[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO KARL DE ROUEN

                                 ______


                            HON. MAC COLLINS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 5, 1996

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize a friend 
from Eunice, LA, Karl DeRouen.
  Karl DeRouen, better known as King Karl in Eunice for his long 
standing career in radio broadcasting, was recently inducted into the 
Louisiana Hall of Fame [LHOF]. The LHOF is a relatively new 
organization which salutes men and women in the music and entertainment 
industry who are originally from Louisiana.
  Mr. Speaker, King Karl exceeds all the criteria for this honor. Karl 
was born in Eunice in 1934 and grew up on the same block as the present 
location of KJJB and KEUN radio stations. Back then though, there were 
no stations on the block.
  Throughout his high school years he would listen to sportcaster Bill 
Stern and had dreams of some day becoming a sportcaster. That dream has 
become a reality as Karl is the broadcaster for the Indian Creek bass 
tournament and voice of the Eunice High Bobcats and Saint Edmund High 
Bluejays for over 25 years--both well known athletic teams and followed 
by the locals of Eunice.
  Karl began his career in radio at the age of 18, signing on each 
morning at 6 a.m. He became the early morning wake up voice for the 
people of Eunice. He was the entertainment during breakfast and the 
local voice delivering the local news. It was his voice of kindness who 
would recognize someone's birthday, mention a person by name who 
suffered an illness, or praised a local person who had rendered a good 
deed. As Karl puts it, ``We can please people'' and he realized his 
road to success would be determined by those whom he pleased.
  Karl DeRouen's life-long ambition was to be a radio personality. He 
recently said, ``I would like to be remembered 50 years from now as 
someone who has made someone's life a little brighter and a little 
better''.
  Mr. Speaker, Karl DeRouen, now the owner of KJJB and KEUN, not only 
has fulfilled a dream but has generated a legacy for his family which 
will be remembered by the people of Eunice, LA for decades to come.
  King Karl is the father of my scheduler, Mrs. Anne Jasien.

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