[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 33 (Monday, February 22, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN REMEMBRANCE OF DON MOTAKA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LORI TRAHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 22, 2021

  Mrs. TRAHAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the passing of my 
friend, Don Motaka. Today, would have been his 69th birthday.
  Don was truly one of a kind and he made an impression on everyone he 
met. I will always remember his quick wit, huge heart, irreverent sense 
of humor, and booming laugh. He was not someone that could be easily 
overlooked, as his positive energy could take over a room.
  Unfortunately, Don died suddenly on December 21, 2020 in Oxford, 
Michigan of complications unrelated to COVID.
  I had the honor of getting to know Don when we worked together as 
congressional staffers in the mid-1990s. Don was not your typical staff 
member, as his personal and professional life had taken him on a 
wondering and diverse journey by the time he made his way to Capitol 
Hill.
  A native of Gettysburg, PA, his teenage years were marked by 
instability that resulted in Don being taken in and cared for by 
members of St. James Lutheran Church. In spite of those challenges, Don 
excelled as a student and went on to graduate from the University of 
Pennsylvania and Yale Divinity School.
  After graduating from Yale Divinity School, Don served as Pastor to 
two rural churches before leaving to lead Tabernacle Lutheran Church in 
West Philadelphia, a challenging assignment that left him looking for 
other ways to serve people. He held many different jobs during that 
time, including serving as a congressional aide to U.S. Representative 
Marty Meehan, where we met.
  In 2013, Don returned to the ministry to become a monk at St. 
Augustine's House Lutheran Monastery, the only Lutheran Monastery in 
North America. Upon becoming a simple professed monk in 2015, he took 
the name Father Jude--who is known as the patron saint of desperate 
cases and lost causes. At the monastery, he spent his time listening 
for God and regularly preaching at Sunday Mass. He also dedicated many 
hours to working in a woodworking shop he created at the monastery.
  He is missed by his mother, Almena Motaka, his brothers at the 
monastery, and his sudden passing has impacted many who loved him and 
referred to him affectionately as ``Uncle Don,'' including Rev. Edward 
Keyser and his family, Rev. Fritz Foltz and Faith Foltz and family, Joe 
Moore and his family, and David Schildknecht and his family.
  Don was passionate about politics and was a dedicated Democrat who 
loved this country and followed in great detail the twists and turns of 
public policy debates held in Congress. Like many, Don was troubled by 
what had happened to our country over the past four years and was 
overjoyed by the results of the election in November.
  During my first campaign for Congress, Don was a voice of 
encouragement from the very beginning, and his daily prayers for me 
from the monastery were a source of comfort and strength. While it was 
many years ago that I last saw Don, I can still see his smile and feel 
the warmth of his personality like it was yesterday. I am grateful to 
have crossed paths with him and I hope his memory is a blessing to all 
who had the privilege of knowing him.

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