| − | '''Randall Scott Blair''', known as '''Randy Blair ''' (July 8, 1960<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/randy-blair/randyb6424t|title=Randy Blair|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 27, 2019}}</ref>– January 19, 2019), was an [[accountant]] in [[Laredo]], [[Texas]], who from 2008 to 2018 was the chairman of the Webb County [[Republican Party]]. At the time of his death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Blair, an active [[Roman Catholic]], was president-elect of the Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association. When stricken with the cancer five months earlier, he resigned as the GOP chairman, but the WBCA trustees refused to accept his resignation, and he retained the title "president-elect" of the association though he could do nothing in the last few months of his life for the 2019 celebration.<ref name=obit/> | + | '''Randall Scott Blair''', known as '''Randy Blair ''' (July 8, 1960<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/randy-blair/randyb6424t|title=Randy Blair|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 27, 2019}}</ref>– January 19, 2019), was an [[accountant]] in [[Laredo]], [[Texas]], who from 2008 to 2018 was the chairman of the Webb County [[Republican Party]]. At the time of his death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Blair was president-elect of the Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association. When stricken with the cancer five months earlier, he resigned as the GOP chairman, but the WBCA trustees refused to accept his resignation, and he retained the title "president-elect" of the association though he could do nothing in the last few months of his life for the 2019 celebration.<ref name=obit/> |
| | Blair was one of three children of Mary Patricia "Pat" Blair (born October 16, 1931) and [[United States Army]] major, Elliott Blair, Sr. (1929-2013), who was the [[mayor]] from 1976 to 1981 and then 1990 to 1991 of Killeen<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wilcfry.com/killeen/history/mayors/|title=Killeen Mayors|publisher=Wilcfry.com|accessdate=January 27, 2019}}</ref> in Bell County in Central Texas, the site of the Fort Hood military post. He has a brother, Elliott Blair, Jr., and a sister, Kellie Ann Bacon. In his youth Blair was an [[Eagle Scout]] and continued in adulthood to support that organization. He graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station and came thereafter to Laredo to work in business. He and his wife of thirty-twoyears, the former Nancy Barbara Stewart (born November 15, 1955) owned Blair & Blair PC accounting firm. Their son, Roger Andrew Blair (born October 6, 1990), resides in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas. On her husband's passing, Mrs. Blair said that she felt "a great loss, we did everything together. We were partners in marriage and business and many of the organizations we served in the community. I lost my better half."<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/Randy-Blair-dies-at-age-58-13559360.php|title=Randy Blair dies at age 58|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Times''|author=Lisa Dreher|accessdate=January 27, 2019}}</ref> | | Blair was one of three children of Mary Patricia "Pat" Blair (born October 16, 1931) and [[United States Army]] major, Elliott Blair, Sr. (1929-2013), who was the [[mayor]] from 1976 to 1981 and then 1990 to 1991 of Killeen<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wilcfry.com/killeen/history/mayors/|title=Killeen Mayors|publisher=Wilcfry.com|accessdate=January 27, 2019}}</ref> in Bell County in Central Texas, the site of the Fort Hood military post. He has a brother, Elliott Blair, Jr., and a sister, Kellie Ann Bacon. In his youth Blair was an [[Eagle Scout]] and continued in adulthood to support that organization. He graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station and came thereafter to Laredo to work in business. He and his wife of thirty-twoyears, the former Nancy Barbara Stewart (born November 15, 1955) owned Blair & Blair PC accounting firm. Their son, Roger Andrew Blair (born October 6, 1990), resides in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas. On her husband's passing, Mrs. Blair said that she felt "a great loss, we did everything together. We were partners in marriage and business and many of the organizations we served in the community. I lost my better half."<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/Randy-Blair-dies-at-age-58-13559360.php|title=Randy Blair dies at age 58|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Times''|author=Lisa Dreher|accessdate=January 27, 2019}}</ref> |
| | Blair volunteered for more than thirty years for the Washington Birthday association. The association's former president, Pati Guajardo, said that Blair's death "leaves a huge void. He will be dearly missed byall who knew him and who had the honor of working alongside him.” In 1995 and 2002, Blair received the WBCA President's Award. He was also an active supporter of Bethany , a shelter for the homeless in downtown Laredo.<ref name=obit/> | | Blair volunteered for more than thirty years for the Washington Birthday association. The association's former president, Pati Guajardo, said that Blair's death "leaves a huge void. He will be dearly missed byall who knew him and who had the honor of working alongside him.” In 1995 and 2002, Blair received the WBCA President's Award. He was also an active supporter of Bethany , a shelter for the homeless in downtown Laredo.<ref name=obit/> |
| − | Blair and Richard Castillon were inducted into the Roman Catholic Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of [[Jerusalem]], a papal order for whom Blair frequently provided transportation. Bishop JamesTamayo nominated Blair to the order, and he was inducted in 2011. Castillon said that Blair's Catholic faith was "really important to him, not for rules or regulations but he saw it as a means of service to others," regardless of political party or organizational ties. Veronica Castillon, a WBCA lifetime director and past president, recalled Blair's frequent "faith-based actions. I am reminded of the words of [[Christ]] in the [[Gospel of Matthew]]: ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to oneof the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Well done, Randy Blair. You have run the race and now you're home in the place where you belong.”<ref name=obit/> | + | Blair and Richard Castillon were inducted into the [[Roman Catholic]] Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of [[Jerusalem]], a papal order for whom Blair frequently provided transportation assistance. Bishop James Tamayo nominated Blair to the order; he was inducted in 2011. Castillon said that Blair's Catholic faith was "really important to him, not for rules or regulations but he saw it as a means of service to others," regardless of political party or organizational ties. Veronica Castillon, a WBCA lifetime director and past president, recalled Blair's frequent "faith-based actions. I am reminded of the words of [[Christ]] in the [[Gospel of Matthew]]: ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to oneof the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Well done, Randy Blair. You have run the race and now you're home in the place where you belong.”<ref name=obit/> |