[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 9, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H4298-H4299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LEROY COLVIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Metcalf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a member of

[[Page H4299]]

my staff, Leroy Colvin of Burlington, Washington. Leroy passed away 
suddenly on Sunday, May 17, 1998. His death was a great shock to those 
of us fortunate enough to have known and worked with him.
  When I first met Leroy, he was a caseworker in the Bellingham, 
Washington office of my predecessor, Al Swift. I had always respected 
Leroy, so when I was elected in 1994, I asked if he would like to 
continue working for me in that office, and he did.
  Leroy was one of the people that make the programs created in 
Congress work for the average American. If a person was having trouble 
with Social Security, veterans' affairs, or any other program, they 
could not have a better advocate than Leroy Colvin. He was the person 
on my staff that one could go to if they had a really tough case that 
needed a positive solution.
  Leroy was born February 2, 1935 to a farming family in Skagit County, 
Washington State. During his days as a farmer, Leroy grew 120 acres of 
strawberries, 20 acres of raspberries, and 100 acres of cucumbers 
annually.

                              {time}  2030

  As a farmer, Leroy was unique for his time in that he provided day 
care for the children of the migrant farm workers that would come way 
up North each year to harvest his crops. He was concerned with their 
welfare and always tried to do the right thing by them. He also 
operated a restaurant and lounge in Burlington for about 10 years.
  My staff all have their own favorite stories and observations of 
Leroy, but one truth has come through consistently. Leroy loved a 
challenge. Like most Americans our age, Leroy was not used to the great 
many things that computers could do to provide information to help him 
do his case work. When he was shown the great wealth of information 
that was available on the Internet, Leroy was fascinated. He would 
often provide information on obscure topics to other members of my 
staff while they were on the telephone with a constituent talking about 
that subject. He would get on that thing and go while they were talking 
and bring them information. He loved a really hard case or a request 
for the most obscure fact or figure. He would work at it every day 
until he came up with the answer.
  When a member of my staff wanted to reunite her husband with his son 
after a 30-year absence, it was Leroy that was able to search America 
via the Internet and finally locate him. The end of that story, they 
plan to meet later this year.
  Leroy was also fascinated by genealogy. He was sort of a self-
appointed family historian for the Colvin family of Skagit County. He 
had friends and relatives in the Ozarks, and he loved to travel to 
Branson, Missouri. Leroy had friends all across the country. He had 
lived in many places in America as a younger man and still had contact 
with the friends he made from this time of his life. He was a stranger 
to no one he met.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of myself, my wife and my staff, I wish to 
convey our heartfelt condolences to the Colvin family on the passing of 
Leroy. No building or program will ever bear his name, but few have 
done as much on a daily basis with as much heartfelt caring to make 
American government work for the average person than Leroy Colvin.
  I, along with my wife and staff, as well as the people in need of 
help from their government, will miss him deeply.

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