[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E511-E512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF GEORGE L. BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 4, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my dear friend and 
an exemplary American, George Brown, who passed away Friday, March 31, 
2006. George made history in his lifetime, as a civil rights 
trailblazer and a political leader who made a career of serving his 
community and his country.
  Born in Lawrence, Kansas on July 1, 1926, George excelled 
educationally, and in World War II served his country as a member of 
the famous Tuskegee Airmen. Following the war, he went off to college 
at a time when only the GI Bill made it possible for African Americans 
to do so in the face of racial discrimination and economic hardships. 
He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1950. In the 1960's, as a 
reporter for the Denver Post, he was part of that cadre of journalists 
who chronicled the heroic struggles of African Americans and their 
supporters in the civil rights movement. The tumult of that era helped 
forge his deep social consciousness.

[[Page E512]]

  George's entire career was devoted to public service. In the 1950's, 
he was named to head the Denver Housing Authority. In 1955, he was 
appointed to the Colorado House of Representatives, and later became 
the first African American elected to the Colorado State Senate. In 
1974 he gained national attention when he was elected Lieutenant 
Governor of Colorado--the first African American so honored in U.S. 
history. As a major public figure, he became an influential spokesman 
for justice and equity in Colorado and beyond.
  Following retirement from government George worked as a consultant in 
the private sector in Washington while remaining involved with public 
causes, including the Boys Choir of Harlem. Just two weeks before his 
passing, George co-chaired the National Black Peoples Unity Convention 
in Gary, Indiana, addressing economic strategies to empower African 
Americans.
  With all of his professional success, George was first and foremost a 
family man. I remember his joy with the addition of each new grandchild 
to his family. He is survived by his wife, Modeen; two sisters, Harriet 
Baskerville and Laura Gilyard; nine children, Gail Chandler, Cindy 
Brown, Kim Brown, Laura Mitchell, Angela Ashley, Carolyn Smith, 
Sharolyn Williams, Nyra Crenshaw, and Ronald Crenshaw, as well as seven 
grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
  George was not only a great man, but a loyal friend who would always 
be there to lend a helping hand or to just listen. He was a source of 
inspiration to me and to everyone who knew him. May God bless him and 
his family.

                          ____________________