[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 77 (Friday, May 5, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MR. MAURICE PRITCHETT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER

                              of delaware

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 5, 2023

  Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the life and 
legacy of a giant of our community--Mr. Maurice Pritchett. Mr. 
Pritchett, surrounded by his family, was called home to his Creator on 
April 21st, at the age of 80. The 80 years that Mr. Pritchett spent on 
Earth were a testament to an inherent optimism--an exercise in making 
his community, and in turn this world, a better place.
  Raised on the East Side of our beloved Wilmington, a young Maurice 
Pritchett would excel in the classroom and on the basketball court. He 
would go on to attend the historic Howard High School and earn 
Wilmington All-City Honors. His academic and athletic prowess would 
take him from Wilmington to Dover--earning a full scholarship and 
attending what was then known as Delaware State College. His career 
with the Hornets would earn him induction into the Delaware State 
Basketball Hall of Fame and the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of 
Fame.
  And while his success on the court was evident, the true gift of his 
time at Delaware State University was the fostering of his true passion 
and what would go on to become his life's work--public education. He 
first taught in Cecil County, Maryland--eventually finding his way back 
to the school he had attended as a young boy, Bancroft Elementary. 
Starting as a community school coordinator, he rose to become vice 
principal and then principal. He served the students and families at 
The Bancroft School for over thirty years and in the 1994-95 school 
year, was honored as the National Distinguished Principal for Delaware.
  Mr. Pritchett also devoted a great deal of his time helping students 
outside of the classroom, coaching the Delaware high school All-Stars 
and helping prepare our young people for the next phase of their life
  All of those accomplishments and accolades may provide some context 
for the skill, intellect, and work ethic of Maurice Pritchett--but they 
fail to paint the full picture of who he was and what he meant to our 
community. We're all so grateful to his wonderful wife, Juanita, and 
his loving children and grandchildren for sharing Mr. Pritchett with us 
for so many years.
  An old Greek proverb reads, ``A society grows great when men plant 
trees in whose shade they shall never sit.'' Maurice Pritchett spent 
his life planting trees of wisdom, hope, and love in our community. We 
were blessed that so many of them blossomed while he was still with 
us--and thanks to the work in his life, his legacy will be those yet to 
bloom--and the shade we'll all enjoy in his name.

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