[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 23, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF DR. EDNA SAFFY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2010

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor 
the memory of my dear, lifelong. friend, Dr. Edna Saffy. We were 
students at the University of Florida in the 1970s and we worked 
together for 16 years at Florida Community College of Jacksonville. 
Everyone knew her as one of the great women leaders of our generation 
and she often led merely by example. For instance, she was one of the 
first women I know who did not take her husband's last name.
  Dr. Saffy was a human rights activist, college professor and founder 
of NOW chapters in Jacksonville and Gainesville. Her public service to 
the Third District included mayoral appointments to the Duval County 
Hospital Authority, Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, advisory 
committee on LaVilla Cultural Heritage District and the Jacksonville 
Area Planning Board. She was active with numerous groups including 
Planned Parenthood, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society, Hubbard House, 
Karpeles Manuscript Museum and the American Association of University 
Women.
  Dr. Saffy's influence spread far beyond Jacksonville, however. She 
was appointed by President Clinton to the Advisory Committee on the 
Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts from 1995-2001, 
and by President Gerald Ford in 1976 as a delegate to the International 
Women's Conference. Active in Mideast peace groups and a member of the 
American Arab Institute, President Clinton invited her to witness the 
signing of the Mid-East Peace Accord in 1993.
  Finally, she worked hard for the Democratic Party. Dr. Saffy was a 
member of the Duval County Democratic Executive Committee for 35 years, 
was a Florida State delegate to all the Democratic National Conventions 
from 2000 and served as president of the Florida Women's Political 
Caucus.
  Like the Apostle Paul, she fought the good fight, she finished the 
course, and she kept the faith. Now, it us up to us to carry on her 
work.
  My thoughts and prayers are with her husband of 41 years, Grady E. 
Johnson Jr.. God has blessed us by allowing us to have Dr. Saffy in our 
lives.

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