[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1257-E1258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING LORETTA CHARBONNEAU, CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DIRECTOR

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 12, 2022

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, Loretta Charbonneau, an 
amazing wife, mother, friend, campaign volunteer and my congressional 
district director for 20 years, has passed away.
  My wife Marie and I knew her as a gifted and compassionate leader 
since we began working together in the prolife movement beginning in 
the early 1970s.
  Family and friends celebrated her life at a memorial Mass at St. 
Raphaels Catholic Church in Hamilton, New Jersey.
  Loretta loved her beloved husband George so much and always talked 
about him and her kids.
  One of her three children, Mary Roldan, gave a beautiful eulogy and 
said:

       ``You knew her greatness, her kindness, her strength, her 
     sense of humor, her positivity, her creativity, her ever-
     encouraging way and most of all you knew her enduring LOVE.
       I'm not sure that there are words that can truly express 
     the depth and breadth of our mom, Loretta Charbonneau. It is 
     an incredibly difficult task to try and sum up an entire life 
     in the allotted time given here today of 3 to 5 minutes.

[[Page E1258]]

       But thank God all of you here today knew her. You knew her 
     greatness, her kindness, her strength, her sense of humor, 
     her positivity, her creativity, her ever-encouraging way, and 
     most of all you knew her enduring LOVE. Her love came with no 
     strings attached. She loved you simply because you were you. 
     That quiet acceptance was like being wrapped in a warm 
     blanket. The love that our mother gave was felt deep to your 
     core. She knew that giving that love away to someone else 
     would never take anything away from her but make her 
     stronger.
       Since our mom's passing, I have had so many people make 
     comments to me about how much our mother impacted their lives 
     by not only the love that she so freely shared but also by 
     her encouraging way. She had such self-love that she always 
     looked to raise up someone else and knew that doing this 
     would not detract from her but add to her. She shared her 
     love and wisdom so freely. Her goal was always to life up the 
     life of another.
       One of our dear friends from our growing up years said to 
     me your mother was my inspiration growing up. She was amazing 
     and we connected. That just makes me pause and say wow how 
     awesome is that, that someone outside of our family unit 
     could feel that same love we did.
       Our mother would always say let's lift one another up and 
     make a difference. Well mom you did just that. You succeeded. 
     You lifted up so many, many people. You will be sorely-missed 
     on this physical earth, but you are always with us. Your 
     strength of spirt and love will never die. You have led by 
     example and have passed that love on to the next generation 
     so that we to can make a difference. The mantle has been 
     passed and we accept the challenge.
       On a personal note, in this experience of losing my mother, 
     I don't think it is sorrow that I feel, but such a complete 
     sense of gratitude toward Life for granting me such a 
     blessing. So, to Life I'd like to say thank you, thank you, 
     thank you.
       To conclude, my mother's favorite prayer was the prayer of 
     St. Francis. She lived this prayer on the daily. It sums her 
     up in a nutshell. In honor of her, I'd like to say it now.
       Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is 
     hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where 
     there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where 
     there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy. O' 
     Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be 
     consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand; to 
     be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it 
     is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that 
     we are born to eternal life.
       Mom, you did all of those things. You led by example. You 
     will live on in us and our children forever. To a life well 
     lived. We love you and you will be missed.''

  For all of us, Madam Speaker, we remember Loretta's extraordinary 
kindness and compassion and her deep and abiding faith in the Lord.
  When we were expecting our first child, Melissa, in 1978 Loretta 
hosted a baby shower and boy did we need it.
  Loretta had an amazing ability to work hard and effectively. She was 
a doer even for the most difficult tasks and was a great asset in my 
campaigns for Congress.
  Loretta officially joined our congressional office in 1982 and it was 
clear right from the start that she had a remarkable empathy for 
people, especially those in need and assumed the position of district 
director in 1985, until she retired in 2005.
  Twenty years of awesome leadership.
  Loretta was a tough competitor and thrived on the challenges of 
political campaigns. Loretta was a problem solver and set a tremendous 
example of what hard work and leaving no stone unturned looks like.
  I was always amazed how diplomatically but firmly she would question 
people seeking our help.
  She wanted the facts, the truth with no hyperbole.
  America's national program for assisting persons with Autism started 
in 1997 in my Whiting office with a meeting put together by Loretta 
that included the parents of two children with autism from Brick.
  After a three-hour first meeting followed by many others, we mapped 
out a strategy and legislation that became law.
  Like so many initiatives, it took years for our initiative to bear 
fruit.
  Loretta was never a quitter.
  When Navy Lakehurst was put on a DOD list for closure, Loretta put 
together a meeting of dozens of elected officials just two days after 
the bad news broke, and together we began the arduous task of saving 
the base, and against all odds, we succeeded.
  Loretta is deeply missed, but is remembered with enormous respect, 
joy and love.

                          ____________________