[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2783-E2784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING GEORGE ELLMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 17, 2009

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor George Ellman of 
Sonoma, California, who died on September 27, 2009, after a lifetime of 
community activism, leadership, and dedication to protecting the 
environment which included promoting public transit in Marin and Sonoma 
Counties.
  Born in Chicago in 1923, Mr. Ellman received a degree in biochemistry 
at the University of Illinois and completed a master's degree at the 
University of Washington where he met his future wife, Phyllis. The 
Ellmans moved to Pasadena where George earned a Ph.D. at Cal Tech. In 
1957, as a young scientist at Dow Chemical Co. in Michigan, he 
developed the Ellman Reagent, which became the standard clinical lab 
procedure for measuring enzymes and proteins. Moving to Tiburon in 
1958, George was the chief research biochemist at the Langley Porter 
Neuropsychiatric Institute and professor in the Department of 
Biochemistry at UC Medical Center.
  With a passion for public service, George served on the Tiburon Parks 
and Recreation Committee and was elected to the Tiburon City Council, 
serving as Mayor, and representing the city of Tiburon on the Bay 
Conservation and Development Commission and the influential Bay Area-
wide Metropolitan Transportation Commission, where he developed a 
lifelong interest in transportation issues. While living in Tiburon, 
George and Phyllis were active in the effort to keep Richardson Bay 
from being filled and developed. They helped preserve and protect 
Blackie's Pasture and Lyford House, which kept them from becoming part 
of a proposed 4-lane expansion of Tiburon Boulevard.
  After moving to Sonoma County in 1980, George devoted himself to 
helping the environment. He served for 28 years on the board of 
``People for Open Space'' which became Greenbelt Alliance, and used 
this experience to help forge the Sonoma County Agricultural 
Preservation and Open Space District in 1990. George also served as a 
board member of the National Audubon Society and went on to help 
establish the Sonoma Ecology Center.
  Mild mannered and good humored, George was a respected activist with 
an unremitting persistence to do the right thing. With a passion for 
public transit, George worked tirelessly to bring back passenger rail 
service linking Sonoma and Marin Counties. The biggest booster for the 
Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, SMART, George lived to see voters pass 
the quarter-cent SMART sales tax measure last November, which will help 
fund the 70-mile rail service through the two counties. Scheduled to 
roll down the tracks in 2014, the SMART board has agreed to honor his 
request that his ashes ride on the first SMART train out of the 
station.
  Dr. Ellman was also a classically-trained pianist and co-founded the 
Sonoma Classical Music Society. Dedicated to the environment, 
environmental education and bringing music to the community, to sustain 
this, the Ellmans established the Ellman Fund at the Community 
Foundation of Sonoma County.

[[Page E2784]]

  George was a devoted husband and father. His wife of 60 years, 
Phyllis, died last June. He is survived by his daughter, Judy Ellman of 
San Francisco; brother, Charles of Georgetown, Kentucky, and many 
nieces and nephews.
  Madam Speaker, George Ellman will be missed by so many who shared in 
his work and dreams. He believed that creating a better world was both 
necessary and possible. It is fitting to recognize his dedicated 
efforts to preserve open space in Marin and Sonoma Counties as well as 
his tireless leadership to help reduce carbon emissions, promote smart 
growth, and bring back commuter rail service. I join the many people 
who will miss George Ellman's inspiration, friendship and bright 
spirit.

                          ____________________