[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5039]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    MR. DONALD T. STORCK HONORED AS LUTHERAN LAYMAN OF THE YEAR 2000

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Madam President, I rise today to recognize Mr. 
Donald T. Storck, who on Tuesday, April 11, 2000, will be honored by 
the Lutheran Luncheon Club of Metropolitan Detroit as its Lutheran 
Layman of the Year 2000. This is the 46th year the Luncheon Club has 
named a Layman of the Year, and I cannot imagine that any have been 
more deserving than Mr. Storck. For over thirty-five years, he has 
displayed a dedication to both his community and his church that are 
representative of an incredible desire to help others.
  Mr. Storck was born in raised in Saint Louis, Missouri. He began 
working for General Motors in their St. Louis Chevrolet Plant in 1957. 
In 1964, after graduating from Washington University, he was 
transferred to the G.M. Building in Detroit, where he worked as an 
engineer. He and his wife, Ethel Steinmann, settled down in Royal Oak, 
Michigan, and they have lived there, and been members of the St. Paul 
Lutheran Church, ever since.
  In his thirty-six years in Royal Oak, Mr. Storck has contributed to 
the community in many ways. Before recycling had become popular, he was 
part of a paper drive activity that raised over $60,000 for building 
projects. He has been very active in supporting the Boy Scouts of 
America, involving himself in a program at the G.M. Willow Run 
Transmission Plant. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Royal Oak 
Penguins, a youth swimming club. As a volunteer for Focus: HOPE, he has 
spent one Saturday per month delivering food to elderly and shut-in 
individuals. He has worked on many Habitat for Humanity projects, is a 
teacher of an after-school elementary woodworking class for 1st and 2nd 
grade youth at the Huntington Woods Community Center, and a regular 
donor of blood and blood platelets.
  His devotion to the religious community has been equally impressive. 
He currently serves on the Board of Elders and the Board of Trustees of 
St. Paul Lutheran Church, and sings in the Men's Chorus and Chancel 
Choir. This is in addition to serving as chief chef of the men's 
breakfast, a tradition which he founded. He is the current president of 
the Lutheran Choralaires, a popular male chorus which performs 
regularly throughout the metropolitan Detroit area. He has been a 
member of the Lutheran Laymen's League Retreat Committee, and 
volunteers time at the group's annual retreat. He has also been very 
active in the Lutheran Luncheon Club, serving as its president in 1984-
85, its secretary from 1986-1995, and has sat on the Board of Directors 
for the last five years.
  Recently, he has donated much of his time to helping Grace Lutheran 
Church in Durham, North Carolina. This ministry provides for the 
transport of children to and from Belaruse and places these children 
with host families while they receive needed surgical and medical care 
at the Duke University Hospital. Mr. Storck discovered the ministry 
when he was at the Duke University Hospital visiting his youngest 
grandchild, Mollie, who died at the age of two after a battle with 
leukemia. At a time when Mr. Storck's faith was put to the test, it 
never wavered; he remained committed to the church and to helping 
others in the name of God.
  Madam President, I applaud Mr. Storck on his many contributions to 
both his church and his community. He is truly a role model, and I 
applaud the Lutheran Luncheon Club for taking the opportunity to 
recognize him as such. On behalf of the entire United States Senate, I 
congratulate Mr. Donald R. Storck on being named the 46th Lutheran 
Layman of the Year.

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