On March 18, 2003, Texas lost a pioneer, leader, and mentor. State Representative Irma Rangel, of Kingsville, passed away early Tuesday morning after an arduous and valiant battle with cancer. Surrounded by family and friends, she peacefully passed-turning Texas' loss into Heaven's gain. Born May 15, 1931, in the small South Texas town of Kingsville, Irma developed a strong sense of compassion while realizing that some barriers to success must be broken. She learned that education combined with hard work usually led to success. Rangel graduated from Texas A&I University and became a teacher. After teaching in South Texas, Venezuela and California, she elected to further her education into the next phase of her life. In a time when a Hispanic woman with a college degree was rare, Irma chose to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an attorney. In 1969, her dream became a reality when she received her Juris Doctorate from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio. Rangel experienced a successful legal career as an assistant district attorney and private practitioner. In 1976, Irma became the first Mexican American woman elected to serve in the Texas House of Representatives. Irma immediately focused her efforts upon minority and educational issues. Her continued commitment to public service has provided many opportunities for others to follow. Irma would serve as the first female Mexican American committee chair of the House Higher Education Committee and the first, and only, woman to lead the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. Her legislative record reflects a sincere commitment and dedication that has left an indelible mark on the history of this great state. Today, the Texas Legislature is comprised of fourteen minority woman legislators. During the 2001 Legislature, Representative Rangel assisted in passing a bill which created the first professional school in South Texas-a School of Pharmacy at Texas A&M-Kingsville. This year, Representative Rangel's name was associated, in part, to a legislative leadership program aimed at encouraging the involvement of young Hispanics in the Texas political process. This program provides undergraduate and graduate students from across Texas with an opportunity to gain first-hand experience by working in the Texas House of Representatives. By ensuring educational opportunities for all Texas children, her efforts have helped to create a Texas workforce that is reflective of the diversity of our state while providing additional opportunities to those students willing to work hard to achieve success. One such opportunity resulted from the passage of House Bill 588 in 1997. This landmark legislation requires state colleges and universities to automatically admit all students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class. Irma Rangel was preceded in death by her parents-Herminia L. Rangel and P.M. Rangel and her sister Olga Rangel Lumley. She is survived by her sister Minnie Rangel Henderson and her brother-in-law Howard A. Henderson, nieces Debbie Henderson and Margo Hoover and nephews Dino Henderson and Marc Lumley. In lieu of flowers, and in hopes of continuing Irma's life-long commitment to education, the family requests that charitable contributions be made to the P.M. Rangel Family Scholarship Fund, Texas A&M University-Kingsville School of Pharmacy, 700 University Blvd., MSC 136, Kingsville, Texas, 78363-8202 or the Breast Cancer Research Program, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Office of External Affairs, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, Texas, 78229. A rosary is scheduled for 7:00PM, on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 1206 E. 9th St., Austin, Texas. Mass will commence at 10:00AM on Friday, March 21, 2003 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. There will be a walking procession from the church to the Texas State Cemetery (909 Navasota Street, Austin, Texas) immediately following the mass. A reception at the Texas State Cemetery Visitor's Center will close the day's events. A memorial service will be held in Kingsville, Texas a date and location to be announced.