[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO DR. GEORGE W. DAVIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 16, 2010

  Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. George 
W. Davis, a highly esteemed and beloved community leader and senior 
advocate who passed away on March 8 after a long illness. His legacy of 
service will endure for many generations.
  Dr. Davis was a compassionate leader, always working on behalf of the 
San Francisco community. He worked tirelessly, as a gerontologist and 
community activist, to make life better for the underserved, especially 
elderly African Americans in San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point 
neighborhood.
  For 32 years, Dr. Davis served as Executive Director of Bayview 
Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Center. He made it a welcoming 
gathering place and a compassionate environment where seniors could 
receive the therapeutic, social, recreational and health services that 
are so vital to their well-being. The programs and services provide the 
quality health care seniors need, as well as support their independence 
and preserve their dignity.
  In 1999 Dr. Davis launched the first initiative in the United States 
to help formerly incarcerated seniors re-enter the community. His 
program provides transitional support and health care, including mental 
health and addiction counseling, and a myriad of services to ensure a 
successful new start.
  Thirty years ago Dr. Davis founded the Black Cuisine Cook-Off, to be 
celebrated in conjunction with Black History Month every March. This 
soul food festival encourages a strong sense of community, bridges 
generations, and reminds us of the richness that is the diversity of 
our city and our nation. Dr. Davis attended his final cook-off this 
year, just a few days before he died.
  Dr. Davis was sustained by his faith, and in 2000 Dr. Davis was 
ordained as a minister. He served as Associate Pastor of the 
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in San Francisco.
  Above all, Dr. Davis loved his family. His wife and partner Cathy is 
the beneficiary of his extraordinary legacy and will carry on his work 
as Executive Director of the Multipurpose Center. I extend my deepest 
condolences to Cathy and to his brother Wesley Davis, his children 
LolaGerine Allen, William George Davis II, Tonya Davis, Kristy Davis, 
Matthew Davis, Teri Jordan and his grandchildren, nieces and nephews. I 
hope it is a comfort to his loved ones that many mourn his passing and 
are praying for them at this sad time.

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