[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 27, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E652-E653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MARY LADESIC

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 2004

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the passing of Mary 
Ladesic, who was the first woman elected to countywide public office in 
Wyandotte County, Kansas.
  Elected as Wyandotte County Treasurer in 1980, Mary Ladesic served in 
that position until her retirement in 1997. She died at her home on 
April 17. Born in Kansas City, MO, she lived in Kansas City, KS, for 
most of her life.
  As Wyandotte County Treasurer, Mary Ladesic was a nationally 
recognized, innovative manager, starting a ``tag team'' program for 
marketing license plates that became a model for other Kansas counties 
and a successful amnesty program for collecting back taxes.
  Mary Ladesic also was active in partisan politics at the county and 
state levels, as a member of the Southside Democratic Club and all 
Democratic clubs in Wyandotte County, a lifetime member of the Kansas 
Federation of Women's Democratic Clubs, vice chair of the Wyandotte 
County Democratic Central Committee, and was awarded the Georgia Neese 
Gray Award by the Kansas Democratic Party in 1997. As the Party's 
official description of that award states, it is

     reserved for presentation to Kansans who have served in 
     elected office at the municipal and/or county level and who 
     have performed outstanding service to their local community 
     in the pursuit of the principles of the Kansas Democratic 
     Party. Such service commends a lengthy and broad 
     participation in public service endeavors to the city, county 
     and state. This award shall be considered the highest honor 
     which can be bestowed by the Kansas Democratic Party to its 
     municipal and county elected officials.

  Survived by her husband, William, 3 children and 10 grandchildren, 
Mary also was a member of Stony Point Christian Church and an active 
supporter of Maur Hill School in Atchison, Kansas. I commend her for a 
life full of support for her community and service to others, and 
include in the Record a recent article from the Kansas City Kansan 
detailing her life and good works. Mary Ladesic will be missed by all 
who knew her.

              [From the Kansas City Kansan, Apr. 20, 2004]

      Mary Ladesic, First Woman Elected to Countywide Office, Dies

                            (By Mary Rupert)

       The first woman elected to a countywide public office in 
     Wyandotte County, former Treasurer Mary P. Ladesic, died 
     Saturday.
       Ladesic, 68, held the post of county treasurer for 17 years 
     in Wyandotte County, beginning in 1980 and retiring in 1997. 
     She died at her home in Kansas City, Kan.
       ``She liked the job of county treasurer because she loved 
     people,'' remembered her husband, William Ladesic.
       He recalled that as county treasurer, Mary always kept $100 
     of her own money in a drawer for people who didn't have quite 
     enough money to pay their taxes. She'd give them $20 or $15, 
     and tell them they could come back and repay her later, he 
     recalled. They always did, he said.
       ``When she left that office, she took the $100 with her,'' 
     he said. ``She trusted the people. She wouldn't say anything 
     bad about anybody. She was just a beautiful person.''
       Ladesic said his wife was a good campaigner.
       ``She treated people all alike, it didn't make any 
     difference,'' Ladesic said.
       He remembered that she used to tell him that people would 
     sometimes complain to the treasurer about their taxes.
       ``Any time they complain, I can't say they're wrong, 
     because any time you're taking money away from people, they 
     should be angry,'' he remembered her telling him.
       Ladesic said Mary was an innovator in her job, starting a 
     ``tag team'' program and an amnesty program for back taxes. 
     She worked to get state laws changed in order to implement 
     the programs, he said. The license tag program raised $3 
     million in the first six months here, he said, and it won 
     awards and became a model for other counties.
       She also assisted in training new county treasurers at the 
     state level, he said.
       Ladesic recalled that Mary did volunteer work with her 
     church at the food kitchen.
       ``She'd do the work of three people and wouldn't stop,'' he 
     recalled. She also did volunteer work for Maur Hill School in 
     Atchison, Kan., and for local Democratic events, he said.
       ``Mary was a pioneer in being the first woman elected to 
     public office in Wyandotte County,'' said Don Denney, media 
     relations specialist for the Unified Government. ``She was a 
     dedicated public servant and will never be forgotten for what 
     she accomplished.''
       She received the Georgia Neese Gray Award and other 
     national awards.
       ``She was a diehard Democrat who worked hard for her 
     party,'' Denney said. ``My heart goes out to her husband, 
     Bill, and the rest of the family.''
       Ladesic was a member of the Southside Democratic Club, and 
     other Democratic clubs in Wyandotte County, and had served as 
     vice chairwoman of the Wyandotte County Central Committee of 
     the Democratic Party.
       Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Stony 
     Point Christian Church,

[[Page E653]]

     149 S. 78th St. Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the 
     church.

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