[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 174 (Friday, December 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING EDNA BUTRIMOWITZ IPSON ON HER 90TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ERIC CANTOR

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2001

  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable woman. 
Edna Butrimowitz Ipson was born in a small town outside Kovno, 
Lithuania in 1911. The youngest of six children, she is a survivor--a 
survivor of hunger, of hardship, of sacrifice. Mrs. Ipson survived the 
Holocaust.
  When her husband could no longer practice law and opened a motorcycle 
business in their home, Mrs. Ipson turned her talents to the family 
business. She may not have been able to ride a motorcycle, but she 
certainly could sell them. Often times, she had been known to say, 
``When my busband comes home, you'll see. If this motorcycle isn't 
everything I said it was, you don't have to buy it.''
  She and her son, Jay, were in line with the rest of her family to be 
taken to the Riga Latvia concentration camp when they were pulled out 
of line by a guard who had known her husband. While the rest of her 
family did not survive the concentration camps, she was sent to the 
airport where she worked endless days as a slave laborer, loading and 
unloading coal cars.
  In 1943, the Ipsons escaped from the ghetto to a small farm in Trakai 
where a Polish Catholic farmer risked his life to save her and her 
family. For nine months, they lived in a hole in the ground, escaping 
detection.
  Yet even after liberation, their lives were not easy. While her 
husband sought ways of escaping, Mrs. Ipson took sole responsibility 
for providing for their family. She risked her life, traveling through 
Russian Military lines to illegal procure food from the black market. 
If caught, she would have been jailed and severely punished. However, 
she persevered and kept their family alive.
  Her family finally escaped using Mrs. Ipson's maiden name, 
Butrimowitz, and forged Polish papers through Poland to the American-
Zone in Berlin. Finally, after being sponsored by Mrs. Ipson's uncle 
Abraham Brown, they immigrated to America.
  Once in America, her phenomenal will and fortitude continued to serve 
her family. Mrs. Ipson became the first female service station 
attendant. She would wash the windshield and check the oil of the 
service station customers--a very unusual sight in those days. Yet, she 
was one of the best salespeople in the area. While servicing the 
vehicles, she would bring out Like New car wax, shine a spot and 
convince the driver he needed the wax to make his car look ``like 
new.'' Her service station sold more car wax than any other in the 
area.
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Ipson has led an amazing life of joy, sorrow and 
unending sacrifice. In fact, she often sacrificed celebrating her own 
birthday, protesting that Hanukah and her December Wedding anniversary 
were more important then her birthday. This year, her son, Jay, is 
honoring her life and celebrating her 90th birthday. Although I cannot 
be there in person, Mr. Speaker, I hope you will join me in honoring 
this remarkable woman and in wishing her the happiest of birthdays.