[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 STATEMENT HONORING RAY AND BETTY WELLS

                                 ______


                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 1995
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention to the Girl Scout 
spring gala being held by the Girl Scout Council of Bergen County, May 
12, in Teaneck, NJ. They will honor Ray and Betty Wells, who will 
receive the Girl Scouts Outstanding Achievement Award for their many 
years of service to the Girl Scouts and other community and civic 
organizations. Proceeds from this event will benefit nearly 10,000 
girls and 2,500 Girl Scout volunteers.
  Ray and Betty Wells, whom I have known for many years, are community 
leaders who are an inspiration to us all. Each has a resume of service, 
activities, and dedication that is incomparable. Their energy and 
enthusiasm are endless. It is their brand of volunteerism and personal 
generosity that has made our county an exceptional place to work and 
raise a family. Bergen County has been blessed to have good citizens 
like Betty and Ray.
  Betty Wells, a Girl Scout herself for 5 years as a young girl, worked 
as a volunteer in Girl Scouting for more than 25 years, highlighted by 
10 years as the leader of Troops 350 and 276 in Paramus. She was a 
charter member of the Order of the Evergreen and is a recipient of the 
``Thanks'' badge, the Girl Scouts' highest honor for adults. She served 
as the association chairwoman and service team chairwoman in Paramus.
  Ray Wells became involved in the Girl Scouts through Betty's 
involvement, serving first for several years as the fund drive chairman 
in Paramus before ultimately taking on the fundraising efforts for all 
of Bergen County. He also served on the board of directors. An 
architect, he also wrote a Girl Scout manual on building.
  The Wells' Girl Scout activities centered, of course, around their 
daughter, Holly, who enjoyed Girl Scouting from age 7 to 17 with her 
mother as troop leader. Holly today continues the tradition of shaping 
young people as owner and operator of a preschool in Pennsylvania.
  Holly, of course, is only one member of Ray and Betty's lovely 
family, to whom they are immensely dedicated. They have two other 
daughters, Kerry, a secretary who lives in Fair Lawn, and Julie, a 
nurse in Seoul, South Korea. Their son, Tom, is an attorney, Peter is 
director of the Paramus Building Department and Jeff is the principal 
of Wells Associates, the family architecture firm.
  Betty and Ray, who both grew up in Lyndhurst, moved in 1953 and began 
their involvement in community service almost immediately. Both served 
as Sunday School teachers at the Old Paramus Reformed Church, where Ray 
was Sunday School superintendent and Betty was a choir member, deacon, 
and elder. Betty joined the Stony Lane Elementary School Parent-Teacher 
Organization after their children began school, eventually becoming its 
president. She also was a member of or volunteered at the Paramus 
Junior Women's Club, the Paramus Garden Club, the Paramus Women's Club, 
the Juvenile Conference Committee, the Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus, the 
Church Guild an Valley Hospital.
  Ray was a member of or worked with the Paramus Jaycees, the George 
Washington Cemetery Board, the Aviation Hall of Fame, the Bergen County 
Regional Blood Center, the Oradell Planning Board, the Bergen Museum of 
Arts and Science, the Boy Scouts, March of Dimes, and United Way. He 
joined the Paramus Rotary Club in 1964 and went on to serve as a 
director, president, and district governor before becoming an 
international director of the service organization. He headed up Rotary 
projects as diverse as Polio Plus--an effort to eradicate polio--
Preserve Planet Earth and restoration of the gazebo at Bergen Pines.
  The Rotary motto best describes Ray and Betty: ``Service Above 
Self.'' Their good work and service to their neighbors and fellow men 
are limitless. Four decades of community service is a record that few 
can even come close to matching. I give my heartfelt congratulations to 
the Wells and wish them the best for the future. We are all blessed to 
have you pass our way. God bless and Godspeed.


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