[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 27 (Friday, March 11, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       TRIBUTE TO CHARLES CLULEE

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to honor the memory of a man who 
was a living repository of history in the town of Wallingford, CT. 
Charles Clulee, who passed away on February 21 at the age of 87, was 
Wallingford's town historian emeritus, and he leaves a long history of 
his own--a history filled with kindness, humor, and a desire to honor 
the past in a way that guides us to a better future.
  Through lectures, maps, pictures, tours, and anecdotes, Charles 
Clulee helped generations of young people learn more about people and 
times gone by, and provided a strong link between Wallingford and 
Connecticut's rich past and fast-changing present. One of those people 
was my director of communications, Jim Kennedy, who had the honor of 
knowing Charles Clulee, and who received as a gift from him a 19th 
century map of Wallingford, which now hangs on a wall of my office.
  It has been said that ``History is the ship carrying living memories 
to the future.'' For the people of Wallingford, Charles Clulee was for 
many years the captain of that ship. Now, he has become part of the 
great legacy that is Wallingford's history, and we can only hope that 
others will follow his example and keep his memory alive so that future 
generations can know what a wonderful man he was.
  Mr. President, I would like to insert in the Record of this Chamber 
an article about Charles Clulee by Mary Kay Melvin that appeared in the 
Record-Journal newspaper on February 23, 1994.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                Clulee Had History of Dedication to Town

       Wallingford.--He immersed himself in the history of 
     Wallingford for more than 30 years, but Charles Clulee did 
     not live in the past.
       Even at age 87, Clulee amazed caretaker Doris Pierce with 
     his energy and love of life.
       Clulee, A Wallingford native, was the town historian for 
     several years and became town historian emeritus two years 
     ago. He died Monday after falling and breaking his hip.
       Clulee hired Pierce, a certified nursing assistant, seven 
     years ago to help care for his wife, Mary. Since Mrs. 
     Clulee's death, Pierce and her husband, Ken, have cared for 
     Clulee. The Pierces moved into Clulee's house almost four 
     years ago.
       Many times, Pierce would rise and find Clulee sitting at 
     the kitchen table with his hat on.
       Depending on the weather, Pierce recalled, Clulee would 
     say, ``Aren't we going out, hon? It's such a dreary day, I 
     think we should go out.''
       And out they went. Clulee was a big fan of local breakfast 
     restaurants and a regular at New Haven's Blake Street Cafe 
     500, where he would eat lunch at least once a week.
       Many of the restaurant's patrons knew Clulee, said Kevin 
     Langan, a Blake Street Cafe 500 employee. Clulee had his own 
     table there, and framed newspaper articles featuring Clulee 
     were hung on the restaurant walls.
       ``Oh, he was such a kind and generous man,'' said Pierce, 
     who was especially touched by Clulee's energy and sense of 
     humor.
       Wherever the trio traveled, Pierce said, Clulee would buy 
     something so he would remember the experience.
       ``He was always collecting,'' she said. ``He was a definite 
     pack rat.''
       Clulee's penchant for collecting dates back to the early 
     1960s, when he returned to Wallingford after he retired as a 
     merchandising manager from Sears Roebuck and Co., in New York 
     and Chicago.
       Clulee collected stamps and then postcards, old books, 
     pictures, maps, newspaper clippings and city directories.
       Clulee found his post-retirement calling at the Wallingford 
     Historical Society, where he served as president. He 
     developed a passion about Wallingford.
       The historical society's headquarters is across the street 
     from Clulee's house, where he was born and raised. The house 
     was built by his grandfather in 1886.
       ``He was on the forefront of a lot of things,'' said Mary 
     Annis, past president of the historical society.
       Annis, who met Clulee through the historical society in the 
     early 1970s, said Clulee developed many of the organization's 
     outreach programs. For several years, he invited Wallingford 
     teachers to seminars at the society's headquarters in the 
     Samuel Parsons House.
       He also offered annual tours of the house for elementary 
     school pupils, she said.
       ``There will be a void,'' Annis said. ``I don't know if 
     there are very many people who knew Wallingford the way he 
     did.''
       Clulee could answer questions off the top of his head, 
     Annis said.
       ``He will be missed, of course,'' she said.
       Johanna Fishbein met Clulee during preparations for the 
     town's 300th birthday in 1970. The two have worked on many 
     projects, including development of a speakers bureau for the 
     country's bicentennial.
       ``Wallingford was his big thing,'' said Fishbein, adding 
     that much of Clulee's interest stemmed from his ties to 
     Wallingford's past.
       Clulee's mother was of the Jones family, which dates to 
     William Jones, deputy governor of the New Haven Colony in the 
     1600s.
       Clulee was expected to serve as grand marshal of the town's 
     325th anniversary in 1995.
       ``I especially wanted him to because Charlie was our 
     historian emeritus,'' Fishbein said.
       Several years ago, Clulee donated much of his memorabilia 
     to the Wallingford Public Library, according to Leslie 
     Scherer, a co-director. He made similar donations to the 
     Wallingford Historical Society and Choate Rosemary Hall.
       Clulee also created an endowment that allows library 
     officials to add to its historical collection. For example, 
     the library recently transferred information from the town's 
     old city directories onto microfilm, Scherer said.

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