[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 71 (Friday, June 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E970]]
                        TRIBUTE TO LEON BRACHMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAY GRANGER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 9, 2000

  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Leon 
Brachman, one of Fort Worth, Texas' finest sons, in honor of his 
upcoming 80th birthday.
  While he was born and raised in Marietta, OH, Mr. Brachman moved to 
Forth Worth in 1938. He married a Fort Worth girl from an old Forth 
Worth family and never left.
  Mr. Brachman has served his adopted city in almost every civic 
capacity imaginable. In his service as a founder of the Fort Worth 
Symphony and the Fort Worth Chamber Music Society, an original board 
member of the Van Cliburn Quadrennial Piano Competition, and president 
of Casa Manana, he has shown his profound love of culture and his 
belief that all should be able to share in its beauty. By his decades 
long service as the treasurer, president, and chairman of the board of 
All Saints Hospital, as well as his chairmanship of the Steering 
Committee of the Public Health School of the University of North Texas, 
Health Science Center, Fort Worth, he has shown his devotion to the 
provision of quality health care to all citizens of our community. As 
the chairman of the Tarrant County Appraisal District, he devoted 
countless hours ensuring that Fort Worth and Tarrant County raised 
their required revenues in a way that was fair to all of its citizens.
  To the Jewish community of our city and our entire country, Mr. 
Brachman has served in virtually every possible leadership role, giving 
of his time and his resources to keep their institutions strong, their 
communal needs met, their self-reliance vital. Having served as a vice 
chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, the president of Ahavath Sholom 
Synagogue, founder and president of the Hebrew Day School of Fort 
Worth, and countless other Jewish communal roles, each institution has 
been positively influenced by his involvement.
  Whenever the community has called upon him, Mr. Brachman has never 
hesitated to take on the most thankless tasks. Wherever there has been 
an institution in a seemingly hopeless situation, Mr. Brachman has 
accepted the challenge to nurse it back to health. Our community is 
incredibly stronger for his presence. We are very lucky that he chose 
to adopt Fort Worth as his home.
  I would like to congratulate Mr. Brachman, his wife of 58 years, Fay, 
his three children, nine grandchildren, and four great grandchildren 
and wish them all continued health and success.
  It is important that the House of Representatives acknowledge and be 
thankful for the spirit of community responsibility embodied by Mr. 
Brachman. His life's work to make our world a better place demonstrates 
the best our country has to offer.

                          ____________________