[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 146 (Friday, October 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S12834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN HONOR OF DENNIS MAXWELL'S 75TH BIRTHDAY

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, today, a constituent of mine, 
Dennis Maxwell, will turn 75, and I would like to take this occasion to 
wish him a happy birthday. Dennis was born in New York City, but moved 
to Connecticut when he was six and grew up in Fairfield County. 
Dennis's mother, Marguerite Maxwell, was an accomplished classical 
pianist who founded the Westport School of Music, which thrives to this 
day. Dennis attended Yale University and received a bachelor's degree 
in Business Administration in 1950.
  Dennis married his childhood sweetheart, Robin Tucker, and the two of 
them headed to Texas, where he served in the Army as an intelligence 
officer during the Korean War. He and his wife contributed four 
children to the baby boom generation and lived for a time in Michigan. 
The Maxwells moved (back) to Connecticut in 1966.
  Dennis has had a successful business career, working for companies 
like Scovill Manufacturing, which was founded in Waterbury in 1802, and 
N.L. Industries. For the past several years, he has run his own water 
conditioning business.
  Andre Maurois wrote, ``Growing old is no more than a bad habit which 
a busy man has no time to form.'' If that's true, Dennis may be turning 
75, but he's not growing old. In addition to running a company, he is 
an avid golfer and more important active in his community. At Christ & 
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Westport, Dennis has been a vestry 
member, chaired the church's capital campaign, and served on several 
committees. When his beloved wife Robin became wheelchair-bound from 
emphysema, he raised the funds to put an elevator in the church. Sadly, 
she succumbed to the disease in 1997, after 46 years of marriage. In 
addition to his church-related duties, Dennis has served as president 
of the local Alcohol and Drug Dependency Council, and he has been on 
the board of Interfaith Housing, a not-for-profit ecumenical group that 
provides clothing and shelter for area homeless people.
  Thoreau admonishes us to ``Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be 
good for something.'' Over the course of his life, Dennis has been 
devoted to his family, his community, and his country. I think that 
counts as being ``good for something,'' and I would like to join his 
children--Anne, Linda, Lisa, and Gray (who has worked here in the 
Senate for 19 years and is currently Senator Lautenberg's legislative 
director)--and their families and Dennis' many friends in wishing him a 
very happy 75th birthday.

                          ____________________