[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5238]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING MS. JEAN PACKARD ON HER 90TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 15, 2013

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my dear 
friend and mentor Jean Packard on her 90th birthday.
   Jean, who moved to Fairfax County in 1951, got her start in public 
life the same way I did--as president of her neighborhood civic 
association. She likes to say that her first ``win'' was convincing the 
county to pick up trash--a humble start to what would become five 
decades of community leadership, particularly on the environmental. 
Jean was an unabashed environmentalist long before most people knew the 
meaning of that word.
   Jean's activities soon branched out beyond her neighborhood, and she 
was elected president of the Fairfax Federation of Citizens 
Associations. She was elected Chairman of the Fairfax Board of 
Supervisors, serving from 1972 to 1976. During that time, she also 
served as chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Council of 
Governments. She later became the first woman in Virginia elected to 
serve on a regional soil and water conservation district board, a post 
in which she still serves today. She has held numerous other positions 
including: the state Soil and Water Conservation Board, the Northern 
Virginia Conservation Trust, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac 
River Basin, the Fairfax Land Preservation Trust, and the Sierra Club's 
national board.
   For her extraordinary service to the citizens of Fairfax County, 
Jean has received many well-deserved awards and honors including 
Fairfax County Citizen of the Year, Fairfax County Conservationist of 
the Year, and the Architecture Medal for Virginia Service from the 
Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects.
   In 2010, I was honored to present Jean with the Fairfax County Park 
Authority's Sally Ormsby Environmental Stewardship Award, which is 
named in memory of our dear friend and fellow community leader. In 
further recognition of Jean's contributions to environmental causes, 
the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust's lifetime achievement award 
was renamed the Jean R. Packard Award in her honor in 2011.
   It is no exaggeration to say that without Jean's dedication and 
passion for our community and the environment, Virginia would have more 
erosion, dirtier water, and fewer trees. Fairfax County in particular 
would not be the green, nationally-recognized environmental steward it 
is today.
   Mr. Speaker, I asked my colleagues to join me in congratulating Jean 
Packard on her 90th birthday and thanking her for her decades of 
service to our community and future generations through her 
environmental stewardship and example of civic engagement.

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