[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 35 (Thursday, March 11, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING JAMES A. GILMARTIN, RECIPIENT OF THE W. FRANCIS SWINGLE 
      AWARD FROM THE GREATER PITTSTON FRIENDLY SONS OF ST. PATRICK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 2010

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask you and my esteemed 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to pay tribute to James A. 
Gilmartin, who was selected to receive the ``W. Francis Swingle Award'' 
from the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Luzerne 
County, Pennsylvania.
  Born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Mr. Gilmartin graduated from Pittston 
High School, Class of 1952.
  He worked in private industry for six years before enrolling in 
King's College Night School in 1958. In 1960, he became a full-time 
student and graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1962.
  Mr. Gilmartin returned to his high school alma mater where he was 
appointed as a teacher of social studies for five years until he moved 
to Hamburg, Pennsylvania, to accept a position as assistant junior-
senior high school principal.
  He moved through the ranks, serving as assistant superintendent for 
seven years and, in 1978, was named superintendent of schools, a 
position he held until his retirement.
  Subsequently, he has served in eight school districts and the 
Intermediate Unit in temporary capacities.
  Mr. Gilmartin continues to be involved in education, serving as a 
reader for the Educational Testing Service and as a special education 
auditor for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. During the last 
school year, he served as a mentor to two new administrators as part of 
the Principal's Leadership Initiative and as an advisor to the 
Superintendent of the Pittston Area School District.
  He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Reading Area Community 
College, Hamburg Center Board of Trustees, a member of the Berks County 
Municipal Authority and he also serves on U.S. Congressman Tim Holden's 
Academy Selection Team.
  He has been active with the volunteer fire and ambulance units in 
Pittston.
  He has also written a weekly newspaper column for the Pittston Sunday 
Dispatch in recent years.
  Mr. Gilmartin has noted that it was W. Francis Swingle, a former 
King's College professor, who guided him through the college enrollment 
process more than 50 years ago. In 2002, Mr. Gilmartin established a 
scholarship at King's College that provides a substantial four-year 
award to a student from the Greater Pittston Area. The application and 
selection process is determined by the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons 
of St. Patrick.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in congratulating Mr. Gilmartin on this 
notable occasion. His commitment to the education of our young people 
is evidence of the positive influence W. Francis Swingle had on him 
more than a half century ago and his selection to receive the Swingle 
Award is a fitting tribute to both.

                          ____________________