[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO M. GAYLE CORY

  Mr. DASCHLE. The Senate family this week lost one of its own, Gayle 
Cory, the former postmaster of the Senate, who died of cancer on 
Wednesday evening.
  Gayle's Senate career spanned 35 years. Beginning as a receptionist 
with Senator Ed Muskie in 1959, Gayle became the executive assistant to 
our former majority leader, George Mitchell, before her appointment to 
the Senate post office.
  As an officer of the Senate, Gayle reformed and strengthened the 
operations of the Senate post office, improving service to Members and 
assuring the strong financial controls so essential as a matter of 
public trust. The Senate lost a dedicated employee of enormous personal 
integrity when Gayle resigned in January of 1995.
  It was not her work, however, that defined Gayle. It was her personal 
warmth and her generous spirit. Gayle gave of herself and her time to 
all who asked--colleagues at work, constituents from Maine, citizens 
from around the entire country. All who turned to Gayle Cory knew they 
were heard and that she would do her best.
  She was realistic about people's behavior but optimistic about their 
potential. Perhaps that is why she dedicated all of her life to public 
service. Gayle believed that if people were given the opportunity to 
behave well, most of them would, so she made it her business to create 
such opportunities for everyone who came into contact with her. Perhaps 
that is why Gayle was so well loved by so many. She brought out the 
best in everyone.
  On behalf of the Senate family, I extend my condolences to Don Cory, 
Gayle's husband, to her daughters and stepchildren, to her brother, 
Buzz Fitzgerald, and her sister, Carol. Our prayers and our thoughts 
are with them.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. President, many of us in the Senate are today mourning 
the loss of a very dear friend, long-time aide to Senators Edmund S. 
Muskie and George J. Mitchell, and former Postmaster of the U.S. 
Senate.
  Gayle Cory died Wednesday night, succumbing to the cancer that caused 
her retirement in January 1995 after a too brief career as Senate 
Postmaster. Her death comes nearly 1 month after the death of her dear 
friend, former Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie. Gayle was a member 
of Senator Muskie's staff from the very beginning of his Senate career 
in 1959, and she was at his side throughout his years in the Senate. 
She was one of a very few Senate aides who moved with him to the 
Department of State when Senator Muskie was appointed Secretary of 
State in 1980. But their friendship, and Gayle's friendship with Jane 
Muskie and the Muskie children, continued long after Senator Muskie 
left public life.
  She returned to the Senate to join the staff of former Senator George 
J. Mitchell. She served as his top personal assistant until he became 
Senate Majority Leader, when he appointed her Postmaster of the U.S. 
Senate. As Senate Postmaster, Gayle oversaw many improvements in the 
post office security operations. She also instituted many reforms which 
effectively preserved the integrity of the Senate Post Office during 
the same period of time that the House postal services were engulfed by 
scandal.
  Gayle Cory was very special to all of us fortunate enough to know her 
and work with her. She did not have acquaintances * * * to meet Gayle 
was to be her friend, and all of us, regardless of our political 
affiliation, knew we could count on her help and her wise counsel. Few 
of us in this body today understand the workings of the Senate as 
thoroughly as Gayle did, and she used her knowledge and experience to 
work for the people of Maine. She loved Maine deeply, and the people of 
Maine were always her first priority. She was the first contact for 
many Mainers coming to Washington, and even those meeting her for the 
first time were made to feel welcome, to know they had found a friend. 
In fact recently, my office was visited by a family from Gayle's 
hometown of Bath, whose sole reason for stopping by was to inquire 
about Gayle.
  Gayle worked hard and successfully over the years but she never 
sought personal recognition for her efforts. She was loved and deeply 
respected by members of my staff, many of whom kept in touch with her 
after her retirement. We are deeply saddened by her passing. We have 
lost a wonderful friend, but she will live on in our memories and in 
our hearts.
  I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Gayle's husband, Don, to 
their two daughters, Carole and Melissa, and to her brother and sister, 
Duane Fitzgerald and Carole Rouillard of Bath, ME.
  I extend my sympathies, too, to Gayle's extended family here in the 
Senate--the staffs of former Senators Edmund S. Muskie and George 
Mitchell, and the staff of the Senate Post Office. They, too, have lost 
a member of their family.

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