[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 27, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H115-H116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO MONTEREY CITY COUNCILWOMAN RUTH VREELAND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in these hallowed halls of 
Congress to pay tribute to a colleague in public service, Monterey City 
Councilwoman Ruth Vreeland, killed in an automobile accident on Highway 
101 in southern Monterey County just this last Sunday.
  What a loss. This 68-year-old woman had the energy of 100 
locomotives. Involved in everything, teacher, statewide education 
activist, 20-year city councilwoman, statewide League of Cities 
activist, Democratic Party activist, mother, member of various boards. 
She was always there, always prepared, and always wanting to do more.
  Born in Chunking, China, she grew up in Szechwan Province where her 
parents worked as medical missionaries. Returning to Toronto, Canada, 
in 1940, and moving to San Francisco where her parents taught at the 
University of California, Berkeley, Ruth earned a bachelor's degree in 
arts and education from San Francisco State University. She also met 
her husband there, Dick Vreeland, and then continued on to the 
University of San Francisco to earn a master's degree in organizational 
development.
  In 1956, she moved to Monterey Peninsula to teach school, and was 
elected to the Monterey City Council with the intention of protecting 
the quality of life in the city of Monterey.
  ``This town is more than buildings and streets; first it is people,'' 
she wrote in her campaign statement. She championed the tearing down of 
the waterfront buildings so that people could see the Bay where 
California began. She replaced the buildings with parks and 
recreational trails, the now highly successful Window on the Bay 
Project.

[[Page H116]]

  She served in a variety of leadership positions, including the League 
of California Cities Board of Directors, Institute for Local Self-
Government, the 20th District Parent-Teacher Association, the Monterey 
Bay Task Force, Quota International, Women in Municipal Government, 
Friends Outside of the Monterey County, and the Overall Economic 
Development Committee of Monterey County.
  She was also a Volunteers in Action Board Member, a Monterey City 
Council member since 1983, an alternate in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary 
Advisory Council and a former president of the Association of Monterey 
Bay Area Governments, the Monterey Peninsula Concert Association and 
the Winnie the Pooh Chapter of the Children's Home Society.

                              {time}  1930

  She was involved in various organizations.
  Tonight, in paying tribute, I would also like to recognize my 
colleague, the minority leader of the United States House of 
Representatives, the gentlewoman from San Francisco, California (Ms. 
Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I want to join our distinguished colleague, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), in paying tribute to Ruth 
Vreeland. I thank him, as one who admired her on behalf of so many who 
learned from her over the years, for my colleague's magnificent tribute 
to her, which I know he has not finished. I will not take a lot of time 
because I know he needs the time to put the full tribute into the 
Record.
  As one who worked with her for over 25 years in the California 
Democratic Party, I know of her love of country. She was a true 
patriot. She loved our country. She loved its people. She loved its 
natural environment. She loved our civil liberties. She was a model 
citizen.
  My daughter Christine, I know, would want to join with me, who worked 
with her on the platform committee, in expressing our sympathies to her 
family in saying that we will remember her with great affection, 
admiration, and respect.
  I thank the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) and 
thank him for his leadership in presenting the very, very excellent 
credentials of Ms. Vreeland to our colleagues.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Pelosi) for joining us. I know her family and all her friends and 
people in elected government will be so touched because she was a big 
admirer of the gentlewoman. My colleague led the way for women in 
politics.
  Throughout her life, many of these organizations honored her 
outstanding commitment and service to our Bay community with awards. 
The Volunteers in Action honored her community service. The Sierra Club 
honored her for outstanding achievement. Planned Parenthood named her 
an Outstanding Woman in Politics. The Monterey Rotary named her an 
Outstanding Teacher. Furthermore, the Fisherman's Wharf named her the 
Wharf Rat of the Year in 1995. The California Democratic Party 
recognized her for outstanding services. J.C. Penney gave her the 
Golden Rule Award. And the Old Monterey Business Association recognized 
her for exceptional dedication. The Monterey Civic Club honored her for 
being a community volunteer. Finally, the Association of Monterey Bay 
Area Governments recognized her for 20 years of service.
  As I mentioned earlier, and as you can see from this lengthy list of 
accomplishments, Ruth was always moving, always involved. Her friends 
wondered if she ever had time to sleep. She adored her family and 
always seemed to be on her way to visit the next child. In fact, the 
tragic accident that led to her death occurred as she returned from 
visiting one of her three daughters, Lauren, Amy and Meslissa. Among 
the three of them, they have seven of Ruth and Dick's grandchildren.
  Ruth and Dick's home blended the elements of Ruth Vreeland's youth in 
China with Japanese culture that Dick Vreeland picked up in the Army.
  She was also involved with various organizations including the 
Monterey Vista Homeowners Association, Community of Caring, League of 
Women Voters, American Association of University Women, California 
Teachers Association, Monterey Bay Teachers Association, Responsible 
Hospitality, California Elected Women's Association for Education and 
Research, Monterey Main Street Program, National Organization of Women, 
Old Monterey Preservation Society, Sierra Club, ACLU, State Theater 
Preservation Group, Monterey Civic Club, Monterey History and Art 
Association, American Association for Retired Persons, California 
Retired Teachers' Association, and the Unitarian Church.
  She cooked Chinese food and raised the children to use chopsticks. A 
proud naturalized citizen from Canada, Vreeland also instilled civic 
values in her daughters. ``She believed in this country because she was 
naturalized in it and she taught me what patriotism is,'' her daughter 
said.
  Vreeland also continued to tackle the large-scale problems that had 
always energized her. The Sierra Club recognized her in the 1980's for 
fighting offshore drilling and sewage spills. She traveled to 
Sacramento and Washington to promote education and local government, 
rising to leadership roles with the Association of Monterey Bay Area 
Governments and the League of California Cities.
  Vreeland was active in Democratic Party politics and was not afraid 
to bring progressive political causes to Monterey. She challenged the 
city in 1988 for not having enough women and minorities in management 
positions, and a decade later she discouraged the council from 
subsidizing the Boy Scouts because of its exclusionary policies toward 
gays.
  In the months before her death, Vreeland's last big project was 
saving education and local government in the face of California's 
budget crisis, a problem epic enough to discourage even the most ardent 
community activist.
  But not Ruth Vreeland.
  America will miss her. She came to this country to do good--we are 
all better for it and will miss her forever.

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