[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO PHILANTHROPIST ALICE PETERS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 1997

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Alice 
Peters. Mrs. Peters has demonstrated the ability to raise the spirits 
of people all over the Fresno community. I want to honor her today for 
her service to Fresno.
  As noted in a recent edition of the Armenian General Benevolent Union 
[AGBU] magazine, Alice Peters' family moved to Lynn, MA from Bitlis in 
1907. After hearing that more Bitlistsies were residing in the Fresno 
area, the family moved to a small farming town outside of Fresno called 
Del Rey. In 1943, she met and married Leon Peters, who was a farmer by 
day and sold pumps for water at night. The pump business grew and 
became one of the Nation's premier wine-making machinery plants. 
Eventually, the business grew to be as large as 300 employees before 
the couple sold it and began pursuing other interests.
  Perhaps even more important than the wine-making machinery business 
was the formation of the Leon S. Peters Foundation in 1959. The 
foundation, with Mrs. Peters as the board chairman, supports many 
different educational causes today. Locally, the foundation aids 
humanitarian endeavors and university scholarships. Foundation 
guidelines require the money be kept in Fresno to help students 
locally. Specifically, the foundation also sends funding to various 
organizations throughout Armenia, including supporting scholarships for 
students studying at the American University of Armenia and funding to 
assist children at the Nork Children's Center.
  Education is not where the work of Alice Peters ends. As one of the 
leading philanthropists in Fresno, Mrs. Peters was instrumental in 
starting the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and also is a fundraiser 
for the Fresno Zoo and the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. Together, 
Mr. and Mrs. Peters have led Fresno from a small farming town to one of 
the largest and most thriving cities in California.
  Mr. Speaker, as an active member of the Fresno community, Alice 
Peters has contributed to the growth and cultivation of new ideas and 
accomplishments in the Fresno community. She and her husband faced the 
challenges and the successes of the business world together. In turn, 
they gave back to the community that was the foundation for their 
successes. I ask my colleagues to join me and pay tribute to a woman 
who strives each day to make the Fresno community as fulfilling for 
other lives as it has been for her life.

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