[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 10] [Senate] [Pages 14452-14453] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]WILLIAM J. BECKHAM, JR. MEMORIAL TRIBUTE Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I want to pay tribute to the life of one of Michigan's great civic leaders, William J. Beckham, Jr. After living a remarkably accomplished life, sadly, Bill passed away April 27th while on vacation with his beloved wife, Mattie Maynard Beckham. This week, Bill's friends and colleagues and members of the Senate and the House will come together in our Nation's capital to celebrate his memory and his legacy. Bill loved life and all the important things in it--his family, his friends, school kids, and his African American heritage. Bill loved the difference that he was making in Michigan through his work on school reform--enhancing and expanding the quality of education for all students in the Detroit public school system. Behind Bill's dignified, gentle yet deliberate manner was a fierce determination to help improve the everyday lives of families. Multitudes were beneficiaries of his visionary efforts. He showed that character and the principles of hard work, integrity and perseverance can transform one's dreams into reality. He has left a mark of great achievement in civil rights, education, economic and political reform. Bill had a distinguished career of public service in Michigan, which included positions as Vice Chair of the School Board for the Detroit Public Schools, Chairman of the Schools of the 21st Century Corporation, President and Trustee of The Skillman Foundation, the first Deputy Mayor of Detroit, and President of New Detroit, Inc. His successful career in the private sector included key leadership positions at Burroughs/Unisys Corporation, Envirotest Systems Corporation in Phoenix and the Ford Motor Company. Bill also enjoyed a long and noteworthy career in federal service from 1967 through the early 1980s. Over a period of eight years, he served Senator Phil Hart in several capacities including Policy Adviser in his Washington office for 4 years, Chief of Staff of the Senator's office in Detroit for three years, and Campaign Assistant for one year. Bill subsequently served as Staff Director to the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Equal Opportunity, chaired by Representative Gus Hawkins. Sought out by President Jimmy Carter, Bill was nominated and confirmed first as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and later as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Bill joined with several of his staff colleagues to establish the first minority congressional staff group to study and act on the political and legislative demands of minority communities nationwide. The group's pioneering efforts in Quitman and Cohoma Counties in Mississippi, along with civil rights leader John Lewis and, my brother, Sander Levin (both of whom now serve in the House) helped to mark a new and powerful political and participatory direction for the people of the Mississippi Delta. Wise and loyal colleagues--Gordon Alexander, Jackie Parker, Judy Jackson, Willa Rawls Dumas, Alan Boyd, Dora Jean Malachi, Mattie Barrow and Bob Parker--declared Bill their leader. The group moved ahead and soon designed the legendary mission to the Mississippi Delta; and, under the direction of Julian Bond of the then-Southern Elections Fund, pursued other worthy political initiatives. Mr. President, I would like to include in the Record the names of the members of the William J. Beckham, Jr. Memorial Committee, all of whom were former staff colleagues of Bill's during his tenure of Federal service, including my current Deputy Legislative Director, Jackie Parker. These devoted friends and former colleagues organized this week's great tribute to Bill and will be attesting, along with others, to the truly incredible life that Bill led and the impact he had on their lives. I ask their names be printed in the Record. The material follows: William J. Beckham, Jr., Memorial Committee Gordon Alexander, Legislative Assistant, former Senator Birch Bayh, *President, 40+ Parenting, Inc. Robert Bates, former Special Assistant, Senator Edward Kennedy. Alan Boyd, Senior Aide, former Senator Clifford Case, *Charitable Games Control Board. George Dalley, former Chief of Staff, Rep. Charles Rangel. Winifred Donaldson, Chief of Staff, former Rep. Andy Jacobs. Willa Rawls Dumas, Senior Aide, former Rep. Silvio Conti, *Vice President for Administration, Directions Data, Inc. Ernestine Hunter, Senior Aide, former Senator John Glenn. Judy Jackson, Senior Aide, former Rep. Bob Eckhardt and Ex Assistant, Senate Finance Committee, *Executive Assistant, TRESP Associates. Carolyn Jordan, Legislative Assistant, former Senator Alan Cranston and Counsel, Senate Banking Committee, *Executive Director, National Credit Union Administration. Dora Jean Malachi, Senior Aide to former Senator John Sherman Cooper, Senator Marlow Cook and Congressional Budget Office. Mary Maynard, Clerk, House