[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 103 (Friday, June 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TO HONOR A GREAT TEXAN--RUTH KEMPNER

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                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 20, 2008

  Mr. LAMPSON. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of a great friend and 
Texan that passed away June 16, 2008. Ruth was an honorable woman who 
dedicated her life to charity and helping others.
  Ruth Levy Kempner was born at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, 
Texas, on November 26, 1917, to Marion J. and Alma L. Levy. She died on 
June 16, 2008, at her home in Galveston.
  Mrs. Kempner graduated from Ball High School in 1933, and earned a BA 
degree from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating cum laude in 
1937. She was a Galveston school teacher prior to her marriage to 
Harris L. Kempner on April 24, 1939. They had two sons, Harris L. 
``Shrub'' Kempner, Jr., and Marion Lee ``Sandy'' Kempner. Sandy, a 
lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, was killed in Vietnam in 
November 1966.
  She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, son, and brother, 
Marion Levy of Princeton, New Jersey. She is survived by her son, 
Harris L. Kempner, Jr., and his wife Hetta T. Kempner of Galveston, her 
grandchildren, Harris L. Kempner III and wife Kim of Knoxville, 
Tennessee, and Randall T. Kempner of Washington, DC, sister-in-law, Joy 
Levy of Princeton, New Jersey, niece, Dore Levy-Trilling and husband 
Jim Trilling of Providence, Rhode Island, nephews Noah Levy of New 
Jersey and Amos Levy and wife Carla of New York, and cousins, Adrian 
Levy of Galveston and Gloria Herman of Houston.
  Her life was devoted to various charitable and civic endeavors. She 
was president of the Family Service Bureau and served on the boards of 
Galveston Public Health Nursing Service, Galveston Community Council, 
and the League of Women Voters among many others.
  She was chairman of the Red Cross Disaster Relief Committee during 
the Texas City disaster in 1947, and worked tirelessly on the scene 
searching the wreckage for the dead and injured, bringing home 
temporarily orphaned children at night. It was her nature to see a need 
and immediately accept the challenge to meet it.
  She was president of Friends of Rosenberg Library and volunteered in 
the library's cataloging department for 20 years. She also served on 
its board of trustees.
  From 1959 to 1960 Mrs. Kempner served on the Galveston City Charter 
Commission and was instrumental in changing Galveston's form of 
government from a city commission to a council-city manager operation. 
When the new charter was adopted, Mrs. Kempner was elected to serve on 
the first Galveston City Council from 1961 to 1963. She thereby became 
the first woman in Galveston's history to serve on any governing body 
of the city of Galveston. In this, as in many things, she pioneered the 
way for women in the city.
  Ruth Kempner was one of two lay persons appointed to the Texas Civil 
Judicial Council and served for 8 years, from 1965 to 1973. In later 
years, she was active on the development board of the University of 
Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and was chairman of the Breast 
Imaging Committee. She was a generous benefactor to the UTMB 
mammography and osteoporosis screening van, ``the Oleander'', and 
enthusiastically participated in its dedication in 1999. In 2003, her 
grandsons established the Ruth Levy Kempner Professorship in Radiation 
Oncology at UTMB in honor of their grandmother's dedication to the 
medical branch and the Galveston community.
  She was the recipient of many community awards over the years 
including the Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award and 
the 1894 Grand Opera House Community Enrichment Award.
  She was delighted to list her profession on her passport as 
``Housewife and Civic Busybody'', but she will be remembered for her 
intelligence, her candor, and her dedication to every cause she 
believed in. Equality for all people, regardless of sex, race or 
religion was one of those causes, and she fought for it staunchly at a 
time when it took much courage. She was particularly a role model for 
many women who responded to her gracious toughness, and her willingness 
to express herself very directly.
  Mrs. Kempner was a courtly hostess, a steadfast friend, and a 
formidable enemy to injustice of any kind. She took great pride in her 
family, and was passionate about Galveston and its citizens. Vice 
versa.
  She occasionally admitted that she had poor math skills. We believe 
that she thought one and one equals three because she always knew that 
the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. We will miss her 
greatly.




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