[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 139 (Wednesday, October 7, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11797-S11799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                       TRIBUTE TO KIMBEL E. OELKE

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the memory 
of Kimbel E. Oelke, publisher of the Dundalk Eagle--a homespun and 
pioneering publication committed to covering the local news stories 
that directly affect the daily lives of the citizens of the greater 
Dundalk area. Once sold for 10 cents to 500 subscribers and written 
entirely by Mr. Oelke at its founding in 1969, the Dundalk Eagle is now 
circulated to 24,000 people by a staff of twenty.
  Oelke's commitment to the community extended beyond his distribution 
of the newspaper to include his participation in the creation of the 
Dundalk Library, the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, the Dundalk 
Association of Businesses and the Greater Dundalk Sports Hall of Fame.
  From the age of seven when he first moved to Baltimore, Oelke had 
journalistic ambitions. I think all would agree that the realization of 
his dream has not only enriched the lives of thousands of his readers, 
but conveyed a sense of community too often missing in our modern era. 
Kimbel Oelke's commitment to community journalism will leave a legacy 
of service for future generations both in and out of Dundalk.
  I extend my most sincere sympathies to his wife Mary, their three 
sons and seven daughters, and to all the family and friends of Kimbel 
Oelke. Mr. President, I ask that two articles celebrating Kimbel 
Oelke's life be printed in the Record.
  The articles follow:

                      [From the Sun, Aug. 4, 1998]

Kimbel E. Oelke, 80, Longtime Publisher of Dundalk Eagle and Community 
                                Booster

                          (By Fred Rasmussen)

       Kimbel E. Oelke, publisher of the Dundalk Eagle, died 
     Sunday of a heart attack while attending Mass at St. Rita 
     Roman Catholic Church in Dundalk. He was 80.
       Mr. Oelke, a well-known figure in eastern Baltimore County, 
     was a seasoned newspaper reporter and editor when the 
     unthinkable happened one day.
       He woke up one morning and noticed his name missing from 
     the mastheads of Dundalk's Community Press and the Eastern 
     Beacon, where he had worked for 31 years.
       He had complained when the newspapers began expanding and 
     turning away from local news coverage, and the owner, 
     Stromberg Publications, demoted him to advertising manager of 
     the Essex Times, another of the chain's newspapers.
       Disgruntled, he quit. He was in his early 50s and had a 
     wife and 11 children to support.
       He and his wife took a gamble. They took their savings and 
     started their own newspaper.
       The Dundalk Eagle, a tabloid, arrived on May 15, 1969. Its 
     slogan was ``Of The People, By The People, For The People.''
       In a front-page editorial, Mr. Oelke wrote, ``I am firmly 
     convinced that there is a need for a paper in the greater 
     Dundalk area continually cognizant of the needs and desires 
     of the people and the local businesses.''
       The paper sold for 10 cents a copy and subscriptions were 
     $1 a year. It has grown from 500 subscribers to a paid 
     circulation of 24,000 and a staff of 20.
       For many years, Mr. Oelke wrote most of the newspaper copy 
     and was a familiar figure in courtrooms, police stations and 
     firehouses. Tipsters kept his phones ringing.
       The paper was homespun and covered Dundalk and its environs 
     in great detail. Mr. Oelke's appetite for Dundalk minutiae 
     was insatiable.
       One of the Mr. Oelke's space-saving tricks, which gave his 
     newspaper a particularly distinguishing if not unusual look, 
     was his use of ampersands--``&''--instead of the word ``and'' 
     in copy.
       ``The Eagle is more family-like than at most places,'' said 
     Wayne Laufert, who was hired as a reporter in 1986 and was 
     named editor in 1996.
       ``That's due to the personalities of Mr. and Mrs. O. Most 
     of us think of them as grandparents. They treated a group of 
     20 or more people to Christmas dinner every year and hosted 
     summer parties where we ate crabs and played softball.''
       Mr. Laufert described Mr. Oelke as ``a very warm person'' 
     who had ``difficulty saying `no' to people. He was very 
     accommodating and it was one of his most endearing 
     qualities.''
       Deborah I. Cornely of Dundalk, a daughter and the paper's 
     managing editor, said, ``He was the kind of man who was very 
     humble. He never bragged about his accomplishments, but most 
     of all tried to give everyone an even break.''
       Deeply involved in the community, Mr. Oelke led the efforts 
     to establish the Dundalk Library, the Dundalk Chamber of 
     Commerce, the Dundalk Association of Businesses and the 
     Greater Dundalk Sports Hall of Fame.
       Mr. Oelke, a soft-spoken man who had a penchant for green 
     eyeshades and big King Edward cigars, was born in Louisville, 
     Ky. When he was seven, his family moved to Dundalk, when his 
     father was transferred there by American Standard, the maker 
     of plumbing fixtures.
       The 1935 graduate of Sparrows Point High School once 
     dreamed of becoming a major-league baseball player, but his 
     hitting failed him. In 1938, he became sports editor of the 
     Community Press.
       ``When I was in high school, I had two ambitions: To be a 
     baseball player and to be a newsman,'' he told the Dundalk 
     Eagle on the newspaper's 25th anniversary.
       After serving with the Navy in the Pacific during World War 
     II, he returned to the Press and was promoted to editor.
       Studying at night, he earned a law degree from the 
     University of Baltimore Law School.
       Services will be held at 8:30 p.m. today at the Duda-Ruck 
     Funeral Home of Dundalk, 7922 Wise Ave.
       He is survived by his wife, the former Mary Georgina 
     Jarboe, whom he married in 1946; three sons, Timothy Oelke of 
     New Freedom, Pa., James A. Oelke of Corpus Christi and Andrew 
     P. Oelke of Seattle; seven other daughters, Kim E. Boone of 
     Dundalk, Barbara E. Oelke of Monkton, Elizabeth A. Oelke of 
     Fawn Grove, Pa., Mary Jane Oelke of White Marsh, Suzanne C. 
     Oelke of Seattle, Amy K. Christensen of Upperco and Kerry A. 
     Raszewski of Monkton; a sister, Virginia Becker of Dundalk; 
     16 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
                                  ____


