[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE AND HONOR THE LIFE OF ELMER ARNOLD BRAZELTON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 2004

  Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to, 
and honor the life of, Elmer Arnold Brazelton of Paris, Illinois. When 
he died on November 6th of 2003, Elmer left behind his lovely wife 
Patricia, four children, and eight grandchildren. Elmer was one of 
those people who was a joy to be around and his optimism and love of 
life were contagious to all of those close to him. His life, Mr. 
Speaker, was an excellent example of love for country and family. Elmer 
joined the National Guard in 1947, a full 2 years before graduating 
from Brocton High School in 1949. He attended both Light and Heavy 
Weapons Schools at Ft. Benning, Georgia and later joined up with the 
California Guard and was sent to Korea where he received two Bronze 
Stars. He left the service in 1953 and came home to his beloved Edgar 
County, Illinois. Over the next five decades, Elmer would raise a 
family, farm, manage a filling station in Hume, drive a school bus for 
the Urbana school district, and retire from the University of Illinois 
in 1993 after 33 years of dedicated service; 23 of those years spent as 
a Custodial Foreman. Elmer was a 50-year member of the Paris American 
Legion Post #211. He was also a valued member of the Edgar County 
Historical & Genealogical Society, the Edgar County Farm Bureau, the 
State Line Christian Church and the Weber St. Church of Christ to name 
a few of the many organizations that were important to him. I will 
never forget Elmer, his personality, nor his dedication to his family 
and his service to his community. I ask that my colleagues join me in 
paying tribute to the life of Elmer Brazelton who was a good and decent 
patriot; truly, one of the good guys.

                          ____________________