[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 10904-10905] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MARK ELMORE ______ HON. DENNIS MOORE of kansas in the house of representatives Monday, May 23, 2005 Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mark Elmore of Olathe, who worked and guided Johnson County Developmental Supports, JCDS, for 27 years. Sadly, Mark Elmore died Sunday, May 15, at the age 61. I knew Mark Elmore. He was a good and decent man. Based in Lenexa, JCDS is a comprehensive community service agency that supports Johnson County people of all ages with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, along with their families. It provides direct services to more than 500 individuals daily. Elmore joined the agency as executive director in 1978. His leadership moved the agency from a period in the late 1970s, when staff cutbacks were a reality and financial stability was threatened, to the steady growth and fiscal solvency JCDS enjoys today. Annabeth Surbaugh, chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, led the Johnson County community in mourning the death of this dedicated and well respected leader. As she stated publicly on learning of his death, Mark Elmore's commitment to JCDS was total. He took tremendous pride in the accomplishments of JCDS, leading the highly recognized agency through nine consecutive 3-year national accreditation awards. His self-imposed job description included doing whatever was needed to provide the best services and programs to consumers with special needs to enhance their overall quality of life. Chairman Surbaugh noted that in the early years of developing JCDS, Elmore was known to have taken clients into his own home, to visit them in their homes and at work, and to even shovel snow off sidewalks outside the facility to ensure the safe arrival of both staff and consumers. ``Johnson County has lost a great man with a great heart and a great friend. Mark Elmore was a man of high principles. His encouragement, dedication, and compassion for the special-needs community set an example for all of us,'' Surbaugh said. ``He was the heart and soul of JCDS.'' Mark Elmore also was well known throughout the State of Kansas, becoming a driving force in creation of developmental disability programs and legislation in the state. Elmore was a key player in the development and implementation of the 1995 Developmental Disability Reform Act, which emphasized opportunities for integration and inclusion in community life. Changes ushered in by the act have resulted in a continued expansion of services and supports at the local level, and the advance of what has now become a coordinated network of individual and agency service providers, which in Johnson County now serves nearly 1,000 individuals and families. In a statement, Gayle Richardson, chairperson of the JCDS governing board, spoke on behalf of the agency in reacting to Elmore's death. ``If you wish to learn how to leave this world a better place, I commend Mark Elmore to you. He was not only a skilled professional, but a man beloved by his family, staff, and the folks he served at JCDS. He gave his heart and his mind to his job, and his legacy to us is a flourishing agency, whose mission is to enhance the lives of people with disabilities--not a glamour job, but a most satisfying one,'' Richardson said. ``He made us proud and eager to fulfill this mission. One of his last gifts was to work with the Board to ensure the health of JCDS beyond his term, which came all too soon.'' County Manager Michael B. Press agreed. ``His life truly exemplified the spirit of public service: to help the needy, to succor the distressed, and to serve the community without regard to the necessary personal sacrifices required,'' he said. ``Our hearts and prayers are with his family at this time. He will be missed.'' Mark Elmore is survived by his wife, Jeanette; son and daughter-in- law, Brenton and Kirsten Elmore; daughter and son-in-law, Tracie and Raymond Kaiser; and two grandsons. The couple would have celebrated their 40th anniversary next month. Mr. Speaker, Johnson County has suffered a tremendous loss with the untimely death of Mark Elmore. I join with all Johnson Countians in mourning his loss, and place in the Congressional Record two articles from the local news media reporting on Mark Elmore's life and legacy: [From the Kansas City Star, May 18, 2005] Advocate for the Disabled Dead at 61 Mark Elmore, the Olathe man whose dedication and passion for those with developmental disabilities spanned more than three decades, died Sunday of a brain tumor. He was 61. As executive director of Johnson County Developmental Supports, Elmore helped create landmark legislation in Kansas. The new laws allowed those with mental and physical challenges to live in their own homes and learn life skills vital to landing a job, making friends and finding meaning in life. ``He gave his heart and mind to this job,'' said Gayle Richardson, chairwoman of the support group's board of directors. ``His legacy to us is a flourishing