[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 81 (Tuesday, May 11, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E500-E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN REMEMBRANCE OF IRENE B. WEST

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 2021

  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, it is with profound sadness that I rise to 
honor the life of beloved Sacramentan Irene B. West, Retired Principal 
of the Elk Grove Unified School District, City of Elk Grove, County of 
Sacramento, California. Mrs. West entered eternal rest on Wednesday, 
April 21, 2021 at the age of 88. I ask all my colleagues to join me in 
honoring Mrs. West.
  Mrs. West was a beloved California educator, community leader, 
activist, and devoted mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She 
was a longtime and very active member of one of California's historic 
religious institutions, Shiloh Baptist Church. Mrs. West was a 
supporter of, mentor and friend to many. The citizens of the Sacramento 
area benefitted

[[Page E501]]

greatly from her passion and love for educating our students; her 
dedicated service made our community and State better.
  Mrs. West was born July 3, 1932 in Crowley, Louisiana and was reared 
in Orange, Texas during the height of the Great Depression, a time when 
the racial climate in America was even more depressing for African 
Americans. Knowing the importance of education, she graduated 
valedictorian in her high school class in Texas. She then enrolled in 
undergraduate studies at the historic Fisk University at Nashville, 
Tennessee where she would meet her late husband, Clifton L. West, Jr. 
The couple relocated, in 1958, to McClellan Air Force Base in 
Sacramento where her husband was stationed. Mrs. West completed her 
education by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State 
University at Sacramento and a Master of Arts from the University of 
San Francisco.
  In 1962, before completing her undergraduate studies, Mrs. West took 
on a seemingly insurmountable challenge, being hired as a teacher in 
the all-white student and faculty Elk Grove Unified School District. 
This marked the embarking upon a barrier-breaking 27-year career in 
education. She quickly rose through the ranks in teaching and 
administration to the position of Principal in 1979, a position in 
which she served for ten years. Although she retired in 1989, she 
remained a very active respected presence in and around the Elk Grove-
Sacramento community well into her 80s.
  Despite her demanding career and devotion to serving others, Mrs. 
West's four children did not lack in parental love, nurturing and 
educational guidance. All her children excelled in academia, sports, or 
both, two of whom having achieved professorship at prestigious 
universities, and another is an accomplished Zoo linguist.
  A partial list of awards and recognitions marking Mrs. West's 
achievements include educational awards and citations such as Teacher 
of the year; newspaper awards which included the 1963 Mother of the 
Year (her most endearing recognition); awards from Allstate Insurance, 
Shiloh Baptist Church, Sacramento Council of Negro Women, Sacramento 
Chapter of 100 Black Women; in 1979, first female principal in the Elk 
Grove Unified School District; and, in 2002, the first African American 
in Sacramento to have a school, Irene B. West Elementary, named in her 
honor.
  Madam Speaker, today as family and friends of Mrs. Irene B. West 
gather to remember her, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring her 
tremendous legacy of educator, encourager, and motivator. Her mark on 
the Sacramento area community will live on forever.

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