[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 131 (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1860-E1861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO MR. AND MRS. JAMES PIERCE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 23, 2003

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize two exceptional 
members of my community, Mr. and Mrs. James and Susie Pierce, and to 
congratulate them on reaching an exceptional milestone. On September 
22, 2003, this inspiring couple celebrated their 75th Anniversary, 
surrounded by family and friends.
  Married in 1927, they moved in 1932 from Georgia to the Booker T. 
Washington Housing complex in Jersey City, NJ, where they still reside. 
James was 19 and Susie was 15.
  Mrs. Pierce has served New Jersey for many years as a Licensed Day 
Care provider for the State.
  Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have been members of Emmanuel Pentecostal United 
Holy Church since 1932, amassing 72 years of devotion and service. 
Susie served as Trustee for 40 years, President of the Ushers for 47 
years, Women's Day Chairperson for 30 years, Hospitality Committee for 
30 years, Acting Church Treasurer for 3 years, and YPHA for 12 years. 
She has been both a fieldworker for the New

[[Page E1861]]

Jersey District United Holy Church Sunday School and Chairperson for 
the finance department of New Jersey's District Ushers Union. In 1979, 
she was Women's Day's Woman of the Year and on Mothers' Day in 1986, 
she was honored by Jersey City Housing as the mother who has lived 
longest in the development.
  James has retired from his years of service at the Domenico Bus 
Company and has held the positions of Deacon and Trustee at Emmanuel 
Pentecostal Church. He has committed himself to community service by 
recruiting neighborhood children to Sunday School and Church, even 
picking them up himself so that they might attend. These children, now 
adults, have grown and matured in the Lord, a living testimony to 
James' legacy.
  Their beautiful family includes 4 children: James, a Serviceman in 
San Antonio, Texas; Akua Clark, a bank Vice-President in Franklin Park, 
NJ; Linda Stokes, a Guidance Counselor at Public School No. 8; and 
John, a Construction Worker in Jersey City. They also have 7 
grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
  These fine people have been pillars in my community, and I am honored 
to call them my neighbors. Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleagues here 
in the U.S. House of Representatives join me today in saluting Mr. and 
Mrs. Pierce for their many years of service to their city and to their 
church community.

                          ____________________