[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 7, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF MARY LOU DeVIVO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 7, 2015

  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise with deep sadness to remember 
my friend and a pillar of the Windham region, Mary Lou DeVivo, who 
passed away last week. Mary Lou was an incredible woman, abound with 
endless energy and optimism and an unwavering commitment to the Windham 
community.
  Mary Lou was the owner and President of the Willimantic Waste Paper 
Company, a local business her late beloved husband James ran with her 
for many years. After James's death in 1996, Mary Lou took the helm and 
grew the company further into a regional cornerstone, providing 
employment to many local residents and needed services to area 
businesses and households.
  Mary Lou worked for many years as a preschool and kindergarten 
teacher and believed fervently in the power of education to combat 
poverty. She graduated in 1960 from Willimantic State Teachers College 
with a degree in Education, and she later earned a degree in Religion 
from Holy Apostles College in Cromwell. Among her many accomplishments, 
Mary Lou will be remembered for launching the Windham Reads Program and 
serving as an unrelenting advocate for improving Windham Schools.
  She was well known for her deep and wide commitment to local 
community organizations, including the Covenant Soup Kitchen, the 
Windham Library Board, Willimantic Co-Op, Willimantic Irish Club, 
Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, the Victorian Neighborhood 
Association, Windham Garden Club, and the Board for Saint Mary Saint 
Joseph School, among others. She was uniquely attuned to the needs of 
her community, and she never hesitated to get involved when her 
contributions would make a difference.
  She was a woman of deep faith, and was heavily involved in St. 
Joseph's Parish in Windham, where she once served as Director of 
Religious Studies. She was a generous patron of that church, as well as 
St. Mary's and Sagrado Corazon De Jesus. Above all, Mary Lou will be 
remembered as an outgoing, friendly, feisty and strong-willed member of 
our community, and I will deeply miss her friendship. Windham will feel 
this loss greatly.
  My heart goes out to her family and friends, especially her children 
Tom, Tim, Bridget, John, and Gina and her 14 grandchildren. I ask that 
my colleagues please rise to remember Mary Lou, a remarkable woman who 
will be missed profoundly by all who knew her.

                          ____________________