[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 132 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MR. FRANK BATTEN SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. J. RANDY FORBES

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 17, 2009

  Mr. FORBES. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Frank 
Batten Sr., who was 82 when he passed away on September 10, 2009.
   America lost an icon with the death of Frank Batten Sr. Frank will 
be remembered for his successful business career, steadfast community 
involvement, and selfless charitable endeavors. Nationally, he will be 
remembered as the founder of Landmark Communications Inc., which 
employed more than 10,000 people at its peak.
   Born in 1927, Frank grew up in Norfolk and seemed destined to enter 
the newspaper industry lending to the influence of his uncle, Samuel L. 
Slover, who helped raise Frank and owned the publication that would 
become the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch. Frank graduated from Culver 
Military Academy in Indiana in 1945. After serving in the U.S. Merchant 
Marine, Frank graduated from the University of Virginia and earned a 
master's degree from Harvard University in 1952. Two years later, at 
the age of 27, Frank became the publisher of two newspapers, the 
Virginian-Pilot and the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch.
   Batten's Virginian-Pilot was the only major Virginia newspaper to 
courageously oppose Governor Almond's 1958 orders to close six Norfolk 
secondary schools rather than accept court-ordered integration, and its 
editorials against the plan earned its editor the 1960 Pulitzer Prize.
   Frank's company grew with the acquisition of other newspapers and 
media outlets, and in 1967, Landmark Communications, Inc. was born. 
Landmark's founder is perhaps best known for the audacious proposal to 
create a 24-hour weather channel, known as The Weather Channel. A now 
familiar household name, the Channel is a trusted source that has been 
relied upon by millions of Americans for more than 20 years when 
planning family vacations and in times of severe weather.
   Education was the cause Frank Batten was most passionate about. 
After sitting on the State Council of Higher Education and serving as a 
trustee of Norfolk Academy, Frank became Old Dominion College's first 
rector in 1962. He guided the school until it achieved university 
status, and donated $32 million to ODU in 2003. Frank also created the 
Access College Foundation in 1988, which is credited with sending 
70,000 Hampton Roads high school students to college over 20 years. 
Frank also donated $100 million to create the University of Virginia's 
Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
   At home, Frank was the proud husband of Jane Parke Batten since 
1957. They had three children--son Frank Jr., who followed his father's 
footsteps into the publishing business, and daughters Mary Elizabeth 
``Betsy'' and Dorothy.
   Frank's love for people and community will not soon be forgotten or 
easily replaced, and his contributions to our lives in Virginia will 
live on for generations.

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