[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 165 (Thursday, November 5, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO RON GILLHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 5, 2015

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the distinguished career 
of Ron Gillham as he retires as Mayor of Huntington Woods, Michigan. 
Mayor Gillham, who served as Mayor for 35 years in the city that he 
loves, will end his tenure as one of the longest serving mayors in the 
State of Michigan.
  Ron Gillham was born, raised and educated in Missouri. After 
graduation from the Missouri School of Mines in 1956, he joined General 
Motors at the Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, and he and his wife 
Shirley moved to Huntington Woods in 1959. He served in a variety of 
interesting and challenging positions, eventually retiring from 
Advanced Product Engineering in 1992.
  In his ``second career,'' Ron Gillham has served the citizens of 
Huntington Woods continuously since 1975, first as a member of the 
Huntington Woods Zoning Board of Appeals, then as a Commissioner for 
the City for Huntington Woods. In 1981, Mr. Gillham was elected as the 
Mayor of Huntington Woods.
  Ron Gillham is active in the Michigan Municipal League where he 
formally served on the Board of Trustees as Vice President and also won 
the organization's Michael A. Guido Award. During his tenure, Mr. 
Gillham also won the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Regional 
Ambassador award, served as chair of the South Oakland County Mayor's 
Association and the Vice President of the Michigan Association of 
Mayors.
  In more than three decades at the helm, Mr. Gillham worked tirelessly 
on many projects to improve the lives of Huntington Woods residents. He 
is most proud of the building of the city's library, the city's A++ 
bond rating and helping the Huntington Woods Public Safety Department 
become one of the best in the State of Michigan. In October, the 
Huntington Woods City Council passed a resolution to name the city's 
recreation center as the Gillham Recreation Center, another testament 
to Mr. Gillham's respect in the community.
  I have had the pleasure of representing the City of Huntington Woods 
in Congress for the past thirty-two years and have witnessed Mayor 
Gillham's leadership on many issues during our tenure together. One 
recent example was in 2014, when unprecedented flooding damaged tens of 
thousands of properties throughout Southeast Michigan, including in 
Huntington Woods. Mayor Gillham and his leadership team at the city was 
an active and effective advocate for aid from state and federal 
governments.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mayor 
Ron Gillham on an exceptional career in public service. I wish him much 
success with his future endeavors and wish him the best as he spends 
his retirement with his wife Shirley, their three children, and seven 
grandchildren.

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