[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 8, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1459-E1460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CELEBRATING THE 90TH BIRTHDAY OF AGAR JAICKS

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                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 8, 2013

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to an extraordinary 
progressive leader in San Francisco, Agar Jaicks, who celebrates his 
90th birthday today. Jaicks is a central figure in the founding and 
growth of progressive organizations and neighborhood groups that 
greatly influenced San Francisco's political life from the 1950s to the 
present day. He is one of the most beloved and admired figures in our 
City's great history, and I join my constituents in honoring five 
decades of his tireless service to the people of San Francisco. Agar 
Jaicks has been a relentless advocate for social, economic and 
environmental economic justice. Above all, he is a loyal friend, with a 
gentle grace and modesty so rarely seen in the world of politics.
  Agar Jaicks was born in Chicago in 1923 and raised in the exclusive 
North Shore suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois, an affluent, upper-class, 
conservative community. At the age of 20, Jaicks joined the U.S. 
Marines and fought valiantly in the South Pacific during World War II. 
After the war ended, he attended George Washington University under the 
newly implemented Veteran's GI Bill, where he met Diana Roosevelt, the 
niece of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who would become his wife. Their 
first date was a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, portending a life 
together in political and public service.
  After graduation in 1950, Agar and Diana Jaicks moved to San 
Francisco to build a life and raise their family. Jaicks' first job in 
San Francisco was pumping gas for Chevron, but his interest in news and 
politics led him to a longtime career working for the next forty years 
as a director for KGO TV.
  Agar's political life began with the 1951 campaign of Helen Gahagan 
Douglas for the United States Senate against Richard Nixon. In 1953, he 
and his wife joined the San Francisco Young Democrats, a group of 
progressive activists, where he befriended many future political 
leaders, including U.S. Representatives Phillip Burton and John Burton, 
Mayors George Moscone and Willie Brown, all whom he would staunchly 
support.
  Jaicks was elected to the San Francisco County Democratic Central 
Committee in 1962 where he would serve as Chair and be a stabilizing 
force for sixteen years. In this position, he ran the United Democratic 
Campaign that

[[Page E1460]]

led voter registration efforts and `get out the vote' mobilizations.
  Jaicks' greatest friendships were with San Francisco Supervisor Jack 
Morrison and U.S. Representative Philip Burton.
  Agar and Diana and their Haight Ashbury neighbors, Jack and Jane 
Morrison and Sue Bierman, stood on the progressive front of important 
San Francisco battles, from stopping the central freeway that would 
destroy San Francisco neighborhoods and Golden Gate Park neighborhoods 
to fighting unrestricted downtown development.
  Agar was a devoted husband to his late beloved wife of 64 years, 
Diana, and remains a loving father to his children, Lisa and Scott, and 
his grandchildren.
  I am proud to call Agar Jaicks my friend and thank him for his 
leadership, his devoted friendship, and his wise counsel.

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