House Concurrent Resolution No.120
(By Delegate Pino)
Requesting the West Virginia Division of Highways to name a portion
of WV Route 16 from the northen city limits of the City of Mt.
Hope continuing northerly to the intersection of WV Route 16
and U.S. Route 19, Corridor L the "GENERAL C. SHIRLEY DONNELLY
MEMORIAL ROAD."
Whereas, C. Shirley Donnelly was born in Jackson County, West
Virginia on February 2, 1895; and
Whereas, C. Shirley Donnelly was raised in frugal circumstance
similar to most West Virginians of the era; and
Whereas, C. Shirley Donnelly attended a one room school at
Cedar Point until his family moved to Charleston, West Virginia,
where he graduated from Charleston High School in 1915; and
Whereas, C. Shirley Donnelly decided to go into the ministry at
an early age and fulfilled that desire by completing graduate work
at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia; and
Whereas, Reverend C. Shirley Donnelly pastored at Oak Hill
Baptist Church for twenty-one years and at the Crab Orchard Baptist
Church for twenty-five years after returning from World War II; and
Whereas, During Reverend Donnelly's military service, he was
Head Chaplain over six hundred army chaplains of all faiths; and
Whereas, At the age of thirty-four, C. Shirley Donnelly was
promoted to the rank of Captain, fulfilling a goal he had set for
himself as a youth, and eventually he was promoted to the rank of
full colonel; and
Whereas, During C. Shirley Donnelly's military service, he
lived in seventeen countries on four continents; and
Whereas, Colonel C. Shirley Donnelly was a friend and
acquaintance of Colonel James H. O?Neil, army chaplain, who was
told by General Patton to do something to stop the rain which had
bogged down the efforts of Patton?s army, thus stirring Chaplain
O?Neill to compose the famous prayer printed on the back of General
Patton?s Christmas card as Patton credited the prayer with stopping
the rain; and
Whereas, Colonel C. Shirley Donnelly was with General Patch in
Augsburg, Germany when the surrender note of Goering was placed in
the General?s hand thus placing him in the archives of history
un-matched by any Fayette Countian of note; and
Whereas, After the war, C. Shirley Donnelly was promoted to the
highest rank of General as a Chaplain in the National Guard in the
United States on his eighty-fifth birthday; and
Whereas, In his spare time, C. Shirley Donnelly delighted readers in West Virginia and elsewhere by his prolific writings in
book form and newspapers on a host of subjects and experiences; and
Whereas, Jim Comstock noted historian and publisher, once
remarked that Fayette County and all of West Virginia should be
thankful that C. Shirley Donnelly preserved so much local and state
history; and
Whereas, C. Shirley Donnelly departed this life on August 31,
1982 and is interred at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens in Prosperity,
West Virginia; and
Whereas, C. R. Hill chronicled the many achievements of C.
Shirley Donnelly as Historian, Minister, Soldier, Farmer and Banker
in book form, giving clear and convincing evidence that the
contributions of C. Shirley Donnelly should not soon be forgotten;
and
Whereas, Those contributions make C. Shirley Donnelly worthy
and deserving of having his name set before his fellow Fayette
Countians and the motoring public, commemorating his exemplary life
in the hope that it might be emulated; and
Whereas, C. Shirley Donnelly frequently traveled over a portion
of U.S. Route 16 as he pastored at the Crab Orchard Baptist Church
and as he wrote countless articles for the Beckley newspaper;
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the West Virginia Division of Highways is hereby
requested to name the portion of WV Route 16 from the northen city
limits of the City of Mt. Hope continuing northerly to the
intersection of the WV Route 16 and U.S. Route 19, Corridor L the
"GENERAL C. SHIRLEY DONNELLY MEMORIAL ROAD."; and, be it
Further Resolved, That appropriate signage be erected at both
ends of said Memorial Road and that the Clerk of the House of
Delegates is hereby requested to provide a certified copy of this
resolution for the Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of
Highways and the family of General C. Shirley Donnelly.