[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S10405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NINETY YEARS OF GIVING

 Mr. L. CHAFEE. Mr. President, next month a remarkable woman, 
who is a constituent of mine, will celebrate her ninetieth birthday; 
although, if you ask her, she will tell you that she still feels like a 
sixteen year-old.
  Alice B. Dwyer--known to family and close friends as ``Lally'' and to 
literally thousands of Rhode Islanders, who learned in her classroom, 
as ``Miss Dwyer''--was born on November 12, 1910. She was the second of 
four children of Matthew S. Dwyer and Alice Barry Dwyer of Providence. 
Her older sister, Matt, suffered from crippling polio at a time long 
before public accommodations for people with disabilities. 
Nevertheless, they set off together for Manhattanville College in New 
York City.
  Alice Dwyer shies way from any words of recognition for her part in 
enabling her older sister, who had an insatiable lust for learning, to 
attend college. Alice simply was doing what has always come most 
naturally to her, giving to others.
  After college, Alice went on to receive a Masters Degree in English 
Literature from Brown University, my own alma mater. With degrees in 
hand she began a lifetime of service to children in the Providence 
Public School system. The majority of her years teaching were spent at 
Classical High School where she taught sophomore English.
  Today's public opinion polls tell us that education is the number one 
issue on the minds of Americans. We hear and talk a lot about holding 
students to high academic standards. But Alice Dwyer never needed 
pollsters and politicians to tell her about the importance of high 
standards. The students who read Shakespeare in her classroom knew that 
she expected each of them to do his or her best.
  In addition to her love of teaching, Alice always has been an avid 
admirer of acting. She was among the Rhode Islanders to answer the 
casting call for ``The Great Gatsby,'' starring Robert Redford and Mia 
Farrow. At sunset each evening for weeks, she would cross the bridge to 
Newport, where she would don a glittering 1920s flapper gown and join 
the guests at Hollywood's most recent rendition of Jay Gatsby's famed 
summer parties.
  After retiring from the Providence Public School system, Alice took 
on various volunteer activities. She read to children and worked in the 
library of the Fox Point Elementary School in Providence, and she was a 
regular in the phone bank on New London Avenue in Cranston, making 
calls to turn out the vote for my father's 1982 Senate campaign. She 
worked relentlessly on the two unsuccessful campaigns of Fred Lippitt 
to be mayor of Providence.
  In 1994 when my father ran for his fourth Senate term, difficulty 
walking kept Alice away from campaign headquarters. However, as a woman 
who cannot do enough for others, she found a way to help. Campaign 
workers would drop off box loads of envelopes and lists of names and 
addresses with her. When one box was done, it would be picked up and 
another delivered in its place.
  Combining her love of reading with her natural tendency to help 
others, Alice spent a great deal of time taping textbooks for blind and 
visually impaired students.
  Whether it's the young person working at the Newport Creamery on 
Wayland Square where Alice is known for liking her coffee piping hot, 
or the students (now middle-aged men and women) who recall the lessons 
they learned from her at Classical High School, or her own family 
members, all agree that Alice Dwyer has filled their lives with her own 
giving spirit.
  Alice Dwyer will celebrate her ninetieth year with her sister, Rita 
Scotti, with her eleven nieces and nephews and their families, and with 
dozens of friends and neighbors. It is my great privilege to wish this 
woman, who has warmed so many hearts with her unfailing kindness and 
generosity, a very Happy Birthday.

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