[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 27 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E301]]


                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN J. BOYLE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ROBERT W. NEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 4, 2004

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, today in Arlington National Cemetery, John J. 
Boyle, a veteran of World War II who was the first employee of the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO) to rise through the ranks to become 
Public Printer of the United States, was laid to rest. Jack Boyle, as 
he was known to his friends at the GPO, on Capitol Hill, and throughout 
the American printing industry and library community, had an impressive 
career that deserves our recognition.
  Boyle came to the GPO in 1952 as a proofreader following an 
apprenticeship in his native Pennsylvania. In 1954, he became a reviser 
and in 1960, he was named principal technical assistant in the GPO's 
Office of the Superintendent of Composing.
  Boyle was an early and vigorous advocate of applying electronic 
printing technologies at the GPO to meet Congress's printing needs more 
efficiently and effectively. With the support of the Joint Committee on 
Printing, electronic printing was introduced at the GPO in 1963 and 
Boyle was selected to develop and coordinate all phases of its 
operation. The following year, he was appointed Special Assistant to 
the GPO's Production Manager for Electronic Printing. Subsequently, 
Boyle worked to establish the GPO's Electronic Photocomposition 
Division, which over the ensuing decade evolved into the largest and 
one of the most modern photo typesetting facilities in the entire 
printing industry.
  For his leadership capabilities, Boyle was promoted to Deputy 
Production Manager for Electronics in 1971. In 1972, he was detailed as 
Production Manager and a year later Public Printer Thomas McCormick 
named him Deputy Public Printer. He served in that capacity until 1977, 
when he was nominated and confirmed by the Senate as the 19th Public 
Printer of the United States, the first of the GPO's own employees ever 
to attain that position. As Public Printer, he continued modernizing 
the GPO's operations, gaining widespread respect in Congress, federal 
agencies, throughout the printing and paper industries, the library 
community, and from the GPO's employees. He retired from the GPO in 
1980.

  Well known throughout the commercial printing industry, Boyle 
lectured in the United States and in England on new processes in 
printing. He was an original member of the federal Electronic Printing 
Committee that was created in 1962 as an advisory committee to the 
Joint Committee on Printing.
  Boyle was a member of the Washington Club of Printing House 
Craftsmen, the Washington Litho Club, and the Franklin Technical 
Society. He served as a member of the Graphic Arts Advisory Committee 
of the Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Graphic Arts and 
Photography, and the Advisory Committee of the University of the 
District of Columbia. He was on the Board of Directors of the Graphic 
Arts Technical Foundation and the Washington School of Printing.
  In 1977, Boyle received the Horace Hart Award of the Education 
Council of the Graphic Arts Industry in recognition of distinguished 
public service in the field of printing and publishing. He was elected 
to membership in the Walter E. Soderstrom Society of the National 
Association of Printers and Lithographers and was an honorary life-time 
member of the International Printers Supply Salesman's Guild. In 1979, 
Boyle received the Gold Key Award from Gamma Epsilon Tau in New York 
City and was made an honorary member of that printing fraternity. In 
1980, he received the Joint Graphic Communication ``Man of the Year'' 
Award from the organization of seven Washington, DC, graphic arts 
associations. In addition to work with these organizations, he devoted 
much of his personal time to speaking at meetings of craftsmen's clubs, 
litho clubs, and printing industry associations throughout the country 
on the need for retraining of personnel and for increasing management 
skills.
  A veteran of World War II, Boyle served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 
1945 and was with the First Armored Division in the North African 
Campaign. He was a prisoner of war for two and a half years in Italy 
and Germany.
  Boyle is survived by his wife Jeanne; two children, Sarah Sundstrom 
of Baltimore, MD, and Robert Boyle of Charlottesville, VA; a brother; 
and five grandchildren.
  Boyle's pioneering leadership in helping to bring electronic printing 
technologies to the GPO resulted in improvements that continue to 
benefit Congress, federal agencies, and the public to this day. He gave 
many years of dedicated service to the public through his work at the 
GPO, and later, through his distinguished leadership of that agency. On 
behalf of the Joint Committee on Printing, we sincerely appreciate his 
contributions and offer our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Boyle and her 
family.

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