[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 178 (Thursday, December 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING SHANNON BOAZ OF SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 3, 2009

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor 
Shannon Boaz, wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend and inspiration to 
all who came in contact with her, who passed away November 21, 2009, 
after a long battle with leukemia.
  Shannon was an extraordinary woman who did not let her terminal 
diagnosis dampen her fighting spirit. She was first diagnosed with 
leukemia in June 2008, but by December of that year, the disease had 
remarkably gone into remission. She immediately began working with the 
committee in her hometown of Healdsburg, California to organize the 
annual anti-cancer ``Relay for Life,'' which was held in June 2009 and 
was named the Relay's Survivor Honoree.
  Fate intervened on the last day of the Relay when her doctors 
determined that her cancer had returned. During the last four months of 
her life, much of it spent in the hospital, she continued to work with 
and comfort other leukemia and cancer patients.
  To family and friends, Shannon would often state that she had the 
perfect life with her husband, Healdsburg Fire Captain Jason Boaz, and 
their two young sons, Jackson and Austin.
  Shannon was born in Los Angeles on November 22, 1970, and moved to 
Sonoma County when she was five years old. She graduated from 
Geyserville High School in 1988 and received a degree in Business 
Administration from California Polytechnic State University in 1993.
  Following college, she worked as a flight attendant for United 
Airlines and was in the air on 9/11, flying from Boise, Idaho to San 
Francisco. Shannon took a furlough following 9/11 to raise her family 
and manage the construction of the family home in Healdsburg. She 
worked as a realtor at Full Spectrum Properties in Healdsburg for the 
last few years of her life.
  Madam Speaker, Shannon Boaz was a respected and well loved member of 
the Healdsburg community who will be missed by her family and friends. 
It is therefore appropriate that we remember and honor her today.

                          ____________________