[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       TRIBUTE TO TOM STRECKEWALD

                                 ______


                        HON. JAMES C. GREENWOOD0

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I am here today because I feel it is 
important to preserve the memory of a true American. He was not a 
decorated war hero, nor was he a celebrity. His picture and story have 
not been zealously reported by the national media, but to those who 
knew Tom Streckewald, he was the symbol of what's right with America 
today. You see, Tom Streckewald can probably best be described as a 
giver. He was not a taker.
  Tom Streckewald, who lived in Lower Makefield, PA, was killed in a 
senseless automobile accident on his 45th birthday in the early spring 
of this year. He is remembered not only by his wife Cathie and two 
young sons, Kevin and Daniel, but by the entire community he lived in 
and served. Tom will also be long remembered by the Thomas Edison State 
College in Trenton, NJ, where he was the director of institutional 
planning, and by the Princeton, NJ Chamber of Commerce, which he served 
as chairman.
  Tom Streckewald shied away from politics, but he accepted challenging 
committee projects for the local school board. He coached local ball 
teams. He was the announcer at local swim meets, and he had trouble 
saying ``no'' to any other request the community brought to him. Tom 
Streckewald was a volunteer who consistently went far beyond the call 
of local responsibility. Efforts like Tom Streckewald's are what make a 
town, or borough, or a city truly a community, and that's why it's 
important that we remember him. His sense of citizenship should be 
recognized as the very foundation of this country's strength.
  Newspaper reports of Tom's death repeatedly used the words 
``devotion'', ``commitment'', ``integrity'', and ``good-natured 
spirit'' to describe him. It is certainly a beautiful way for a 
community to remember one of its finest citizens, and so he should be 
remembered here as a true role model for us all. A citizen who not only 
cared, but who was willing to roll up his sleeves and pitch in to make 
his community, his little piece of the United States of America, a 
better place to live.

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