[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 73 (Tuesday, May 10, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING JUDGE JOHN J. GARRITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 10, 2016

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to an outstanding 
public servant for Maryland, Judge John J. Garrity, who sadly passed 
away on April 14 at the age of eighty-two. John and I had been friends 
for many years, going back to the 1960's, when I was a young State 
Senator and he was an Assistant State's Attorney and President of the 
Prince George's County Young Democrats.
  John began his life in the St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington, 
Vermont, and after finishing secondary school joined the U.S. Navy, 
where he served honorably from 1955-1959. During that time he married 
his wife, Bertha Ann, with whom he would spend sixty wonderful years 
and raise two sons, Kevin and John Jr. He earned undergraduate and law 
degrees from American University and began practicing law in Maryland 
in 1964.
  John first served as Assistant State's Attorney for Prince George's 
County in 1967 and two years later became Assistant Attorney General 
for the State of Maryland. He was selected as a Prince George's County 
Commissioner in 1970 and then elected to the Prince George's County 
Council the following year, serving as its Chair in 1973. In 1974, the 
people of Maryland Legislative District Twenty-Two sent him to the 
House of Delegates in Annapolis, and in 1978 he became my colleague in 
the State Senate, when I was serving as its President. While in the 
Senate, John stood up for the rights of crime victims and sponsored 
legislation to ensure that victim impact statements could be given 
during sentencing, ensuring their voices would be heard in court. In 
1982, John was appointed to the Court of Special Appeals, where he 
served with distinction for twelve years.
  Mr. Speaker, I will miss John Garrity very dearly, and I will never 
forget his friendship or his kind spirit. He was so proud of his 
service to Maryland and to our nation, and he was proud as well of his 
Irish roots. My thoughts and prayers are with his Ann, Kevin, John Jr., 
daughter-in-law Karen, and grandchildren Kelly, Colleen, and Kerry. I 
hope my colleagues will join me in thanking Judge John J. Garrity for 
lending talents and wisdom to the work of securing justice and creating 
opportunity for Marylanders throughout his life and career.

                          ____________________