[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E615-E616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE DEDICATION OF THE OLIVIA HERMAN TRACK AND FIELD COMPLEX

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 12, 2005

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my good 
friend Olivia Herman, whose life will be commemorated in Lehighton, 
Pennsylvania, as the school district dedicates its new athletic complex 
as the Olivia Herman Track and Field Complex.
  Olivia served on the Lehighton Area School Board for 13 years, from 
1991 through 2003. She succumbed to cancer in March 2004 after a short 
battle with the disease.
  Olivia was elected as president of the school board from 2001 through 
2003. When she attended her very last school board meeting in December 
2003, the board voted to dedicate to her the new athletic complex that 
was being built. Olivia had worked diligently to obtain funding for the 
new facilities, and the school district wanted to show its 
appreciation.
  For eight years--from 1996 through 2003--Olivia served on the board 
of directors for the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit. Prior to that, 
she was the Director of Literacy for Carbon County, and was a volunteer 
reading teacher. Olivia Herman was a tremendous asset to the field of 
education. She was a lifelong advocate of reading and always stressed 
the importance of literacy.
  Olivia received her college degree later in life after working 
professionally as a social worker for many years. She went to the 
University of Delaware, graduating in 1971. Olivia's husband, William, 
was sick at the time and the two stayed in Delaware for a few years 
before returning to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
  Olivia, herself a 1942 graduate of Lehighton Area High School, was by 
many accounts one of the most gifted athletes to ever graduate from the 
school. She was especially active in gymnastics, but she also 
participated in basketball, cheerleading, and track. She remained 
active in the school district throughout her life, organizing reunions 
for her former classmates every few years. When she retired, she 
decided she still had more to give of herself.

[[Page E616]]

Olivia ran for school board and soon made that her full-time job.
  Olivia and her husband had four children: Judy Herman Hunsicker, 
twins Darryl and Derryl, and Rudy, who passed away at the age of 40.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in celebrating the life of an 
extraordinary woman who helped so many children and adults throughout 
her life as the Olivia Herman Track and Field Complex is dedicated in 
Lehighton.

                          ____________________