[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 92 (Friday, June 18, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5147-S5149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING DOUGLAS GRAVEL

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I wish to take a few minutes to recognize 
three individuals, two of whom are no longer with us, and one is a man 
who just retired from a life of dedication to his community and family. 
I wish to spend a few minutes talking about the three of them, if I 
may.
  The first is a friend of mine who passed away several weeks ago, an 
individual who made a wonderful contribution to our country.
  Doug Gravel was a wonderful friend, a great champion of American 
education, and a person who attracted a legion of friends, supporters, 
and followers throughout his life.
  Although he never lived for fame or even for recognition, Doug Gravel 
was instrumental in shaping the way we teach our children in this 
country, from one end of our Nation to the other.
  The Montessori method of teaching, familiar to many people, was 
developed a century ago by Maria Montessori in Italy. It was designed 
as a system to educate the whole child by empowering children to guide 
their own development. It encourages kids to develop their own unique 
personalities and fosters their curiosity in the world around them 
while removing environmental obstacles to their progress.
  For many children, the Montessori method has proven to be an 
unqualified success. Many of its methods are incorporated in public 
education in this country as well. Its revitalization in the latter 
half of this century can be traced back to a very small group of 
individuals--parents who lived in my state in Greenwich, CT. One of 
those people was a fellow named Doug Gravel.
  Realizing there was no clearinghouse for parents, teachers, and 
school administrators interested in the Montessori method, Dr. Nancy 
McCormick Rambusch established the American Montessori Society at the 
Whitby School in Greenwich, CT in 1960. It is today America's oldest 
Montessori School, and Doug Gravel was right there with Nancy Rambusch 
when the program started.

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  At that time, the fate of the Montessori School was in doubt. In 
fact, an article in 1964 in Time magazine confidently predicted that 
the American Montessori movement would die out entirely within a few 
years.
  The critics, obviously, were terribly wrong, as they often are, 
thanks in no small part to the work of Dr. Nancy Rambusch and Doug 
Gravel. The American Montessori Society grew and prospered. Today, the 
society has 11,000 members in 50 nations around the world, and it works 
to ensure that the high standards and excellent education that have 
come to symbolize the Montessori schools are available to children 
everywhere.
  I was very privileged to serve as honorary Chair of the society's 
annual conference back in 2007 when it celebrated the 100th anniversary 
of Montessori education. I am pleased that the organization's archives 
from the Montessori Society are housed at the research center at the 
University of Connecticut, named for my father.
  As part of my work for the organization, I had the honor of getting 
to know Doug Gravel very well. His commitment to quality education was 
matched by his commitment to treating those around him with respect and 
compassion.
  His warm personality, his wise mind, and his tremendously sharp wit 
were a source of great joy to his friends and to the many whom he 
educated--and entertained--throughout his life and certainly in his 
capacity as a Montessori trainer and headmaster of the Caedmon School 
in New York.
  My family will always have a special love for Doug Gravel. I come 
from a family of educators, starting with my great-grandmother 
Catherine Murphy who came to this country unable to read or write her 
own name. But soon after arriving in Connecticut she got herself 
elected to the local school board because she knew the future belonged 
to those who were educated.
  My father's three sisters, my brother Tom, and my sister Carolyn all 
became teachers as well. In fact, Carolyn, in particular, carried on my 
father's passion for Montessori education at the Whitby School in 
Greenwich, CT, back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Doug was such a 
good friend to Carolyn, to our entire family, and to educators 
everywhere, for that matter.
  On behalf of all those grateful for the good work Doug Gravel did for 
American education, for the great person he was, I offer my condolences 
to his beloved Maria, his brilliant and beautiful daughters Mary and 
Anne, and his cherished grandchildren. I offer that wonderful family my 
thanks and the thanks of many thousands of parents and children, all of 
whom benefitted because there was someone named Doug Gravel who 
modernized and revitalized American education.


                      Tribute to Preston J. Empey

  Mr. President, the second individual I wish to recognize has no 
particular fame in any way at all. He is just a wonderful human being 
who announced his retirement. I rise today in the midst of all the work 
we are doing to support ordinary Americans, working families--people 
who go about their daily lives in every way to try to support their 
communities and their families.
  In particular, I rise to celebrate one of them, a man named Preston 
Empey--``Press'' to his friends and family.
  In 1953, Press Empey, who had served in the Navy during World War II 
and then gone on to college, got a job at the Cloverleaf Dairy in 
Provo, UT, where he was soon promoted to manager.
  Press Empey worked hard to support his young family. And over the 
past 60 years, he became legendary for treating his customers as though 
they were members of his own family.
  Milk was cheaper in those days when Press started out. It was also 
something you got from a face you knew instead of a cold case at a 
convenience store or grocery store.
  To our younger members, some of the people who work in this Chamber, 
the idea of having a milkman show up at your house sounds like ancient 
history. It is not that ancient. It was not that many years ago when 
most Americans were familiar with someone who actually delivered the 
milk. Press did it, up until a few weeks ago, in his community for 
almost 60 years.
  Press's customers got to know him--some so well that if they were not 
home when he delivered the dairy, they trusted him to go inside and put 
it in the refrigerator anyway. And he got to know them. When hard times 
befell customers--as they certainly have in every one of our 
communities over the years--and they could no longer afford their 
shipments or products, he worked with them to ensure they got their 
deliveries every day and at some future point paid him back for the 
products and services they were receiving.
  No matter what befell him--bad weather, injury, illness, even 
mechanical troubles--he would be there on time even if it meant 
starting his day hours before sunrise. Once, after his truck rolled 
over on the highway, Press calmly got it back on the road, dusted 
himself off, and made every single delivery that day.
  Still, when he was asked about his greatest accomplishment, he paused 
and said: ``Well, we've raised five children.'' He and Glenna did just 
that. He and his lovely wife had great fun. I have known the family for 
years. They are remarkable people, hard-working, diligent, delightful 
human beings.
  Once Press invited some friends, including my late father-in-law Karl 
Clegg, to go hunting in the Utah mountains. Maybe because Press 
couldn't bear to be away from that dairy truck of his, he decided that 
it would make a fine camper for all of them. After all, it had good 
insulation, lots of space for sleeping, and, best of all, a cooler 
stocked with ice cream.
  Off they went, taking the dirt roads and crossing streams, drawing, 
one can imagine, wide-eyed stares from fellow hunters in huge SUVs as 
they bounced along in the dairy truck through the mountains and hills 
of Utah. The cooler turned out to be a fine meat locker as well, 
although Press and Karl's snoring echoed off the truck's walls and 
posed an obstacle to others who might have wanted to sleep. They had a 
great trip in Press Empey's dairy truck.
  For more than half a century--almost 60 years--Press has been an 
institution. He is now retiring at the age of 83, not because he is 
tired but because his trucks, in his own words, are plum worn out.
  That is good news for his lovely wife Glenna and wonderful family who 
will get a little more of Press to themselves after a life spent 
sharing his generosity of spirit and profound dedication with their 
neighbors and his customers. As I said, for more than half a century, 
they have been a hard-working American family.
  I am pleased to congratulate Press on his retirement and join my wife 
Jackie and our family in wishing him and Glenna many years of happiness 
and joy.


