[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 100 (Thursday, June 8, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2015-S2016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Remembering Edward Wrzesinski

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, today, I want to honor the life and 
service of a distinguished Montanan and Vietnam war veteran who 
recently passed, Edward Merle Wrzesinski.
  Ed was a native son of Montana. He was born on the October 27, 1945, 
in Roundup. He was raised on the Wrzesinski family homestead in the 
Snowy Mountains, where he spent his time breaking horses, reading 
books, and doodling the beautiful Eastern Montana landscape around 
him--a landscape that would continue to shape his life forever.
  Never one to shy away from service or sacrifice, Ed left Montana to 
serve his country in the Navy during the Vietnam war. During the war, 
he served on the USS Ranger aircraft carrier from 1963 to 1966, where 
he worked in the print shop.
  After being honorably discharged from the Navy, Ed moved to Seattle 
and entered the print business. Eventually, he took his printing career 
to San Francisco, where he opened up his own printing company, called 
Barbary Coast Press, and he met his wife Debra.
  After a stint in Hawaii, Ed and Debra moved back to Montana, settling 
in Twin Bridges, where they started their family. Here they raised 
their daughters Tess and Beth and founded Tobacco Root Graphics, an 
iconic line of western watercolor greeting cards inspired by Ed's 
childhood in the Snowy Mountains in Eastern Montana.
  Ed also went on to drive buses for the Twin Bridges school district 
and later for Bozeman's Streamline city bus services after they made 
their move to Bozeman.
  Ed loved his family. He especially liked spending time with his 
daughters. Together, they would work on art projects, attend sporting 
events, and watch movies.
  Ed also loved reading good books. He liked golf. And, as all good 
Montanans, he liked to trout fish. On a beautiful Montana summer 
evening, you could find him at the river with a fishing pole and a box 
of fried chicken.

[[Page S2016]]

  Ed passed away on May 4, earlier this year. He had fought a long 
battle with prostate cancer, a condition directly related to his 
exposure to Agent Orange during his service in the Vietnam war. While 
he fought long and hard, I am grateful he was able to get the 
healthcare and the benefits he needed in the last years of his life 
through the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, which we were able to 
get across the finish line here in the Senate for heroes like Ed. And 
we did that in 2019.
  Today, it is my honor to commemorate his service and life as an 
outstanding Montanan. His legacy will live on through his family and 
his daughters.
  I am especially honored to have his daughter Tess working on my 
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee staff, where she serves veterans in 
Montana and across the Nation and was awarded the National Coalition 
for Homeless Veterans' Unsung Hero Award for her tireless work for 
veterans.
  Beth is also following in his footsteps at the University of Montana, 
where she is studying digital filming.
  So on behalf of myself and a grateful Nation, I commend Mr. Ed 
Wrzesinski and extend our deepest appreciation to him and his family. 
He is a part of the fabric that makes Montana the ``Last Best Place,'' 
and he will be sorely missed.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.