[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9705-S9706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOLLADAY JOHNSTON RICHARDSON
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, our friend and distinguished colleague,
Strom Thurmond, has a lost a dear member of his Senate Family. Holly
Richardson's courageous battle with breast cancer ended early Monday
morning. I do not use the word courageous lightly; if there ever was a
courageous cancer patient, it was Holly Richardson. She fought until
the end and never gave up.
Holly was one of the most delightful people I have ever met. She was
Strom Thurmond's right, hand lady for almost 25 years and she meant so
much to the entire Thurmond family. Holly's strong faith helped her
immeasurably and while we all mourn her passing, we know where she is.
Her obituary in this morning's Columbia, SC, newspaper, The State,
poignantly describes this remarkable lady, as does the article about
her in today's Charlotte Observer. I ask unanimous consent that they be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the State, Columbia, SC, Oct. 1, 2002]
Holly Johnston Richardson--Longtime Thurmond Confidante
(By Lauren Markoe)
Washington.--Holly Johnston Richardson--confidante,
gatekeeper and personal adviser to U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond
since 1978--died Monday of breast cancer.
``Early this morning, I lost one of my closest friends and
staff members,'' Thurmond said in a statement issued by his
office. ``She was a member of my extended family in every
sense of the word.''
The Summerville native was 48. Since 1979, Richardson
functioned as Thurmond's master scheduler, making sure he was
in the right place at the appointed time. Her supersized
Rolodex included the numbers for scores of average South
Carolinians and several heads of state, and she could get
most of them on the phone in seconds.
But generations of staffers say it was her Southern charm,
impeccable manners and love for Thurmond that made her one of
the most important people in his life.
``I've seen the senator cry twice. When his daughter died
and today, when Holly died,'' said Mark Goodin, a former
press secretary and adviser to Thurmond. ``She was always
there for him. I don't think anybody ever thought she would
go before he did.''
Thurmond's daughter Nancy Moore Thurmond died in a car
crash in 1993. The oldest living and longest-serving senator,
he will turn 100 on Dec. 5.
Chris Kelley Cimko, Thurmond's press secretary from 1993 to
1997, said Richardson went well beyond her office duties in
her service to Thurmond, particularly before he began living
at Walter Reed Army Medical Center last year.
``When she was cooking Sunday night, she would make a
double batch of whatever it was and make sure it was in his
refrigerator,'' said Cimko.
``Like all trusted staff members, Holly Richardson had my
ear,'' Thurmond's statement continued. ``What she probably
never knew fully is that she had my heart.''
Richardson met the Thurmond family after joining his 1978
re-election campaign, just
[[Page S9706]]
after her graduation from Converse College in Spartanburg.
She drove a camper, nicknamed ``Strom Trek,'' over 10,000
miles in 10 weeks, recalled Nancy Thurmond, the senator's
now-estranged wife.
Her first job in Thurmond's office was to answer phones,
greet visitors and help out with constituents' problems. She
also oversaw the office's intern and page programs, which
gave high school and college students opportunities to learn
the workings of a congressional office.
Generations of interns, staffers and members of Congress
recall her courtesy and work ethic.
``Holly Richardson was one of the most personable and
efficient people I've ever known,'' said N.C. Sen. Jesse
Helms. ``She was unfailingly pleasant and devoted to Strom
Thurmond--a feeling that was mutual.''
``She treated everyone the same way, with dignity and
respect,'' said Cimko.
She is survived by her husband, Phil, and two children,
Emmett, 12, and Anne 9, and her parents, Joanne and Coy
Johnston of Summerville.
Richardson, an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
in Alexandria, Va., her adopted hometown, had a strong faith
that supported here and others. She was also an active member
of the Junior League.
``When we lost our daughter, Holly's vigilant faith helped
to sustain all of us,'' Nancy Thurmond said.
But as devoted as she was to the Thurmond's her own family
still came first, said Nancy Thurmond. She and staffers said
they marveled at Richardson's ability to balance her family
life and her work on Capitol Hill.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year ago,
and rebounded after rounds of chemotherapy. But the disease
spread, and she had to stop working several months ago.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia.
____
[From the Charlotte Observer, Oct. 1, 2002]
Thurmond Staffer Dies of Cancer at 47
(By Charles Hurt)
Washington.--Holladay Richardson, one of Sen. Strom
Thurmond's top aides for nearly a quarter century, died
Monday morning after a year-long, fight against breast
cancer. She was 47 and the mother of two children.
``Words cannot begin to express my deepest sadness and pain
with the loss of Holly,'' Thurmond wrote in a statement.
In a statement made part of the Senate's public record,
South Carolina's senior senator said many aides over the
years had his ear, but that only Richardson ``had my heart.''
He called her his ``unofficial third daughter.''
Richardson's most recent post was scheduler, the person who
sets up Thurmond's calendar.
She first worked for him in South Carolina on his 1978
Senate campaign. Since 1979, she has shared Thurmond's
Washington office, where she has seen eight chiefs of staff
come and go.
Nationally syndicated political columnist Armstrong
Williams recalled Richardson's importance from his days on
Thurmond's staff more than 20 years ago.
``I can't remember the senator without Holly,'' he said.
``I knew she had cancer, but this is terrible. She was always
there.''
As Thurmond's health faded in recent years, Richardson and
other top staffers assumed greater roles in the office of
American history's oldest and longest-serving senator.
``Holly protected him, would finish sentences for him and
knew what he was thinking,'' Williams said. ``She was
everything that anybody would ever want in a daughter. She
was like a child protecting her parent.''
In May, Richardson and her family walked in the National
Race for the Cure in Washington.
She described to a reporter for Roll Call at the time how
she and her family had coped with her diseases by helping
people less fortunate, such as a bed-ridden neighbor for whom
they cooked.
``You go through a few minutes of self pity before you
realize that you can either sit here and feel sorry for
yourself or you can put it aside and move on,'' she was
quoted as saying. ``That's how my family has gotten through
this, by focusing on others who are in bad situations.
Extending a hand to others, that's what life is all about.''
Richardson is survived by her husband, Phil, their children
Anne, 9, and Emmett, 12, and her parents, Joanne and Coy
Johnston of Summerville, S.C.
____________________