[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 125 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN REMEMBRANCE OF PAUL DUNCAN, DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH FOR THE LONG BEACH 
                       COMMUNITY BUSINESS NETWORK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 19, 2011

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, it is my sad duty to rise to pay tribute 
to the late Paul Duncan, the Director of Outreach for the Long Beach 
Community Business Network, LBCBN, and one of the leading and 
influential figures in the LGBT community of Long Beach, California.
  Paul Duncan died on August 6, from an aneurysm in Las Vegas where he 
was representing the LBCBN at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of 
Commerce's weeklong conference in Las Vegas. He was 72 years old.
  Paul Duncan was born November 18, 1937, in Pueblo, Colo. A short time 
later, he and his family relocated to Los Angeles. He began his 
professional life in banking and later opened his own insurance and 
property management company and published equine magazines. He later 
lived in Australia, where he managed a horse ranch and deer farm for 
many years, before returning to the United States and settling in Long 
Beach.
  Those who knew and worked with Paul describe him as a figure larger 
than life, and not just because of his imposing 6-foot-3-inch frame and 
fondness for cowboy hats and boots, but because of the bigger impact he 
had on people. Wherever he went, whomever he met, Paul made you feel 
that you were his ``mate.''
  According to Stacey O'Byrne, president of the LBCBN, ``Paul created a 
vision that crossed cultural, political and generational boundaries. He 
was full of cheer and endless dedication to helping new and existing 
gay and gay-friendly businesses create lifelong bonds with other 
members of the community.''
  Paul Duncan spent the last ten years of his life working tirelessly 
to connect LBCBN, known informally as the Long Beach Gay and Lesbian 
Chamber of Commerce to business organizations from Hawaii to 
Washington, DC. Mr. Speaker, the untimely death of Paul Duncan is a 
great loss to his family and to countless persons who counted him as a 
friend. He leaves giant shoes to fill but I am confident that the work 
he began and advanced will be continued by all of us who have been 
inspired by his example.
  I would like to request a moment of silence in his honor and memory.

                          ____________________