[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 163 (Saturday, December 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING JUNE GILMER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, December 17, 2005

  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a remarkable Texan, 
June Womack Gilmer, who passed away this year after a valiant battle 
with Alzheimer's. A descendant of one of Texas's pioneering families, 
the Lydays, she could trace her family ancestry back to 17th century 
Williamsburg, Virginia, and 13th century Runnymede, England.
  June was born in Honey Grove and raised in the small town of Wolfe 
City, in the Fourth Congressional District. She married her childhood 
sweetheart, Ray Gilmer, and they soon settled in Garland, Texas, where 
June raised her family and pursued numerous civic endeavors. She was 
president of the PTA, Garden Club, and wives club of the Garland Junior 
Chamber of Commerce. She was a regent and registrar of the Colonel 
James Mason Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, an 
officer of the John Wheeler Bunton Chapter of the Daughters of the 
Republic of Texas, and the Magna Carta Dames.
  A beautiful and accomplished woman, June was a runner-up in the Mrs. 
Texas contest in the 1950s. She studied interior design in college and 
for many years worked as a decorator and volunteered her talents for 
many worthy causes. June and my wife, Mary Ellen, were very close 
friends. Our families shared food and cars as Ray Gilmer attended the 
SMU School of Engineering and I was attending the SMU School of Law. 
Our children played together and we felt a deep and lifelong kinship to 
the Gilmers.
  June is survived by her adored and adoring husband of 60 years, Ray 
Gilmer, daughter Jamie Williams and son-in-law Dr. Craig Williams, 
daughter Anne Snow and husband James Snow, six grandchildren, and other 
family members and life-long friends. Their loss is shared by all those 
who knew June Womack Gilmer, and we join them in mourning the loss and 
celebrating the life of this wonderful woman. As we adjourn the United 
States House of Representatives today, let us do so in memory of and 
respect for June and the wonderful Gilmer family.

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