[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5223]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                A TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF MRS. VERNA DUTY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 1, 2007

  Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mrs. 
Verna Duty. Mrs. Duty passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 24, 
2007. She was 83 years old.
  Ms. Duty lived a life of dedication and sincere loyalty to those she 
cared for and fulfilled the philosophy by which she lived her life of 
``leaving it better than you found it.''
  Verna Viola Brown was born on September 18, 1923 in Keota, Oklahoma. 
Ms. Duty relocated to California and became a lifelong resident of 
Riverdale, California a small farming community in the San Joaquin 
Valley.
  She was the wife of the late Mr. Joe Duty, a farm worker and she 
gained a deep appreciation and love for those who labored in the 
fields. Her pride and joy was being the mother of my dear friend Mayor 
Alan Autry of the City of Fresno. They shared a special bond and she 
was his biggest supporter as a mother, friend, confidante and hero. Her 
spiritual beliefs form an inspirational foundation of values for all 
who knew her.
  Mrs. Duty is survived by her only child, Fresno Mayor Alan Autry and 
his wife Kimberlee of Fresno; her grandchildren Lauren, Heather and 
Austin; her brothers Tony, Gene, Alvin and Ronnie and sisters Gladys, 
Freda, Violet and Elaine.
  Although the passing of Mrs. Verna Duty brings sadness to those whose 
lives she touched, her sincere and compassionate spirit and the ways in 
which she left this world a better place will never be forgotten.

                          ____________________