[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 35 (Thursday, March 15, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E383-E384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       TRIBUTE TO STEVE VOSSMEYER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                        HON. RICHARD A. GEPHARDT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 15, 2001

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today along with my 
esteemed colleague from Missouri's 3rd District, the Democratic Leader, 
Mr. Gephardt, to honor a loyal friend, devoted father, remarkable 
public servant, and esteemed political and civic leader whose love of 
life will live on in the memory of all those lives he touched. Steve 
Vossmeyer died march 9, just five days before his 57th birthday. 
Citizens of the City of St. Louis, his beloved Central West End 
neighborhood, and the Great State of Missouri mourn his passing.
  Steve loved the law and he loved people. He was a popular political 
figure who used his wit and humor to cajole and prevail upon others to 
accept his point of view. He was a force to be reckoned with because he 
researched the situation thoroughly, asked tough questions of 
opponents, and loved to galvanize those of like mind around a challenge 
then execute a winning strategy. His love of sports, particularly 
Cardinals baseball, was legendary and shared enthusiastically with 
family and friends. An invitation to partake of Steve's culinary skills 
was a treasured occasion that brought the best minds together around 
his table and provoked conversations which extended well into the 
night.

[[Page E384]]

  Mr. Vossmeyer served the United States Senate as the legislative 
Assistant to Missouri Senator Thomas F. Eagleton from 1969 to 1972. 
Steve accompanied Senator Eagleton and two other Senators on a fact 
finding mission to Vietnam in 1970. His interrogation of military 
personnel after their ``canned'' presentations uncovered significant 
admissions that the war was not going as well as public pronouncements 
had indicated. In response he drafted major portions of the War Powers 
Act. His strongly held beliefs in the democratic process motivated him 
to serve as an election observer for the first democratically conducted 
elections in Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism.
  Mr. Vossmeyer was elected a Missouri State Representative of the 86th 
District in 1972, and held that office for ten years. His first 
election was one of the biggest upsets in the state. He ran against a 
well known labor union official who outspent him by a margin of more 
than 4 to 1. His campaign utilized innovative techniques and new 
technology not previously employed in Missouri elections. At the close 
of each session, he prepared a comprehensive newsletter on the 
successes and failures, and those newsletters were quickly imitated 
almost verbatim--with his approval--by legislative colleagues of both 
parties. Steve was aided in these elections and constituent 
communications by Sandy Rothschild, a close friend from Washington 
University undergraduate days.
  During his tenure in the Missouri House he championed a number of 
measures that benefited women. Her sponsored several measures to 
protect rape victims from spurious attacks by defense attorneys and to 
balance the playing field for both sides in domestic relations 
disputes. He sponsored public records reforms and legislation to ratify 
the Equal Rights Amendment. He helped numerous women in their campaigns 
for public office. This list includes State Representative Sue Shear, 
Lt. Governor Harriet Woods and Dee Joyce Hayes, his former wife, who he 
helped a decade after their divorce in her successful effort to become 
St. Louis Circuit Attorney. As Chairman of the House Governmental 
Review Committee, Steve reformed many of the antiquated and ineffective 
procedures used by State agencies and modernized the State's mental 
health laws.
  Steve served the City of St. Louis as a Member of the Board of 
Electors. This body examined a series of problems confronting the St. 
Louis region, recommending various reforms. In the St. Louis community 
he remained a political activist fighting for good government and 
preservation of historic neighborhoods. His opinion on a broad range of 
issues was sought by numerous federal, state, and local officials, 
including former Missouri Congressmen Jack Buechner and Alan Wheat, as 
well as the sponsors of this Congressional Record Statement. He was 
always very generous with his time and consistently demonstrated 
concern for issues of public interest. Steve practice law in St. Louis 
full time with the firm he co-founded in 1979, Newburger and Vossmeyer. 
His principal partner was David Newburger, who he met while Mr. 
Newburger taught law at Washington University. His primary area of 
practice was civil litigation and domestic relations.
  Steve has a son, Robert Stephen Vossmeyer, and a daughter, Rebecca 
Sarah Vossmeyer. ``Becca'' is the child of his current marriage with M. 
Celeste Vossmeyer. He loved his children dearly. They were with him 
during his last days, as were friends mentioned herein joined by 
Richard Callow, Betty Neill, and Paul Steinmann. We include an article 
from the Sunday, March 11 edition of ``The St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' 
where a number of his friends reflect with Jo Mannies on their memories 
of Steve.
  Mr. Speaker, please join us in sending condolences to Steve's family 
in their time of grief. We will honor him by gathering March 19th from 
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the courtyard at Bar Italia in his neighborhood per 
his wishes that friends celebrate his life. In Marc Connelly's profound 
1930 play, The Green Pastures, has characters suffer as they fight to 
save their families and countryside from oppressors. They discover 
God's love through suffering. We are glad that Steve's suffering is 
over and he has found God's love. We doubt that he will ever stop 
fighting the good fight.