                [From the Dundalk Eagle, Aug. 13, 1998]

            Family, Friends Bid Last Goodbye to Kimbel Oelke

                        (By Terri Narrell Mause)

       The St. Rita Catholic Church parish priest explained that 
     God has a purpose for each person's life, and praised Kimbel 
     Oelke for fulfilling what he was ``called to do.''
       But it was three of Oelke's daughters who painted the most 
     vivid picture of the newspaper publisher during the Mass of 
     Christian burial for their father Aug. 5. The Mass was led by 
     the Rev. William Remmel of St. Rita's, assisted by the Rev. 
     Joseph Cornely, who works with Trinity Missions in 
     California, and Deacon Albert Chesnavage.
       Oelke, the founder and publisher of The Dundalk Eagle, died 
     Aug. 2 while attending St. Rita's with his wife. He was 80 
     years old.
       In emotional and eloquent testimonials, the three women 
     recalled their father as a man devoted to his family and 
     dedicated to bringing out the best in others.
       Deborah Cornely, Oelke's second daughter and managing 
     editor of The Eagle, told the story of how her father taught 
     her to ride a bike.
       Oelke transformed the bicycle into a simulated airplane, 
     complete with painted wings and a tail, finishing it the 
     evening before the then-4-year-old was to ride it in 
     Dundalk's 4th of July parade.
       ``The only problem was that I'd never ridden a two-wheeler 
     before,'' Cornely said in her eulogy.
       So on that evening, her father removed the training wheels 
     from the bike, steadied it as she climbed aboard and assured 
     her she could do it.
       After she had ridden some distance, confident her father 
     was still holding on, she looked back to see him, ``standing 
     all smiles & applause, way back at my point of departure.''

