[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 84 (Monday, June 8, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF LEVONIA ``TINY'' CHANEY

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                         HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 8, 2009

  Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the 
100th birthday of Levonia ``Tiny'' Chaney. Levonia was born on June 16, 
1909, in the rural community of Brookman, Georgia, to Henry and Laura 
(nee Boston) Bailey. Her father was a successful farmer, blacksmith, 
barber, community activist, and chairman of the Deacon Board at New 
Zion Baptist Church.
  Levonia Bailey Chaney migrated from Savannah, Georgia, in 1934, to 
Hackensack, New Jersey, where she met and married her late husband, 
Arthur Chaney Sr. They were blessed with three children, Arthur W. 
Chaney Jr. M.D.; Carol Tunstall, retired music educator; and Dewey 
Chaney M.D. Her mother was a dressmaker. She watched her mother sew 
from the scraps that her father brought from the mill whenever he went 
to town to sell his produce. Levonia looked forward to helping her 
mother make clothes for the family. After the death of her mother, she 
became dressmaker, hairdresser, and barber for the family. She was 
baptized at an early age and joined the New Zion Baptist Church in 
Brookman, Georgia. She was salutatorian of her class at Seldon Normal 
Industrial Institute in Brunswick, Georgia, where she majored in home 
making. As a teenager she was an active member of the Girls 4-H club of 
America. She won numerous awards, including ``Champion Dressmaker of 
the State of Georgia.'' She is the oldest living PTA president in the 
city of Hackensack. She and her late husband were recognized in 1970 by 
the Hackensack Negro Professional Women's Club as ``Parents of the 
Year.'' In 1999, Mount Olive Baptist Church, under the pastorate of 
Rev. Gregory J. Jackson, recognized her 69 years of faithful service. 
She is a charter member of the Emeritus of the Nurses Unit.
  Levonia, affectionately called ``Tiny,'' arrived in Bergen County in 
1934 where she united with the Mt. Olive Baptist Church of Hackensack 
under the pastorate of the late Rev. T. W. H. Gibson. She shared her 
gift of sewing by making choir robes, altar skirts, covers for chairs, 
the nurse's uniforms, and whatever else the church needed. She is still 
an active member of the church for 75 years now, under the pastorate of 
Rev. Gregory J. Jackson. After 41 years of service, Tiny retired from 
International Ladies Garment Workers Union. The community also 
benefited from her skills creating bridal party gowns and garments for 
members in the church and community.
  She enjoys reading with great excitement, doing search and find word 
puzzles, playing games, exercise time, movies, arts and crafts, 
celebrating each other's birthday, singing and dancing at the Martin 
Luther King Center in Hackensack. She looks forward to a new MLK center 
that would provide friendship, sense of purpose, uplifting and a host 
of other cultural and educational activities. She is a Past Matron of 
Pride of the East Order of the Eastern Star, PHA Hackensack and has 
been honored for her dedicated service for over 60 years.
  ``Tiny'' the matriarch of the Bailey family has three surviving 
sisters, Vera Brewer, Gussie B. Langston and Susie Richardson. She is 
the grandmother of seven, Arthur Chaney III, MD, Kip Chaney, Gina 
Chaney, Corey Chaney, Craig Chaney, Shanda Tunstall-Charles, and Harvey 
Tunstall. She is the great grandmother of six. She has one living 
fraternal aunt, Genevieve Scott of Brunswick, GA.
  On behalf of myself and the people of the 9th Congressional District 
of New Jersey, I wish Levonia very best as she celebrates her 100th 
birthday.

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