[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9391-9392]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         JUDGE MARY BEATTY MUSE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on April 29, 2003, Judge Mary Beatty Muse 
of Boston will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from Boston 
College Law School which she attended 50 years ago. Judge Muse's 
professional and personal achievements are extraordinary, and Boston 
College Law School does well to honor this admirable woman whose life 
stands as a reminder of honor, courage, commitment, duty to profession, 
and love of family. It has been my good fortune to know Mary Muse over 
the past several years, as three of her grandsons and my own boys have 
become close friends and our families have shared many times together. 
Let me provide a brief summary of Judge Muse's considerable 
achievements and note several of the commendations she has received 
because of her professional and personal integrity.
  Mary Beatty Muse was born on July 12, 1920, in Boston. In 1937, she 
graduated from the Boston Latin School for Girls and then attended 
Emmanuel College, graduating in 1941.
  Soon after Pearl Harbor, she enlisted in the Navy and joined the 
first class of the newly formed WAVES. She served in the Navy for 3 
years as an intelligence and communications officer. Lieutenant Muse 
was cited for numerous achievements during World War II, as she and 
this newly formed group of woman sailors served valiantly during that 
conflict.
  Following the war, she attended Boston College Law School on the GI 
bill, graduating as one of three women in a class of approximately 160 
students. That law school, like so many other of our institutions, has 
seen much progress over the past several decades. In noting this 
progress, it is imperative we recall and honor the people who were in 
the vanguard of this movement of women into our professions. The 
circumstances back in 1950 were dramatically different for women. It 
took unusual courage, perseverance, and fortitude to achieve as Mary 
Muse did.
  From the early days in her professional career, Judge Muse served as 
a role model to a generation of younger women, particularly in the 
Boston area. In her law practice and on the bench, she inspired 
countless women by her words and actions. Over time, the disparity that 
was so palpable and obvious when she started her career in law has been 
erased. Only now because of women like Judge Muse can it be said that 
our educational institutions are open to all, regardless of gender. 
This past year, Boston College Law School had a graduating class of 267 
students, 123, or 46 percent, of whom were women, a vastly different 
setting from the early fifties when Mary Muse and her two female 
classmates accounted for less than 2 percent of their class.
  In 1983, Mary B. Muse was appointed a justice of the Massachusetts 
Trial Court. On the bench, she was known for her firm but kindly 
manner, as she treated all participants--attorneys, court personnel, 
and parties--with the respect and courtesy that should be the hallmarks 
of our justice system. She remained on the bench until her mandated 
retirement at the age of 70. To say that she ``retired'' though is to 
misspeak. Judge Muse is now almost 83 and has not begun to slow down in 
her daily chores or professional activities. Since she left the court, 
she has been active in numerous and varied undertakings that would 
exhaust a person half her age.
  With an unswerving sense of commitment and an untiring energy, she 
has served as a member of the Supreme Judicial Court Rules Committee; a 
member of the board of governors for the Massachusetts Academy of Trial 
Lawyers; an officer of the Massachusetts Association of Woman Lawyers; 
vice president of the Massachusetts Judges Conference; a member of the 
board of directors of the Massachusetts Catholic Lawyers Guild; an 
elected official in Brookline, MA; a member of the board of trustees of 
Emmanuel College; and as an officer and member of various other groups 
and organizations that serve the community . She has also been 
appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to be a Master for the 
Review of Treatment Plans for the Mentally Ill and has been a member of 
the Governor's Advisory Board to the Department of Mental Retardation.
  Her involvement in the Catholic Church reflects the same level of 
commitment that she brings to her professional endeavors. She has been 
a Eucharistic lay minister and an active member of her church. But more 
importantly, behind the scenes, she has been a source of constant and 
unremitting charity to scores of those in need. She understands and 
lives by the notion of quiet charity, helping others both by spiritual 
and material assistance.
  Mary Muse has been honored numerous times by colleges, bar 
associations, and other organizations. She is the recipient of an 
honorary degree from Emmanuel College. She has received the Irish 
American Charitable Award and has been acknowledged with the 
Distinguished Jurist Award from the Massachusetts Association of Woman 
Lawyers. In 1991, she was the recipient of Emmanuel College's Alumna of 
the Year Award. In 1998, Boston College gave her its Alumni Award for 
Excellence.
  I provide this background to give a small sample of the full and 
vital life of this still very active woman. But it has one critical 
omission. Along the way, Judge Muse also raised her 11 children, 8 sons 
and 3 daughters. Each of them was not only a college graduate, but also 
has a graduate degree

[[Page 9392]]

from a professional school. They are lawyers, doctors, teachers, 
builders--and one son is a judge like his mom. If you asked Judge Muse 
her greatest achievement in life, it would be a quick answer: her 
family. Throughout her career, she has placed a primacy on what she 
deems most important in life: her loved ones. As she pursued and 
reached the pinnacle of her professional career, she raised a family 
that was deeply nurtured in great love and values. Judge Muse stands 
heroically in the eyes of her 11 children, all of whom will come from 
different spots in the country and abroad to be with her on April 29 
when she receives this special acknowledgment of her remarkable life.
  Finally, my statement would not be complete if I didn't make some 
mention of the other great force in her life. Her husband, Bob Muse, 
himself a great trial lawyer and a much decorated Marine Corps fighter 
pilot, has been her partner for 60 years. No one will stand prouder on 
April 29. He has been her source of strength and love--as she has been 
for him.
  Mary Muse has served as an exemplar for others, men and women alike, 
who seek to achieve in this world while holding on to the values of 
family, friends, and community. She is a gentle and unassuming person 
whose modesty and Irish wit forbid her from reflecting on, or talking 
about, the great influence she has had on so many. But it is 
appropriate and right that others do so--and Boston College Law School 
does well to honor one of its most distinguished graduates.

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