                        Remembering Bill Stanley

  Mr. President, lastly, I wish to spend a minute talking about a 
wonderful man who passed away a few weeks ago in my home State of 
Connecticut. I rise to talk about the rich and eventful life of one of 
Connecticut's great champions and favorite sons, William Stanley of 
Norwich, CT.
  Bill Stanley was a stockbroker for 46 years, although that is about 
the last thing anyone would ever think of when asked to describe him. 
That was his job, but his life was far more interesting and far more 
complicated than that. He was active in politics. He served for a term 
in the State senate. He was an influential adviser and trusted friend 
to my father, who served in this body, as well as former Governor and 
Senator Abe Ribicoff, and Ella Grasso, the first woman elected Governor 
in her own right in the United States, among many others.
  He served as the official photographer of his hometown newspaper, the 
Norwich Bulletin. He had his own radio show for more than a decade, and 
he published the history of his community on a regular basis.
  But most importantly, Bill Stanley's life was defined by his love for 
his community of Norwich, CT, and the incredible work he did for many 
years to boost its prominence and champion its virtues and favorite 
sons, regardless of who they were.
  When Bill was a very young boy in elementary school, he wrote an 
essay for school and attempted to redeem one of American history's most 
despised figures and a native son of Norwich, CT--not that his 
connection to the community is often bragged about--Benedict

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Arnold. Sure, he was a traitor, young Bill wrote, but what about his 
positive attributes, he suggested. Bill Stanley was suspended for 3 
days from elementary school because of that essay. But that did not 
shake him. It is not that Bill abided treason but Benedict Arnold could 
not have been all that bad in Bill Stanley's mind--after all, he was 
from Norwich.
  Later in life, he would insist that Samuel Huntington, not George 
Washington, should be recognized as our first President. Why? Well, 
among other things, Samuel Huntington was from Norwich, CT.
  Each year, the Second Company Governor's Footguard of New Haven--
Benedict Arnold's organization--would convene a ceremony at the 
cemetery where Samuel Huntington was buried. Why? Well, as the 
Footguard's Major Commandant said, ``We did it for Bill.'' Because Bill 
Stanley is from Norwich. Well, 2 years ago, they even made Bill an 
honorary captain in the Footguard.
  Bill fostered a lifelong crusade to create a Founding Fathers museum, 
designed to recognize the Presidents elected under the Articles of 
Confederation and the Continental Congress, to secure Norwich's 
rightful place. Samuel Huntington was the first President under the 
Articles of Confederation, so there is some legitimacy to Bill 
Stanley's case, although it has never been recognized by many more than 
Bill Stanley and those of us who come from Norwich, CT.
  When the executive editor of the Norwich Bulletin asked Bill to write 
a regular column about Norwich history, each one began, ``Once upon a 
time.'' It became so popular that he eventually published 10 books, 
which earned $\1/4\ million, which Bill promptly gave to charity. 
Because it wasn't all about glorifying Norwich's past--Bill made it his 
mission to build a better future as well for his neighborhood and 
friends and the people he cared deeply about.
  In 1987, St. Jude Common, a retirement home, opened on three acres of 
land Bill donated to that charity. He used his political acumen to 
raise $4.5 million in State funds to open the home, and another 
$400,000 from the Diocese of Norwich.
  A friend who served with him on the home's board of directors 
recalled:

       Every year at Christmas, he would make sure we set up a 
     dinner for all the residents. I would always attend to see 
     the joy he had in bringing joy to others. He captured the 
     Christmas spirit and was always a joy to be around.

  Bill Stanley was truly a joy to be around. He was a fascinating guy, 
who always had an interesting story and was busy as he could be up 
until his last illness. He was a great friend to my family. My father 
loved him dearly. He was a loyal and true friend in so many wonderful 
ways. I am glad I never had a tough race against someone from Norwich 
as well.
  I join his beloved wife Peg, his son Bill, Jr., whom I know so well, 
and his daughters Carol and Mary in mourning Bill Stanley's passing, 
and I join every man, woman, and child in Norwich, CT, in giving thanks 
for the wonderful life of William Stanley.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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