[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING WOODS-VALENTINE MORTUARY'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Mr. SCHIFF. I rise today to honor Woods-Valentine Mortuary in 
Pasadena, California. Woods-Valentine Mortuary, one of the oldest 
African-American, family-owned and operated businesses in the twenty-
ninth Congressional District, is celebrating its 75th anniversary on 
December 14, 2003.
  The James Woods Funeral Parlor, located at 87 S. Vernon Avenue in 
Pasadena, was founded in 1928 by James and Annie Mae Woods. In 1950, 
after the death of Mr. Woods, his nephew Fred W. Valentine continued to 
run the business for Mrs. Woods. In 1954, Fred and his wife, Arzella, 
purchased the business and it became the Woods-Valentine Mortuary. The 
Valentines relocated the business to its current location at 1455 N. 
Fair Oaks Avenue in 1963 and built a new structure, which received a 
Pasadena Beautiful Foundation award for architectural design and color 
coordination.
  Woods-Valentine Mortuary has a well-deserved reputation as a 
professional, compassionate and dignified business. The mortuary staff 
members serve the community not only by offering counseling and funeral 
services, but also by their immense community and civic involvement.
  Fred and Arzella Valentine have served on the boards of many 
professional and civic organizations, such as the Los Angeles County 
Funeral Directors Association, the National Funeral Directors 
Association, the California Board of Funeral Directors, the Pasadena 
Altadena Links, and the Soroptomist Club. The Valentines are also 
members of many civic organizations including the San Gabriel Valley 
Black Business Association, the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, the 
Pasadena Urban League, and are lifetime members and past board members 
of the Pasadena NAACP. In addition, the Valentines have sponsored 
Northwest Pasadena Little League teams for forty years, volunteered for 
many years in Pasadena's public schools and libraries, and contribute 
annually to many scholarship funds. They are also active in their 
church, Friendship Baptist Church.
  Woods-Valentine Mortuary is truly a family-owned business. Fred and 
Arzella's daughters, Janyce Valentine and Gail Valentine Taylor, are 
part owners. Arzella's sister, Vannie Brown, Fred's brothers, Clifton 
Valentine (who died in 1999) and James Adkins, along with Laven Lanier, 
James Barker, Ernest Gomez, Lenston Marrow, James Ross, Leo Vaughn, 
Julius Henderson and Juan Wooden, are other members of the ``Woods-
Valentine Mortuary family'' who have greatly contributed to the success 
of the business.
  I ask all Members to join me today in honoring Woods-Valentine 
Mortuary for its 75 years of dedicated service to the community.

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