[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 127 (Wednesday, October 2, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING MARLENE M. FANSLER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 1, 2002

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Marlene M. Fansler 
for her dedication and service as President of the Fansler Foundation 
in Fresno, California. Marlene Fansler will be honored at the Break the 
Barriers Annual Fundraising Dinner on the evening of September 28, 
2002.
  Marlene Malan Fansler was born in South Gate, California. As a 
toddler, Marlene moved to Fresno with her parents, Howard and Erma 
Malan, where her father began his dental practice. In 1957, Marlene 
graduated from Fresno High School and went on to receive her Liberal 
Arts Degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. After 
marrying a fellow Brigham Young graduate, Marlene taught elementary 
school in Houston, Texas for a short period. She and her husband later 
resided in Portland, Oregon where they raised their three children. In 
1968, Marlene and her children moved back to Fresno to be near her 
parents. Marlene not only brought her teaching skills to Fresno, but 
also the creative and managerial abilities she learned while developing 
a ‘stretch and sew’ knit fabric business. She started a 
shop in Fresno's Manchester Mall called Kopi Kat Knits, where she met 
D. Paul Fansler in late 1969. They married in 1976 after a six-year 
courtship.
  Marlene spent the next 14 years raising the children, helping her 
husband with the development of Piccadilly Inn Hotels, and continuing 
her activities as a member and teacher in the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter Day Saints. The combined families now total eight children, 
sixteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Paul Fansler began 
the Fansler Foundation in 1984, to be supportive of local, worthwhile, 
legitimate, charitable, and civic endeavors with focus on 
developmentally challenged young people. After Paul's unexpected death 
in 1990, Marlene took over the Piccadilly Inn Hotels and the Fansler 
Foundation.
  Marlene is currently a member of the California State University of 
Fresno Kremen School of Education Community Council, Board of Pathways, 
a Foundation for UCP of Central California, Catholic Diocese of Fresno, 
and the Marjaree Mason Center Art Auction Committee. Under Marlene 
Fansler's leadership, the Fansler Foundation has funded over 30 
organizations, including Break the Barriers.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Marlene M. Fansler for her 
commitment and devotion to the people and organizations in which she 
serves. I urge my colleagues to join me in thanking her for her 
community service and wishing her many years of continued success.

                          ____________________