[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 54 (Friday, April 19, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF JOSEPH L. WYATT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 19, 2013

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
statesman, a great Democrat and a great American, Joseph L. Wyatt, Jr. 
who passed away on April 15, 2013, in Pasadena, California.
  California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton put it best in 
describing Joe's essence and contribution, his commitment to our state 
and his work as the California Democratic Party Parliamentarian, our 
gratitude for his service and our fond memories of his extraordinary 
life, saying in a statement:

       California Democrats lost one of the closest members of our 
     Democratic family in California. Joe Wyatt, Jr. who served as 
     our Party's parliamentarian since 1970 passed at the age of 
     eighty-nine.
       To know Joe was to know first and foremost a kind and 
     wonderful human being. He was also a committed husband, 
     father, grandfather, and Democratic activist.
       Joe was a founder of the California Democratic Council 
     (CDC), a federation of local volunteer Democratic clubs that 
     helped reinvigorate statewide Democratic politics in 
     California and was instrumental in the election of Pat Brown 
     as California governor in the election of 1958. He was a 
     delegate to the Democratic National Convention on numerous 
     occasions.
       He was a committed activist in the truest sense of the 
     word, tirelessly serving our state party and always offering 
     sage and fair counsel on the rules and procedures needed to 
     advance party business. For over 50 years he practiced trust 
     and estate law for three law firms, most recently as Senior 
     of Counsel to Morrison/Foerster LLP, since 1995.

  It was a privilege to know and work with such a deeply principled, 
humble, accomplished, and exemplary human being. All of us will always 
remember his signature bow-tie, his wonderful wit, his kind heart and 
unwavering spirit. His life has been a gift to all who knew him; his 
memory will be a blessing for all who remember him.
  I only hope it is a comfort to his wife Marjorie, his sons Jonathan, 
Daniel and Lawrence, his daughter Linn, his daughter-in-law Tamara, and 
his grandchildren Jack and Taryn, that so many share in their grief at 
this sad time.

                          ____________________