[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 9 (Thursday, February 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E111-E112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO FREDERICK WITTENBURG

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CHET EDWARDS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 7, 2002

  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, January 31, 2002, Central 
Texans were saddened and diminished by the death of Frederick 
Wittenburg, Jr. of Lometa. Fred Wittenburg was a warrior. For three 
decades, he fought for the disadvantaged, the elderly, the infirm, the 
homeless, and for hungry and neglected children. He devoted those 
thirty years to improving the communities of the Texas Hill Country and 
the lives of its people as Executive Director of the Hill Country 
Community Action Association.
  Fred joined President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty in 1966, 
administering a brand new community action agency that provided a wide 
range of services in Llano, Mason, Mills and San Saba Counties. In 
1968, he became Executive Director of the growing organization, 
expanding its services to Bell, Coryell, Hamilton, Lampasas and Milam 
Counties. He tirelessly raised local funds for Hill Country Programs to 
provide and expand services to those who needed them.
  Fred Wittenburg was born in Belton, Texas in November 1930, one of 
four children. His parents moved to Goldthwaite, where Fred attended 
elementary school. Always active in sports and extracurricular 
activities, he graduated from high school in the Lometa School System 
in 1948, and was recognized as the Senior Class ``Best All Around 
Boy.''
  He attended St. Edward's University in Austin for two years and then 
transferred to Texas Tech University in Lubbock. A Red Raider through 
and through, Fred was a member of the Silver Key Fraternity and the 
Saddle Tramp service organization. It was in a line at the campus 
bookstore that he met a freshman named Mary Alice Close, who would 
become his bride and share his life for nearly fifty years.
  In thirty years as Executive Director of the Hill Country Community 
Action Association, Fred's dedication to the war on poverty and his 
vision of ``building people and communities'' were reflected in the 
commitment and energy of his staff, one of his most enduring legacies.

[[Page E112]]

  When Fred retired as Director in 1996, he left a dynamic organization 
providing Senior Centers, Head Start, family planning, nutrition and 
day care services, and housing, energy crisis and rural transportation 
assistance to more than 30,000 people in thirteen Central Texas 
counties.
  In his 1964 State of the Union speech, President Johnson described 
Americans living ``on the outskirts of hope,'' and he declared an 
unconditional War on Poverty. ``It will not be a short or easy 
struggle, no single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not 
rest until the war is won.''
  Fred Wittenburg heard President Johnson's words, took them to heart, 
and made that war on poverty his life's work.
  An old saying tells us, ``When eating a fruit, think of the person 
who planted the tree.'' Through his long and distinguished career of 
service to others, Fred Wittenburg planted thousands and thousands of 
trees. And, the people of the Central Texas Hill Country will enjoy the 
fruit of those trees and think of him for generations to come.

                          ____________________