[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 197 (Thursday, November 30, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF 103-YEAR-OLD LILLY LOISE CULP HOGAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MICHAEL GUEST

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 30, 2023

  Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of 
Lilly Loise Culp Hogan. Lilly lived a life of adventure and at age 103 
was the oldest veteran at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, 
Mississippi. She was born on February 5, 1920, in Obion County, 
Tennessee, Lilly was the second youngest child of eleven children.
  Growing up during the Great Depression, Lilly learned the value of 
hard work by making clothes for all the children at home. She made her 
own patterns and designed her own clothing. Lilly had many siblings to 
look up to and who were a part of her life. Attending the local one-
room schoolhouse, Lilly was taught by her older sister Zora. Lilly 
loved math and was always competing with her classmates for the best 
grades. When she finished the eighth grade, Lilly attended high school 
at the local Dixie School. Having no car, Lilly and her brother Fred 
would walk to school every day, except on the rare day when her father 
would allow them to ride the horse. Fred and Lilly would stable the 
horse in the barn attached to the school while they did their studies. 
In 1938 Lilly graduated as valedictorian and Fred graduated with her 
the same year as salutatorian.
  After high school, Lilly wanted to attend college, but her family did 
not have the resources, so she started working. Lilly and her sister 
Kitty rented an apartment close to Union City, Tennessee, and together 
they worked at a nearby shirt factory. While working at the shirt 
factory, her landlord introduced Lilly to her cousin, Reed Hogan. Reed 
was on leave from the U.S. Navy.
  After Reed was sent back overseas on duty, Lilly was bored of the 
shirt factory and her life in Tennessee. On the lookout for more 
adventure, she moved to Wisconsin to join her brother Calvin learning 
the trade of photography. Lilly learned how to take photos, print them, 
and colorize the photos. With a new job and a new life, Lilly began to 
find her place in the world. While in Wisconsin, Lilly and Reed were 
constantly exchanging letters.
  As Lilly worked in the photography shop, many men and women would 
come in to take pictures for their Navy identification cards. Lilly saw 
them coming in with their nice Navy uniforms day-in and day-out. 
Feeling adventurous, Lilly decided to join the Navy, too. With her 
photography skills, she enlisted with the goal of becoming a war 
photographer. Encouraged by her brother to join, Lilly went off on a 
new adventure in Washington. D.C
  During the process of joining the Navy, it became clear that Lilly 
excelled at math and was pulled from the photography route and placed 
in a decoding role. Lilly had no idea what the future held, but she 
underwent investigation for a top security clearance.
  In Washington, D.C., the Pentagon had not been completed, and Lilly 
worked in an underground facility nearby. Lilly decoded enemy messages 
in Naval Intelligence. Her work was important to the war, and she knew 
it. She worked around the clock taking messages and typing them on a 
card to be slid into what was a very primitive and early version of the 
modern computer.
  In 1944, Reed came home wounded and made his way to Washington, D.C., 
to find Lilly. They were married on March 16, 1944, not many days after 
Reed returned.
  When the war ended, Lilly and Reed used the G.I. Bill to go to 
college. They attended the University of Tennessee together and both 
majored in business--Lilly in business education and Reed in business 
administration. Lilly and Reed were in some of the same classes and 
would compete against each other for the best grades. Lilly and Reed 
had four children--Mary Beth, Reed Jr., Jeannie, and Kim--and made 
their home in Mississippi.
  Later in life, Lilly moved into the Armed Forces Retirement Home in 
Gulfport, Mississippi. Keeping with her adventurous spirit, Lilly 
stayed at the facility while residents cleared out during Hurricane 
Katrina in 2005 stating she had never seen a hurricane. The water rose 
to the third story, and Lilly and several of the other residents had to 
be rescued.
  Lilly's life legacy of adventure, courage, and bravery lives on in 
her four children, seven grandchildren, and fifteen great-
grandchildren. I am proud to honor the life of a woman who made an 
impact not just during World War II but throughout her entire life.

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