[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 179 (Thursday, December 10, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN HONOR OF TOM AND CHARLOTTE OLEINIK'S GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 10, 2015

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if there was a first couple of 
servant leadership and a model for a successful marriage, it would be 
Tom and Charlotte Oleinik of Huntsville, Texas. Today, I have the 
pleasure of honoring them on their Golden Wedding Anniversary and 
sharing just a bit of their half a century long love story.
  Tom was born the fifth of 12 children in Rosholt, Wisconsin, worked 
on his family's dairy farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse. He 
served his country in Korea, at Fort Devins, and Fort Drum, before 
returning to the farm and then applying to protect and serve as a 
member of the Wisconsin Highway Patrol.
  Native Texan Charlotte Fisher was a Christmastime gift to her 
parents, who ran a Goose Creek rice farm where she grew up with her two 
younger siblings. She went to work and then college in Florida after 
graduating from high school. That decision to attend Florida College 
and to spend a summer in Wisconsin with her roommate would change the 
course of her life forever.
  That summer Charlotte worked days at American Motors and nights and 
weekends, she waitressed at the Timber Ridge Cafe where little did she 
know then a 50 year love story was about to begin when a handsome young 
state patrolman walked through the door.
  Tom, being a very smart man, asked the beautiful waitress on a date, 
but after a few dates, Charlotte took ill and needed surgery. While she 
was hospitalized, a certain man in uniform was a frequent visitor, 
often arriving with flowers.
  According to Tom it took a lot of proposing--and a lot of no's--to 
get a yes from his beloved Charlotte. Charlotte remembers it a little 
differently, but after Tom was baptized in 1965, this happy young 
couple got engaged and wed in Kenosha, Wisconsin on December 17, 1965.
  They went back to Florida College together and then moved to Texas 
where Tom worked with Charlotte's father while waiting to attend and 
graduate from the Academy. After receiving his badge as a Texas 
trooper, Tom and Charlotte settled in Corrigan, Texas, where they 
raised three boys of their own and took in many troubled teenagers in a 
home full of love and operated a family business in addition to their 
full time jobs.
  After a transfer to Brazoria County, Charlotte worked in the Angleton 
School District while their boys finished school. Then Tom retired and 
Huntsville won the lottery when this wonderful couple chose to call the 
town home.
  Charlotte and Tom's impact on Walker County has been lasting, after 
moving to Huntsville they created the HEARTS Veterans Museum, a gem for 
the Texas 8th and continue to this day to be pillars in the community. 
Their servant leadership in our Lord's name and the love they radiate 
has set an amazing example for us all.
  And I believe their 3 children, 17 grandchildren, a great grandson 
and the many troubled teens they have cared for would agree. The U.S. 
House congratulates you on celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary.

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