[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  A TRIBUTE TO FLORENCE LeCRON JURS, SEPTEMBER 28, 1912-JULY 24, 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 6, 1998

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I am here to share with you the life of a 
legendary Oaklander, Ms. Florence LeCron Jurs, who died on July 24 
after several months of failing health at age 85.
  Ms. Jurs, a well-known citizen of Oakland, has sought out ways to 
improve the city she called home for sixty-some years. In 1965 she was 
a founding member of Oakland Public School Volunteers which grew to a 
corps of 2,000 during the time of the late Superintendent Marcus A. 
Foster. In 1970 she was a delegate to the White House Conference on 
Children. In 1977 she was an original board member of A Central Place, 
where non-profit organizations shared downtown office space. The 
Oakland Potluck, a food salvage organization, was founded by her in 
1986 and now feeds 600,000 meals a year.
  Florence LeCron Jurs was borne in Cheyenne, Wyoming on September 28, 
1912 and grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, where she was exposed to 
stimulating conversations and experiences as a member of the Cowles 
publishing family. Her father, James LeCron, was the editor of The Des 
Moines Register and Tribune newspaper. Her mother, Helen Cowles LeCron, 
was a member of the Cowles Publishing family (Minneapolis Star Journal, 
and Look Magazine).
  She was schooled in Switzerland and France before matriculating at 
Stanford University. While in Stanford she met Gene Jurs and decided 
that California was to be her lifelong home.
  Ms. Jurs was involved in Oakland Public Schools, city of Oakland 
politics, the Lincoln Child Center, the Marcus Foster Institute, the 
Management Center, St. Paul's School and served on numerous Boards of 
Directors of nonprofit agencies dealing with board development and 
services for children, mental health, food for hungry people, to name a 
few. The California Legislature named her ``Woman of the Year'' in 
1989. The Oakland City Council declared August 31, 1986 ``Eugene and 
Florence Jurs Day'' for outstanding service to the City of Oakland.
  Networking and hard work have been hallmarks of Florence Jurs' life. 
She involved herself in projects with a passion and inspired the same 
in others, a reason every group of which she was a member flourished. 
There are strong community-based organizations that would not exist 
today had it not been for her passion, inspiration, guidance, and 
leadership. The City of Oakland has been blessed with thousands of 
hours of her volunteer time and expertise.
  Her husband, Eugene; daughters; Karen, Emily, Christina and Cynthia, 
six grandchildren and one greatgrandchild, together with all the people 
she has touched in her life, take pride in her legacy.

                          ____________________