[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 25, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM BOLDENWECK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 2011

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor William Boldenweck, who 
leaves behind an extraordinary legacy as a journalist and teacher. Mr. 
Boldenweck passed away January 11, 2011, at the age of 79 and is 
survived by his wife Lynn Boldenweck and two sons William C. Boldenweck 
III and Stephen Boldenweck.
  Mr. Boldenweck spent over three decades as a reporter for the San 
Francisco Examiner and two decades as a journalism teacher at San 
Francisco State University. He started his journalism career after his 
military career with the U.S. Marine Corps reserve.
  Mr. Boldeweck, a Portland, Oregon native, was called up in the Korean 
War in 1950. He was in combat in the Inchon invasion, a battle that 
recaptured Seoul. He was also at the legendary battle at Chosin Few, 
the decisive battle of the Korean War. He never missed a reunion of 
that veterans group.
  After the war, Mr. Boldenweck enrolled in San Francisco City College 
and San Francisco State University. He became a reporter at the Marin 
Independent Journal and was quickly snatched by the Examiner in 1960.
  Mr. Boldenweck was a classic newspaper reporter, the kind that are 
far and few between today. His colleagues admired his ability as a 
journalist saying he could cover any story and was the best barroom 
story teller of his generation. He was also loved by his friends for 
his affable personality.
  On the first day of class every semester at San Francisco State 
University, he shocked his beginning journalism students by making them 
write their own obituaries. His justification for that was that it 
would help them impart the reality of journalism and make them focus on 
the facts that matter.
  At the end of his own life, though, he left the writing of his 
obituary to his fellow reporters.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to join me in honoring an extraordinary 
man of letters, William Boldenweck, who I was blessed to call a friend, 
for his service to our country and for his dedication and contributions 
to the profession of journalism.