Late Gov. Mark White To Lie In State At Capitol Rotunda Before Burial

AUSTIN, TX — The late former Gov. Mark White will lie in state this week inside the rotunda at the state Capitol before his burial in a private ceremony, state officials said.

White died Saturday in Houston at the age of 77. He was the governor of Texas from 1983-87. He will lay in state on Thursday in the rotunda for those wishing to pay their respects from noon to 3 p.m. Burial will follow in the Texas State Cemetery in East Austin.

Current Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered flags to be lowered to half staff until sunset on Thursday to honor White.

Related story: Former Texas Governor Mark White Dies At 77

A Democrat, White was elected governor in the 1982 gubernatorial election after defeating incumbent Bill Clements. During his tenure, one of White's main areas of focus was public education. When White took office, Texas was ranked among the lowest-performing states for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and in teachers' salaries. In response, White appointed a committee on public education, called a special session of the Legislature in 1984, and worked with lawmakers to pass the Educational Opportunity Act.

At the recommendation of his committee led by Dallas billionaire Ross Perot, the "No Pass No Play" rule was enacted statewide, preventing students from participating in extracurricular activities unless achieving a passing grade in each six-week grading period. The measure affected athletes, band members, orchestra players and others.

White also is most remembered for having appointed the first Hispanic woman to serve as judge of a district court in Texas, in the form of Elma Salinas Ender, who served as judge from her 1983 appointment to her retirement in 2012.

Ironically, White would go on to lose his bid for a second term when he was bested at the polls by the Republican rival he had previously defeated, Gov. Clements. Many in Texas at the time attributed the unpopularity of the stringent "No Pass No Play" measure — in a state were high school football has long been king — as the reason for his loss at the polls.

White made another run for governor in 1990, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Ann Richards.

The former governor died of a heart attack after having suffered from kidney cancer for many years. He is survived by his wife, Linda Gale, and his three children.

>>> Photo courtesy of the Texas State Library & Archives Commission.