[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN TRIBUTE TO ANDREW R. RENEAU

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 23, 2007

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the 
life and work of Mr. Andrew Reneau, a highly-respected and deeply 
principled Milwaukee attorney and Family Court Commissioner. Mr. Reneau 
died on May 6, 2007, at the age of 90.
  Andrew R. Reneau was one of two African Americans to graduate from 
the University of Wisconsin in 1942. Upon graduation, the only work he 
could find was as a metal chipper at the Allis Chalmers foundry. After 
sustaining a serious eye injury, Mr. Reneau went back to school. A coin 
toss determined whether Mr. Reneau should become a mortician or go to 
law school. In 1946, Andrew Reneau earned a law degree and was the only 
African American in his Marquette University graduating class.
  Mr. Reneau began a successful private law practice serving people 
from all over the city, conversing both in Polish and Italian with his 
clients. In 1976, Reneau became an Assistant Family Court Commissioner. 
He was named the first African American Family Court Commissioner in 
1978, serving until his retirement in 1995. Andrew Reneau was a NAACP 
chapter president, the first editor of The Globe newspaper, and was 
active with the Boy Scouts of America Council and the YMCA. He was a 
founding member of St. James United Methodist Church and involved in 
the National Conference of Christians and Jews. A proud graduate of UW 
and Marquette, he lectured on family law at both law schools.
  The grandson of slaves, he was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi in 1916, 
the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Beloit, WI, when he 
was 2 seeking better opportunities. Due to ill health, Mr. Reneau was 
unable to attend grade school for several years thus delaying 
graduation from high school until age 21.
  Mr. Reneau met the former Phyllis Cabell at a church convention in 
St. Paul, Minnesota, and they were married after he graduated from UW. 
Phyllis Reneau supported the family by working at a foundry while he 
attended law school. Phyllis Reneau passed away in 1995. Reneau family 
survivors include sons David, Paul, Joseph, and Peter; grandchildren; 
and great-grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, in Andrew Reneau's death Milwaukee has experienced a 
profound loss. Today, I thank him and his family for their immeasurable 
achievements, I mourn his loss and I salute his legacy.

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