[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 121 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S9032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ODILE GROGAN

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
following tribute by my nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy II, be printed in the 
Record in honor of Odile Grogan, a dear friend of all of the Kennedy 
family.
  The tribute follows:

                        Tribute to Odile Grogan

                       (By Joseph P. Kennedy II)

       More than 20 years ago, my good friend Rick Grogan has the 
     great fortune of meeting a savvy and stylish Parisian, Odile 
     Claude Emelie Basch, who was working in New York City, 
     running programs in support of the arts.
       The timing was perfect. Rick, turning his sights to a 
     career in international business, found a companion 
     conversant in languages, accustomed to travel, and filled 
     with the same spirit of adventure that has always animated 
     his life.
       Before meeting Rick, Odile's consuming passion was the 
     arts.
       The Gallic phase of her arts education took place in the 
     Left Bank of Paris, renowned as a world center of culture. 
     She attended the Ecole Alsacienne, located near the 
     Montparnasse cafes frequented by artists and writers for over 
     a century. Her talents were then nurtured at the Lycee 
     Fenelon in the Quartier Saint Germain-des-Pres, just a few 
     yards from Pablo Picasso's former atelier on Rue des Grandos 
     Augustins.
       After receiving the Baccalaureate, she took up studies at 
     the arts-intensive Finch College in New York City, whose 
     students have ranged the artistic gamut from Grace Slick to 
     Isabella Rossellini.
       She went on to receive an M.A. in art history from Queens 
     College and subsequently applied both her management and art 
     history skills directing visual and performing arts partron 
     programs under Phillip Morris's legendary chairman, Joseph F. 
     Cullman III. Her guidance led to innovative partnerships 
     between the company and such institutions as the Whitney 
     Museum, which opened a branch in the company's newly built 
     headquarters.
       It was during her tenure at Phillip Morris and Odile walked 
     onto the canvas of Rick Grogan's life.
       In Odile, he found someone at ease in every facet of 
     conversation, with views as varied and forceful as his own. 
     Whether discussing politics, cuisine, painting, or education, 
     Odile proved not just a font of opinions and facts but a 
     master of epithets and one-liners, in two tongues, no less.
       Just out of Harvard Business School, Rick married Odile in 
     1981 and they moved to London, where Rick worked as a 
     consultant for Bain Company. Rick thought they might spend a 
     year or two in England before returning to the U.S.
       Odile thought otherwise. As a tribute to her powers of 
     persuasion, she convinced her deal-maker husband that London 
     was just the right place for the family, conveniently located 
     between France and America.
       Rick bought the argument if not the logic and so they 
     settled into life in England, their lives soon graced by 
     Alexandra, Nicholas, and Charlotte, wonderfully gifted 
     children who feel at home anywhere from Harvard Square to 
     Picadily Circus to Place de la Concorde.
       In spite of all her household demands, Odile never 
     neglected to devote time and energy to her beloved arts. A 
     benefactor of the Serpentine Gallery in London's Kensington 
     Gardens, she has encouraged policies to bring a wider public 
     into museums, using the arts to uplift and liberate the human 
     spirit across broader demographics.
       Her cultivated judgment has also been sought by the Tate 
     Museum, where she serves on the acquisition committee.
       Several years ago, the enviable rhythms of the Grogans' 
     family life were interrupted by a cycling accident in the 
     French countryside. Rick lay near death in a coma.
       Odile, at hits side every moment, took full charge of his 
     medical care and recovery. ``He is my husband,'' she 
     declared. ``I can take care of him.''
       And so she did, sitting long hours by his hospital bed, 
     watching for this eyes to open and recognition to light up 
     his expression. With her help and the force of her spirit, 
     Rick did awaken and recover.
       The mishap was an awful physical setback but one that 
     brought forth a remarkable discovery for Rick.
       He learned that Odile was not just a caring wife and a 
     loving mother, not just a skilled hostess and devoted 
     patroness, not just a talented linguist and art history 
     scholar, but an angel of mercy.
       All the advantages of education and career mean little 
     without love in our lives. When that love finds it greatest 
     expression in our hour of need, we can indeed count ourselves 
     among the blessed.
       This past June, Rick brought together a wide circle of 
     their family and friends to celebrate all that Odile has 
     meant to him in their years together. The gathering at 
     Versailles Palace was an extraordinary expression of Rick's 
     love.
       But the gilt and glitter of that magnificent setting paled 
     in comparison to what shined forth in from the hearts of all 
     there assembled in tribute to Odile.
       In the many decades I have known Rick, he has enjoyed 
     tremendous success in academics, athletics, and business. 
     However, the triumph that counts the most is the crown of his 
     heart, his incomparable wife Odile, my good friend's own 
     angel of mercy.

                          ____________________