[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 133 (Thursday, July 29, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN MEMORY OF THE HONORABLE MARGIE RICE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALAN S. LOWENTHAL

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 29, 2021

  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of the Honorable 
Margie Rice, long time Mayor and Council Member of the City of 
Westminster, California, who passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021, at 
the age of 92.
  Mayor Rice served on the Westminster City Council for 22 years, 
including 12 years as the city's elected mayor.
  Prior to that, Margie Rice served as a Trustee on the Westminster 
School District for 17 years. Up until her death, she served on the 
Board of Directors for the Midway City Sanitation District for 30 
years.
  In 2019, I was honored to join Margie and other board members in 
celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Midway Sanitation District.
  Mayor Rice was an active community leader and a public servant. She 
was passionate, dedicated, focused, hardworking, and above all, 
outspoken.
  She was a force to be reckoned with--a force for good for the city 
and the community she cared deeply about.
  Margie Rice dedicated her life to advocating for the needs of the 
community and she achieved many results for the residents and 
businesses of Westminster.
  Among her legacy is the building of the Westminster Rose Center 
Theater, a 16,000-square-foot performing arts center for the whole 
community to enjoy. It was her brainchild that is now one of the jewels 
of Westminster.
  Margie was born in Alabama, but she called Westminster home for more 
than 60 years.
  She was married at 16 and had her first child at 17. Together with 
her husband, they moved to Santa Barbara, California before settling in 
Westminster, just shortly before the city's incorporation.
  Margie worked as a grapes picker before finding a good job with a 
fiberglass manufacturer. She was also a homemaker and an avid 
volunteer.
  She volunteered with her children's school PTA, served as the 
president of the local Little League, and taught at Sunday School.
  Despite all the things she did and even during her time serving on 
the City Council, she always made time for her children and her family.
  Margie Rice lived in her Westminster house for 64 years. She is 
survived by two of her four children, 19 grandchildren, 23 great 
grandchildren and 12 great-great grandchildren.
  Mayor Margie Rice was as a pioneer, a public servant, and a community 
leader who loved and cared for the Westminster community with all her 
heart.
  The residents in Westminster along with many people and communities 
across the 47th Congressional District will remember Margie Rice.
  She will be dearly missed.

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