[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MICHAEL BARSKI HONORED

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 6, 1998

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
dedicated community servant in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Michael P. 
Barski. Michael, who is eighty-seven years old, recently ended his 
tenth four-year term as Tax Collector of Conyngham Townships.
  Michael Barski worked in the coal mines until he joined the U.S. 
Marines at the start of World War II. He returned to the mines 
following a tour of duty in Europe. Michael was first elected Tax 
Collector in 1957 and shortly thereafter began rising at dawn to do the 
bookeeping, a habit he would keep for forty years. Rather than 
publishing office hours. Michael make himself available to all members 
of the community at all hours.
  Mr. Speaker, Michael is also a devoted baseball fan and an ardent 
follower of the New York Yankees. He was a local umpire from 1949 until 
just a few years ago. He also was an active member of the St. Mary's 
Church Choir and a Quartermaster of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for 
twenty-five years.
  Michael is the son of the late Adam and Catherine Barski and is 
eldest of eleven children. He and his wife, the former Catherine 
Novelli, will celebrate their 62nd Wedding Anniversary on September 29, 
1998. They have two grown children and one granddaughter named Lydia. 
Their son Michael is an executive with a financial firm and their 
daughter Barbara works with the Department of Health and Human Services 
in Washington, D.C.
  I am extremely proud to bring this extraordinary American's life to 
the attention of my colleagues. I join with his family, his many 
friends, and the community in wishing him a wonderful, well-deserved 
retirement from public service and my very best wishes for continued 
good health and happiness

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