[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORIAM: CORRINE CONTE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN W. OLVER

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 7, 2009

  Mr. OLVER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Corrine Louise 
Conte, a beloved neighbor and community member in western Massachusetts 
and Washington, DC.
  Corrine was a woman of many talents. A native of Pittsfield, she was 
a star swimmer at Pittsfield High School, and she later became an 
accomplished pilot. Once, while flying near her home, her plane's 
engine failed, but she steered the descending plane into an open field 
and escaped with only a fractured rib, an injury she dismissed as 
trifling.
  During World War II, Corrine served as a nurse in the Navy, where she 
met her future husband, the late, great Congressman Silvio O. Conte. 
The couple married after the war, and Corrine continued to serve as a 
nurse while raising their four children. When Silvio was elected to the 
House of Representatives, she moved their family to Bethesda, Maryland, 
where she became a successful real estate agent.
  Ever-welcoming, Corrine opened her family's home in Bethesda to 
ambassadors and politicians, regardless of political party. Her 
gatherings were known for being intimate and down-to-earth. When a 
Russian delegation once came to dinner, they were surprised to find 
that Corrine had done all the cooking herself
  She was a friend to several Presidents, meeting each Chief Executive 
from Dwight Eisenhower to George H.W. Bush, and even dancing with 
Lyndon Johnson at his inaugural ball. True to form, she made all of her 
White House gowns herself, working from a sewing table in her basement. 
In the late 1980s, she served on President Bush's Special Committee on 
Mental Health.
  Despite remarkable talents and powerful friends, Corrine never lost 
touch with her community or shrank from the rigors of public service. 
The phone number to her family's Pittsfield home was listed publicly, 
and, during the three decades her husband served in Congress, she 
fielded calls from constituents and often followed up on requests 
herself. She was an active campaigner, regularly putting in long days 
on the campaign trail, and a favorite with voters, who appreciated her 
practicality and command of the issues. After her husband's death in 
1991, she dedicated herself to preserving his extensive and important 
legacy.
  Away from the public eye, Corrine was known to be a loving mother and 
a woman of great faith. She was also a life-long Boston Red Sox fan and 
reportedly was elated to see her team finally reverse the ``Curse of 
Bambino'' by sweeping the World Series in 2004.
  Corrine Conte's strength, warmth and charm were legendary. The 
friends she made and the people she touched throughout her remarkable 
life will miss her dearly.

                          ____________________