[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E54]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO SUPERVISOR DERAN KOLIGIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Supervisor Deran Koligian. Mr. Koligian is a man of soil and a man of 
service to all of Fresno County. He truly exemplifies what it means to 
be a family farmer.
  As noted in a recent article in the Armenian General Benevolent Union 
(UGBU) magazine, Supervisor Koligian, who is serving his fourth term on 
the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, is a native of Fresno. His 
parents left their native home land during the dark days of the 
Armenian genocide and relocated in Fresno. Koligian faced hard times 
like many other Armenians who were often the subject of discrimination 
and ridicule. As a result, life was not always easy for the Armenian 
families who lived on ``the other side'' of the railroad tracks.
  Koligian's father and the rest of the family did not surrender to the 
pressure of being newcomers to the United States. Instead, the elders 
of the community instilled in the first generation of U.S.-born 
Armenians a message to concentrate on their education, work hard, and 
set goals. The words were taken to heart by Koligian. After graduating 
from Central High School, Koligian went onto Fresno State College and 
completed a degree in accounting and business administration. At the 
conclusion of his formal education, he entered into combat as an 
infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II.
  Upon returning to Fresno after World War II, Koligian began a career 
in farming and became involved in serving the community. Koligian 
served on the Fresno County School Board Association, the Fresno County 
Equal Opportunity Commission, and the Fresno Planning Commission. He 
also served 12 years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the 
Madison Elementary School, and 12 years on the board of Central High 
School before his election to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.
  Koligian oversees services in Fresno County such as public libraries, 
public schools, the sheriff's department, medical services, and the 
planning commission. Additionally, he also works with the probation 
department, courts, housing and tax collection agencies within the 
county.
  Mr. Speaker, through the years, Deran Koligian has epitomized the 
hard work and integrity that our forefathers believed would make the 
United States a great and prosperous nation. The end result is a man 
who has served his community with professionalism an a no-nonsense 
attitude. I ask my colleagues to join me and pay tribute to a man who 
in the midst of so much else today, serves the public with as much 
substance as the soil of the Fresno land that he farms.

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