[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





        IN CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF MRS. TERESA GARCIA MEDINA

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                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 14, 2019

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Mrs. 
Teresa Garcia Medina, a beloved community leader and public servant of 
Missouri's Fifth Congressional District. In life, Mrs. Medina embodied 
a selfless dedication to her family, her innumerable friends, and the 
larger community of Kansas City, Missouri. Throughout her ninety-five 
years of life, Mrs. Medina served the people around her with a generous 
spirit and a warm heart.
  Mrs. Medina was born to Cristobal Garcia and Carlota Hernandez in 
1923. Throughout her life, Mrs. Medina always put her faith and her 
family first, both as a loving wife to Agustin ``Chino'' Medina and as 
a mother to their four children. She is survived by her children and 
their spouses; Enrique and Maria Chaurand, Cris and Mary Medina, Mike 
and Yolanda Casey, and Sandy Medina; as well as nine grandchildren and 
eleven great grandchildren.
  Teresa Garcia Medina grew up in the Historic Westside of Kansas City, 
Missouri, a predominantly Latino community, and attended Our Lady of 
Guadalupe School. During this time, Teresa and her sister, Jessie 
Nieto, would make friends and community ties that would last a 
lifetime. Mrs. Medina and her sister would later use the skills they 
learned at Our Lady of Guadalupe to work as tailors at Jack Henry on 
the Plaza. Far from forgetting the community from which she came, Mrs. 
Medina continued to give back through her work as a member of La Union 
Cultural Mexicana Femenina and Las Guadalupanas. The legacy of her 
impact on the community continues through her children and 
grandchildren, as they remain active in the Latino community of the 
Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area.
  Throughout her life, Mrs. Medina's personal faith was the central 
focus. She served steadfastly as a member of the Sacred Heart/Guadalupe 
Catholic Parish for many decades. In the 1990s she worked alongside 
other Mexican-American women of her congregation to preserve Las 
Guadalupanas when the Bishop and other leadership threatened to close 
their chapel. Traveling from door-to-door, gathering support and 
financial resources, these devout women successfully fought to keep the 
institution open as a pillar of the community. Actions like this 
demonstrate the fervent faith that Mrs. Medina carried with her and why 
she was cherished by all who knew her.
  Those who knew her said they would always remember her warm smile and 
her gentle ways, her kindness to the neighborhood children, and her 
love for her community. Mrs. Medina personified the full and 
overflowing life of a Catholic and lived each day to the fullest. She 
was beloved by those who knew her and will be missed by all.
  Please join me and all of Missouri's Fifth Congressional District in 
honoring Mrs. Teresa Garcia Medina for her commitment to social justice 
and her contributions to the Latino community in Kansas City. It is 
with great respect that I urge all my fellow citizens across the city 
and the country to join me in showing our appreciation to Mrs. Medina, 
and send our deepest condolences to her family and the innumerable 
people touched by her life.

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