[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16283-16284]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      YOU ONLY PASS THIS WAY ONCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Poe). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to pay tribute to a very, 
very special American, a very good friend of mine who died last week 
after battling a very cruel and mean disease, ALS, amyotrophic lateral 
sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
  Wayne Arnold was a friend of mine and he was a friend of many. In 
fact, I remember when I first got involved in politics Wayne Arnold was 
one of my first supporters, and I will always be grateful for that.
  But Wayne was a very special American in so many ways. I would like 
to say that he was a believer. He was a doer and he was a giver. He was 
involved in so many things in the Rochester area. He was an accountant. 
By the time he retired he was a partner in one of the largest firms in 
Minnesota.
  He was active in the Chamber of Commerce. He was active in his 
church. He was active in education issues. But he was not just active. 
He got things done.
  I think perhaps one of the greatest tributes to Wayne Arnold in the 
Rochester area is what he did in helping to really spearhead the 
building of a memorial there to all of the soldiers and all of those 
who have contributed so much, and we have this marvelous memorial which 
is largely because of people like Wayne Arnold. When he heard about 
this, that we were going to build this special memorial at Soldiers 
Field in Rochester, Minnesota he not only got behind it, he became the 
treasurer. He helped raise the money. He did so much on that and so 
many other fronts.
  I also want to submit for the Record and I want to thank Greg Sellnow 
of the Rochester Post Bulletin, and I would like to submit for the 
Congressional Record a copy of a piece that he wrote last week about 
Wayne Arnold, and the title of which was the philosophy that Wayne 
Arnold lived by. The title is ``You Only Pass This Way Once.'' And he 
sort of branded that philosophy on all of his children and many of the 
people that he knew and worked with. And in it I think he meant that 
you only get an opportunity to do the right thing every so often, and 
you have got to take advantage of those opportunities to do the right 
thing.
  I talked to Wayne shortly after he learned that he had ALS and he was 
not sad. He was not morbid. He was not angry. He saw it as a challenge. 
In fact, in the article that Greg Sellnow has written about him, he 
said that he had sent him an e-mail a couple of years ago. And in that 
e-mail Wayne Arnold said to Greg, I look at this disease as a gift, he 
wrote in an e-mail about 2 years ago, not many people have the luxury 
to be able to prepare like this.
  Wayne Arnold was a very special person. He did so much for our 
community. He did so much for us. He did so much for me.
  I would like to close by just saying that I have no doubt that Wayne 
was greeted at the gate with those words, ``Well done, oh, good and 
noble servant.''

                [From the Post Bulletin, Jul. 16, 2005]

                      You Only Pass This Way Once

                           (By Greg Sellnow)

       Wayne Arnold had a motto. ``You only pass this way once,'' 
     he told his five children and 12 grandchildren over and over 
     again.
       It was a didactic, life-guiding philosophy that had so much 
     resonance in Wayne's family that one of his grandsons had it 
     tattooed on his back.

[[Page 16284]]

       ``What he meant was that you'll only be in a certain 
     situation or a place in your life once,'' Wayne's son Mike 
     told me the other day. ``And you should try to leave it a 
     better place or a better person. It was the same way he felt 
     about his community.''
       Wayne, who died Tuesday at the age of 70, lived that motto. 
     His family, his community and many of the hundreds of lives 
     he touched have all been bettered by his presence among us.
       I first met Wayne in August 2003 after he sent me an e-mail 
     about the upcoming Walk to D'feet ALS. On the day I talked to 
     him at his northwest Rochester home, he'd had a busy morning. 
     He'd sent out 44 e-mails to friends, relatives, former 
     customers and acquaintances asking them to participate or 
     donate to the annual fundraiser.
       Wayne had been diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou 
     Gehrig's disease, about six months earlier, and he'd made 
     fundraising for the Minnesota Chapter of the ALS Association 
     the newest beneficiary of his seemingly unending energy and 
     passion.
       At the time, I remember trying to put myself in Wayne's 
     place. I tried to imagine what I'd do if I'd been diagnosed 
     with a fatal illness that usually claims its victims within 
     three years of diagnosis. I figured that maybe I'd travel, 
     visit some of the places I'd wanted to see, spend time with 
     my family and enjoy the rest of my life as best I could.
       But I couldn't really imagine myself doing what Wayne was 
     doing--sitting in front of a computer or at the phone for 
     hours and hours raising money for a cause--a cure for ALS--he 
     knew couldn't help him.
       It all made sense for Wayne, though. It fit perfectly with 
     his life's philosophy.
       ``I look at this disease as a gift,'' he wrote me in an e-
     mail two years ago. ``Not many people have the luxury to be 
     able to prepare like this.''
       Wayne helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 
     state ALS group, and he recruited others to get involved. 
     They include his son Mike, who is the organization's 
     treasurer.
       I don't pretend to know what it means to be an ideal 
     citizen. But I have to think Wayne came pretty close. He was 
     one of the most committed, involved people I've met during my 
     time in Rochester. He met his wife, Donna, when both were 
     students at Lourdes High School, and after they married the 
     couple decided to stay in their hometown. They remained 
     deeply committed to Lourdes and Rochester for the next half 
     century.
       After serving a stint in the U.S. Coast Guard, Wayne became 
     an accountant, retiring as a partner in the firm of McGladrey 
     & Pullen in 1996. By then, he'd served on the boards of more 
     than a dozen community, business and church organizations. He 
     was recognized by the Jaycees as one of the 10 Outstanding 
     Young Men of Minnesota. He served as president of the 
     Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce. He was a founding 
     committee member and secretary treasurer of the Soldiers 
     Field Veterans Memorial. The list goes on and on.
       ``I can't get enough of it,'' Wayne told me the last time 
     we talked, in September 2004. ``I've got to be doing 
     something.''
       Through it all, though, Wayne set aside plenty of time for 
     his family. Just three weeks ago, he traveled to Montana to 
     attend the wedding of his godson.
       ``You only pass this way once.'' What a powerful motto 
     around which to base one's life.
       And death. Wayne donated his brain and spinal cord for 
     research into a cure for ALS.

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