[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 127 (Monday, September 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN MEMORY OF ALETHA HOWELL BARSANTI

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 8, 2014

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Aletha 
Howell Barsanti, who passed away July 13, 2014. She was a devoted army 
wife, an exceptional mother and a loyal companion and friend to many.
   Aletha was a Texas native and was born on September 27, 1920 in 
Corsicana, Texas. After graduating from high school in the west Texas 
town of Rankin, she followed her two older sisters, Fleda and Frances, 
to the University of Texas. While working at her father's law office 
she met Olinto Mark Barsanti, a career officer in the United States 
Army. They were married on October 22, 1942 at Fort Sam Houston in San 
Antonio, Texas. Olinto went on to become a decorated combat veteran of 
World War II and Korea and also served as the Commanding General of the 
prestigious 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. While Olinto served and 
protected our country, Aletha was an army wife who diligently and 
lovingly raised their daughter, Bette, on her own.
   After the General's death in 1973, Aletha settled in Montgomery, 
Alabama in the late 1970s. There she met Colonel Lonnie Martin, a 
retired member of the United States Air Force. For the next twenty 
years she and Lonnie traveled, attended the symphony, golfed and 
enjoyed retirement with one another. While residing in Montgomery, she 
also spent much of her time with a group of women who included her in 
their bridge games and other social activities and made her feel like a 
Montgomery native. The retired military community also welcomed her.
   Aletha was a proud member of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution and the Magna Carta Dames. She will be greatly missed by her 
family, including her daughter and son-in-law Bette and Bob Sherman of 
Denton, Texas.

                          ____________________