[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 11 (Wednesday, February 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E104-E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECIPIENTS OF THE FRANKLIN A. POLK PUBLIC SERVICE MERIT AWARD

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                       HON. STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 9, 2000

  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend your 
attention to a wonderful honor. The Cuyahoga County Bar Foundation and 
Cuyahoga County Bar Association recognizes very prominent public 
servants. Each public servant receives the distinguished Franklin A. 
Polk Public Servants Merit Award. The honorees are as follows:

                Irene Bohuslawsky--Parma Municipal Court

       Nominated by the Presiding/Administrative Parma Municipal 
     Court Judge Kenneth Spanagel, Irene Bohuslawsky has, since 
     1974, been employed in the Law Department of the City of 
     Parma, where she currently is the Administrative Assistant in 
     the Prosecutor's Office. A graduate of Lourdes Academy, Irene 
     attended classes at Cuyahoga Community College. Irene began 
     her service with Parma as a part-time legal secretary one 
     month after the birth of her fourth son. She spent time with 
     both the Prosecutor's Office and the Law Department prior to 
     being named to her present position in 1995. In this position 
     she is the office's ``traffic cop,'' insuring that 
     communication flows among the prosecutors, defense lawyers, 
     any defendants without counsel, citizens, victims, 
     complainants, the Court's judges and magistrate. Irene says 
     that raising her four sons is her outstanding accomplishment, 
     and, in her spare time, she enjoys her own garden and those 
     of her children. She also spends time sewing, embroidering, 
     designing floral arrangements and refinishing old furniture. 
     She is noted for her patience, courtesy and ability to deal 
     with the public, and she handles all these varied duties with 
     a smile and with a disposition that, in Judge Spanagel's 
     words, ``anyone would be hard-pressed to maintain.'' That 
     must be true, since, in her years of service, she has 
     encountered such varied responses as the surprise of the man 
     who had crashed his car into his former girlfriend's front 
     steps and who was arrested after the police found his front 
     license plate, to the loving couple whose marriage ceremony 
     before one of the judges was followed, almost immediately, by 
     the bride's filing a charge of domestic violence against her 
     new groom.


          Joseph Booker--Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

       As Chief Jury Bailiff for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas 
     Court, Joseph Booker, nominated by Presiding/Administrative 
     Judge Richard J. McMonagle, supervises the Jury Room and 
     insures that prospective jury panels are prepared for their 
     service in criminal and civil trials. After employment in the 
     private sector in marketing positions, Mr. Booker became a 
     court employee in 1975. Married to Carolyn since 1961 and the 
     father of three, Joseph, an Alabama native, raised in 
     Youngstown, credits his father, a steelworker and minister, 
     and his mother, a homemaker, with instilling in him and his 
     brothers strong spiritual values, which he tries to impart to 
     others. An army veteran, Mr. Booker enjoys photography, 
     woodworking, travel and golf and has been active in church 
     activities, including serving as a Boy Scout troop master. 
     Mr. Booker has heard every reason, and then some, advanced by 
     citizens trying to avoid serving as jurors. His most vivid 
     recollection, though, is the call he received on a Friday 
     from a wife whose husband was on a jury which had been 
     sequestered. The wife was calling to find out how her husband 
     was doing during the sequestration. There was one problem: 
     the jury had been discharged the prior Tuesday. Joseph 
     regrets, perhaps only slightly, that he did not find out how 
     the couple resolved the problem.


          Judy Courtemanche--Eighth District Court of Appeals

       Judy A. Courtemanche, Judicial Secretary at the Ohio Court 
     of Appeals, Eighth Appellate District, has been nominated by 
     her boss, Administrative Judge James Porter, in recognition 
     of her combined 21 years' service at the Court of Appeals and 
     the office of the Cuyahoga County Clerk of Court. 
     Particularly, her service in circulating and releasing the 
     Judge's opinions, keeping his docket, and working with him in 
     all court-related matters. A resident of the Cleveland area 
     since her birth, Ms. Courtemanche has been married for 15 
     years to her husband, Bob. She views her marriage to Bob as 
     her biggest accomplishment and also values her close 
     relationship with her sister and her three brothers. Judy has 
     been honored by the Plain Dealer as an outstanding former 
     carrier and also has served in the old Cleveland Municipal 
     Stadium, Jacobs' Field and the new Cleveland Browns Stadium 
     as a ticket taker and usher. An avid reader and gardener, 
     Judy also enjoys activities designed to maintain her fitness. 
     She camps regularly, including trips to Canada and seven 
     states in the last two years alone. The child of a mother and 
     father who were both long-time governmental employees, Judy 
     still finds her work interesting and challenging, and she 
     says, second only to saying ``I do'', entering public service 
     was the best decision she ever made. In her ``dream job'' at 
     the Court of Appeals, Judy values her co-workers as a close 
     and supportive second family.


