[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 10, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E885]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LIFE OF DR. ELOISE KAILIN

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                           HON. DEREK KILMER

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 10, 2019

  Mr. KILMER. Madam Speaker, I would like to take a moment to 
commemorate the life of Dr. Eloise Whittlesey Kailin--a champion of 
public health, good governance, and environmental issues who recently 
passed away on June 1, 2019 at the age of 100.
   Dr. Kailin was born in New London, Connecticut, but moved frequently 
during her father's career in the U.S. Coast Guard. From the age of 
eleven, she expressed her desire to become a physician, and that dream 
was realized when she became one of the few women accepted into the 
George Washington University Medical School class of 1943.
   She married Harvey Kailin, Sr. in 1942, the year before her 
graduation, and began her distinguished medical career in Washington, 
D.C. She became board certified in allergy and immunology, served for 
over thirty years as a writer and editor of medical abstracts for the 
Journal of Allergy, and testified on Capitol Hill for the Clean Air 
Act. After the family moved to Maryland, Dr. Kailin developed a 
friendship with Rachel Carson, author of the seminal 1962 work about 
the impact of pesticides on the food chain, Silent Spring. This 
friendship likely strengthened Dr. Kailin's commitment to addressing 
environmental issues both for the health of her patients and for people 
throughout our country.
   Dr. Kailin and her husband retired to Sequim in 1971 based on her 
recollection of ``Sunny Sequim'' from high school years in Seattle in 
the 1930s. Living on the North Olympic Peninsula, she saw the critical 
need to protect its pristine beauty and spent nearly fifty years in 
service to that cause.
   Shortly after their arrival in Sequim, the Kailins became involved 
in the fight against a proposed nuclear power plant on the Miller 
Peninsula east of Sequim, which led to the founding of Protect the 
Peninsula's Future (PPF)--a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of 
the North Olympic Peninsula. The opposition prevailed, and the site 
once considered for that power plant is now a part of Miller Peninsula 
State Park. Dr. Kailin remained a board member of the organization she 
helped found until her passing.
   Through PPF, Dr. Kailin was instrumental in addressing countless 
environmental concerns. Many believe one of their most significant 
achievements was the fifteen-year court battle with the city of Sequim 
over sewage treatment. In 1998, that fight resulted in the construction 
of a state-of-the-art water reclamation facility which was expanded in 
2010, nearly doubling its capacity.
   This centenarian was the recipient of many awards including the 
Clallam County Community Service Award, People for Puget Sound's Warren 
Magnuson Puget Marine Protection Award, Washington Environmental 
Council's Environmental Heroes Award, and the Eleanor Stopps 
Environmental Leadership Award. Before her passing, she was also 
recognized by the City of Sequim.
   I am humbled to speak in recognition of Dr. Eloise Kailin--who is 
often referred to as the ``matriarch of environmental activism'' on the 
North Olympic Peninsula. I join her children, Harvey, David, and Janet, 
and the citizens of our region's beautiful peninsula in mourning her 
passing, but also in recognizing that her good work will contribute to 
the health and well-being of the citizens in this gem of the Northwest 
for generations to come.

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