SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 32
(By Senators Love, Schoonover, Sharpe, Deem
Minear and Ross)
Memorializing the life and public service of the late Howard W.
Carson, former presiding officer and clerk of the West
Virginia Senate and distinguished West Virginian.
Whereas, Howard W. Carson died in Charlottesville, Virginia,
on August 9, 1994, at age 84 after a distinguished life and a
long bout with rheumatoid arthritis. Charlottesville had been
his home since his retirement from public life more than twenty
years ago; and
Whereas, Howard W. Carson was born in Montgomery, Fayette
County, West Virginia, on April 30, 1910, attended the Montgomery
public schools and entered Washington and Lee University,
Lexington, Virginia, where he was awarded an A.B. Degree in 1931
and an L.L.B. Degree in 1933; and
Whereas, Howard W. Carson practiced law throughout his
professional life in Fayetteville, West Virginia, and was elected
to three terms as prosecuting attorney of Fayette County. He was an active democrat and served as chairman of the Fayette County
Democratic Executive Committee. The United Methodist Church and
many professional and civic groups benefited from his active
membership; and
Whereas, Howard W. Carson was first elected to the West
Virginia Senate in 1956, and upon reelection, served two more
terms through 1968, representing the eleventh senatorial district
comprised of Fayette and Greenbrier counties; and
Whereas, A wide range of legislation was sponsored by Howard
W. Carson during his twelve years as a member of the Senate and
many of his proposals were enacted into law, including bills in
such areas as education, coal mining, highway development and
airports; and
Whereas, Preservation of the Senate as an important
institution of state government was a main focus of his service
as a senator and he had equal dedication to the rights of each
individual member to have full opportunity to be heard and to be
treated with respect, all within a fair application of the rules;
and
Whereas, In 1968, Howard W. Carson decided not to run for a
fourth Senate term, but, instead, was a candidate for the office of attorney general of West Virginia in the democratic primary
election. He returned to the Senate on January 12, 1972, when he
was elected clerk of the Senate to fill an unexpired term. He
was reelected in 1973 and served a full two-year term through
1974; and
Whereas, Howard W. Carson was dedicated to professionalism
as a practicing attorney, to the West Virginia Senate and, more
personally, to his family: his wife, Sunny, who he married in
1939, his son, John Carson of Morgantown, West Virginia, and his
daughter, Linda Carson Hunt, of Charlottesville, Virginia;
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That this memorial is hereby adopted to express and to
record the high esteem in which the late Howard W. Carson is held
and to extend to his wife and family the Legislature's sympathy
and assurance that many share in the great loss suffered upon his
death; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby
requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the wife and
children of Howard W. Carson.