[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E58]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO MRS. PATRICIA BROOKS CAREY OF HUTCHINSON, KANSAS

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                            HON. JERRY MORAN

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2003

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
woman who affected the lives of thousands of people in Kansas and 
across the country. This month we mourn the death of Mrs. Patricia 
``Patty'' Brooks Carey of Hutchinson, Kansas.
  As Kansans, we are dutifully aware of our state motto, Ad Astra Per 
Aspera which translates, ``To the Stars Through Difficulties.'' Patty 
lived this theme with an unsurpassed passion.
  In 1962, with vision and determination, Patty launched a small 
planetarium in the poultry house on the Kansas State Fairgrounds. From 
this humble beginning, the planetarium has evolved into a multifaceted 
space science education museum that today houses one of the world's 
largest and most significant collections of United States and Soviet 
space artifacts. Thanks to Patty's devotion, the Kansas Cosmosphere and 
Space Center stands as a testament to her mission of excellence.
  Patty's dedication to her hometown is legendary. Throughout her life, 
Patty touched the lives of many--especially those of children--taking a 
lead role in making certain her community was progressive in pursuits 
of education, culture and other quality of life issues. Her leadership 
and service on the board of directors for the Cosmosphere, Community 
Foundation and hospital were always marked with practicality, 
persuasion and genuineness.
  Most important to Patty was her family. Over the course of 61 years 
she and her husband Howard J. ``Jake'' Carey, grandson of the founder 
of Carey Salt, raised three sons, Brooks, Christopher and Michael, and 
devoted endless love and attention to six grandchildren.
  Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon and whose Apollo 17 
mission is featured at the Cosmosphere, summed up his goodbye to his 
friend this way: ``Patty was a very small woman in size, but certainly 
a big woman in stature. She had a dream, and she stuck with it.'' I can 
think of no finer compliment.
  Patty Carey made her community, State and Nation a better place. I 
join her many friends and admirers in extending my deepest sympathies 
to Jake and his family during their time of loss.

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