[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO LOWANDA EMMONS DEEGAN

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 21, 1996

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, we all have extraordinary people in our 
districts, but there is one incredible lady in the 22nd District of New 
York who stands apart.
  Her name is Lowanda Emmons Deegan, and she is 90 years young. Last 
Sunday, she received her bachelors degree from the State University at 
Albany. In other words, Mr. Speaker, she was 68 years old when most of 
her fellow graduates were born. She truly earned the right to lead the 
gradution processional.
  Lowanda Emmons Deegan could say, as the song goes, ``I did it my 
way.'' She took one course a semester for the last 20 years. In recent 
years, since a fall injured her knee, she has had some trouble getting 
around and has done much of her studying over the phone.
  But that's been one of the few concessions she had made to her age. 
In fact, the remarkable thing about her, as far as I'm concerned, is 
her attitude. She is truly young at heart, and spends her time dwelling 
on the future, not on the past.
  It isn't though her past isn't interesting, Mr. Speaker. She 
graduated from high school in the early 1920's, finished fifth in the 
``Miss Schenectady'' contest shortly after graduation, and then worked 
in a number of positions until retiring in 1975. She was a social 
worker during the Depression, a switchboard operator and accountant for 
General Electric Co., and, finally, a clerk at the New York State 
Library. Her husband and only son are both deceased.
  She was determined to make the most of those retirement years. She 
remembered getting good grades in writing projects in high school, so 
she began writing a family story titled ``Susie's Chronicles,'' named 
for her grandmother, Susie Emmons. Her ancestors included some of New 
York State's earliest settlers. Her English teachers have been 
impressed by the first drafts of the book, and have expressed 
confidence that the book will find a publisher. I'm looking forward to 
its publication, and I'm sure it will be popular with the general 
reading public.
  Lowanda Emmons Deegan reads two newspapers a day and often writes to 
me about issues of interest to older Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, her attitude is what has made this the greatest country 
on Earth. Many people stop trying to improve themselves after a certain 
age and settle into a comfortable routine. She has not, and her story 
is an inspiration to us all.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and this entire body to rise with me in 
tribute to an extraordinary lady and great American, Lowanda Emmons 
Deegan of Ballston Lake, NY, on the occasion of her long-awaited 
graduation from college.

                          ____________________