agency.'' ``Flourishing'' was not the adjective Elmore would have chosen 27 years ago. In 1978, he was hired to turn around the agency facing deep federal cuts that threatened to close its doors. He streamlined the agency and improved services by listening to parents and their children about their desire to live at home, away from sterile and impersonal institutions. He found money to hire expert workers and expand services. When Elmore started, the agency served 66 persons. Today, Johnson County Developmental Supports, also known as JCDS, serves 530 clients daily and oversees aid for more than 1,300 residents. Its annual budget is $20 million. ``Johnson County has lost a great friend with a great heart,'' said Annabeth Surbaugh, chairwoman of the Johnson County Commission. ``Mark Elmore was the heart and soul of JCDS.'' In the early years, Elmore was known to take clients in to his own home for days and weeks at a time, Surbaugh said. Those who knew him best describe a tireless, 36-year cheerleader and fund-raiser for the developmentally disabled who organized lobbying efforts in Topeka to create new laws and disability programs. In 1996, he was the first to receive the Distinguished Leadership Award from InterHab, an advocacy group he helped found in 1969. ``His life truly exemplified the spirit of public service: to help the needy . . . and to support everything fine and noble,'' said Mike Press, the county manager. Outside of work, Elmore enjoyed home remodeling, spending time in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and restoring a Model A, Thunderbird and a 1965 Mustang. He had planned to retire later this year. Last week he underwent a biopsy of a spot on his brain. Surgery revealed a tumor more extensive than originally thought. He lapsed into a coma and did not regain consciousness. He is survived by his wife, Jeanette; son and daughter-in- law, Brenton and Kirsten Elmore; daughter and son-in-law, Tracie and Raymond Kaiser; and two grandsons. The couple would have celebrated their 40th anniversary next month. Services will be at noon Saturday at the College Church of the Nazarene, 2020 E. Sheridan St., Olathe. The family suggests memorial contributions to Friends of Johnson County Developmental Supports, 10501 Lackman Road, Lenexa, KS 66219. Dennis Tucker, associate executive director of the support group, will serve as interim director until a new leader is named. ____ [From the Olathe News, May 18, 2005] Longtime County Executive Director Dies (By Dan J. Smith) The man who for nearly three decades led a county agency that provides care for people with developmental disabilities has died. Olathe resident Mark Elmore helped grow Johnson County Developmental Supports and had served as the organization's executive director since 1978. Elmore, who was 61, died Sunday at Olathe Medical Center. [[Page 10905]] ``Mark was one of the special people that come around once in a lifetime,'' said Trish Moore, Elmore's friend and director of human services and aging for the county. ``He believed in what he was doing, and he created programs that will last and help people forever. He left a great legacy.'' Under Elmore's leadership, JCDS earned three-year national accreditations nine consecutive times and provided services each day to more than 500 people with mental retardation and other disabilities. ``He had incredible passion for what he was doing,'' Moore said. ``He had wonderful ethics, and he was a great advocate. He was the person that you would want as a colleague, as a neighbor and as a friend.'' Elmore opened his home to several JCDS clients during the agency's infancy, said Annabeth Surbaugh, chair of the Johnson County Commission. ``I've been here as an elected person for 13 years, and to myself and many people in this county, Mark was Developmental Supports,'' Surbaugh said. ``He had been there so long, and he was so committed to it that it wasn't a job. It was his mission in life.'' ``If you wish to learn how to leave this world a better place, I commend Mark Elmore to you,'' a written statement read from Gayle Richardson, chair of the commission-appointed JCDS board, which oversees the agency. ``He was not only a skilled professional, but a man beloved by his family, staff and the folks he served at JCDS. ``He made us proud and eager to fulfill his mission,'' Richardson wrote. ``One of his last gifts was to work with the board to ensure the health of JCDS beyond his term, which came all too soon.'' Elmore and his wife, Jeanette, would have celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary next month. Jeanette, two children and two grandchildren survive. A noon funeral service is scheduled for Saturday at the College Church of the Nazarene, 2020 E. Sheridan St. Penwell- Gabel Funeral Home is handling funeral arrangements. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Friends of Johnson County Developmental Supports, 10501 Lackman Road. Dennis Tucker, associate executive director of JCDS, will assume interim executive director duties until a successor is named. ____________________