Ex-State Representative Steve Vossmeyer, Prominent Figure in Democratic 
                          Politics, Dies at 56

                            (By Jo Mannies)

       Former state Rep. Steve Vossmeyer, a St. Louis lawyer 
     prominent in Democratic politics and local civic affairs, 
     died Saturday of cancer at his home in the Central West End. 
     He was 56.
       His close friends included some of the state's top 
     political figures, including former Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton, 
     for whom Mr. Vossmeyer worked in the late 1960s and early 
     '70s; former Rep. Jack Buechner, a Republican who practiced 
     law with Mr. Vossmeyer for several years; and Rep. Karen 
     McCarthy, D-Kansas City, an old ally in the state 
     Legislature.
       ``He was involved in politics because of his abiding belief 
     in the people and service to the people,'' said his friend 
     and law partner, David Newburger.
       Allies said that during his years in the Missouri House, 
     from 1972-83, Mr. Vossmeyer played a key role in reforming 
     Missouri's mental health laws and in changing the state's 
     rape laws so that they treated married women equitably.
       ``He was one of the state's first feminists,'' McCarthy 
     said Saturday.
       Friends said Mr. Vossmeyer's sense of humor was a key 
     reason why he was such a popular political figure. ``He used 
     his wit the way Old West gunfighters used their pistols,'' 
     said political consultant Richard Callow, a close friend.
       Mr. Vossmeyer was born March 14, 1944, in St. Louis.
       His political involvement began early. After graduating 
     with a bachelor's degree from Washington University, he 
     studied international affairs at George Washington University 
     in Washington.
       In 1968, Mr. Vossmeyer joined then-Lt. Gov. Eagleton's 
     campaign for the U.S. Senate. Following Eagleton's election, 
     Mr. Vossmeyer joined Eagleton's congressional staff.
       ``Steve Vossmeyer was exceedingly bright . . . . He put in 
     more hours per day than anyone else involved in the 
     campaign,'' Eagleton recalled. ``He was strongly against the 
     Vietnam War. He simply couldn't believe the misinformation 
     being put out by the Defense Department. He went with me on a 
     trip to Vietnam in the early '70s. After we'd get the canned 
     briefings by the generals and colonels he'd cross-examine 
     them and turn up facts they'd left out.''
       Mr. Vossmeyer's friends said he was most proud of his 
     involvement in Eagleton's successful effort to win 
     congressional passage of the War Powers Act, which requires 
     presidents to obtain congressional approval when waging war.
       Mr. Vossmeyer returned to St. Louis to run for the 
     Legislature in 1972. McCarthy said he was part of an alliance 
     on women's issues that included the late Rep. Sue Shear and 
     then-state Sen. Harriett Woods.
       `He was one to galvanize those of like minds around an 
     issue,' McCarthy said.
       While serving in the state House, he also attended 
     Washington University's School of Law, where he received his 
     degree. In 1979, he co-founded the local law firm Newburger & 
     Vossmeyer.
       ``I have never known a lawyer more dedicate and devoted to 
     his clients,'' Newburger said.
       After leaving the Legislature, Mr. Vossmeyer remained a 
     political activist. A Democratic panel nominated him in 1985 
     to take over as chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, 
     but an internal dispute scuttled that plan. In the early 
     1990s, Mr. Vossmeyer was involved in a now-defunct city-
     county effort called the Board of Electors, charged with 
     tackling regional issues.
       Among survivors are his wife, Mary Celeste Vossmeyer; a 
     son, Robert Stephen Vossmeyer; and a daughter, Rebecca Sarah 
     Vossmeyer, all of St. Louis.
       The funeral will be private. A memorial service will be 
     held from 4 to 8 p.m. March 19 at Bar Italia, 4656 Maryland 
     Avenue.

     

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