[[Page S11798]]

       ``He'd sent me off alone, and through his encouragement, 
     his insistence that I was up to the task, I'd accomplished 
     something on my own that I didn't think I could do,'' Cornely 
     said. ``That was one of the first of many cherished memories 
     I have of my father helping me overcome my fears & succeed in 
     life.''
       The next day, the newly trained bicyclist collected a blue 
     ribbon for the bicycle division from then-Gov. Theodore 
     McKeldin.
       Elizabeth Oelke, her parents' fifth child, next recited the 
     publisher's favorite poem, William Henley's Invictus, as she 
     remembered her father as a journalistic poet, an ``adman'' 
     who appreciated the power and beauty of language.
       The poem was one Oelke knew by heart and recited with 
     ``precision, gusto and conviction,'' applying it to his own 
     life and encouraging his family to do the same, Elizabeth 
     Oelke told the mourners at St. Rita's.
       ``I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my 
     soul,'' she said, reciting the final lines of the poem. ``And 
     if that was the only think my father had given me, that would 
     have been enough. But he gave us so much more.''
       In a final family tribute, Amy Oelke, the ninth of her 
     parents' 11 children, remembered how her father fostered 
     independence and self-confidence in his children with 
     encouragement and praise. She specifically recalled his use 
     of the word ``best.''
       ``Every Thanksgiving, we had the best turkey we'd ever 
     had,'' she said. ``Mom was the best woman in the world. And 
     he always made us all feel like the best. But he never acted 
     like he or his family was better than anyone else.
       ``I was blessed--and we all were--with the best father.''


                            final farewells

       After the service, family members and friends joined a 
     procession down Merritt Boulevard to Sacred Heart of Jesus 
     Cemetery of German Hill Road.
       Under a sunny, clear sky with a soft breeze accompanying 
     the priest's brief words of comfort, several of Oelke's 
     friends took one last opportunity to remember the man.
       Some remembered his love of golf.
       ``He'll be playing that big golf course in heaven,'' said 
     former Baltimore County councilman Don Mason of Eastwood.
       Oelke's son-in-law Donald Cornely (a nephew of the priest 
     who assisted in the service) pulled from his pocket a handful 
     of orange golf tees imprinted with ``The Dundalk Eagle, 
     Published Weekly, Read Daily,'' and told about golfing with 
     the publisher.
       ``The first time he took me golfing--he was a very patient 
     man, because I'm not very good at the game--he handed me a 
     couple of these,'' Cornely recalled. ``After teeing off the 
     first time, I started to pick up the tee, but he wouldn't let 
     me. He told me to leave it there, and he took some more from 
     his pocket, leaving them across the course as we walked.
       ``He knew other golfers would pick up the tees to use 
     themselves, and The Eagle would get publicity. He did that 
     wherever we played--New York, Pennsylvania and other states--
     no matter how far away we were from Dundalk.''
       Oelke was buried in his golf shoes with his favorite putter 
     lying along-side him.
       Others attending the graveside service recalled his 
     contributions to the community and his passion for community 
     news.
       Kenneth C. Coldwell Sr., publisher of the Avenue 
     newspapers, said Oelke encouraged and helped him when he 
     first entered the newspaper business 25 years ago.
       ``He was a great guy and a great friend,'' Coldwell said at 
     the graveside service Aug. 5. ``Community newspapers 
     throughout the world should take a chapter from him, because 
     he knew how to run a community newspaper.
       ``He would look you in the eye, shake your hand with a firm 
     handshake and say, `Good luck.' That's how I want to remember 
     him.''
       Mason first met Oelke when he organized a group that tried 
     to pinpoint and expose excessive government spending. Oelke, 
     Mason says, always supported the group by printing its 
     findings in The Eagle.
       ``I recognize--and I'm sure a lot of people will 
     recognize--that an institution has passed on,'' Mason said. 
     ``I'm sure when St. Peter meets and interviews Mr. Oelke, 
     he'll appoint him editor-in-chief of heaven's weekly.''


