73rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2005 Regular Session
Enrolled
Senate Concurrent Resolution 9
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON RULES
Whereas the late Clay Myers spent almost two decades of his
remarkable life in statewide public office, tirelessly serving
the people of Oregon; and
Whereas Clay Myers was once heralded as one of the living
legends of a golden age of Oregon politics and public affairs by
Norm Smith, a protege of Clay Myers, former Republican state
legislator and the current president of the Ford Family
Foundation; and
Whereas Clay Myers, a native Oregonian, born on May 27, 1927,
in Portland, Oregon, began to ponder the injustices of racism
when he was a young boy living in Tillamook, a town that had a
'sunset law' requiring African Americans, Native Americans and
other minorities to be indoors by sunset; and
Whereas at the age of 10, Clay Myers moved to Africa and spent
a year in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where, as part of the only
white family for miles, he realized the ultimate futility of
racism, bigotry and intolerance; and
Whereas Clay Myers returned to Oregon with a thirst for
activism and politics; and
Whereas Clay Myers graduated from Benson High School in
Portland, Oregon, and later attended the University of Oregon,
where he led the Young Republicans and used that position to
encourage more students to become actively involved in public
affairs; and
Whereas Clay Myers demonstrated his commitment to voting rights
as a young man, forming a coalition of the League of Women
Voters, the Young Republican Federation of Oregon, the Young
Democratic Clubs of Oregon and the Non-Partisan Committee for
Constitutional Reapportionment, a coalition that was vital to the
adoption of an amendment to the Oregon Constitution in 1952 to
establish the principle of one person, one vote; and
Whereas during his days of political activism at the University
of Oregon, Clay Myers met and developed lifetime friendships with
former Governor Tom McCall and former Governor and United States
Senator Mark Hatfield, and together they fought to remove
segregation from the Republican party platform and to lead the
party on civil rights; and
Whereas Clay Myers studied law at Northwestern College of Law
in Portland, Oregon, and attended the United States Coast Guard
Academy in New London, Connecticut, where he trained on the famed
Danmark, one of the great tall sailing ships of the world, a ship
that had come to the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany
and served the Allied cause during World War II; and
Whereas in 1964, Clay Myers left his career in the insurance
industry to help run Tom McCall's campaign for Secretary of State
and thereafter to be appointed Deputy Secretary of State; and
Whereas in 1967, when Tom McCall became Governor, he appointed
Clay Myers as Secretary of State, a position in which Clay Myers
was later elected to serve for two terms; and
Enrolled Senate Concurrent Resolution 9 (SCR 9-INTRO) Page 1
Whereas during his terms as Secretary of State, State Treasurer
and member of the State Land Board, Clay Myers became known for
his endeavors for careful conservation, protection and use of the
waters and waterways, lands and forests of the state, including
the perpetual protection of public access to Oregon beaches, and
joining with Governor McCall to support the nation's first
statewide land use planning program, the adoption of Oregon's
Bottle Bill and the creation of a statewide bikeway system; and
Whereas in 1976, Clay Myers was elected State Treasurer, an
office he held for two terms, serving a total of 19 consecutive
years in statewide office; and
Whereas Clay Myers' unwavering efforts to apply lofty
principles to his everyday life also made him a national leader
of the Episcopal Church, where he served as host to the
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and
worked to gain equality for women and to end exclusion on the
basis of sexual orientation; and
Whereas Clay Myers left Oregon politics to take the position of
vice president of Morgan Guaranty Trust Company on Wall Street
and returned to Oregon to retire, but for health reasons left
shortly afterward for Arizona where he purchased ranchland; and
Whereas Clay Myers miraculously battled cancer for his last
three years and remained extremely active up to the end; and
Whereas in October 2004, at the age of 77, this innovative and
extraordinary leader died from cancer in his home in Tubac,
Arizona; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
Oregon:
That we, the members of the Seventy-third Legislative Assembly,
mourn the passing of H. Clay Myers, Jr. and recognize his
significant accomplishments and his outstanding career in public
service, during which he put leadership and decency ahead of
party and ideology; and be it further
Resolved, That Clay Myers will be remembered as a gentle but
tenacious leader who cared deeply about making Oregon a more
livable and just place, and whose strong faith and unwavering
efforts helped make Oregon a national model; and be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be presented to his
wife, Elizabeth Myers, his daughter, Carolyn Myers Lindberg, his
son, David Hobson Myers, his grandson, Andrew Philip Myers, and
his brother, Norman Myers.
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Adopted by Senate June 3, 2005
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Secretary of Senate
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President of Senate
Adopted by House June 30, 2005
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Speaker of House
Enrolled Senate Concurrent Resolution 9 (SCR 9-INTRO) Page 2