        Daniel Dadich--Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court

       Since October 1978, Dan Dadich, Administrative Judge 
     Timothy M. Flanagan's nominee, has been employed at the 
     Domestic Relations Court. Now, the Director of Enforcement 
     Services, Dan is regarded as being the person to see to get a 
     clear and quick response to questions about child and spousal 
     support and health insurance for children. Mr. Dadich notes 
     that the ever-changing legislation in this area has made it 
     an awesome challenge to help parties and counsel understand 
     the complexities of this particular portion of the trauma of 
     divorce. Dan has presented support issues at continuing legal 
     education courses offered by the Cuyahoga County Bar 
     Association and others. Dan has lived in the Cleveland area 
     his entire life and attended Kent State University. Dan is 
     married to Gail, who received this same award in 1995. This 
     doubly-honored couple are the parents of three sons, Devon, 
     Daniel and Derek. Dan has been active as a coach and officer 
     in the North Royalton Soccer Club. Despite the stress of 
     dealing with court personnel, parents and counsel, Dan still 
     maintains an even and reasoned perspective and a keen sense 
     of humor.


               Raymond Dennard--Cleveland Municipal Court

       Raymond Dennard has been an employee of the Cleveland 
     Municipal Court since 1971. Currently, Administrative Judge 
     Larry A. Jones' nominee is Deputy Bailiff-Supervisor and is 
     the Chief of Security at the Court, where he supervises 
     approximately 100 bailiffs to make sure that there is ``order 
     in the court.'' Mr. Dennard, a native of West Virginia and 
     father of two grown children, lives with his wife Mairiam in 
     Oakwood Village. Also, he serves as a member of the Village 
     Council. In addition to his duties at the Court and in 
     Oakwood Village, Mr. Dennard finds time to be a Detective, 
     and has recently become Director of Security at Thistledown 
     Race Course. Beyond all those other commitments, Mr. Dennard 
     has found time to be active in his parish and the Elks of the 
     World. Raymond has but one complaint about receiving this 
     award; he found it impossible to distill many decades of 
     faithful service at the Court into a short statement of why 
     he found his service to the pubic rewarding.


             Thelma Porter--Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts

       Since May 1973, Thelma Porter, Common Pleas Court Clerk 
     Gerald Fuerst's nominee,

[[Page E105]]

     has been an employee of the County for 26 years. As 
     Department Head of the Journal Department of the Clerk's 
     office, where she has been for the past 22 years. Porter 
     supervises seven other employees in ensuring that civil and 
     domestic journal entries are properly processed, including 
     judgment entries in the Civil and Domestic Divisions. Orders 
     of Sale from the Sheriff's Department. Writs of Possession 
     from foreclosures and other important legal documents. Thelma 
     has been married to Emanuel Porter for over 43 years. The 
     Porters have two grown children, and Thelma is proud to have 
     raised them to be good, responsible, hard-working, honest and 
     caring individuals. She is also blessed with a 2 year old 
     grandchild, Amiri. A graduate of John Hay, she is an active 
     volunteer at Greater Abysinian Baptist Church. Thelma looks 
     to the example of her father, who recently celebrated his 
     90th birthday and who taught her that hard work and treating 
     people in a way one would like to be treated are the keys to 
     success. Thelma's hobbies include bowling, movies, traveling 
     and shopping at different malls.


                Ann Vanik--Cuyahoga County Probate Court

       Nominated by Administrative Probate Judge John Donnelly, 
     Ann Vanik has been an employee of the Court since 1972. After 
     serving as a deputy clerk and secretary, Ann became Probate 
     Court Auditor, her current position, where she is responsible 
     for maintaining personnel and payroll records, along with 
     purchasing, accounts payable and other budgetary matters. Ms. 
     Vanik is the mother of two daughters, and lives in South 
     Euclid, where she is active at her parish, St. Gregory the 
     Great, where one daughter attends school, and at Beaumont 
     School, where her other daughter is a student. Ann spends 
     much of her time with her daughters and is an active 
     spectator at their volleyball, basketball, softball and fast-
     pitch softball games. She enjoys cooking and crafts. Each 
     year, she and her daughters ``adopt'' a family at 
     Thanksgiving and provide that family with a Thanksgiving 
     feast. Ms. Vanik enjoys travel and has been to such varied 
     locales as Hawaii, Cape Code, Florida, Arizona, Aruba and the 
     Bahamas.


            Johnny Williams--Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court

       The Juvenile Court's Administrator John Zachariah's 
     nominee, Johnny C. Williams, has been an employee since 1973 
     and is a licensed social worker at the Court's Detention 
     Center. A native of North Carolina and schooled in that 
     state, Mr. Williams was a public school music teacher in 
     North Carolina, and then relocated to Cuyahoga County after 
     finishing his military service in 1972. Johnny has worked his 
     entire life, and in addition to his duties at the Detention 
     Center, he has provided custodial care at other agencies, 
     including the United Labor Agency, Cleveland Crossroads for 
     Youth and Ohio Boys Town. In addition to this award, Williams 
     has been recognized by the National Juvenile Detention 
     Association, on two separate occasions, and has received 
     letters of recognition from Mayor White, Governor Voinovich. 
     Former Congressman Stokes, Senator Metzenbaum and other 
     public officials. Johnny is active in the 11th Congressional 
     District Caucus and chairs its Youth Initiative Committee. He 
     also counsels troubled students at a local middle school upon 
     referral of that school's principal and helps supervise 
     social work students from Cleveland State University as their 
     Field Instructor.

     

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