[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 51 (Wednesday, April 2, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF HERMINIA DUENAS DIERKING

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 2, 2008

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the 
life and public service of Herminia Duenas Dierking, a distinguished 
leader from Guam who passed away on March 24, 2008. Herminia served the 
people of Guam in leadership positions in our community including as a 
Senator in the Guam Legislature, a professor at the University of Guam, 
and as a cabinet officer in the Government of Guam.
  Herminia Duenas Dierking, daughter of the late Maria Pangelinan 
Guzman and Jose Cruz Duenas, was born on August 17, 1939 in the capital 
village of Hagatna. She grew up aware of the hardships endured by our 
people during the occupation of Guam and she later used that knowledge 
and compassion to work for justice for our people as a member of the 
Guam War Reparations Commission.
  Herminia is a fine example of how education can open doors to new 
opportunities. She received her high school diploma from the Academy of 
Our Lady of Guam and pursued college degrees from the University of 
Missouri at Kansas City and later from the University of Guam where she 
earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business. She continued to work 
toward an advanced degree from Emporia State University, Kansas and 
successfully obtained a Masters of Science in Business Administration.
  Herminia began her professional career as an assistant professor at 
the University of Guam and rose to become the chairperson of the 
Accounting Department, serving thirteen years in the College of 
Business and Public Administration. Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo, my 
late husband, recognized her expertise in management and appointed her 
as the Director of the Bureau of Budget and Management Research in 
1983. She was also appointed as the Chairperson of the Fiscal Policy 
Committee of the Government of Guam. Herminia's leadership helped to 
restore the fiscal health of the Government of Guam, leading to an 
economic recovery.
  Herminia was urged by Governor Bordallo and other local leaders who 
recognized her leadership potential to run for a seat in the 18th Guam 
Legislature. She was successful in her first run for elected office and 
was subsequently reelected to the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd Guam 
Legislatures. During her tenure as a Senator, she served as Chairwoman 
of the Committee on Ways and Means, Chairwoman of the Committee on 
Rules, Chairwoman of the Committee on Health, Welfare, & Ecology, and 
Vice Chair of the Committee on General Governmental Operations. In 
addition to her leadership positions in the Guam Legislature, Herminia 
also served on the Legislative Management Committee on the Assembly of 
the Legislature of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the 
Executive Committee of the Western Legislative Conference, and the 
Committee on Suggested State Legislation on the Council of State 
Governments. She was appointed to represent Guam in the Association of 
Pacific Island Legislatures.

  Herminia contributed her time and effort to community improvement by 
volunteer work and service in several community organizations. She 
served as president of the Association of Government Accountants, the 
Guam Business Education Association, and the Guam Business and 
Professional Women's Club. She was also appointed to serve in 
leadership roles for the Western Business Education Association, 
Manukai Swim Club, Far East Swim League, Beauty World Guam, Tamuning 
Elementary School PTA, Guam Beauty Association, Father Duenas Memorial 
High School Parents Guild, American Heart Association, and Guam 
Memorial Board of Trustees. She was a member of the Soroptomist 
International, the Guam Lytico and Bodig Association and the Guam 
Memorial Hospital Volunteers Association.
  My thoughts and prayers are with Herminia's husband, Deacon John C. 
Dierking, their five children, Cliff, Kurt, Steven, Anna Maria, and 
John Paul, their grandchildren, and the many family and friends whose 
lives she touched. We honor her life's work as an educator and 
community leader. Most of all, she will always be remembered as a 
gentle woman who always had a kind word and a warm smile. She lived a 
full life and we are grateful for her public service. We will all miss 
her dearly.

                          ____________________