     working for oelke meant covering police beat, painting office

       The following was written by Gaitherburg resident Stuart 
     Gorin, who got his start in newspapers as a 14-year-old hired 
     by Kilmel Oelke, the Eagle founder who died Aug. 2.
       As a writer with the U.S. Information Agency focusing on 
     aspects of U.S. foreign policy, I am a long way from Dundalk, 
     Md., where many years ago Kimbel Oelke gave me my start in 
     journalism.
       He was a customer in my late father's store, the old 
     Stansbury Food Center, where I was a 14-year-old reluctantly 
     helping out while dreaming of becoming a newspaper reporter. 
     Scoop--he was always Scoop to me, never Mr. Oelke--nearly 
     bowled me over when, after murmured conversations with my 
     parents, he offered me a summer job as a cub reporter for The 
     Community Press and Baltimore Countian in 1953 for the 
     princely sum of $6 a week.
       Scoop took me under his wing and taught me how to be a 
     reporter: how to write in newspaper style, how to ask 
     questions, how to be fair. When a citizen has a complaint 
     against the city council, write it, he said, but be sure to 
     get the council's side in the story, too.
       It wasn't always easy, but it sure was exciting. When he 
     gave me my first byline, on a story about the family of a 
     little boy in a coma, I felt on top of the world.
       Part of my job, Scoop said, was to cover the police beat. 
     We went to the police station, where he introduced me to the 
     desk sergeant. Every day I would gather material from the 
     police blotter for stories, and I thought I was becoming a 
     seasoned professional. But the next week, a new officer 
     was on the desk, and when I explained my mission he 
     brushed me aside and told me to go home to my mother. 
     Crushed, I trudged back to the office and informed Scoop, 
     who roared with laughter and then took me back to the 
     station and smilingly declared that yes, I really was his 
     reporter and needed to see the blotter.
       But that embarrassment was nothing compared to what Scoop 
     put me through for an interview with the winner of a local 
     beauty pageant. Get all of the details, and don't forget her 
     measurements, he admonished. Back in the 1950s, this was 
     considered routine, but not for a red-faced 14-year-old who 
     had to approach a ``grownup'' 18-year-old. What I finally 
     decided to do was type out a list of questions for her, 
     asking her the vital statistics in the middle of the list. I 
     rang her doorbell, identified myself as a reporter for the 
     Community Press, handed her the list, and asked her to please 
     fill it out. When I admitted to Scoop how I obtained the 
     information, he again roared with laughter.
       One time he didn't laugh. He needed the newspaper office 
     painted, and I said I could do it on a Saturday morning. Of 
     course I knew how, I said. I had completed half of the 
     ceiling in blotchy streaks with drops on the floor and the 
     desks when he came in, shook his head, took the paintbrush 
     out of my hand and sat me down in front of a typewriter 
     instead, saying this was where I belonged. A professional 
     painter finished the job right, and I haven't held a 
     paintbrush in my hand since.
       Early on, Scoop showed me one of the benefits of being a 
     reporter. It was the first year that the Baltimore Orioles 
     were in the major leagues, and we went to a couple of games 
     using our press passes.
       During my high school year between the two summers I worked 
     for Scoop, I attended Saturday matinees at the old Hilltop 
     Theater in Baltimore, where big-name stars came weekly for 
     live productions. Each week I would interview the star and 
     write a column on the theater's activities that Scoop ran in 
     The Community Press.
       Then, after I finished college and was drafted, the Army 
     sent me back to Dundalk to Fort Holabird in 1962. When I 
     stopped in to say hello, Scoop told me that his night court 
     reporter had just left, and if I wanted the job for old 
     time's sake it was mine. So while I was a soldier, every 
     Monday night I would cover the court session and leave my 
     stories in the office for him to pick up the next day.
       There were occasional phone calls after that assignment, 
     but years passed before I saw Scoop again. Helen Delich 
     Bentley was still in Congress and running for re-election in 
     1986, and I came to Dundalk during one of her campaign stops 
     to write an article. I got together with Scoop for lunch and 
     we had a wonderful afternoon reminiscing. Regrettably, that 
     was the last time I saw him.
       Besides writing for USIA, I've worked for newspapers and 
     wire services not only in the United States but also in 
     Europe and Asia. It's been a satisfying career that all 
     started with the Dundalk Community Press. Thanks, Scoop. I'm 
     going to miss you.


