[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 12, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             HONORING THE LIFE OF LEONARD EARL ROBERTS, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 12, 2011

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of 
Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr., a public servant and community leader, whose 
impact has been felt not only in Southern California but throughout the 
country. On July 5, 2011, Mr. Roberts passed away, leaving a legacy of 
service and patriotism. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him, 
but his example lives on in all of the lives that he touched.
  Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr. was born in 1925--at the height of the 
Harlem Renaissance--to Mary Queen Dorsey in Vidalia, Louisiana.
  Leonard, Sr. was no stranger to meeting and overcoming adversity. In 
his desire to serve his country, he joined the Civilian Conservation 
Corps (CCC) at the young age of sixteen, where he participated in the 
efforts to rebuild our Nation's infrastructure during the economic 
recovery efforts from the Great Depression. Later that year, Leonard, 
Sr. stepped forward to defend our country following the events of Pearl 
Harbor, despite being under age, and quickly advanced to the rank of 
staff sergeant. Leonard, Sr. was in the first wave to land on Omaha 
Beach during the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, as part of 
Operation Overlord, now known to most of the world as D-Day. He 
successfully led his platoon in many battles until his honorable 
discharge on December 7, 1945 at the close of the war. His entire 
outfit received the Bronze Indian Arrowhead for Assault Trooper, the 
Cor-De-Guerre--France's highest military honor--and several other 
medals and honors.
  Upon his return home after military service, he sought out and 
married his childhood sweetheart, Dessie. Leonard, Sr. and Dessie moved 
to Boston, Massachusetts, taking advantage of the GI Bill and attending 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received an 
Engineering degree. In the following years, Leonard and Dessie welcomed 
three children to the family--Donna, Janet, and Leonard, Jr.
  Leonard, Sr. soon moved his family to Los Angeles, California--where 
children Jacqueline and Keith were born--to begin his lifelong career 
in the Aerospace industry which was his civilian way of continuing his 
service to our country. He designed a four axis machine for specialized 
production of precision oversized aircraft parts which revolutionized 
the industry. In 1972, Leonard, Sr. established Roberts Aerospace 
Manufacturing Engineering Corporation (RAMEC), and continued to receive 
coveted government contracts, as a result of his expertise in precision 
manufacturing for nearly four decades until the time of his passing. 
Equally of note, Mr. Roberts was well known in the industry as a man of 
integrity.
  Leonard, Sr. valued God, Country and, above all else, family, which 
is demonstrated by his marriage to Dessie for sixty-five years and his 
commitment to his children. His love will live forever in the hearts of 
his Grandchildren Allen Talbert, Kellie Clay (deceased), Chanel Troy-
Thompson, Danielle Benoit-Williams, Natalie Roberts, Raquel Roberts-
Richards and Bridgette Craddock and Grandchildren Tealor Chanel Mason, 
Jeraud, Jeremiah Jr. and Jehman Williams, Carl Quincy Clay, II, Lauren, 
Sydney and Brandon Talbert, Rameses Earl Roberts Richards, and Marcus 
Sebastian Mason.
  Leonard, Sr. will be lovingly remembered by his sister Dottie and his 
nieces Cheri, Donna and Shanel, along with a host of other relatives 
and friends.
  He recently imparted the profound statement to his loved ones, a 
motto which he lived by, ``Everything is manageable in a family.'' 
Leonard, Sr. lived his life by anticipating the outcome of an effort 
before beginning the task. It mattered not how straight the gate or how 
charged with punishment the scroll, Leonard Sr. was the master of his 
fate, he was the captain of his soul.
  My thoughts and prayers are with the Leonard E. Roberts family. His 
passing is an enormous loss for my district, Southern California, and 
the Nation as a whole.

                          ____________________