[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO DR. ALVIN C. POWELEIT: A FIXTURE IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY FOR 
                             OVER 50 YEARS

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to remember the 
life of Dr. Alvin C. Poweleit. For nearly 50 years, the people of 
Covington were blessed to have Dr. Poweleit as a member of their 
community, and few families were not touched by the kind gentleman 
known as ``Pepa.''
  Pepa Poweleit grew up in Northern Kentucky in the town of Newport. 
After earning his medical degree, Dr. Poweleit returned to Newport in 
the late 1930s as general practitioner. Like most young men of his 
generation, he left his hometown behind when he signed up to serve in 
World War II. He soon found himself in the Philippines, where he was 
the first U.S. medical officer to be decorated in the war, when he 
saved personnel in a submerged Brenn Gun Carrier.
  Dr. Poweleit spent over three years in Japanese POW camps in the 
Philippines, and was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. After the 
war, Dr. Poweleit returned to Northern Kentucky, where he opened up his 
own practice in Covington as an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist.
  For the last 50 years, the Poweleit family has maintained the office 
at the corner of Eighth and Scott in Covington. It was a rare day that 
Dr. Poweleit didn't work 14 hours. If there were sick patients to be 
seen, Pepa Poweleit would see every single one. At a time when most 
people lived within walking distance of their family doctor, it wasn't 
rare to see Dr. Poweleit still in the office after midnight.
  Pepa Poweleit retired from practice in 1981, leaving the family 
practice to his son Alvin D, an eye specialist known in the community 
as Dr. Alvin. Carrying on the tradition of family practice, Dr. Alvin 
remains a fixture today in the Covington community.
  Mr. President, last June, Pepa Poweleit was tragically killed when 
the car in which he was a passenger was run into by a truck. He was 89. 
Pepa Poweleit was a beloved figure in the communities of Northern 
Kentucky. Though nearly two decades have gone by since he retired, and 
almost a year has passed since his death, Pepa Poweleit is still sorely 
missed.

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