Subcommittee on Equal Opportunity, *AFL-CIO Legislative Division. Jackie B. Parker, Legislative Assistant, former Rep. James A. Burke, *Deputy Legislative Director, Senator Carl Levin. Annette C. Wilson, *U.S. Department of Transportation. *Currently Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, Bill leaves his beloved mother, Gertrude; his wife Mattie, their two children, Monica and Jeffrey; Bill's three older sons, William, III, Jonathan, and Reverend Eric Beckham; his two sisters Connie Evans and Elaine Beckham of Florida; his brother Charles of Detroit; seven grandchildren, and innumerable friends. Together we will celebrate his life and cherish his memory. In closing, I would like to share with my colleagues an article which appeared in the Detroit Free Press the day after Bill's funeral. The article includes the very moving sentiments expressed by Monica Beckham about her father as well as expressions of others who were touched by Bill's generous spirit. I ask that the article be printed in the Record. The article follows: [From the Detroit Free Press, May 4, 2000] Mourners Praise Beckham's Vision--2,000 at Funeral for Revered Detroit Civic Leader (By Ben Schmitt) William Beckham Jr. had a strategy to get home at a reasonable hour, as he juggled highranking jobs and late speaking engagements. He'd arrive early to evening meetings, empower the audience, gradually make his way toward the back door and vanish. ``How prophetic,'' said Willie Scott, a board member of Schools of the 21st Century, the Detroit school district's grant-funded educational partner. ``It is exactly how he lived and left us. He worked us as the audience and slipped out the back door.'' Beckham's funeral, a 2\1/2\-hour affair Wednesday at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit that drew more than 2,000 people, was full of memories, praise and grieving for the Detroit school reformer, president of the Skillman Foundation, Detroit's first deputy mayor and past president of New Detroit Inc. But it was an unscheduled speech by Beckham's 21-year-old daughter, Monica Beckham, that brought the tissues out in full force. [[Page 14453]] ``One of the main things I will always remember about you was your ability to see the innate goodness in everybody,'' she said, while crying, ``It was so beautiful about you. You were the epitome of a father, a husband and a man,'' Beckham, who also worked for the Carter administration as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Treasury and deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, died April 27 of a pulmonary embolism in Bloomington, Ill., during a drive back from a family vacation. He was 59. Although his funeral attracted a mix of family, friends and high-ranking city and state officials, no special measures were taken for accommodations. Beckham would have wanted it that way, his brother said. ``Bill, as you know, thought everyone was a dignitary,'' said his younger brother, Charles Beckham. ``So if anyone's feelings were hurt, we certainly didn't intend that. It was in the vein of Bill saying that everybody's a dignitary; everybody's important.'' Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, Detroit Public Schools interim CEO David Adamany, retired MBD Bank President Tom Jeffs, retired General Motors Corp. Vice President William Brooks and DaimlerChrysler Vice President W. Frank Fountain were among those in attendance. Fountain wondered aloud, as he addressed the crowd, how the city will move forward without Beckham. ``It's an unfair question because no answer seems like the right answer,'' he said, ``We move forward the same way that Bill did during his lifetime: with hard work, humility and humor.'' Maureen Taylor, chair of Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, said she never knew what the J in William J. Beckham stood for. ``It probably stands for `Just in time,' '' she said to applause. ``He came in here with his sleeves rolled up. He came just in time to work with a multitude of jigsaw puzzle activities: children, grandchildren and school boards. ``So we, too, are jolted by this premature departure. I guess it was premature to me and premature to you and for him it was just in time.'' Adamany said it's too early to say whether school reform will succeed. ``In Detroit, that success will be much more difficult because of Bill Beckham's untimely passing. But we can say with certainty that Bill's vision about the need for school reform was true. His vision began not with the school system, not with the people of power, but rather with the students.'' Charles Beckham, standing several steps above the flower- surrounded casket, described the church scene in a conversation with his older brother. ``This room is filled with everybody, all hues, colors and racial ethnicities,'' he said. ``There's a large crowd, and I know that wouldn't make you comfortable. But I swear I don't have anything to do with that. It's your fault because these people have been touched by you and love you.'' ____________________