[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 26, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E583-E584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO CELIA ``CELI'' STEIN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 26, 2003

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of 
Celia ``Celi'' Stein born January 27, 1912, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was 
the daughter of immigrants who fled their native Minsk in what was then 
Czarist Russia to escape persecution of Jews. The family settled in 
Cleveland, Ohio because one of the city's three Yiddish-language 
newspapers knew her father Bernard Leikind's reputation as a typesetter 
and offered him a job.
  Despite tradition and her father's insistence that women should not 
attend college, Celia eventually pursued her degree and attended 
Western Reserve, where she received a BA in French.
  As a teenager, Celi met her future husband, David, while playing 
tennis at a local park. She refused to speak to him because they had 
not been formally introduced. Later he visited her father and received 
permission to court her. They were married in 1935.
  The couple arrived in Riverdale in 1944 and faced a wartime housing 
shortage. They were finally able to move into her cousin's apartment 
building, where they lived ever since.
  Celi helped her husband David found the Riverdale Press and continued 
working in its newsroom for over five decades. As a mentor, she helped 
talented reporters achieve their dreams. Her civic engagement runs the 
gamut, from her infamous culinary skills to her leadership in building 
PS, JHS 141 and several other educational facilities in the Bronx.
  Celi was a prominent community leader outside the newspaper office as 
well, crusading for schools and on behalf of neighborhood social 
service organizations. She was also first president of PS 24 Parents 
Association and a leader of the parents associations of each of her 
son's schools--from the Spuyten Duyvil Infantry to PS 81, JHS 141, 
Bronx Science and Horace Mann. Also, she served on the board of 
directors of the Riverdale Mental Health Association for 41 years.
  Her long-running recipe column made her the most famous cook in 
Riverdale. In hundreds of local kitchens, especially during holidays, 
Riverdalians still pull yellowing copies of ``Celi selects'' from file 
boxes and scrapbooks.
  Celi's work has been recognized by a wide variety of prestigious 
organizations such as: Riverdale Neighborhood House, Riverdale Senior 
Center, Riverdale Community Council, the Anti-Defamation League, among 
many others. She was also a pioneer of women's rights, and when 
becoming the first female admitted to Riverdale's Kiwanis Club.
  The people of New York lost Celi just 16 days shy of her 91st 
birthday. Celi's tireless

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service and commitment to our community won her a place in all of our 
hearts. She will be sorely missed.

                          ____________________