[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1842]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE LIFE OF MICHAEL RICHARD CODEL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 24, 2010

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
the life of Michael Richard Codel, longtime journalist, Democratic 
activist and former member of the Peace Corps, who passed away January 
13, 2010. Mr. Codel was a resident of Arlington and neighbor and dear 
friend of my colleague, Representative Mike Pence. He was born in 
Baltimore on April 20, 1939. Prior to graduating from Oberlin with a 
degree in political science in 1960, he spent many hours at the campus 
radio station, WOBC Radio. Unbeknownst to him at the time, his hours 
spent at the WOBC would become a launching pad for the endeavors he 
would delve into for the duration of his life.
  Mr. Codel lived a life that was nothing short of exciting. Following 
graduation, he worked as a copy boy at the Democratic National 
Presidential Convention, and shortly thereafter found a post at the 
Cincinnati Post for a year and a half as a desk reporter. In December 
of 1962 he traveled to Nigeria to teach English for his Peace Corps 
assignment. In June of 1963, he transferred to Radio Kaduna TV, where 
he produced educational TV programs, driving around on a moped with a 
cameraman and interviewing government officials. Mr. Codel returned to 
the States in 1964, and took a job as a desk assistant to Howard 
Cosell. Longing to return to Nigeria, he landed a job with the AP 
London office to return to Nigeria, where he was posted in the Congo, 
instead. For the next few years, Mr. Codel covered a number of coup 
d'etats in Africa up until 1967. In 1965, on a trip to Congo, Mr. Codel 
took a picture of a Congolese man rolling up his sleeves. Soon 
thereafter, this picture was used on all Congolese paper money. After 
he wrote an article that President Mobuto found displeasing, he was 
asked to leave the country. But, it was also in the Congo where he met 
his future wife Birte Nielsen, who was working for the Danish Red Cross 
at a teaching hospital. Mr. Codel returned to London to work for the AP 
until 1969. There, his son, Edward Kai Codel was born.
  In 1969, he moved his family to Geneva to work for Business 
International as an associate editor for the Magazine Business Europe 
covering Africa and Scandinavia. While working for Business 
International he wrote Sweden: Toward a Post-Industrial Society and 
Prospects for Business in Developing Africa, and his daughter, Kirsten 
Roslyn Trego was born. Mr. Codel and his family returned to the United 
States in 1974, where he worked as a Public Relations specialist for 
the American Health Care Association. During his time at the AHCA, he 
wrote the Patients Bill of Rights for nursing home residents. In 1982, 
Mr. Codel suffered a brain tumor, which left him unable to perform his 
duties at AHCA, and he became a free-lance writer.
  Along with his passion for family, travel, and work, he also had a 
great love for politics and the political process. He was involved with 
the Arlington Democratic Committee for many years, campaigning for 
several County Board members, several Governors of Virginia, and also 
volunteered under the Carter administration in the White House press 
section. Michael Codel led a good life and left behind a legacy which 
will keep him in our hearts forever. He will be greatly missed by many.

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