[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4165]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO ROBERT L. OZUNA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 10, 1999

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay a heartfelt 
tribute to Robert L. Ozuna, Chief Executive Office of New Bedford 
Panoramex Corporation from 1966 to date. My good friend died on 
Saturday, March 6, 1999, at Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina 
at the age of 69.
  Robert Ozuna was the oldest of four children born in Miami, AZ to 
Mexican-American parents. In 1940, after his father's early death, the 
family moved to East Los Angeles where he grew up with his mother, 
brother, and two sisters. Robert was required to seek steady work at an 
early age to assist the family in meeting their financial burdens.
  Robert Ozuna emerged as one of the leading Mexican-American 
entrepreneurs in Southern California as Founder and President of New 
Bedford Panoramex Corporation (NBP). He gained his business experience 
on the job and his engineering education by attending night school in 
the California community and junior college system.
  In 1966, Mr. Ozuna began to build his company with a second mortgage 
on his residence, a few electrician's hand tools, hard work and 
entrepreneurial instincts into the thriving electronic manufacturing 
business it is today in Upland, CA. NBP engages in the design, 
development, and manufacturing of electronic communication systems and 
remote monitoring systems for its primary client, the U.S. Government.
  Mr. Ozuna's hard work and dedication has been rewarded by receiving 
the Department of Transportation Minority Business Enterprise Award in 
both 1987 and 1991. He received the Air Traffic Control Association 
Chairman's Citation of Merit Award in 1994. He continued to be an 
active member of the California Chamber of Commerce for various cities 
and a founder of Casa De Rosa Annual Golf Tournament which he 
instituted to raise funds for the Rancho de Los Ninos Orphanage in 
BajaMar, Mexico.
  As industrious as he has been in business, he has been equally 
involved in sharing his prosperity with many philanthropic activities 
in his community. He is the sponsor of many events in the Hispanic 
neighborhood where he grew up and was a founding director in the East 
Los Angeles Sheriff's Youth Athletic Association, which promotes 
educational, athletic and drug awareness programs for more than 60,000 
youths in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.
  Robert Ozuna is remembered by his employees at New Bedford Panoramex 
Corporation as a handsome man who had a passion for life. His concern 
for his employees and their families along with his abundant generosity 
to them was always present.
  Robert Ozuna was married for 35 years to Rosemary, who passed away in 
November 1998. He is survived by his mother, Amelia Ozuna; his sons, 
Steven Ozuna and Jeff Dominelli; his daughters, Nancy DeSilva and Lisa 
Jarrett; his sisters, Lillian Gomez and Vera Venegas; and his brother, 
Tony Ozuna. He also leaves eight grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, Robert Ozuna epitomized the American Dream. It is a 
dream that promises that any citizen of this country can achieve 
anything to which he or she aspires, as long as they work hard and play 
by the rules. Robert Ozuna achieved that dream and he will be greatly 
missed. I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to him today.

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