[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       TRIBUTE TO MAY LOUIE ON THE OCCASION OF HER 90TH BIRTHDAY

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 17, 2002

  Mr. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to May Louie, an 
extraordinary woman who will celebrate 90 years of life on June 5, 
2002.
  A loving mother, daughter and widow, May Louie is an honorable woman 
in her own right. She has lived a life filled with values, service, and 
dedication to her family and to her community.
  Born on June 5, 1912 in Columbus Ohio, May was the eighth child of 
ten and the second of two daughters. Driven by famine in China, her 
father came to the United States in the early 1880s to help build the 
transcontinental railroad. He met and married May's mother and the two 
moved to Biloxi, Mississippi and then to Columbus, where they owned and 
operated a laundry.
  May was sent to China as a young girl after her mother's tragic death 
as a result of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. She endured harsh 
living conditions, including a bout of malaria fever before returning 
to Ohio aboard the USS President McKinley in 1928.
  Following the death of her father, May provided loving care for many 
years to her elderly foster parents, Walter and Sadie Hauptfuier in 
Canton, Ohio. She studied piano, flute and piccolo and became a 
respected music teacher.
  May moved to Lakewood, Ohio after her marriage to Toy Louie, the 
owner of a wholesale Chinese grocery business and noodle factory, and 
the couple soon began a family of their own. May gave birth to two 
sons--James and David and she instilled in them a lifelong love of 
music and the arts. A devoted mother, May Louie was a full-time 
homemaker and the family's chief money manager.
  In an effort to bring diversity to television, May encouraged her 
sons to appear on a live public affairs program produced by a neighbor. 
While both children participated, David displayed an early and keen 
interest in the news business, appearing weekly on the show for eight 
years . . . from five years old to age thirteen. It was this experience 
that kindled David's interest in pursuing a highly distinguished career 
in T.V. journalism.
  Widowed in 1980, May managed on her own for 16 years before moving 
into David's home in San Mateo, California. She is a proud grandmother 
of two adult grandchildren--Linda May Louie and Michael Louie, the 
children of Jim and Vana of Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this great 
and good woman, May Louie, and in wishing her a very happy, healthy and 
fulfilling 90th birthday. Her life is instructive to us all and we know 
we are a better country because of all she's done.

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