[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 25, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO MRS. ANGELA E. RANDALL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 25, 2009

  Mr. SERRANO. Madam Speaker, in recognition of Black History Month 
2009, I rise to honor a woman of great stature in our community, Mrs. 
Angela E. Randall. For nearly sixty years Mrs. Randall has called the 
South Bronx home; most of that time, thirty-seven years to be precise, 
she spent in the service of young people. Thousands knew her growing up 
as a caregiver, a mentor, an educator, and a role model. She has 
touched the lives of so many that if we knew nothing else about her 
besides her deep and lasting commitment to our children, it would be 
enough to know that this is a woman of exceptional character. But we 
are fortunate to know much more about her than that: a community 
activist in the truest and noblest sense, Angela Randall has spent a 
lifetime trying to make this community strong from the ground up, and 
for that she deserves to be commended.
  Angela E. Randall was born in 1928 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She 
received a Bachelor's Degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge 
and a Master's Degree from Teacher's College at Columbia University. 
Academically gifted and not content to stop there, Mrs. Randall further 
advanced her education at the New School for Social Research and later 
at Lehman College, where she studied Social Organization and 
Management. Then in 1968, after working as an Assistant Actuary at 
Teacher's Retirement System, Mrs. Randall took a position for which she 
is perhaps best known in the South Bronx: Program Director of the Hunts 
Point Multi-Service Center, Inc., directing the robust Family Day Care 
Program. She was the first person to hold this position, and it was 
there that over the next thirty-seven years Mrs. Randall provided 
quality, affordable day care to thousands of children in the Bronx, as 
well as created jobs for hundreds of women in the community by training 
them to become licensed caregivers.
  Mrs. Randall's work with children and mothers is but one aspect of an 
exceptionally active, well-rounded life. She has belonged to the same 
place of worship for over a half century, St. Anselm's Catholic Church 
in the Bronx. There she serves as a Eucharistic Minister and Lecturer, 
and is also a member of the Parish Council. In addition, Mrs. Randall 
is Chairperson of the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center 
Auxiliary Board, which she joined in 1976, and acts as Secretary of the 
Lincoln Hospital Community Advisory Board. She belongs to a number of 
professional associations including: the Bronx Chapter of the NAACP, 
the National Council of Negro Women, and is a past Vice President of 
the Downtown Bronx Democratic Club. Moreover, she has also been the 
recipient of numerous awards over the years. In 1972 she received the 
First Puerto Rican Conference Award in recognition of her work with 
youth, day care, housing and seniors; in 1984 she received the New York 
State Outstanding Achievement Award from the Bronx Life Members Guild; 
in 1992 an apartment building on Trinity Avenue in the Bronx was named 
in her honor the Angela Randall Apartments; and in 2003 she was named 
Woman of the Year by Lincoln Hospital, just to name a few.
  Madam Speaker, Angela Randall owns a full and deeply impactful life. 
Her compassion and love for young people is known by many, and her 
influence stretches further than can be measured. For example, how many 
children did she help to raise and nurture over the past three decades? 
How many young minds did she help to enrich at a critical stage of 
development? And more: where are these young people now as a result of 
her efforts? How many have gone on to become fathers and mothers, find 
gainful employment, or otherwise assume positions of leadership and 
responsibility? Angela Randall is someone whose reach has long exceeded 
her grasp, and because we know her to be a person of integrity, 
empathy, and faith, we also know that all those whose lives she has 
touched have been warmed by her spirit, and benefited from her wisdom. 
Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing a model 
citizen, and a living testament to selfless devotion to others, Mrs. 
Angela E. Randall.

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