[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 25 (Thursday, February 8, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO RUTH ELMA CUMMINGS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 8, 2018

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Mrs. Ruth Elma 
Cummings, mother of our colleague, Congressman Elijah Cummings, who 
passed on Monday, February 5th in Baltimore, Maryland.
  Mrs. Cummings was born on July 7, 1926 in Manning, South Carolina, in 
the Sixth Congressional District, to the late Willie Cochran and Gussie 
Johnson Cochran. She was one of seventeen children.
  She was educated in the public schools of Clarendon County, South 
Carolina. She and Robert Cummings were married on June 23, 1945. After 
the birth of their first child, Robert Cummings, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. 
Cummings made the decision to follow other family members and move to 
Baltimore in search of a better life for their growing family. There, 
they were blessed with six additional children, Cherethia ``Retha,'' 
Elijah, James, Diane, Carnel, and Yvonne.
  In Baltimore, both Robert and Ruth were called to the ministry and 
led worship services, prayer meetings and ``Second Sunday'' family 
dinners. Their church created a food pantry, clothing drives, a prison 
ministry and a nursing home ministry. Robert passed away in 2000, and 
the church established the Elder Robert Cummings Sr. Scholarship Fund 
at Victory Prayer Chapel, which has allowed a number of church youth to 
attend and earn their college degrees, including one with a PhD.
  The personification of the life and legacy of Mrs. Ruth Elma Cummings 
is encapsulated in the fourth chapter of II Timothy, verses seven and 
eight, ``I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I 
have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at 
that day . . .''
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Cummings was beloved by her extended family, many 
of whom still reside in the Sixth Congressional District of South 
Carolina which I proudly represent in this august body. I ask the House 
to join me in celebrating this life well lived.

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