[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 163 (Tuesday, October 2, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF ROBERT TERRY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PRAMILA JAYAPAL

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2018

  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of 
longtime Seattle resident, Mr. Robert Terry, who recently passed away 
at the age of 91. Mr. Terry became the first black man to teach in 
Seattle Public Schools in 1950, four years before the historic Brown v. 
Board of Education decision that banned states from segregating schools 
by race.
  Raised by his grandmother, Ella Trice, Mr. Terry began his long life 
in education at Greenwood Elementary School in La Grande, Oregon. After 
graduating from high school, he served in the Navy in World War II. He 
then returned to live with his grandmother while attending the 
University of Oregon, earning a degree in Education from Eastern Oregon 
College in 1950. He later earned a master's degree in Student Personnel 
from Seattle University.
  Mr. Terry built a long and distinguished career in the Seattle School 
District, as President of Seattle Central Community College and then 
Chancellor of the Seattle Community College System. He also gained deep 
respect in his Mount Baker neighborhood community, where he resided 
since 1962. A football fan and athlete himself, he mentored young 
players in his neighborhood as he drove them to practice--truly 
exemplifying what it means to be a dedicated educator in and outside 
the classroom.
  I would like to commemorate Mr. Terry's lifetime of achievements, his 
decades of service to our community and his work to lift up young 
students long marginalized by inequities in education. My heart is with 
his loving family and friends. He will be long remembered and deeply 
missed.

                          ____________________