WHEREAS, Assemblyman
John S. Watson was born in Camden in 1924, served honorably with
the United States Merchant Marine fleet during World War II, and
devoted many years in public service to the people of the State
of New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, Assemblyman
Watson had the distinction of being Mercer County's first African-American
Freeholder in 1970; and
WHEREAS, he
became the State's first African-American chosen President of a
Freeholder Board in 1977 in Mercer County; and
WHEREAS, he
served the people of New Jersey in the Assembly for 12 years and
sponsored, among other important measures, legislation to preserve
thousands of acres of farmland through the Open Space Preservation
Bond Act; and
WHEREAS, he
served as Chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee; and
WHEREAS, it
is with deep sadness that we mourn the loss of Assemblyman Watson
and extend our sincerest sympathy to his family and friends; and
WHEREAS, it
is fitting and appropriate to honor the memory and the passing of
Assemblyman Watson;
NOW, THEREFORE,
I, CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, Governor of the State of New Jersey,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The flag
of the United States of America and the flag of the State of New
Jersey shall be flown at half-staff at all State departments,
offices, agencies and instrumentalities during appropriate hours
on Tuesday, July 9, 1996 in recognition and mourning of the passing
of Assemblyman Watson.
2. This
Order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN,
under my hand and seal
this 9th day of July in the Year of
Our Lord, One Thousand Nine
Hundred and Ninety-Six, and of the
Independence of the United States,
the Two Hundred and Twenty-First
/s/
Christine Todd Whitman
Governor
Attest:
/s/ Harriet
Derman
Chief Counsel to the Governor
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