[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 50 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO JOHN ZIMMERMAN ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT 
                       FROM THE LEGAL PROFESSION

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                          HON. PAUL E. GILLMOR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 27, 2003

  Mr. GILLMOR. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to 
pay special tribute to an outstanding gentleman, and good friend, from 
Ohio. John Zimmerman has always admired the practice of law and has 
always enjoyed doing it. After 52 years in the practice, he is as 
upbeat about his work today as the day he began. He opened his first 
office on April 15, 1951, on the second floor of the old Masterson's 
building. Mr. Zimmerman was elected shortly thereafter as Defiance City 
Attorney and served in that capacity from 1952-1955. Subsequent to his 
service as City Attorney, John served as County Prosecutor, holding 
that position for 12 years.
  Mr. Speaker, in all his years of practice, John never tried a single 
murder case until the last two years as Prosecutor, and then there were 
four. Mr. Zimmerman got a conviction on each one, he would tell you 
proudly.
  Prior to doing battle in the local tribunal, John served in the 91st 
Infantry and received a battlefield commission and Bronze Star in Italy 
during WW II. While serving overseas, his father, Elmer, who worked as 
an agent for the IRS, received a transfer and moved the family from its 
home in Old Fort, Ohio to Defiance, Ohio. His mother, Effa, a music 
teacher, taught around the various schools in Defiance County.
  Upon returning to the states in 1946, John came to Defiance in the 
spring of that year, enrolled in classes at Defiance College going 
straight through his undergraduate years without a break. It was about 
this same time that he helped to reorganize the local National Guard 
Company in Defiance. He finished his studies at the University of 
Toledo and earned his Juris Doctorate in 1951 from The Ohio State 
University School of Law.
  John entered into a partnership with Defiance native, attorney, and 
artist, Ed Hummer in 1957. That same year they established a satellite 
office in Hicksville, Ohio. In 1963, John formed a law firm with Karl 
Weaner and Reeder Hutchinson. That office was located in the offices 
above the State Bank and Trust Co. until 1991, when the firm purchased 
the modern-looking, stone and cedar-sided building on the corner of 
Wayne and Third Streets. Mr. Zimmerman is one of the last remaining 
from the original firm that still exists today.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying special tribute 
to Mr. John E. Zimmerman. Our communities are served well by having 
such honorable and giving citizens, like John, who care about their 
well being and stability. We wish John, his wife, Loisann, and their 
family all the best as we pay tribute to one of our state's finest 
citizens.

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