[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E917-E918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF JOHN SPOOR BROOME

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 2009

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Madam Speaker, I rise in memory of John Spoor ``Jack'' 
Broome, a member of one of Ventura County, California's pioneer 
families; a successful rancher; a generous philanthropist; an 
adventurer; and a friend to my wife, Janice, and me.
  Jack Broome lived 91 productive and enjoyable years before suffering 
several strokes this year and passing away earlier this month at the 
Oxnard Plain ranch he loved and managed since 1946.
  As a rancher, Jack's feet were firmly on the ground--but that did not 
keep him from flying solo for the first time at age 17, serving as a 
pilot trainer and pilot for the Army Air Force's Air Transport Command 
over the North Atlantic during World War II, flying for American 
Airlines, flying a solo round-trip flight across the Atlantic at age 68 
and continuing to pilot until just recently.

[[Page E918]]

  Nor did it keep him from competing in the Trans-Pacific Yacht Race 
from Los Angeles to Honolulu three times.
  But it's on Ventura County's land that Jack's impact will be felt for 
generations to come. Rancho Guadalasca, the Mexican land grant Jack's 
family purchased in 1880, sits adjacent to what is now California State 
University, Channel Islands. A private man, Jack tried to make a $5 
million anonymous donation to establish a library at the university in 
1999--one of the largest in Ventura County history. He was persuaded to 
go public only after trustees argued that his donation would spur 
others. It did. The university named the library after him.
  Jack also was an original initiator and supporter of Casa Pacifica, a 
home for neglected, abused and emotionally disturbed children; founder 
of the Conejo Savings and Loan Association; chairman of the Ventura 
County Harbor Commission; chairman of the Camarillo State Hospital 
Board of Trustees (where the university is now sited); and member of 
the boards for Pepperdine University and the House Ear Institute in Los 
Angeles, among others.
  Madam Speaker, I know my colleagues will join Janice and me in 
offering our condolences to Patricia, his wife of more than 60 years; 
to their children, John Jr., Elizabeth and Ann; their eight 
grandchildren, and all who knew him, called him a friend and benefited 
from his spirit and generosity.
  Godspeed, Jack.

                          ____________________