[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11987-11988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO GLORIA GARNER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2006

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Gloria 
Garner, a 38-year veteran of the Knoxville Area Urban League. Her 
efforts will be long remembered and continually missed.
  Gloria spent her 38 years of service with the goal of helping others 
help themselves. She is a great example of how individuals in our 
communities can make a difference in the lives of others.
  I commend Gloria Garner for all that she has done for the men, women, 
and children of Knoxville. I wish her all the best in her future life, 
and am hopeful that others will stand in to follow in her path.
  I would also like to include in the Record a June 16, 2006 article in 
the Knoxville News-Sentinel about Gloria's retirement and career for 
all of my colleagues, constituents and readers of the record, so that 
they can more fully understand her dedication.

 Heart of the Urban League; Gloria Garner Retires After 38 Years With 
                          Knoxville Affiliate

                          (By Chandra Harris)

       A walking encyclopedia chock-full of Knoxville Area Urban 
     League facts, Gloria Garner is clearing out her bookshelves.
       Retiring after 38 years with the league, Garner doesn't 
     need a book to recount the history of the league because she 
     is the history of the league.
       The vice president of community affairs has held every 
     position there is and was at the league since starting there 
     months after its inception in 1968.
       A handful of moves for the Urban League came before 
     settling at East Fifth Avenue. But Garner was never moved to 
     leave.
       And four presidents came and went. Garner stepped in as 
     interim director while the search was on for the next 
     president.
       When money was tight and staff was short, Garner's smile 
     and tenacity remained steadfast through 40-plus-hour weeks.
       She held onto the words of the national president from 
     1961-1971, Whitney M. Young, Jr.: ``Every man is our brother, 
     and every man's burden our own.''
       ``Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate 
     flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reigns, all 
     are unequal.''
       Garner said she stood in then and will continue to stand in 
     to bridge the gap of social and economic development in 
     minority communities.
       Even as she is dusting off her desk and packing up, she is 
     still telling strangers and friends alike that they need to 
     join the Knoxville affiliate of the National Urban League.
       ``Once an Urban Leaguer, always an Urban Leaguer,'' she 
     said during a celebratory reception in her honor Thursday 
     night at the University Club.
       While she may no longer have an office to call her own come 
     next Thursday, her official last day, Garner said, ``I will 
     still be around helping wherever I can.''
       ``When you have a passion for what you do, you want to work 
     hard.''
       The on-time Head Start teacher who dreamt of becoming a 
     nurse or joining the military still found a way to help 
     people.
       ``There are people in jobs today that I had a hand in, and 
     that's a good feeling,'' Garner said.
       ``The Urban League is my family and I was busy helping 
     people,'' said the mother of five adult children when asked 
     why her tenure was such a long one.
       Without her insight through the years, there wouldn't have 
     been a foundation of the league, Ernest Fulton and Douglas 
     Upton said.
       Fulton and Upton both worked with Garner in the early days 
     of the league.
       ``She has a way with people,'' Upton said. ``She connects 
     with people.''
       And that was apparent Thursday night as dozens, including 
     Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Vice Mayor and former Urban 
     League President Mark Brown, offered encouragement and shed a 
     few tears.
       ``We can't fill her shoes,'' said Phyllis Nichols, league 
     president and CEO.

[[Page 11988]]

       Life after checking into the Urban League some mornings at 
     7 for Garner will be filled with lunch dates, ``some good 
     movies and relaxing travels,'' she said.
       Grandson Kody Wills summed it up: ``That's my granny and 
     she's a star.''

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