[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12671]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING KAREN KRAUSE, PROGRESS OHIO'S BARBARA KLASS SOKOL AWARD 
                                 WINNER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 30, 2013

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a woman of 
remarkable achievement, Karen Krause, of Toledo Ohio. This weekend I 
was privileged to join Karen as a 2013 honoree of Progress Ohio, from 
which she received the Barbara Klass Sokol Award. The award is given to 
a person who embodies the Columbus, Ohio activist's ``high level of 
energy, humanitarianism, love of the arts, concern for the environment; 
who cared deeply about good government and spent a great deal of time 
and effort working to get good people elected at the state and local 
level, who was a champion for a fair and just society for all.'' Though 
this description is of the activist herself, it could just as easily 
have been written in describing Karen Krause, a woman who has spent her 
life defining public service.
  After graduating from Toledo's Whitmer High School, Karen received 
her nursing training from the Maumee Valley Hospital School of Nursing. 
She went on to obtain her undergraduate degree from the University of 
Toledo and a Masters of Public Health Degree from the University of 
Michigan. She also attended the University of Toledo Law School.
  Karen began her public service on the front lines, as a public health 
nurse with the Lucas County Health Department. Though her jobs changed, 
Karen never left the front lines in service to Ohio's vulnerable 
people. Karen became the Director of Nursing for the Lucas County 
Health Department in 1967 and remained at the helm until 1993. During 
part of those years she also served as a consultant to the Ohio 
Department of Health. Her advice and counsel was sought by many as an 
expert on matters of health care.
  Following her ``retirement'' from the health department, Karen became 
the principal consultant at Community Health Consulting. She also 
served as Executive Director of the Mildred Bayer Clinic for two years. 
Rounding out her public service, Karen lent herself as Executive 
Director of Toledo District Nurses Association, Ohio AFL-CIO NWO 
Retiree Coordinator, Ohio Health Policy Consultant in the 2004 
Presidential Campaign, Social Justice Chair of Toledo Area Jobs with 
Justice, and as President of AFSCME Retirees in Wood & Lucas Counties. 
All the while she has served 32 different organizations in various 
ways. She has been wise counsel to myself and many others, sharing her 
knowledge of health care and the need for affordable, available 
coverage. As if that isn't enough, Karen has also given to our 
community as one of the most capable and caring elected officials, 
having served on the Lucas County Educational Service Center since 
election in 1999 and on which she has served four terms as Board 
President.
  Throughout, Karen has opened her heart and home to others. Those 
young people are now grown with children of their own, and Karen is now 
a proud grandma. We share with her family our pride in her 
accomplishments and in the receipt of the honor most recently bestowed. 
The Barbara Klass Sokol Award is a special award and this year it has 
been given to a very special woman.
  Karen Krause's legacy in our community runs deep. As was noted when 
the presentation was made this weekend, Karen is truly ``a champion of 
the people,'' a mantle she wears most humbly. She has travelled a path 
of her own and brought up many others along the way. Her servant's 
heart is her true gift, and one she has shared willingly in more than 
fifty years of public service. She has truly practiced Christ's Word 
that ``Whatsover you do to the least among you, that you do unto me.'' 
Her efforts have earned her the respect of those of us lucky enough to 
call her friend. This weekend's recognition was a chance for all of us 
to say, most heartfelt, ``Thank you Karen.''

                          ____________________