[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 123 (Friday, August 1, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING RALPH FERTIG

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 1, 2014

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the memory of Ralph 
Fertig from Santa Barbara County, who passed away suddenly on July 18, 
2014.
   Ralph was a devoted community leader and advocate for sustainable 
transportation in the Santa Barbara community. He was also the 
perennial renaissance man, having graduated from Penn State in 1961 
with a degree in art and architecture before studying painting and 
ceramics at Cranbrook Academy of Art, earning a master's in mathematics 
from the University of Michigan, studying photography with Ansel Adams, 
and finally earning a second master's degree in photography from the 
Chicago Institute of Design in 1970.
   Ralph came to the Santa Barbara community in the early 1980s to work 
on graphics and marketing for a computer communications company. It was 
during those early days in Santa Barbara that Ralph rediscovered his 
love of bicycling and began commuting by bike to work every day.
   It wasn't long before Ralph became known in Santa Barbara as an 
effective civil advocate for the bike community. In 1991, he joined a 
group of local cyclists to form a group eventually known as the Santa 
Barbara Bicycle Coalition to advocate for the improvement of road and 
trail conditions. He also began publishing a monthly newsletter that, 
for the next 20 years, would be the voice of the bicycle community and 
a powerful force on behalf of pedestrian and bicycle safety.
   Ralph made it his mission to attend every local transportation 
planning meeting to bear witness to the need for more space on the 
roads for bicycles, and he did this with perseverance, intellectual 
honesty, and respect. Ralph served as a member of the Santa Barbara 
Bicycle Coalition for more than 20 years, attending many bicycling 
conferences all over North America. In 1998, Ralph single-handedly 
brought the Pro Bike/Pro Walk conference to Santa Barbara, attracting 
540 participants from around the country. He was involved with crafting 
the City of Santa Barbara's Bicycle Master Plan, Pedestrian Master 
Plan, and a regional Bikeway Signage Program.
   Ralph was keenly aware of how transportation projects impact 
environmental quality and social equity. In 2010 the Coalition for 
Sustainable Transportation, or COAST, recognized Ralph with its biggest 
honor, the Barry Siegel Award, for his contributions to Santa Barbara 
County in the field of sustainable transportation.
   I offer my most heartfelt condolences to Ralph's friends and family, 
and ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this exemplary American 
and Santa Barbara County resident.

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