[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 160 (Tuesday, December 7, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING JOHN ALFRED PROUTY

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2010

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, last month, Calvert County, Maryland, lost 
a legendary member of its community: John Alfred Prouty, one of 
Maryland's most successful local farmers. He died at the age of 87, 
leaving behind a lifetime of wisdom, friendships, and service to his 
community.
  After serving in the U.S. Navy in the 1940s, Mr. Prouty took over his 
father's family farm. He ran it skillfully for decades, growing 
tobacco, corn, wheat, barley, rye, soybeans, heirloom tomatoes, and 
flowers--and he passed it on to his own son. He was one of the family 
farmers who are the backbone of American agriculture; he cared about 
conserving the land, keeping up with the latest agricultural 
techniques, and lending a hand to his neighbors. In the words of his 
son, John Prouty was ``as generous and as honest and as insightful a 
person as you could meet.'' And in between long hours managing his 160 
acres, he took time to serve on the county planning commission and the 
county and state farm bureaus. For his lifetime of hard work, he was 
inducted into the Governor's Agricultural Hall of Fame this year.
  Mr. Prouty represented the best of American farming, and I sincerely 
hope that the legacy he left behind will inspire all those in Maryland 
who work to keep their family farms thriving. I know that he will be an 
inspiration to all those he left behind: his wife Margaret; his 
children, Susan, John, and Elizabeth; and his four grandchildren.

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