[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        TRIBUTE TO LUE IDA HILL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 2000

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I commend the 100th birthday of Lue Ida Hill 
from Swanton, Ohio. This remarkable woman lives a life that celebrates 
every day as a gift, every sunrise as the herald of new opportunities.
  When Mrs. Hill referred to her centennial birthday as ``just another 
day'', she does so not to comment on the routine of life, the monotony 
of ``just another day'', she sets an example to us all that everyday, 
indeed, every moment, ought to be a cause for celebration. For by 
celebrating, we give thanks for the blessings bestowed upon us by God.
  Mrs. Hill has never known what most of us call retirement, for she 
continues to keep herself busy by helping her neighbors and bringing 
joy to those around her. With a bow in her hair, a tradition she began 
while working as a butcher, she was careening about her home in a 
motorcycle sidecar just months before her birthday.
  Lue Ida is a first class woman from a first class community. She's 
never stopped working, whether it was at the farm helping out with the 
plowing or mending shirts for Arizona State University students. She's 
done it all with a gracious and genuine smile. Now, with 68 
grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, Lue 
Ida keeps the fellow residents of the Harborside Healthcare Facility 
hopping. There, they refer to her as a social butterfly, playing cards 
and chatting with her friends and neighbors.
  If only we could all be half the ``butterfly'' Lue Ida is. Bringing 
happiness to those around us, joy to our loved ones, and recognizing 
the gift of what we have instead of complaining for what we don't.
  Our entire community wishes to extend its warmest and most caring 
congratulations to Lue Ida Hill on the attainment of her 100th year. 
Few Americans reach this incredible life pinnacle. May God bless Lue 
Ida and keep her as America and the world move toward the new 
millennium. She is a legendary teacher to us all.

                          ____________________