Committee Substitute

for

SENATE CONCURRENT Resolution 4

(By Senators Maynard and Phillips)

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Reported February 15, 2023]

Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 30-003/05-014.61 (30A290), 37.89328, -82.23771, locally known as Big Rock Beam Span Bridge, carrying CR 3/5 over West Fork of Twelvepole Creek in Mingo County, the "U.S. Navy S1 Ira 'Noon' Copley and Marie Copley Memorial Bridge''.

Whereas, Ira ''Noon'' Copley was born in 1926 in Wilsondale, West Virginia, to Lawrence and Nora Copley; and

Whereas, Ira ''Noon'' Copley attended Burch High School in Delbarton, West Virginia; and

Whereas, After graduating, Ira "Noon" Copley enlisted in the Navy on January 22, 1944; and

Whereas, Upon his release from the Navy on November 6, 1945, Seaman 1st Class Ira ''Noon'' Copley returned home and drove a taxicab, worked on a sawmill, and eventually owned his own sawmill and lumber yard. He started High Spur Coal Company with Shorty Hartman of Logan, West Virginia, and started Lady K Coal in Dingess, West Virginia. Seaman 1st Class Ira ''Noon'' Copley was an innovator and risk-taker. He developed what was then called a ''coal tube''. Although many said his idea would not work, he built and successfully maintained the only two in this part of the country; and

Whereas, Seaman 1st Class Ira ''Noon'' Copley was responsible for an ambulance service in Dingess, West Virginia, and, when funds did not come in as expected, he gave quietly every month to keep it going. He also provided land and helped to bring in a medical facility, through Logan General Hospital, which served the community of Dingess for many years; and

Whereas, Ira and Marie Copley not only made an impact in Dingess, by providing jobs and giving thousands of dollars to local churches, but their impact was felt in faraway places. They built the Han Young Theological Seminary in Seoul Korea. Seaman 1st Class Ira ''Noon'' Copley’s last project before his death was to provide a landfill in order to clean up garbage and debris littered across Mingo, Logan, and Wayne counties. Unfortunately, with his untimely death, the project came to a halt; and

Whereas, Seaman 1st Class Ira and Marie Copley touched many lives with their heart for giving and helping others; and

Whereas, Seaman 1st Class Ira ''Noon'' Copley died on April 30, 1988, and Marie Copley died on March 19, 2018; and

Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate Seaman 1st Class Ira ''Noon'' Copley and Marie Copley and their contributions to our state and country; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Division of Highways name bridge number 30-003/05-014.61 (30A290), 37.89328, -82.23771, locally known as Big Rock Beam Span Bridge, carrying CR 3/5 over West Fork of Twelvepole Creek in Mingo County, the "U.S. Navy S1 Ira 'Noon' Copley and Marie Copley Memorial Bridge''; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the bridge as the ''U.S. Navy S1 Ira 'Noon' Copley and Marie Copley Memorial Bridge''; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways.