[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19038]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 70TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY OF ATLEY A. KITCHINGS AND BETTY JANE LANGLEY

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                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 16, 2014

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, today marks the 70th anniversary of a very 
important occasion. On December 16, 1944, two special people, Atley A. 
Kitchings and Betty Jane Langley, were married in Miami, Florida. So, 
today I would like to congratulate, pay tribute to, and honor these two 
great Alabamians.
  I first had the occasion to meet Atley Kitchings when I was a student 
at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, 
Alabama in the late 1980's. Atley was an adjunct professor teaching 
communications law. We became friends while I was a student of his. In 
1995, I was working as Assistant Legal Advisor to then-Governor Fob 
James, and Atley was doing some legal work in Montgomery when our paths 
crossed again. It was at that time that our friendship began to bloom. 
It wasn't long before my wife, Caroline, and I met his lovely wife 
Betty Jane.
  Atley A. Kitchings, Jr. was born in Louisville, KY on June 10, 1925. 
Betty Jane Langley was born on February 13, 1925 in Jackson, MS. Atley 
moved with his parents to Clinton, MS when he was 3 years old. He met 
Betty Jane in high school in Clinton, MS, and they began dating at 
Mississippi College, in Clinton, MS where they were both college 
students. World War II was ongoing, and Atley joined the Navy, 
participating first in the V-12 program at Mississippi College, and 
then earning a commission as an Ensign in the Navy after completing 
midshipman's school at Northwestern University in Chicago on November 
22, 1944.
  Atley was assigned to Miami for further training, and on December 16, 
1944 (the day the Battle of the Bulge began in Europe), he and Betty 
Jane were married at a Baptist Church in downtown Miami, FL. Atley 
shipped out a week later to lead the crew of a sub-chaser out of San 
Juan, Puerto Rico to hunt Nazi U-Boats, although they never found any. 
Atley left active duty in 1946, but he remained in the Navy reserves 
until 1978, when he retired with the rank of Captain.
  Atley graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and has 
had a distinguished legal career, including: a time in the US 
Attorney's office in Birmingham, AL, a 25 year career with AT&T, and 
time with several law firms in Birmingham, including his current firm 
of Wallace, Jordan, Ratliffe and Brandt. He still practices law at the 
age of 89!
  Betty Jane was an elementary school teacher in the early years of 
their marriage. Wanting to spend more time as a homemaker, she stopped 
teaching to raise the couple's two children, Jane Marlea and Atley 
Langley Kitchings.
  Both Atley and Betty Jane are individuals who have touched thousands 
of lives over the years and have been an inspiration to all those who 
have known them and that continues even today. So today, December 16, 
2014, I would like to wish Atley and Betty Jane a sincere 
congratulations on 70 years of marriage. On Sunday afternoon, December 
21, they plan to celebrate this momentous occasion with their family 
and friends in Birmingham, Alabama.
  May God grant them many more years together.

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