Sumter Greater Chamber of 34 Commerce. Speaker Schwartz was named the Sumter Area 35 Gamecock Fan of the Year in 2011 and was inducted into the 36 Gamecock City Society in 2012. He was presented with the Order 37 of the Palmetto by the Governor Haley in 2012. The Nettles- 38 Schwartz Center at the University of South Carolina is named after 39 Speaker Schwartz, and a 2006 resolution introduced by the Sumter 40 County Legislative Delegation named a portion of US Highway 41 76/378 near Shaw Air Force Base in his honor; and 42

[775] 3 1 Whereas, Speaker Schwartz is a member of the Church of the Holy 2 Comforter, where he has served on the vestry and as senior 3 warden. He is also a member of the American Legion Sumter Post 4 15, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3034; and 5 6 Whereas, on the celebration of his ninetieth birthday, the members 7 of the Senate find it fitting to celebrate the accomplishments of 8 former Speaker Ramon Schwartz, Jr., and proclaim May 25, 2015 9 as “Ramon Schwartz Day” in South Carolina. Now, therefore, 10 11 Be it resolved by the Senate: 12 13 That the members of the Senate, by this resolution, congratulate 14 former Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honorable 15 Ramon Schwartz, Jr. upon the occasion of his ninetieth birthday, 16 and proclaim May 25, 2015 “Ramon Schwartz Day” in South 17 Carolina. 18 19 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to 20 the Honorable Ramon Schwartz, Jr. 21 XX 22

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