[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 6, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE LIFE OF JULIA WHITLA CLINGER

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. BARBARA COMSTOCK

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 6, 2017

  Mrs. COMSTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Julia 
Whitla Clinger, who passed away on November 22, 2016, at the age of 85. 
Judy, as she was known to her friends, was the wife of William F. 
Clinger, a distinguished former member of this body whom I was 
privileged to work for during his tenure as the Chairman of the 
Government Reform and Oversight Committee in the mid-1990s.
  Judy was born on February 3, 1931, in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Her early 
life was marked by tragedy--her father, a prominent lawyer in Sharon, 
died of pneumonia when she was just two years old. Judy graduated from 
Connecticut College with highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa, with a degree 
in English. In 1951, she married Bill, and spent the better part of the 
next 25 years in Warren, Pennsylvania, where they raised their four 
children and were active members of the community.
  After Bill's election to Congress in 1978, Judy moved with him to 
Washington. Here, she was involved in a number of charitable and civic 
organizations, including the International Club of Washington and the 
Congressional Wives Task Force, where she served as Treasurer. Bill 
would be the first to tell you that Judy was his greatest political 
asset, actively participating in his nine successful congressional 
campaigns and playing an important behind-the-scenes role as he rose 
through the ranks on Capitol Hill to become a committee chairman.
  Judy will be remembered by those who knew her for what one described 
as her ``feisty elegance''--a combination of social grace and high-
spiritedness that made it a pleasure to spend time with her. Judy's 
life will be celebrated over the upcoming Fourth of July holiday at a 
memorial service in the lakeside community of Chautauqua in upstate New 
York, where she and Bill first met and where they returned every 
summer.
  Judy is survived by Bill, whom I had an opportunity to visit with 
recently, her children (Eleanore, Will, Jim, and Julia), and by seven 
grandchildren, to whom she was devoted.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in celebrating the life 
of Judy Clinger, and extending our sincerest condolences to our former 
colleague, Bill Clinger, on the loss of his wife of 65 years.

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