[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 162 (Wednesday, October 24, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORIAM OF ROGER LEE GORE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 24, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in celebration of a dear 
friend's life, that of Roger Lee Gore--a man of limitless smiles, 
generous laughter, and amiable spirit. He toiled in the New York 
hospitality business for years, serving a 30-year stint as waiter, 
maitre d', and banquet captain for Hilton Hotel. An ardent voice in his 
community, he remained a lifelong member of the National Association 
for the Advancement of Colored People and contributed his time and 
talents to the Civil Rights Movement. A lover of people with an 
effortless sunny disposition, he asked that no tears be shed over his 
blessed life.
  Roger was born on August 30, 1944 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to 
the late Harold Gore and Sadie Gore Graham. Nicknamed ``Ducky,'' he was 
an early-age churchgoer and hard worker, moonlighting as a caddy and 
waiter to financially help out the family. In high school, he 
participated in team football, basketball, and glee club, earning his 
diploma in 1963.
  He travelled the country after school, but settled in New York by the 
late 1960s as a waiter and bartender at Henry Stampler's Steakhouse. He 
was a union man, a member of Local Six, Unite, and HERE Hotel unions 
and chairman of the Elections and Objection Committee. In 1993, he 
married Lena McPhatter, who later passed in 1998. He then married 
Noveria Epps in March of 2007. Roger passed away September 30, 2007 and 
was memorialized in his funeral held October 19, 2007.
  Today, we are moved, stirred, sobered by this loss, but we are more 
so grateful and joyful by the legacy he's left behind.

                          ____________________