[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5513-H5514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LIFE OF SHERWOOD BOEHLERT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Tenney) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy 
of my former Congressman, Sherwood Boehlert, affectionately known by 
everyone as Sherry.
  Sherry was a devout public servant who passed away last week at the 
age of 84. After serving in the United States Army, his love for his 
community and State led him to begin his career in public service. He 
was elected as the Oneida County Executive in 1979. He was then elected 
to represent our community in the House of Representatives in 1983 and 
served for 24 years, until 2006.
  Throughout his time in Congress, Sherry was committed to representing 
our region to the best of his ability. He returned home whenever he 
could. In 2001, he was elected chair of the House Committee on Science, 
a coveted position that built on his love of nature

[[Page H5514]]

and our environment. He actually led the charge to tackle the issue of 
acid rain and had tremendous success.
  He is remembered by his colleagues as a remarkable individual and 
never lost sight of the reason he was elected: to fight for all of us 
in upstate New York.
  Sherry was born in 1936. He spent his childhood in my hometown of New 
Hartford, New York. Prior to elected office, Sherry Boehlert graduated 
from Utica College, a local favorite. He went on to serve as chief of 
staff to former Congressman Alexander Pirnie and then also served under 
former Congressman Donald Mitchell before he actually served as county 
executive and later as Congressman. He married his lovely wife, 
Marianne, and was immensely proud as a father to his four children.
  I just wanted to share a few reflections on Sherry. I obviously had 
the honor of working with him while I was a staffer for the Assembly. I 
do live in our former Congressman's home, Alexander Pirnie, and while 
Sherry was his chief of staff, he often commented to me about what I 
have done with the house. Where I was, what I have done with it, how 
much time he spent there and how he knew every corner of it, working 
with our former Congressman.
  I also have a funny story about our family business. Our newspaper, 
the Mid-York Weekly, and also the Pennysaver were located in the 
district, and I had the occasion to invite Congressman Boehlert to 
visit us and to see our operations. It was quite a fun day.
  We got to the back--in the newspaper business, as many know, we have 
an inserting operation where we put our flyers in the back of the 
newspaper, and it tended to be filled with a lot of retired farmers and 
a lot of people from our community, particularly a lot of very 
energetic senior citizens--and Sherry got back there and was really 
excited to meet them all.
  One of them put him to the challenge to see if he could actually do 
the job. And so Sherry, without hesitation, took off his business coat, 
rolled up his sleeves, sat down and started inserting newspapers in our 
business. They loved him for that. It was really a fun moment, and I 
think he had a really great time with our seniors and with a lot of our 
staff.
  We are always grateful for him for coming to our newspaper. And also 
for his annual support of a publication, a special publication we put 
out each February honoring our Presidents, our Vice-Presidents, our 
First Ladies, and of course our First Dogs, and Sherry was always so 
supportive of us for that.
  We are just so glad that we are able to honor him this week with so 
many great reflections and so many people reaching out to me in 
Congress. Over the last week, it was really heartwarming to get those 
messages from Members of Congress, and I might add on both sides of the 
aisle. I have seen many tributes, even on the Senate side. He will 
always be fondly remembered by all of our colleagues, Republicans and 
Democrats.
  Earlier this week, I had the distinct honor of participating in his 
funeral service alongside previous elected officials from our region, 
also other Congress Members. It was a solemn occasion honoring his 
life, but also a joyous one to celebrate all that he achieved for our 
community.
  Today, my thoughts and my prayers are with Sherry's family, 
especially his wife, Marianne, who is also a devoted public servant.
  I ask that you please join me now in remembering Sherry with a moment 
of silence in this great Chamber where he served so many years. Thank 
you, all.

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