[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 15, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      REMEMBERING ALICE A. PETERS

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
honoring the memory of Alice A. Peters, a philanthropist who, along 
with her late husband Leon S. Peters, generously supported many 
educational, cultural, and community causes in Fresno, CA. Mrs. Peters 
passed away on January 24. She was 97 years old.
  Born Alice Apregan, Mrs. Peters was the daughter of Armenian 
immigrants who immigrated to Lynn, MA, in 1907 to escape the 
persecution of Ottoman Turks. In search of a better place to call home, 
the family moved in 1911 to the San Joaquin Valley of California where 
many people from their native Bitlis province of Armenia had settled. 
The Apregan family made their home in the farming community of Del Rey, 
and Alice attended high school in nearby Selma.
  She met her future husband during a visit to Del Rey Packing. Their 
friendship blossomed into marriage in 1943. Leon Peters learned 
mechanical engineering on the job while working for Valley Foundry, 
became sales manager before purchasing the company in 1937. He and his 
brothers turned Valley Foundry into one of the region's most successful 
businesses. This success allowed the Peters to become stalwart 
supporters of community causes that have greatly benefited the people 
of Fresno and the Central Valley. Over the years, Leon and Alice Peters 
would become synonymous with philanthropy and charity in the Greater 
Fresno Area.
  Since its establishment in 1959, the Leon S. Peters Foundation has 
given to many worthy causes and projects that continue to positively 
impact the lives of Fresno residents. Mrs. Peters and her late husband 
donated millions of dollars to local institutions such as the Community 
Regional Center, the Fresno Chafee Zoo, and the Fresno Art Museum and 
California State University, Fresno.
  Mrs. Peters made sure that the vision of the Leon S. Peters 
Foundation endured after her husband's passing in 1983. In 2002, she 
donated $300,000 to the Community Medical Foundation, which made 
possible an Extern Work Study Program for nursing students at community 
medical centers. She summed up her commitment to philanthropy by saying 
``charity work is part of life, we all have to do some of it . . . this 
is our legacy.''
  A woman of great conviction and vision, Mrs. Peters leaves behind a 
legacy of philanthropy and community service and the admiration of 
those whose lives she touched over the years. She has made indelible 
contributions to make Fresno a better place. She will be 
missed.

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