[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 61 (Tuesday, May 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
    LEGENDS OF BLYTHE: CHARLIE AND EMILIE GRAHAM CELEBRATE 50 YEARS 
                                TOGETHER

                                 ______


                     HON. ALFRED A. (AL) McCANDLESS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 1994

  Mr. McCANDLESS. Mr. Speaker, it seems like I've known Charlie and 
Emilie Graham all of my life. Actually, I've known them for more than 
30 years--but people like Charlie and Emilie don't just make friends 
for a month or a year--they really do make them for life. They even 
made a friend of an entire town, their town of Blythe, CA.
  It wasn't always ``their'' town. When Army Sergeant Charlie met Army 
nurse Lieutenant Emilie more than 50 years ago in Denver during World 
War II, his Engle, NM, roots got along just fine with her Leavenworth, 
KS, roots. After they married, and post-Army, they had thoughts of 
farming in the Rio Grande Valley, but land prices were skyrocketing 
there. They heard of another valley--the Palo Verde in California, 
where things were more affordable. A number of people from New Mexico, 
Emilie and Charlie included, headed west. Blythe would never be the 
same.
  There's hardly a piece of Blythe's modern history that hasn't felt 
the positive impact of the Grahams' concern for their beloved adopted 
community. Whether it was from the aspect of Blythe's history--and 
Emilie's tireless work to insure that a historical society and museum 
would grow and prosper--or Charlie's steady hand at the helm of the 
chamber of commerce and countless other organizations, the Grahams have 
always been in the thick of things. We'll never know how many 
schoolchildren felt the benefit of Charlie's many years of work as a 
member and president of the school board, or how many residents were 
recipients of community projects that Charlie worked on as a longtime 
Rotarian. And it would be impossible to estimate how many lives were 
improved, and even saved, by Emilie's 30 years of commitment to the 
local blood bank.
  It occurred to me once that the word ``No'' and the phrase, ``We're 
too busy,'' somehow were left out of the Grahams' vocabulary. The 
phrase, ``If you want something done, and done right, you should ask 
the busiest person you know'' was coined with Emilie and Charlie in 
mind.
  The Grahams' life became more and more busy. After 10 years of 
farming, land values increased just as they hoped. Encouraged by a 
friend to join the growing auto industry, Charlie and Emilie became the 
owner of an auto dealership, which they retained until just a few years 
ago. Their car dealership was a hub of Blythe's business community, and 
whether you were after a car or a cup of coffee or just the local news, 
Charlie Graham's was the place to go.
  Always civic-minded, Charlie never promoted himself, but he 
encouraged a lot of other people to get involved in local and national 
Government, including me for the Riverside County Board of Supervisors 
and then the U.S. Congress, and then his office manager, Doris Morgan, 
who was elected to the city council and then rose to the job of mayor.
  Probably two of Emilie and Charlie's finest accomplishments are their 
son Dick and daughter Susie, and then, eventually, wonderful extended 
families and grandchildren: Dick's wife Nancy and children Aaron and 
Matthew, and Susie's husband Jim Garretson and children Jesse and Pat. 
The Graham brand of kindness and warmth, humor, and wisdom, has been 
handed down and is extended to all who meet them.
  On the 11th day of May in 1944, Emilie and Charlie began a 
partnership that touched thousands of lives over the next 50 years. We 
who know and cherish them thank them for that. And we wish them every 
good thing that life can offer for the next 50 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing a happy 50th 
anniversary to two remarkable people, Emilie and Charlie Graham of 
Blythe, CA.

                          ____________________