[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21936]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO THE LATE FRANK FOX

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 2004

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, today in the U.S. Virgin Islands, on 
my island of St. Croix, residents from all walks of life will gather to 
remember and pay tribute to Frank J. Fox.
  Frank Fox was the president of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce from 
2002 to 2003. But his service to St. Croix and the entire Territory did 
not begin or end there. He lent his time and talents to a variety of 
task forces, commissions and committees such as the Governor's Economic 
Development Committee, The Cruise Ship Task Force, the U.S. Coast Guard 
Auxiliary, the Navy League, the Landmark Society, Our Town 
Frederiksted, and St. Croix Friends of Denmark to name but a few. He 
was also a member of Rotary Mid Island.
  But even beyond these Frank and his beloved wife, Beverly were 
everywhere. They truly adopted St. Croix as home, and did everything 
they could to make it a better, and more vibrant place for everyone.
  Mr. Speaker, Regrettably, due to pressing matters up here, I will not 
be there at the memorial service. And I know that this is where Frank 
would insist that I be.
  Frank lent his expertise to me, during a very difficult political 
time--when I had introduced and was shepherding the bill to create a 
Chief Financial Officer for the Virgin Islands. Often as he offered his 
opinion or advice, he would preface it with ``For whatever it is 
worth.'' I can tell you, and others who benefited from his counsel 
would attest, whatever he said was worth a lot!
  I had the pleasure of serving with Frank on the VI EpsCor (Virgin 
Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research), where 
he was the first Chairman. He gave generously of his time, and 
expertise, and led us through a very successful launching in which the 
University received the first ever grant to a territory.
  He will be fondly remembered for all of the above, but never more 
than every August when we as a community gather to greet new teachers. 
It was during his tenure as Chamber president that this activity, which 
is now tradition, began. It demonstrates the depth of his insight into 
what is important to the future of the Virgin Islands, and more 
importantly his commitment to that future. He knew and showed us 
through his life and service, the importance of the ``village,'' and 
its responsibility to our children.
  Mr. Speaker, we were all shocked to hear that this man, so full of 
life, had left us. We will always be grateful for his friendship, and 
for his service to our community.
  We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Beverly and his family. 
And we thank her for sharing this wonderful man with us so generously.

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