[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 121 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1633-E1634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EULOGY TO DONALD LEO DUCHARME

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 23, 2002

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I was saddened to learn of the tragic death 
of Donald Leo Ducharme on June 11, 2002. Donald was a Dracut, 
Massachusetts resident, Lowell-native, and dedicated teacher for 27 
years at the Greater Lawrence Vocational High School. He is survived by 
his wife of 36 years, Rita and his six children, Heidi, Dawn, Jessica, 
Donald, Todd, and Toby. A beautiful eulogy was given on June 14, 2002, 
at St. Magdalen's Church in Dracut by his son, Donald. I ask for 
unanimous consent to submit it to the Record:

       First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming. It is 
     really amazing how many people I have seen over the past 
     couple of days. You may think that it was tough to stand up 
     yesterday for 8 hours, but the longer it went the easier it 
     got. It was such an incredible tribute to see for my father. 
     I would also like to ask you to keep a smile on your face and 
     feel free to laugh, Dad would want it that way, and I may 
     need the help.
       Some of you maybe wondering how I was picked to be up here. 
     I'm happy to say that it was actually my father's wish. I 
     know this because we talked about it. About a year ago, I had 
     a short strange dream one night. It started with me in this 
     same exact spot. I walked to the podium and the first thing I 
     did was ask the question, ``How many of you people think my 
     father is one of the biggest pains in the butt you know?'' 
     The wording was a little more harsh, if you know what I mean. 
     Anyway, half the place raised their hands. I followed that 
     question with another, ``Now how many people would think of 
     that same pain in the butt as the first person to call if you 
     needed help with something?'' and all the same hands plus a 
     few extras came up. I awoke just after, thinking that was a 
     very strange dream. I wasn't sure whether or not to tell him 
     about it, but after working with him for so many years, I was 
     able to talk to him about anything. I told him the story a 
     few days later, which was also just after the family's long 
     time friend and neighbor, Mr. Pepin passed away. He said, 
     ``You know, when I was at Mr. Pepin's funeral, I thought 
     about asking you to do it.'' So here I am.
       In the time since September 11th, many people have been 
     called heroes. So, I named this next section ``Our Fallen 
     Hero'':
       He may not be a veteran of a military war, but did I ever 
     have some with my brothers. He wasn't a policeman, but he was 
     at least a traffic cop in our house. He wasn't a fireman, but 
     no one could build a more beautiful, safer place for a fire. 
     He was always there when you needed him, no questions asked, 
     except to find out what tools he needed to bring. He is our 
     Fallen Hero.
       Okay, enough mushy stuff, OR we do the mushy stuff his way 
     and all line up for slaps in the back of the head, any 
     takers? Yes, it was a strange way to show love, and it didn't 
     make much sense for a long time. He wanted things done right 
     and done right meant his way. As much as I tried to prove him 
     wrong, somehow he was always right. It started making sense 
     to me when I was about 16. I was thinking about getting my 
     license and therefore needed a car. Well, when I was 12, 13, 
     14 years old it didn't make much sense to me why I had to go 
     to work with him all summer and every Saturday during school, 
     but when I asked my Mom how much money I had to buy a car it 
     started making sense. Then a couple of years later I started 
     realizing it had nothing to do with the money, but it had 
     everything to do with the ability and skills it takes to be 
     able to make money, and making money really meant being able 
     to stand on your own two feet and providing for your own 
     family some day.
       We all had our lessons growing up. Heidi was in charge of 
     cleaning the pool, and no one kept it cleaner than her. The 
     only problem was Dad thought she dragged the hose on the 
     concrete and put holes in it. So, he booted her in the butt 
     all the way to her bedroom and she was grounded. Sometime 
     later, maybe a couple of months or the next summer, there 
     were a few more leaks in conjunction with butt chewings and 
     punishments. It turns out it wasn't Heidi at all. Luckily, 
     for her, Pepere R. Dad's father-in-law, figured out that 
     because of the way the hose was hung on the fence the sun was 
     actually melting holes in it.
       Then there was Dawn Ann; could be here all day, only 
     because there is no one more like Dad. Dad was always very 
     strict with his girls, especially with all the guys that were 
     always hanging around the house. One day my parents weren't 
     around when Dawn got a call to go to a Celtics game. She 
     really did want to ask for permission, uh huh, but it was 
     before everyone carried a cell phone. So in her infinite 
     wisdom she decides she is going into Boston on the train with 
     3 of the guys to a Celtics game. Mom and Dad came home and 
     asked Heidi where Dawn was. You would have thought there was 
     a steam engine train in the living room with the smoke that 
     came out of his ears. You guessed it, Grounded!
       Jessica. As any parent knows, you never want to pick 
     favorites out of your kids, or at least admit it. Well, we 
     all know that Jess is the favorite, Daddy's little girl, can 
     do no wrong. Just a couple of weeks ago I was at my parents' 
     unloading my truck from a long day of work. As I was about to 
     leave, Dad came out of the house and said, ``Jessica just 
     called and there is a bat in the house. Do you

