[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.''

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