[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 454-455]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                ANTONIO POMERLEAU, AN AMAZING VERMONTER

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, one of the most amazing citizens of our 
remarkable State of Vermont is Antonio Pomerleau. Most people know him 
as Tony Pomerleau. My wife Marcelle and our children know him simply as 
Uncle Tony.
  Tony and his wife Rita have been among the most generous contributors 
to the well-being of families in Vermont of anyone I know, and he did 
not come from a wealthy background. His parents, my wife's 
grandparents, came as immigrants to the United States from the Province 
of Quebec in Canada. Nonetheless, he and his wife Rita raised a family 
of 10 and also faced the tragedy of losing two beautiful daughters. 
Throughout it all, he has retained his position as a leading citizen of 
our State but even more so as an example to all of us.

[[Page 455]]

  Shortly before Christmas, Tony was named Vermonter of the year by our 
State's largest newspaper. With pride, I ask unanimous consent that the 
editorial about our Uncle Tony be printed in the Record so everyone 
throughout our great country can know about him.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

            [From the Burlington Free Press, Dec. 24, 2006]

                 Tony Pomerleau, Vermonter of the Year

       He's 89 years old and still going like the Energizer bunny, 
     his family says.
       Tony Pomerleau.
       People know his name in this state. And those who know the 
     man consider themselves fortunate.
       He is Santa Claus to countless children, the festive, 
     white-haired gentleman who has thrown a big party every 
     Christmas since 1982 for hundreds of children and their 
     families who might not be able to afford a celebration of 
     their own.
       He is Mr. P, the delightful, generous soul who added a 
     holiday party for families of the Vermont Army National Guard 
     in 2004. It was a huge lift for the 800 or so people who 
     attended, and he did it again in 2005--and again this year, 
     opening the doors to all Guard families, with special 
     attention paid to the families of about 120 Guard members who 
     are still deployed.
       Everyone is welcome. Everyone has a seat at Antonio (Tony) 
     Pomerleau's table.
       It's Pomerleau's giving spirit that makes him so deserving 
     of the honor of Vermonter of the Year. His steadfast 
     commitment to Vermont and the people of this state make him a 
     fine choice.
       As Robert Perreault of Hardwick said in his nomination 
     letter, ``He is extremely generous with his time, ideas and 
     money, to implement programs that have helped people, 
     especially the children and our Vermont Guardsmen and their 
     families.''
       Pomerleau's niece, Marcelle Leahy, wife of Sen. Patrick 
     Leahy, encouraged her uncle to play a role in helping the 
     Guard families with whom she was working through the Guard's 
     Family Readiness Group. Pomerleau was more than happy to do 
     it.
       It doesn't take much for Pomerleau to be persuaded to share 
     his good fortune with others. He ``came up the hard way,'' 
     his son Ernie said last week. Tony Pomerleau has been there.
       He was the third child of Ernest and Alma Pomerleau, a 
     hardworking French-Canadian couple who decided to try their 
     chances across the border in Vermont. When Pomerleau was 6 
     months old, the family moved to a dairy farm in Barton, 
     according to an unpublished biography the family has put 
     together.
       As a child, Pomerleau was touched by two formative 
     incidents. First, he fell down the basement stairs at age 3 
     and was forced to wear an iron corset. Doctors feared his 
     life would be shortened.
       ``He wasn't supposed to live beyond 12 years old,'' Erie 
     Pomerleau said. ``And here he is, 89 and still going 
     strong.''
       The second incident, according to the family biography, was 
     something of a miracle. Alma Pomerleau took her son, age 10, 
     to Ste. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec--the shrine that is covered 
     in crutches and other medical aids left behind by countless 
     others who believed they were cured.
       Alma removed young Tony's iron brace, and they returned 
     home to Vermont without it. Her son was fine.
       ``Of course it was a miracle. It was my mother's prayers,'' 
     Pomerleau said in the biography.
       And so Tony Pomerleau gives back. He gives and gives, 
     according to the families, charities, schools and 
     organizations that have been touched by his spirit.
       There's the renowned annual party, organized by the 
     Burlington Parks and Recreation Department, and paid for by 
     Pomerleau. Now there's also the Guard party. There is St. 
     Michael's College in Colchester, where Pomerleau, received an 
     honorary doctorate after years of contributing to the campus. 
     There is Burlington's Church Street, which he helped 
     rejuvenate in the 1950s. There is the Burlington Police 
     Department, where Pomerleau was a longtime police 
     comissioner. He bought the North Avenue building for the 
     police headquarters and has provided ongoing support for the 
     officers, such as laptop computers for their patrol cars. 
     There are the scholarships at Rice Memorial High School, the 
     renovations at Christ the King Church, the trips Pomerleau 
     has funded for Burlington schoolchildren, and the regular 
     donations to the American Red Cross, United Way of Chittenden 
     County and the Salvation Army.
       Pomerleau started his entrepreneurial life as a child, soon 
     after he shed that iron brace. He sold haircuts and canaries. 
     He washed cars, ran errands and helped his family in their 
     general store in Newport. In 1942, after working for a 
     national shoe store chain up and down the East Coast, he 
     decided to settle in Burlington where he bought a failing 
     grocery store. Within three years, he owned four stores and a 
     wholesale beverage business. In 1951, he started his real 
     estate career and by age 45, he was a millionaire. Pomerleau 
     built Vermont's first shopping center in the 1950s, the Ethan 
     Allen Shopping Plaza, and then developed about 20 more.
       He has lived large, and the beautiful Greek Revival 
     building on College Street that houses Pomerleau Real Estate 
     is a testament to that life.
       Through it all, Pomerleau's wife, Rita, and 10 children, 
     two of whom have died, have been his main focus. Pomerleau is 
     also the proud grandfather of 13.
       In many ways, Tony Pomerleau remains the optimistic boy who 
     left his iron brace behind at Ste. Anne de Beaupre.
       ``Someone asked him the other day when he was going, to 
     retire,'' son Ernie said. ``And he said, `When I get old.' ''
       Never get old, Mr. P. We like you the way you are.

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