[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1801-E1802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN HONOR OF FRANCIS ANTHONY DAVILA-LAWRENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues of the 
passing of Mr. Francis Anthony Davila-Lawrence, a loving father, 
veteran, public servant, union leader and community activist who passed 
away in Brooklyn, New York, on August 5, 2006. I would like to enter 
into the Congressional Record his obituary which captures his many 
contributions and achievements to the great State of New York. We will 
never forget him. Thank you.

    Francis Anthony Davila-Lawrence, January 9, 1921-August 5, 2006

       Francis Anthony Davila-Lawrence, known by some friends as 
     Frank and by other friends as Francisco, left this life on 
     August 5, 2006 at 85 years of age. Francis was born in Harlem 
     Hospital on January 9, 1921 to a Panamanian-Caribbean mother 
     and a Cuban father.
       Francis was a New Yorker. He spent the majority of his life 
     working and building businesses in and about New York City. 
     Francis married twice, raising three children, whom he loved 
     dearly. With his first wife, Eunice Williams, they raised a 
     son, Michael, and a daughter, Aleta. Later in life, he 
     married Louise Simon, and raised a second son, Jason.
       With Frank's passing goes a library of stories and 
     experiences. He grew up during the Great Depression. He 
     attended the very first World's Fair, seeing a microwave 
     decades before they would ever come to use in an American 
     household. He traveled throughout the Bronx, Harlem, and 
     Jamaica, Queens during his youth in a Ford Model T, which he 
     said had terrible brakes. He served in the Navy during World 
     War II, and then went on to serve with the Merchant Marines 
     as a civilian worker, and in the Coast Guard during the 
     1950s.
       He was a hard worker. Frank worked as a cook at several of 
     the large hotels and restaurants in Manhattan before going to 
     work at the New York City Board of Education, where he worked 
     30 years, retiring as a Senior IBM TAB Operator. He had been 
     one of the few Black or Latino workers to be trained to work 
     on the then-massive IBM computers, which took up whole floors 
     to do what we do today with a laptop. While at the Board of 
     Education, he was an active unionist, serving in several 
     union leadership positions. He was an active participant in 
     the fight for dignity and fair wages for working people.
       Francis dreamed of bigger and better things for his family 
     and worked to provide opportunities for his children. He 
     worked to exhaustion to make sure his family had what they 
     needed. Later, as a haustion real estate investor, he amassed 
     properties across New York City and elsewhere. Frank worked 
     so much that his family often joked that he worked eight days 
     per week. In addition to his full-time job, he maintained a 
     number of supplemental jobs, including working as a cook at 
     Brooklyn's famous Junior's Restaurant, working weekends for 
     the Free Sons of Israel, and as a security guard for the 
     ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union).
       After his retirement at age 65, he purchased a small 
     newsstand in Manhattan's Wall Street district ``just to keep 
     himself busy.'' Frank's personality and laughter lit up 
     rooms. He had a gleam in his eye, and hardly held his tongue. 
     He was an excellent dancer. Throughout his life, he was an 
     avid reader, taking his glasses off and squinting one eye to 
     get a clear look at the words on the pages of the New York 
     Post or the Amsterdam News. He thoroughly enjoyed the 
     fantastic stories of the National Enquirer.
       He had a gentle place in his heart that was untouched by 
     life's hardships. He loved dogs and cats. He also loved 
     children, putting a ship's silver dollar for luck into many 
     babies' hands. He was an optimist about his health, the 
     future, and his ability to do things at any point in his 
     life.
       As a youth, he adventured widely, seeing many parts of the 
     world. When asked about his life's long list of adventures, 
     he said that more than anything he accomplished during this 
     lifetime, he found joy in seeing his children brought into 
     the world. He instilled a sense of family, honor, and justice 
     in his children, maintaining these things mattered most in 
     life.
       He loved his children passionately. Family was the most 
     important thing in his life and he was more than anything 
     else, a proud father of three wonderful children whose 
     successes filled him with pride throughout his life.
       Frank leaves to mourn his loss wife Louise, ex-wife Eunice, 
     children Michael, Aleta and Jason, daughter-in-law Norma, 
     sisters Gloria, Angela, and Marie, and a host of nieces, 
     nephews, extended family and friends.

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