[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 65 (Monday, April 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E821]]


                     IN HONOR OF SAM AND LUCY KEKER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 23, 2007

  Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Sam and Lucy Keker of 
Chevy Chase, MD, who are celebrating their 90th birthdays on April 28th 
with family and friends at a luncheon in their honor.
  My husband Paul and I became friends with Sam and Lucy in San 
Francisco, where they travel every year for the past 35 years to visit 
family. This House does not have time for me to list all of their 
accomplishments, so I will mention only a few items in a long list of 
proud service to their country, their community, their church, and 
their families.
  Let us start with service to country. Sam served as a Naval Officer 
at sea in two wars, World War II and Korea, and Lucy did what wives did 
during those wars, which was follow him wherever she could. Later, both 
their sons were combat Marines in Vietnam and both were wounded.
  Sam and Lucy met at a student government conference in Albuquerque, 
NM, in 1938, where Lucy represented Women's College of the University 
of North Carolina as Student Body President, and Sam represented 
American University as Vice President of its student government. They 
married in 1941 and eventually settled in Montgomery County, MD.
  Sam rose through the ranks to retire as Chairman of the Board of U.S. 
News and World Report, while Lucy pursued her interest in public 
education, becoming the elected president of the Montgomery County 
School Board during the building boom of the 1960s (which included a 
teachers strike) and later serving on the State Board for Higher 
Education, where she sat with an up-and-coming politician named Steny 
Hoyer. They raised two boys, John, now a lawyer in San Francisco who 
went to law school with our colleagues Mel Watt and John Spratt, and 
Jerry, now an outdoorsman in Boulder, CO. Since 1961, they have been 
blessed with Tina Keker, who became their surrogate daughter and then 
daughter-in-law in 1965. They are further blessed with grandsons Adam 
and Nathan Keker, their wives Amanda and Nora, and four beautiful 
great-grandchildren. All of them, as well as family and friends from 
all over the country, will be with them to celebrate their birthdays.
  For 50 years Sam and Lucy have been mainstays of the Chevy Chase 
Presbyterian Church, many of whose members became close friends and 
will be celebrating with them as well. Sam and Lucy served as Deacons, 
then as Elders, and always as friends of the CCPC congregation.
  They love the game of politics, and are committed to the Democratic 
Party. Lucy's first Democratic National Convention was in 1940, in 
Chicago, where she served as a secretary in the Women's Division of the 
Democratic National Committee. Lucy went on to become very involved in 
Maryland State politics, serving as the Montgomery County Chairman to 
several successful gubernational campaigns. They were two of Chris Van 
Hollen's earliest, most vocal, and most generous supporters. Since I 
have known them I don't think they have missed a Democratic Convention. 
Sam says they are planning to be in Denver in 2008.
  What I have always admired about Sam and Lucy is their indomitable 
spirit and youthfulness. They inspire us all by their never-flagging 
interest in life, especially young people. On behalf of the Congress, I 
extend to them the warmest congratulations on their 90th birthdays.

                          ____________________