[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2091-S2092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HANNAH COVINGTON MCGEE, AN EXCEPTIONAL LADY

  Mr. HELMS. There are times, Mr. President, when every Senator, on one 
occasion or another, for one reason or another, feels the need to share 
with his colleagues a moment of grief or happiness or sadness or hope.
  This being a time like that for me, Mr. President, my purpose is to 
share a few thoughts about a wonderfully gifted, beautiful, thoughtful 
lady named Hannah Covington McGee.
  I suppose I should begin, Mr. President, by stating that Hannah 
married a young fellow named Jerry McGee 33 years ago. Dr. Jerry McGee 
today is president of Wingate University, a splendid Baptist 
institution in North Carolina. Jerry is the kind of friendly, caring 
and active husband and father with an enthusiasm for his responsibility 
as a top-flight educator--and his privilege of being Hannah's husband 
all those years.
  Mr. President, Jerry and Hannah this past weekend were enjoying a 
six-week sabbatical at Tortola Island, one of the British Virgin 
Islands. Their stay on Tortola had been, both said last week, the 
happiest weeks of their lives. It all ended when Hannah was awakened 
Sunday morning suffering an excruciating numbness which quickly 
developed into the massive cerebral hemorrhage that claimed Hannah 
McGee's life at such an early age.
  Hannah grew up in Rockingham in North Carolina. At age 14 she caught 
the eye of a star athlete at Richmond County Senior High School. She 
married that star athlete years later--- after both of them had 
finished college. They immediately began together devoting their lives 
to young people.
  A mutual friend asked Jerry about Hannah. Jerry's response was that 
Hannah provided the kind of relationship that everyone dreams of; he 
confirmed that he had been in love with Hannah since his high school 
football days when she was that 14-year-old girl with the ponytail.
  Mr. President, services for that beautiful, loving and caring Hannah 
will be held at the Wingate Baptist Church tomorrow very close to the 
campus of Wingate University. She will be remembered as one who was 
forever and tirelessly doing things for others and, as Jerry McGee put 
it, ``It never once occurred to her that anybody ought to do anything 
for her.''
  Mr. President, I certainly know nothing more than anyone else about 
the hereafter, or what will happen on that inevitable day for all of 
us. But I suspect that Saint Peter was standing at the Pearly Gate 
Sunday motioning for Hannah to come in and take her seat on the right 
hand of God who loves her just as all of us who know her do.
  Mr. President, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer this morning published a 
detailed story, written by Wendy Goodman, praising Hannah McGee. I ask 
unanimous consent that Wendy Goodman's fine article be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

            [From the Charlotte (NC) Observer, Mar. 2, 1999]

             Wingate President's Wife--and Much More--Dies

                           (By Wendy Goodman)

       Wingate.--When Wingate University celebrates the opening of 
     the George A. Batte Fine Arts Center later this year, a woman 
     who had a hand in making the center a reality won't be there.
       Hannah McGee helped lead the fund-raising campaign and 
     decorate the new building's interior. An art lover, McGee 
     hoped Wingate would serve as a cultural center for Union 
     County.
       McGee died Sunday morning in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of a 
     brain aneurysm. She was 54.
       ``She had a great eye for things beautiful and artistic,'' 
     said friend Stelle Snyder. ``You could see her love for the 
     arts in her home, in her work at Wingate, in anything she 
     did.
       ``Hannah had so many responsibilities behind the scenes, 
     and she loved her work.''
       Monday, flags at Wingate University flew at half-staff in 
     honor of Hannah McGee. As the wife of Wingate President Jerry 
     McGee, she left a lasting impression on the university and 
     the entire community.
       A Rockingham native, she moved to Wingate about 6\1/2\ 
     years ago when her husband was named president of the 
     university. But Hannah McGee was more than a president's 
     wife, friends said.
       ``Hannah touched so many things in her own special way here 
     at Wingate,'' said friend Barbara Williamson. ``People never 
     even knew all the hard stuff Hannah did because it was all 
     behind the scenes.''
       Hannah McGee helped launch English as a second language 
     program in Union County. As a board member of the Union 
     County Players, she made costumes and worked backstage for 
     several performances.
       She played a major role in beautifying and restoring the 
     M.B. Dry Memorial Chapel at the school. She never hesitated 
     to open the doors to her home and entertain students, faculty 
     and other guests.
       ``Bit by bit, we'll see Hannah's no longer with us,'' 
     Snyder said.
       Jerry McGee had taken a three-month sabbatical leave from 
     the university in January to relax and spend more time with 
     his wife of 33 years. The McGees were childhood sweethearts, 
     and Jerry McGee often referred to

[[Page S2092]]

     Hannah as ``the girl with the ponytail who stole my heart.''
       The couple were in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands 
     when Hannah McGee got sick. She was flown to a San Juan 
     hospital and died Sunday morning.
       ``She was the mother, wife, daughter and sister that 
     everyone dreams of--one of the easiest people to love who 
     ever lived,'' Jerry McGee said in a news release Monday.
       Hannah McGee is survived by her husband and two adult sons, 
     Ryan and Sam.
       Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Wingate 
     Baptist Church and burial will follow at Dockery Family 
     Center in Rockingham. A memorial service also will be March 9 
     in Austin Auditorium on the Wingate University campus.

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