[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 19, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1152-E1153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO MR. JOHN L. STOKESBERRY ON THE CELEBRATION OF HIS RETIREMENT 
                            ON JUNE 21, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 19, 2001

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a distinct privilege 
to rise and pay tribute to one of my community's unsung heroes, Mr. 
John L. Stokesberry, Executive Director of the Miami-Dade County 
Alliance for Aging, Inc. His friends and admirers will honor him on 
June 21, 2001 at a retirement dinner in Miami, Florida in recognition 
of the longevity of his service to the elder citizens of Florida.
  Mr. Stokesberry is truly one of the noblest public servants of my 
community. Having dedicated a major portion of his life to making the 
health care system work on behalf of Florida's senior citizens, he has 
been relentless in his development of innovative elderly service 
programs that responded to the crying needs of our community's seniors. 
His was indeed a crusade of love and commitment that maximized 
understanding and compassion for countless destitute families who 
severely lack the financial wherewithal to have their elder members' 
welfare move up through the labyrinth of the bureaucracy.
  Under his leadership many lives have been saved and countless 
families have been rendered whole because of his dedication to create 
accessibility to affordable elderly health care and welfare services. 
He was virtually the lone voice in the wilderness in exposing his 
righteous indignation over the hopelessness of countless senior 
citizens who through the various crises of poverty rendered them 
helpless before obtaining affordable quality health care and welfare 
services for them.
  Furthermore, he has been forthright and forceful in advocating the 
early recognition of the problems affecting the elderly population of 
our state. Under his tutelage, the Alliance for Aging, Inc. and other 
ancillary centers on aging and development disabilities have been 
established to provide outreach programs in various segments of our 
community. Together they have initiated educational programs for its 
elderly population long before the crisis was recognized, and federal, 
state and local funding became available. His knowledge of and 
sensitivity to Florida's seniors knew no bounds, and he was likewise 
untiring in seeking the appropriate elderly care guidance for them.
  In various articles on his role in facilitating upgraded quality 
service to our elderly population, Mr. Stokesberry was genuinely lauded 
as an elderly care provider par excellence who has shown courageous 
leadership and extraordinary vision, forcefully insisting that high 
quality services must be provided on behalf of our nation's burgeoning 
senior citizens population and must be constantly upgraded with 
constant community input and collaboration.
  The consecration of his life serves as an example of how much 
difference a committed crusader like him can truly make on behalf of 
the less fortunate. Almost singlehandedly he has championed a career-
long commitment to affordable quality senior care service for nearly 
three decades.
  In his stint as State Director of the Florida Office of Aging and 
Adult Services and on to his leadership role at the Alliance for Aging, 
Inc., Mr. Stokesberry ensured the provision of high quality, accessible 
senior care to the elderly population in Miami-Dade and Monroe 
counties. During those harrowing times of cutbacks in health and social 
services funding for seniors at the federal, state and local levels, 
his innovative and uncompromising commitment enabled his office to 
maintain its critical role, while leading efforts to ensure that 
program effectiveness and a caring approach were not compromised.
  Mr. Stokesberry truly represents an exemplary community servant who 
abides by the dictum that those who have less in life through no fault 
of their own should somehow be lifted up by those who have been blessed 
with life's greater amenities. As a gadfly among Miami-Dade County's 
and the nation's elderly care professionals, he is wont to prod his 
colleagues toward ensuring that both political and bureaucratic 
leadership must find a way to develop programs in and of the community, 
despite the risks.
  As one of those hardy spirits who chose to reach out to senior 
citizens from various segments of our community, Mr. Stokesberry 
thoroughly understood the accouterments of power and leadership. He 
wisely exercised them, alongside the mandate of his conviction and the 
wisdom of his knowledge. The crucial role he played all these years in 
developing affordable quality care for our seniors evokes a genuine 
humility as he is wont to say that ``. . . the accolades are not 
important. What is important is that my community receive the 
recognition of its strength amidst its diversity, and get the help for 
the disproportionate share of the problems our senior citizens confront 
everyday.''
  It is indeed an honor for me to have had the privilege of knowing 
this gentle and caring man. His word has been his bond to those

[[Page E1153]]

who dealt with him, not only in moments of triumphal exuberance in 
helping many of our elderly turn their lives around, but also in his 
resilient quest to transform Miami-Dade County into a veritable loving 
community.
  Tonight's tribute is genuinely deserved! I salute Mr. John L. 
Stokesberry, a very dear friend, on behalf of a grateful community that 
he truly loved and cared for. I bid him now Godspeed on a well-deserved 
retirement.

                          ____________________