[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 122 (Friday, October 1, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF JOE HOLSINGER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 30, 2004

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Joe Holsinger who 
died on September 10, 2004, at the age of 82.
  Joe Holsinger was a distinguished public servant with a long record 
of service to the people of California. He was a brilliant man, a 
political mentor to me and to many others, and he will be missed by 
everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.
  Joe Holsinger was born Galen Wright Holsinger on November 24, 1921, 
in Bellwood, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pittsburgh for 
two and a half years before enlisting in the U.S. Army and completing 
his service as an officer. After World War II he settled in California, 
graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara, and began a career in real estate.
  His career in public service began in 1975 when he became Congressman 
Leo Ryan's Administrative Assistant, in charge of both the Washington, 
D.C. and San Mateo offices. After Congressman Ryan's tragic 
assassination in Guyana in November, 1978, Joe unsuccessfully sought 
the Congressional seat. He returned to his former career for several 
years in real estate as head of Holsinger Properties, Inc. During this 
time he met Bill Honig, a school district superintendent from Marin 
County who was seeking election as California's Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. He supported Bill Honig in his successful 1982 
campaign and then joined his staff as a special consultant on school 
reform legislation. He became Deputy Superintendent of Public 
Instruction in 1983 and was instrumental in the enactment of the 
Hughes-Hart School Reform bill (SB 813). He left the Department of 
Education in 1985 to return to his commercial real estate practice, but 
returned in late 1988 at the request of Superintendent Honig and 
resumed his position as Deputy Superintendent for Governmental Policy. 
Joe Holsinger retired in December 1994, but continued to consult with 
many legislators in Sacramento until earlier this year.
  Joe was a founding member of Americans for Democratic Action (1947), 
the first president of the Federated Young Democrats of San Francisco 
(1949) and a founding member and chairman of the Credentials Committee 
for the first state convention of the California Democratic Council 
(CDC) in 1953. He was a longstanding member of the California 
Democratic Party and state executive committee, serving two terms as 
Chairman of the Rules Committee and as the Northern California chairman 
from 1968 to 1970. Joe Holsinger also served as Northern California 
chairman for the 1968 Eugene McCarthy presidential primary campaign and 
Jimmy Carter's successful campaign for President in 1976.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the memory of 
this patriotic American, distinguished public servant, successful 
private sector leader, father and grandfather.

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