               letter writers recall founder of ``eagle''

       Condolences sent to The Eagle upon the death of the paper's 
     founder, Kimbel Oelke, included the following letters:
       Kimbel Oelke contributed more to our community than most of 
     us know. His tenacity and vision gave Dundalk a weekly 
     reminder of who we are as individuals and as a community. His 
     paper is our family album. His legacy is our deep sense of 
     community. His life is our measure of what it means to be a 
     good man.
       Kimbel, I am certain you are reading this from heaven. You 
     left an undeniable and meaningful mark on Dundalk and on so 
     many of us who had the fortune of knowing you.--Michael 
     Galiazzo, Rainflower Path, Sparks, Md.
       We at Sparrows Point send our deepest sympathy to all of 
     you upon the death of Mr. Oelke. He was a universal citizen, 
     a true friend of businesses and the community.
       We recall his unconditional support of Bethlehem Steel and 
     his wholehearted, selfless help in a grassroots campaign 
     against steel imports. His help was crucially needed at a 
     critical time in our history, and he came through with flying 
     colors.
       There were many other times when his advice, counsel and 
     friendship were sought, and he was there for us, as he was 
     for everyone in the community. He will be missed by all whose 
     lives he touched.--The letter was signed by Sparrows Point 
     Division president Duane R. Dunham and 15 other company 
     officials.
       As always, Baltimore Sun reporter Fred Rasmussen had 
     outdone himself in his magnificent obituary of a truly great 
     man, the late Kimbel E. Oelke of Dundalk, founder and 
     publisher of The Eagle.
       That having been said, nevertheless, Mr. Rasmussen 
     overlooked or did not know some

[[Page S11799]]

     remarkable events about this man's epic saga of life which I 
     was present to witness by virtue of my relation to both him 
     and his community.
       I first me him in 1974 while handling public relations for 
     Patrick T. Welsh's House of Delegates campaign and later, in 
     1978, for the same man's state Senate campaign. Today, Mr. 
     Welsh is President of The Eastern Baltimore Area Chamber of 
     Commerce. None of his successes would have happened without 
     the fair coverage of Mr. Oelke and The Eagle--and the same is 
     true of every other candidate for public office from that 
     time to this.
       In 1984, when I worked at Dundalk Community College and the 
     entire collegiate community harnessed its abilities and 
     energies to re-employ area residents, Mr. Oelke was there as 
     well, and when I had occasion to run for the office of 
     Congress of the United States in 1982, 1984 and 1988, I got a 
     fair hearing from him each and every time.
       Thus, he was, is and remains my ideal of what a newspaper 
     publisher should be: fair, faithful and true. I am not 
     surprised that he died in church in the arms of the Lord and 
     the family that loved him. I, too, shall miss him.--Blaine 
     Taylor, Joppa Road, Towson.
       Please accept our most sincere wishes regarding Mr. Oelke's 
     death. Hopefully his family, friends, and the staff at The 
     Eagle are doing well.
       I am new to the Baltimore area, so I obviously have no 
     previous knowledge of Mr. Oelke and the paper. However, your 
     staff should know that his story and the related story of the 
     newspaper is a great one. He sounds like he was a good person 
     with his head and heart in the right place. It is great when 
     the good guys win!
       Anyway, just know that I was personally moved by learning 
     about Mr. Oelke's life. I will look to learn more in upcoming 
     issues of your paper. Keep up the (his) great work over there 
     at The Eagle.--Paul Kin, The writer is a community relations 
     director representing Bradley-Ashton-Dabrowski-Matthews 
     Funeral Homes.

                          ____________________