[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN HONOR OF THE REV. DR. FRANK WITMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 28, 2009

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of my longtime friend, 
the Rev. Dr. Frank Witman, who is being honored this week with the 
prestigious Simi Valley, California, Chamber of Commerce Strathearn 
Lifetime Achievement Award.
  None are more deserving of this recognition than Dr. Witman.
  Dr. Witman planted himself in Simi Valley when he arrived in the 
summer of 1969 to assume the post of senior pastor of the United 
Methodist Church of Simi Valley. The third-generation United Methodist 
Church minister immediately anchored his roots, which grew and spread 
with every year.
  Dr. Witman served on the board of directors of the Simi Valley Rotary 
Club, which he joined in mid-1969, and was the recipient of the Paul 
Harris Award, one of the highest honors Rotary bestows upon an 
individual.
  In 1972, he led the Simi Valley Ministerial Association to join with 
the Businessmen Against the Card Club Ordinance to defeat organized 
gambling in Simi Valley.
  Six years later, Dr. Witman founded the chaplain program for the Simi 
Valley Police Department and, for more than 30 years, he has served as 
the department's senior chaplain. Dr. Witman has provided comfort, 
counseling, prayers, and support during most of the city's traumatic 
and tragic events, including the untimely death of Officer Michael 
Clark. His support of the city and its police officers earned him the 
department's Volunteer of the Year Award in 1997, the department's 
Lifetime Service Award in 2007, and recognition from the Simi Valley 
City Council in 2008.
  Dr. Witman also was a charter member of the Steering Committee for 
Leadership Simi Valley; a charter member of the Simi Valley Hospital 
Board Strategic Planning Committee; Simi Valley Hospital's 1995 
Volunteer Chaplain of the Year; and an 8-year president of the 
Samaritan Center for the homeless.
  In 1990, I had the honor of nominating Dr. Witman to offer a prayer 
to open a session of the House of Representatives as guest Chaplain, 
which he did on May 2, 1990.
  Dr. Witman retired as Senior Pastor of the Simi Valley Unified 
Methodist Church in 1997, but he never ended his ministry, fellowship, 
service, and friendship to the people of the city.
  Madam Speaker, I know my colleagues will join my wife, Janice, and me 
in thanking the Rev. Dr. Frank Witman for his nearly four decades of 
selfless service to the community, and will join the Simi Valley 
community in congratulating him for earning the Strathearn Lifetime 
Achievement Award.

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