[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E721-E722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF ELLEN MARIE IKE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOSEPH D. MORELLE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 21, 2026

  Mr. MORELLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and service of 
Ellen Marie Ike--more commonly known on Capitol Hill as Ms. Ellen--a 
Lead Teacher at the House of Representatives Child Care Center, who 
tragically passed away on June 13, 2026, at the age of 61.
  For nearly a decade, Ms. Ellen cared for children from across the 
Capitol Hill community. Members and staff left their sons and daughters 
with her in the morning and went to work on the people's business, 
secure in the knowledge that their children were safe and loved. She 
returned that trust every day and was recognized repeatedly for the 
excellence of her service.
  A native of Hartford, Connecticut, Ms. Ellen earned a scholarship to 
Livingstone College in North Carolina, where she sang in the Concert 
Choir and joined the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Her career began in 
retail, but her years teaching Sunday school made clear that early 
childhood education was her calling. After operating her own home-based 
daycare and teaching at other schools across the Washington 
metropolitan area, she joined the House Child Care Center in 2018, 
where she remained until her death.
  An early childhood teacher shapes a person at the age when shaping 
matters most. Ms. Ellen spent the last nine years of her life doing 
that work in the shadow of the Capitol, for the families of the people 
who serve here--much of it through a serious illness she rarely let her 
classroom see. Hundreds of children learned their letters, self-worth, 
and what it means to be a friend from a teacher who gave them her best 
while fighting for her own health.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life of 
Ellen Marie Ike, and in extending our condolences to her family and to 
her colleagues at the House Child Care Center, who carry on her work.

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