[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 125 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING CARLIE ERDMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM GRAVES

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 19, 2011

  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise to recognize Mr. 
Carlie Erdman on the occasion of his 100th birthday celebration. Mr. 
Erdman was born on August 11, 1911 in a sod house near Benkelman, 
Nebraska. He arrived in Missouri as soon as he could, though, moving 
here when he was just two months old. In 1936 he married his late wife, 
Arlene Thompson, on June 20th.
  Mr. Erdman has been a lifelong farmer in Northwest Missouri and a 
lifelong member of the Lutheran Church. Carlie was my neighbor for as 
long as I can remember. In fact, he taught my brother Todd and I to 
water-ski at Big Lake. He spent many gorgeous summer afternoons boating 
at Big Lake and enjoying the water.
  It is amazing, Mr. Speaker, when you stop and look at all the 
historical events that Carlie has seen firsthand. He saw the Great 
Depression, Pearl Harbor, the First Man on the Moon, the invention of 
the computer, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, September 11th, 
and so on.
  However, the greatest tribute to Carlie is not his longevity. You 
see, everyone in Atchison County knows Carlie. He is the first one 
there if you ever need help, and he is the first one there if you have 
something to celebrate. It's a tribute to the kind of person Carlie is 
that if you ask people who know him, they all say the same thing: 
Carlie is a good man, a good neighbor, and a good friend.
  Mr. Speaker, this Sunday Carlie's friends and family will gather to 
mark this extraordinary occasion. I hope that the whole House will join 
me in celebrating Carlie's 100th birthday and wishing him good health.

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