November 27, 2006

Texas Flags to Fly Low in Memory
of Former Senator Who Died in Fire

Services Set for Friday for Ex-Lawmaker Whose Life
Ended on Holiday Weekend in Blaze that Killed Three

Governor Rick Perry on Monday described former State Senator Frank Madla as a mentor and ordered Texas flags to be flown at half-staff in memory of the San Antonio Democrat who died in a fire at his home on the day after Thanksgiving last week.

Perry ordered officials at the Texas Capitol and other state buildings to keep the flags lowered from sunrise to sunset on Thursday and Friday - the day that Madla is laid to rest at the Texas State Cemetery in east Austin one week after the blaze that also claimed the lives of his five-year-old grandaughter and his mother-in-law.

Madla's funeral will be Friday at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Helotes. The funeral mass will follow a rosary mass that will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the same location. The rosary had been scheduled for Thursday.

The burial service will be at 1 p.m. at the cemetery that's located a few blocks from the Texas Capitol where Madla had served in the Legislature for almost half of his life. Madla, who lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic primary election earlier this year, spent 20 years in the Texas House before his election to the state Senate in 1992. The veteran political leader from the southside of San Antonio was 69 years old - two months short of his birthday - when he died.

Mass will be held for Madla's mother-in-law, Mary Cruz, at 10 a.m. Monday at Saint Joseph’s Church on the southside of San Antonio - and the burial will follow at 11:30 a.m. at Fort Sam Houston. A rosary will be said for Cruz at 7 p.m. Sunday at Brookehill Funeral Home following a public visitation from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Funeral arragements are still pending for Madla's grandchild, Aleena Jimenez, who was taken off life support the day after she and Cruz and the ex-senator's wife, Helen Madla, were pulled from the blaze by firefighters during the early morning hours on Friday. Helen Madla has been in stable condition for the past few days.

Fire officials suspect that the blaze at Madla's home was related to a holiday ceremony that involved a large number of candles.

The tragedy ended a tumultuous year for the longtime political leader, who received less than 44 percent of the vote in the March primary election at the end of a highly contencious campaign against State Rep. Carlos Uresti - a former Marine who'd been a member of the Texas House for 10 years. Despite his own role as a committee chairman under the Republican House leadership, Uresti and his supporters successfully portrayed Madla as a senator who'd foresaken his Democratic roots while becoming too cozy with the GOP majority in the upper chamber. Madla's campaign was staggered by reports that he'd spent a substantial amount of funds that he'd raised while running unopposed in past elections on meals at fancy restaurants and other questionable expenses.

Madla insisted that he'd always put the people of his district and their needs and wishes above partisan considerations - and he made no apologies for working with senators on both sides of the aisle in order to get the best deal for his constituents on school finance and other key issues. The Senate district that Madla represented covers all or part of 23 counties and two-thirds of the border between Texas and Mexico while stretching from San Antonio to El Paso.

Madla resigned a month after the primary defeat - and the Senate seat has been open since that time.