[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 45 (Friday, April 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE MEMORY OF MRS. FANNIE BELLE CALLAHAN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 2, 2004

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, Mobile County, Alabama, and indeed the 
entire First Congressional District recently lost a dear friend, and I 
rise today to honor her and pay tribute to her memory.
  Fannie Belle Callahan was a devoted mother, grandmother, and friend 
to the Mobile community throughout her entire life. At the time of her 
passing on March 15, 2004, she had devoted 94 years to the care of her 
children, her family, and her city.
  Raised with her three siblings in the small community of Crichton, 
Alabama, Mrs. Callahan was required at an early age to go to work to 
help support her family following the death of her father. By the age 
of 17, she had already worked as a telephone operator, a cashier at 
Mobile's Saenger Theater, and a night clerk at the Battle House Hotel. 
Following her marriage to Herbert Callahan, she moved to East St. 
Louis, Illinois, but returned to Mobile three years later when he 
obtained a job with the GM&O Railroad.
  Widowed at the time of her husband's death in 1950, Mrs. Callahan was 
once again required to go to work to support her large family of nine 
children. Although she retired in 1965 after many years of employment 
with the Mobile District Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
she was not one to sit idly by and watch life go on in the world around 
her. She became actively involved in the political campaigns of her 
sons Sonny and George, and following Sonny's election to the U.S. House 
of Representatives in 1984 volunteered her time as the receptionist in 
his Mobile district office. Mrs. Callahan quickly became the center of 
her son's office ``family,'' and for the remainder of her life was 
always referred to affectionately as ``Mom Callahan.''
  Throughout her 94 years, Fannie Belle Callahan taught many valuable 
lessons to her family and friends, and everyone who came in contact 
with her took away very fond memories of a charming southern lady who 
could make anyone to whom she was speaking feel they were the most 
important person at that time. In an article which appeared in the 
Mobile Register in 2000, Mrs. Callahan reflected on her long and 
rewarding life and spoke about how her years of hard work were rewarded 
with the successes her children enjoyed.
  Many of her children were also interviewed and offered their 
perspectives on the lessons they had learned from the matriarch of a 
family made up of 94 men, women, and children. Perhaps her son, former 
Rep. Sonny Callahan, best summed up her long life and what she passed 
on to her children when he said, ``She taught us responsibility. With 
nine kids, there had to be some degree of responsibility. She taught us 
to respect people and work hard.''
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering a lovely 
woman who deeply loved, encouraged, and respected her many family and 
friends and the entire Mobile community. ``Mom Callahan'' will be 
deeply missed by her family--her sons, Sonny Callahan, George Callahan, 
Charles Callahan, and Terrance Callahan; her daughters, Patsy Dempster, 
Madeline Martin, Margaret Ann Athey, Mary Jane Emick, and Rose 
Callahan; and her 32 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren, and 13 
great-great-grandchildren--as well as the countless friends she leaves 
behind. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all at this difficult 
time.

                          ____________________