[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 16, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF BERNIE FIELDS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SAM GEJDENSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 16, 1998

  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Bernie 
Fields, a constituent of mine who passed away on August 16, 1998 at his 
home in Middletown, Connecticut. He will be deeply missed by all of us 
who knew him.
  Bernie distinguished himself as a businessman, a community activist, 
a husband and a father. He came to Connecticut in 1950 and opened 
Bernie Fields Jewelers. This family-owned business stayed in downtown 
Middletown for almost five decades. When many businesses moved out to 
mega-malls and the suburbs, Bernie remained committed to downtown. His 
store is like an anchor in downtown Middletown, a familiar site to 
generations of residents.
  Mr. Speaker, Bernie Fields did much, much more than keep his business 
in downtown. He worked on behalf of his community in countless other 
ways.
  Bernie founded Connecticut's very first Big Brothers/Big Sisters 
chapter in Middletown in 1961. He went on to help establish eight other 
chapters around the state.
  He served as Director of the local American Red Cross Chapter, the 
American Cancer Society, the Lions Club and the Big Brothers of 
Hartford. He was a trustee of the Mount Saint John School. For twenty 
years he rented out a theater every December and showed free movies for 
young people.
  He won the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance Good Guy Award, was 
named the Salvation Army's Man of the Year, and received the American 
Legion Americanism Award, the Boy Scouts' Good Scout Award, and the 
Masons' PierPoint Medal. He was also the recipient of this 
institution's Congressional Volunteer of the Year Award.
  Bernie Fields is survived by his wife of 58 years, Helen, his son 
Martin, his daughter Harriet, eight grandchildren, and one great 
grandchild. Although all of us who were lucky enough to call Bernie a 
friend will miss him, we will always remember how much he did to make 
Connecticut a great place to live.

                          ____________________