[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 91 (Thursday, July 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING MRS. ALICE FISKE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 13, 2006

  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I rise on behalf of New 
York's first congressional district to mourn and honor a beloved 
constituent and treasure of the Long Island community, Mrs. Alice Hench 
Fiske, who recently passed away at the age of 88.
  Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Alice grew up an energetic and ambitious 
child. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1939, at a time when 
very few women went to college. Alice was an exemplary student, blessed 
with intelligence and intellectual curiosity. In 1952, Alice married 
Mr. Andrew Fiske, the 13th-generation descendant of Nathaniel 
Sylvester, who had settled Shelter Island 3 centuries earlier.
  Together, the 13th Lord of Sylvester and the Lady of the Manor, as 
Alice came to be known, raised two daughters. As an avid gardener and 
founder of the Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archeological Research 
at the University of Massachusetts, Alice quite literally dug deep into 
her role by restoring Sylvester Manor's vast and beautiful gardens to 
their former glory and by making one of the most significant 
archeological discoveries in the eastern United States--half a million 
artifacts dating back to the eighteenth century.
  Alice was universally beloved on Shelter Island, and indeed all 
across Long Island. Her kindness and generosity were infectious, and 
she could make one smile even on the worst day. According to her 
lifelong friend and historian, Mac Griswold, ``She'd take your hands in 
hers and then we'd raise them above our heads and take three deep 
breaths together . . . If she saw you were upset, she'd say, `Is it 
time for three deep breaths?' ''
  Alice's tremendous goodwill and devotion to Shelter Island is why she 
is mourned now and her memory fondly cherished. She was always willing 
to lend a hand or contribute to a wide range of educational and 
environmental charities, such as Shelter Island's library, historical 
society, and of course, its garden club.
  On behalf of a grateful community, Mr. Speaker, I thank Alice Fiske 
for her many enduring contributions to Long Island's East End, where 
she will always be celebrated and affectionately remembered as the Lady 
of the Manor.

                          ____________________