[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 194 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CELEBRATING THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF FRANCES BARBER McCOMMONS

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                          HON. J. LUIS CORREA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 5, 2019

  Mr. CORREA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th 
birthday of Frances Barber McCommons from the City of Anaheim, 
California.
  Born on November 10, 1919 in McCrory, Arkansas, Frances has lived a 
rich and blessed life filled with raising her five children and serving 
others in her neighborhood and at her church where she was a Sunday 
School teacher of 4- and 5-year-olds for more than 50 years.
  Frances spent her childhood in Arkansas as the eldest of seven 
children. She graduated at 16 as class salutatorian. At 18, Frances 
married her childhood sweetheart, J.R. McCommons, and started life as a 
farmer's wife. Frances, J.R., and their first four children were 
honored in 1949 as ``The Farm Family of the Year for Woodruff County.'' 
Frances and J.R. were married 58 years and were true life partners.
  In 1955, the family moved to California, settling in Anaheim, where 
they lived in a neighborhood in East Anaheim surrounded by orange 
groves. It was here that they had another child. All five of their 
children would later attend and graduate from Anaheim High School.
  Frances and J.R. were lay leaders in the Orange County Southern 
Baptist Association and helped start two churches: Crescent Southern 
Baptist Church in Anaheim and Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church in Orange.
  In 1966, Frances and J.R.'s son, Michael McCommons, was killed in 
Vietnam while serving in the United States Army. He was posthumously 
awarded The Bronze Star with the V Device for Valor and Heroism in 
Combat and The Purple Heart. As a Gold Star Mother, Frances served 
veterans' organizations and worked with other Gold Star Mothers to 
support veterans and families of those who were killed in service to 
their county.
  For many years, Frances's personal ministry was encouraging and 
celebrating others' achievements, birthdays, and other life events 
through personal notes, cards, and letters. Frances remained involved 
in the lives of the children she taught in Sunday School and continued 
to celebrate their lives with them through adulthood.
  Her life revolves around her immediate family and her large extended 
family, including eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. 
She is still an avid reader and remains interested in current events 
and the news. As someone whose livelihood was once dependent on the 
farm, Frances still loves watching the changes in the weather.
  Please join me in wishing my constituent, Frances Barber McCommons, a 
happy 100th birthday and many more years of good health and happiness.

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