[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12598]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               IN HONOR OF MR. JOHN E. ``JACK'' KIPP, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 26, 2006

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to remember and honor an 
outstanding citizen, Mr. John E. ``Jack'' Kipp Jr., from the City of 
Folsom, CA. Following a lifetime of dedication to family and community, 
Jack Kipp passed away on May 26, 2006. He was 85 years old.
  A fourth-generation resident of Folsom, Jack was born there on 
September 6, 1920. He was mischievous in his youth and even described 
himself as a ``hell-raiser.'' Having been expelled from Folsom High 
School, he graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento 
in 1936.
  During World War II, Jack served stateside in the U.S. Army. In 1953, 
he took over the family appliance shop. A year later, he helped found 
the Folsom Rotary Club chapter. This marked the beginning of his 
lifelong investment in his local community through civic participation.
  Mr. Speaker, Jack spent nearly his entire life in Folsom and 
participated in many of the city's major changes over the past half-
century. While serving as mayor and city councilman from the mid-1970s 
to the mid-1990s, he helped transform a small prison town born out of 
California's Gold Rush into a dynamic, thriving commercial and 
residential center. Dubbed by some to be the ``father of Folsom,'' Jack 
is credited for helping to secure a sufficient water supply, attract 
the newest community college built in California, lure a major 
hospital, and lay the groundwork for the extension of Sacramento's 
light rail system to Folsom's historic sector.
  While he was an agent for great change in Folsom, Jack was also an 
acknowledged repository of local history. In fact, he wrote a history 
column for the Folsom Telegraph and gave guided tours around the city. 
These seemingly contradictory elements of character--keeping one foot 
in the past while striding into the future at the same time--reflect 
why he was so influential in the town he loved so much.
  Mr. Speaker, Folsom is now a model city that balances the 
preservation of its heritage with a fixed view to what lies ahead. It 
is a community equally well-known for its annual rodeo and its high-
technology employment opportunities. This is in large part due to the 
strong leadership and forward-thinking vision of Jack Kipp. It is, 
therefore, very appropriate that the city's civic center is already 
named after him and a bronze relief portrait of him is displayed at the 
Folsom City Hall.
  As important as his hometown was to Jack Kipp, there was something 
more important--his family. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, 
Rose Marie Kipp. Together, they had two children: a daughter, Cookie, 
and a son, Michael. They have described their father as stern, 
thoughtful, generous, and kind.
  Jack is also fondly remembered by his grandchildren, John Kipp, Tosca 
Riley, and Tony Galatti, and great-grandchildren, Nolan Kipp, and 
Chandler and Lucas Riley.
  Mr. Speaker, Jack Kipp's legacy is one of honesty and integrity, of 
service and selflessness. Today, I join with his family, friends, and 
community to commemorate his life of good citizenship and uncommon 
decency. May he rest in peace.

                          ____________________