[[Page E1634]]

     mind giving me a hand?'' Now mind you it was about 8:00 in 
     the evening and Dad hadn't even eaten dinner yet, but it was 
     Jessica, so we went over right away, of course after we 
     grabbed the necessary tools: a fishing net, racquetball 
     racquets and leather gloves. We show up and Jess and her 
     roommate are hiding in her car. Dad is there to save the day 
     so they got out of the car and proceeded to tell us the bat 
     was this big, it had fangs and was hissing at them. Frankie 
     had also shown up in the mean time. The three guys go into 
     the house looking all over. We went upstairs to double check 
     rooms we already searched and as Dad opened a door, he saw it 
     flying and slammed the door shut. The hunt was on, we had it 
     trapped in one room, but we had to make our plan. Frankie 
     suggested going out onto the roof of the farmer's porch from 
     the other bedroom and try to see where the bat was. I crawled 
     out onto the roof and made my way over to the bedroom window. 
     The shades were almost all the way shut, except for a small 
     slot in the middle. Dad has his hand on the door ready to 
     barge through with the racquet when I give him the okay. I 
     see the TINY bat flying around. I'm yelling, ``Not yet, not 
     yet!'' from the roof, and then I'm not sure where it is, so I 
     said, ``I think it landed in the closet.'' Dad makes his 
     charge, but I was wrong, it wasn't in the closet, it was 
     flying right at him. In a flash, I see his eyes light up, a 
     scream come out of his mouth, and the racquet whipping 
     around. I almost rolled off the roof I was laughing so hard 
     as I witnessed this all through the window. Once again, our 
     Hero came through. A little side note to Frankie, No 
     pressure, but if you had plans to ask Dad for Jessica's hand 
     in marriage you're in trouble, because now you have to come 
     through me!
       This next one is about Toby, another one I could go on all 
     day about. One day, all 6 kids went to McDonald's with Mom. 
     Right before we left the restaurant Toby snatched up some 
     ketchup packets and put them in his pocket. When we arrived 
     home, Toby decided that it would be funny to put the ketchup 
     under the tires of Mom's car. Next thing you know, Mom drove 
     off and the ketchup splattered all over the driveway.
       We all thought this was hysterical, until later that 
     evening when Dad YELLED downstairs, ``Kids, get up here! All 
     of you!''
       We all thought we were going to get into trouble for the 
     ketchup incident and didn't think twice abut pushing Toby up 
     the stairs first (since he did it of course). As we all crept 
     up the stairs, cowering behind Toby, we inched down the 
     seemingly never-ending hallway to Mom and Dad standing in the 
     kitchen. With the look of death on their faces, we became 
     more nervous. They sat us down and began speaking in a stern 
     voice. But instead of getting in trouble, they proceeded to 
     tell us that we would be visiting Disney World for Christmas.
       I bet they never saw such relieved faces as we all laughed 
     and jumped around. We then all started to laugh about 
     thinking we were going to be in such trouble over the ketchup 
     and ended up telling Mom and Dad what had happened earlier 
     that day. To our relief, they laughed too and Toby wasn't in 
     trouble. It turns out Disney wasn't the only thing on the 
     agenda. Dad also built a fireplace for his sister Jackie 
     while we were down there on vacation.
       Todd. When it came to just about everything my Dad did, 
     safety was always one of the most important things. One day 
     at work, we were coming to the top of a big chimney. We had 
     staging set up on the roof, and a hoist ladder to bring the 
     material up to the roof. Todd was always the best tree 
     climber in the family, so he was elected to walk the material 
     from the ladder to the staging and up the incline of the 
     roof. Like I said, Dad was always safety conscious, so he 
     tied a rope around Todd and then tied it to the staging, in 
     case he slipped. Todd backed up a step and had a very nervous 
     look on his face. My father was concerned and said, ``Todd, 
     are you still afraid to fall,'' and he replied, ``No''. So he 
     asked why he looked so scared, and Todd replied, ``I don't 
     like being tied so close to you that I don't have a chance to 
     get away before you slap me if I do something wrong.'' It was 
     always tough love from Dad.
       Some of those stories make him sound like a bad guy, but 
     really, he only meant the best for his kids. Officially, he 
     only had 6 kids, but sometimes it seemed more like 26. He 
     treated so many of our friends and relatives as if they were 
     his own. For example, even with 6 kids on his hands, he 
     didn't hesitate for a second to bring his nephew Jeremy into 
     our house when his brother fell off a roof and was paralyzed. 
     Jeremy became another brother to all of us. There are many 
     others he treated with the same love, to name a few, TJ, Rick 
     and Reg, Frankie and Shawn, Lisa, Nicky, Lyle, Bobby, 
     Patrick, All of the guys that ever worked from him, Mike, the 
     Kenny's, Scooter, Billy, and many others, you know who you 
     are.
       Not only was he a great father to many, but he was also a 
     true friend and brother. Over the past couple of days, it 
     felt kind of strange hearing some of these people say sorry 
     to me for my loss, and the rest of my brothers and sisters. 
     It felt strange because I thought I should be saying the same 
     to them knowing what they lost, the best friend or brother 
     you could ever ask for. Aunt Ruby, Aunt Jackie, Uncle Gerry, 
     Uncle Norm, Ralph, Peter, Billy, Rudy, Klaus, Ronny and so 
     many others, I just can't name them all.
       As a Pepere, to his 7 \2/3\ grandchildren, Victoria, Ali, 
     Gary B, Mitch, AJ, Kelly, Josh, and one soon to be. What a 
     treat to go to Pepere's house, the surprise bag (a toy or 
     treat for each kid, every time they came to the house), rides 
     on the bobcat, playing in the sand pile, ice cream sundaes 
     right after breakfast, the ball pit, swings on the tree, and 
     even a swing in the house just in case it rained. If your Mom 
     or Dad said No, just ask Pepere.
       As a husband, Mom, I don't know how you did it. Not only 
     did she take care of 6 kids, but he was the biggest kid of 
     all. He loved to play: fishing, Nascar, racquetball, driving 
     the vette (at 160 mph early Sunday morning). There was so 
     many things he loved to do and he did them right to the end, 
     but most sacred of all in his heart was you Mom. He couldn't 
     have done any of the things he did without knowing you would 
     be waiting there for him when he got home. Especially seeing 
     the only thing the man could cook was popcorn!
       Thank You.

       

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