[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 120 (Tuesday, August 10, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          A TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF THE LIFE OF SAREN H. SIMITIAN

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 10, 2010

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the remarkable life of 
Saren H. Simitian, a resident of California's 14th Congressional 
District, who died on June 24, 2010. His 88 years were characterized by 
an intense passion for teaching, for traveling, and for engaging with 
those around him.
  Born to Armenian immigrants in Jersey City, New Jersey, Saren 
Simitian quickly proved himself a promising intellectual and citizen of 
the world. He served in the Army during World War II, and attended New 
York University on the GI Bill. Saren went on to earn a Master's Degree 
in history from Colorado University and began studying for his Ph.D at 
the University of Wisconsin before taking a different path and moving 
to California, where he later received a Master's Degree in Library 
Science from San Jose State University.
  Settling in the Bay Area, Saren Simitian embarked on a long and 
loving educational career. He taught social studies at Palo Alto High 
School for over two decades where he was known as a tough but well-
liked teacher, deeply committed to all of his students. In his spare 
time, Saren taught English to Stanford students at the Bechtel 
International Center, and tutored with Project Read in Menlo Park. An 
educator to the last, Saren taught English in Beijing for six months a 
year well into his eighties.
  In one of his most important lessons, Saren Simitian taught his son 
Joseph that ``you can't get a hit with the bat on your shoulder.'' 
Taking his father's advice, Joe Simitian went on to a distinguished 
career in public service, serving on the Palo Alto School Board, the 
Palo Alto City Council, and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors 
before being elected to the California State Assembly and State Senate. 
Taking his own advice, Saren dedicated himself to a lifetime of 
eclectic pursuits, shouldering a backpack instead of a bat and 
traveling the world.
  Well-read and worldly, Saren Simitian traversed more terrain after 
his retirement than most people half his age. His wanderlust took him 
to visit friends, relatives, and his grandparents' graves, always 
acquiring new friends and new stories. He walked across Portugal twice, 
first from top to bottom, and then east to west a decade later. Seeking 
adventure on multiple continents, Saren fell into a ditch in Eastern 
Europe, was mugged in Asia, and nearly drowned in Australia. Despite 
these mishaps, his family noted, he ``never slowed down, never lost his 
passion for people and places.'' Saren's adventurous lifestyle no doubt 
owed in part to his healthy habits of eating homemade yogurt and 
exercising whenever possible, kept his mind as fit as his body.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in extending our 
deepest sympathies to Saren Simitian's family. He is survived by his 
son, the Honorable S. Joseph Simitian, and his daughter-in-law, Mary 
Hughes. A man whose far-flung journeys never took him far from his core 
values, Saren Simitian taught in order to travel and traveled in order 
to teach, enriching everyone he met with his unique outlook on life and 
his singular sense of the world.

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