[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 150 (Tuesday, October 20, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2239-E2240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THREE OF LANSING'S UNSUNG HEROES--THE LANSING COMMUNITY ROLE 
                           MODEL CELEBRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DEBBIE STABENOW

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 20, 1998

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, on October 17, 1998, at our Lansing 
Community Role Model Celebration, I will be pleased to honor three of 
Lansing's unsung heroes. These women are true community volunteers, 
who, through their own dedication, commitment, and hard work have made 
our community a better place.
  Mrs. Grace L. Demps, who has lived in Lansing since she was 6 years 
old, is a lifelong community volunteer. She has spent the last ten 
years making holidays dinners for hundreds of needy families. Mrs. 
Demps organizes and prepares these wonderful holiday feasts out of her 
own home. She solicits food donations and pays for the remainder of the 
supplies out of her own pocket.
  Mrs. Demps has received the Sojourner Truth Award from the National 
Association of Negro & Professional Women's Club, and the Outstanding 
Community Service Award from the women of Union Baptist Church, Mother 
of the Year from her own Messiah Community Baptist Church, where her 
son, Rev. Lawrence Hinton presides. She is a member of the Greater 
Lansing Nurses Guild and the Lansing Association Women's Clubhouse.
  Mrs. Demps recently retired as a 25-year employee from the City of 
Lansing Traffic Department. She is married to Willie Demps, and is the 
mother of 6 children, 35 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 5 
great-great-grandchildren.
  Ms. Geri Roossien, who will be 66 on October 22nd, has used her own 
painful experiences with addiction to help many others through her job 
as a Substance Abuse Counselor at Cristo Rey Community Center, where 
she has been working since 1980. Although she retired on June 1st of 
this year, she is still involved in fundraisers and activities at the 
center.
  Ms. Roossien is very close to her only daughter, Jannus, and her 
husband, Rob, and their two wonderful children.
  Ms. Roossien served on the City of Lansing Human Resource Advisory 
Board from 1983 to 1996. She was also secretary for the Michigan Indian 
Benefit Association Board of Directors, a member of the Lansing Indian 
Center Youth Advisory Committee, the Native American Community Group, 
the Ingham County Women's Commission, the C.I.R.C.L.E. group, and the 
Indian Children's Christmas Party Committee. She is an integral part of 
many local political campaigns and activities in the Lansing community.
  Mrs. Georgia Brown has been one of Lansing's most dedicated and 
committed community activists. She is an Honorary Life Member of the 
National PTA, a Life Member of the

[[Page E2240]]

NAACP, a life member of the National Council of Negro Women, a member 
of Lansing Association Women's Clubhouse, and Valiant Lady Church Women 
United. She is a long-time member of Trinity AME, and was a Sunday 
school teacher for many years, and worked with the Old Newsboys, an 
organization that raised money to give shoes and boots to hundreds of 
needy children. Mrs. Brown continues to volunteer at Sparrow Hospital's 
surgical wing where she has been a cheerful and dependable fixture for 
almost 15 years. And, Mrs. Brown, in all of her years of voting in 
public elections, has missed only 4 votes, and all of those were missed 
for family emergencies.
  Mrs. Brown has been married to her husband Robert Brown for 68 years 
and is the mother of 8 children, 19 grandchildren, and 24 great-
grandchildren.
  Our community has been enriched by the contributions of these 
selfless volunteers. As we gather on Saturday, many generations of 
Lansing residents, we will celebrate our community role models, Mrs. 
Grace L. Demps, Mrs. Geri Roossien, and Mrs. Georgia Brown.

                          ____________________