[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 128 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF DR. MARY R. STAUFFER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2017

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Mary R. 
Stauffer on her upcoming 100th birthday, which will be celebrated on 
August 27, 2017, in Downey, California.
  Born in Toledo, Ohio on August 26, 1917, to Amelia and Reverend Henry 
Schuh, Mary Ruth Schuh was raised in a home of three generations of 
Lutheran ministers. At age six, she started teaching Sunday school. Her 
early teaching experience and involvement with the church introduced 
her to a lifelong interest in education and philanthropy.
  Mary loved reading and studying, and in 1935, she was the class 
valedictorian of Bexley High School, near Columbus, Ohio. With a 
scholarship, she attended Capital University, a Lutheran College. By 
working as an unpaid assistant for a pathologist at White Cross 
Hospital, she gained invaluable experience and a glowing recommendation 
for medical school. She graduated summa cum laude from Capital 
University in 1939.
  Mary was admitted to Ohio State University Medical School, where she 
was one of just five women in a class of 75. She graduated top of her 
class on April 15, 1943. Concurrent with her MD, she earned her MS in 
Pathology by applying the first electron microscope in the U.S. to 
biological research.
  On December 18, 1943, she married a co-resident in pathology, Dr. 
Floyd (Dal) Stauffer, a scholar and an athlete. Dal was commissioned 
into the Navy on their wedding day and reported to duty in Bremerton, 
Washington, on January 1, 1944. In Bremerton, Dr. Mary completed her 
residency, but just when she opened her own practice, Dal was 
transferred to Pensacola, Florida. In 1953 after Dal completed his 
service in the Navy, the family moved, and settled in Downey, 
California.
  After briefly working as a physician for the Los Angeles Unified 
School District, Dr. Mary Stauffer opened her own OB-GYN practice and 
in 1954 joined the Downey Community Hospital Medical Staff. As her 
practice grew, she always kept Tuesday and Thursday afternoons open for 
her five children's activities.
  Dr. Mary Stauffer was one of the first obstetricians to offer 
expecting mothers an educational program. Based on Grantly Dick-Read 
natural childbirth (before Lamaze), she developed a series of three 
lectures. The third was held with spouses at her home and included an 
8-mm film of her delivering twins. In 1976, after delivering babies for 
23 years in Downey, she transitioned into general practice.
  In 1972, Dr. Mary was chosen Chief of Staff at Downey Community 
Hospital. In 1987, with a donation of $100,000, she was the first 
physician to qualify as a member of the Founders Gallery of the 
hospital. She hoped to be the first of many.
  Dr. Mary's other honors include the 1983 Ohio State Medical School 
Alumni Achievement Award, the 1997 Distinguished Service Award from 
Capital University, and the 2007 Delta Kappa Gamma Chi State 
Distinguished Public Service Award. She was also named California State 
``Woman of the Year'' in 1998 by California State Senator Betty 
Karnette and in 2010 by State Senator Hector De La Torre, and was a 
2012 Downey High School Hall of Fame Honoree. In 2007, Dr. Mary was one 
of the founding directors of the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Later 
she rescued an Apollo capsule from unclaimed freight to become the 
center's welcoming icon. In 2014, the Downey Unified School District 
renamed West Middle School the Mary R. Stauffer Middle School.
  In 1993, her passions for education and philanthropy came together in 
the Mary R. Stauffer Foundation, a private educational foundation she 
established to give back to Downey, the community where she had had a 
successful medical practice. On June 30, 1997, at nearly 80 years old, 
Dr. Mary retired from her medical practice and became the full-time CEO 
of her educational foundation. Since starting the foundation almost 25 
years ago, she has donated well over $5 million for innovative 
educational projects in the Downey Unified School District and 
scholarships for Downey students. Among the projects that the 
foundation helped with initial startup funds are Academic Olympics for 
middle schools; Project Lead the Way; Robotics Clubs; and Character 
Counts, a city-wide program.
  The foundation invites teachers annually to propose grants for 
creative projects, such as a Cooking Cart with lessons in math and 
science. Other projects have become traditions and encourage use of 
local resources, such as the Autry Museum and the Mission Control 
Program at the local Space Center.
  In the 2016-17 school year, over 800 students received these now-
traditional merit awards: Junior 4.0 GPA; Scholar-Athlete for students 
who have lettered in a sport with a 3.5 GPA (created by Dal, Mary's 
late husband); and the Stauffer Scholar award to start a college 
savings plan for 4.0 GPA 6th and 7th graders. In the same year, 90 
students received scholarships to attend community college or trade 
school.
  Dr. Mary's favorite saying is ``be the best you can be.'' Her 
decision that the Mary R Stauffer Foundation will continue in 
perpetuity will carry on her legacy of helping to make Downey students 
the best they can be.
  On Sunday, August 27th, the community will celebrate Dr. Mary's 
birthday at the Columbia Memorial Space Center. A full program will 
commemorate this momentous occasion with local school projects 
throughout the facility, special guests, and, of course, a birthday 
cake. Light refreshments will also be provided by the culinary arts 
students of the local Downey schools.
  Congratulations to Dr. Mary Stauffer and her family: sons Jim and 
John; daughters Dorothy Knight, Judi Saunders, and Janet Suzuki; 
granddaughters Dawn Martens, Diane Saunders, Katherine Rieth, Mary 
Owens, Jessica Stauffer, and Jordan Nichols; and great grandsons 
Phoenix Rieth and Quillan Owens.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please join me in thanking Dr. 
Mary R. Stauffer for her many years of enriching the lives of others so 
they can be the best they can be, and wish her a very Happy 100th 
Birthday.

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