[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       IN HONOR OF REVEREND FATHER RAPHAEL (ALBERT) ZBIN, O.S.B.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 6, 2001

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Reverend Father 
Raphael (Albert) Zbin, O.S.B., a man whose strong personality 
challenged others to work hard to build a spiritually, socially and 
physically sound community.
  A native of Lakewood, Ohio, Father Raphael served much of his eighty 
years as both a religious and educational leader. While attending St. 
Benedict's College in Atchison, Kansas, he entered the Benedictine 
Order and professed his vows as a monk in 1942. The following year he 
returned to Kansas and received his bachelor's degree in science.
  Father Raphael then returned to Cleveland to begin studies for the 
priesthood at the former St. Joseph's Seminary of the Blessed Sacrament 
Fathers while also teaching part-time at Benedictine High School. 
During his thirty years of teaching, Father Raphael became a prominent 
figure in the Cleveland Diocesan School system. His reputation as a 
strict disciplinarian motivated his students to study diligently and 
win numerous contests. Twenty-eight of the fifty-three highest honors 
projects recognized in the 1957 Diocesan Science Fair came from 
Benedictine due to Father Raphael's exceptional ability to challenge 
his students to produce quality work.
  After receiving his master of science degree in biology from Catholic 
University of America in Washington, DC, Father Raphael was elected 
chairman for the American Benedictine Academy's Science Division. In 
1966, he was named Outstanding Science Teacher of Northeastern Ohio by 
the Ohio Academy of Science.
  In 1976, Father Raphael became the pastor of St. Andrew Svorad Parish 
in downtown Cleveland. For the past quarter century, his tireless 
energetic spirit brought about a number of renovations to the parish's 
physical plant and increased parish unity through his organization of 
many socials and dinners.
  My fellow colleagues, join me in honoring the memory of Reverend 
Father Raphael (Albert) Zbin, a monk of Saint Andrew Abbey, who always 
saw work to be done. Let us aspire in our own efforts to be such 
examples of hard work and dedication to improvement.

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