[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11309]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING PETER M. WEGE

  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, on July 7, Michigan lost a great 
champion. Over his 94 years, Peter M. Wege accomplished many lifetimes 
worth of goals. He helped the company his father founded, Steelcase, 
into one of the world's leading office furniture companies, employing 
thousands of Michiganians and helping cement the status of Grand Rapids 
as the world's hub of office furniture making. And had he done no more 
than lead a great company and provide jobs to great workers, he would 
be worthy of celebration.
  But as his hometown paper, the Grand Rapids Press, described him with 
typical West Michigan understatement, Pete Wege was ``an unconventional 
industrialist.'' In a community that has benefited greatly from the 
public spirit of its business leaders, few have rivaled the impact of 
this remarkable man. Always aware of his good fortune and of the needs 
of his community, he poured money that could have made him one of the 
world's wealthiest people into the Grand Rapids area and beyond. 
Libraries and schools, theaters and museums, churches and civic 
buildings, parks and wilderness areas all benefitted from his 
generosity and vision.
  And he had those two qualities--generosity and vision--in abundance. 
He was more than a philanthropist; he was a man on a mission. That 
mission began when he was on another kind of mission, serving his 
country during World War II, when he flew as a transport pilot. 
Piloting an aircraft to Pittsburgh during the war, the landing field 
was so shrouded in smog that he couldn't land. That polluted air 
launched him on a lifetime of dedication to environmental causes. He 
created the Wege Foundation in 1967 to promote educational, cultural, 
environmental and scientific efforts. Two years later, he established 
the Center for Environmental Study. He wrote two books laying out his 
argument that environmental stewardship would boost the economy, rather 
than harming growth.
  Perhaps nowhere was Pete Wege's impact more strongly felt than in his 
love for the Great Lakes. In 2004, he sponsored the Healing Our Waters 
conference in Michigan. His agenda was simple and powerful: ``The lakes 
are our life support system, and we've got to treat them that way,'' he 
said. The conference brought together environmental leaders from across 
the country, and led to publication of a report on the need for a plan 
to restore the Great Lakes. That powerful call helped lead to the Great 
Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has devoted millions of dollars to 
habitat restoration and environmental cleanup on the lakes. The Healing 
our Waters Coalition continues today to advocate for restoration and 
preservation of the lakes Pete Wege cared about so deeply.
  Peter Wege dedicated his life to preserving this world's natural 
beauty, and to promoting the beauty that humankind creates. His legacy 
will live in the cleaner waters of the Great Lakes he loved, and in the 
artistic and scientific endeavors he helped to promote. He represents 
the best part of Michigan, the best part of America, that part that 
celebrates what makes our world and its people so irreplaceable. I will 
miss him and Michigan will miss him.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I too wish to pay tribute to a great 
industrialist who became an even greater philanthropist, a passionate 
protector of our Great Lakes, and a dear friend, Peter Wege, who passed 
away yesterday at the age of 94.
  A man of profound faith, with a deep love for his country, Peter was 
born in Grand Rapids, MI. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, 
Peter left the University of Michigan to serve his country as a multi-
engine pilot for the Army Air Force.
  When he returned from World War II, he became a salesman for an 
office furniture company founded by his father. He wasn't given any 
breaks--he was forced to rise through the company by virtue of his own 
hard work, not his name.
  He eventually became vice chairman of that company, whose name was 
changed to Steelcase, Inc., in 1954. The company became the world's 
largest manufacturer of office furniture, and Peter was eager to use 
the wealth he had earned to make a difference in the many causes that 
mattered to him.
  Through the Wege Foundation, Peter made generous donations to the 
arts, to education, to health care, and to other human services.
  His greatest passion, however, was the environment and our beautiful 
Great Lakes.
  When he gave money to be used for the construction of a building, 
Peter never asked to see his name in gold. He only wanted the building 
to be green: He insisted on sustainable, LEED-certified design.
  I can remember how proud Peter was to give me a book he had written. 
The title ``Economicology,'' was a word he coined to describe his 
belief that you could make profits without making pollution.
  As an outgrowth of his love for Michigan, Peter was a champion for 
the Great Lakes: His sponsorship of the ``Healing Our Waters'' 
conference brought conservationists and environmentalists from around 
the world. This helped provide the vision for the Great Lakes 
Restoration Initiative, which has provided over $1 billion in funding 
for nearly 3,000 projects around the Great Lakes since 2010.
  Throughout his life, Peter strived to make the world a better place 
for future generations. In that respect--as in every other endeavor he 
devoted himself to--Peter was an unqualified success.
  He will be deeply missed, but Peter's generous spirit will live on.
  Peter will be remembered every time a child plays in the sand on one 
of our beautiful Michigan beaches.
  Peter will be remembered every time a family gathers around a dinner 
table to enjoy fish caught in one of our beautiful Great Lakes or the 
many fresh, clean rivers and streams across the region.
  Peter will be remembered with every refreshing glass of clean water 
that comes from the tap and every invigorating breath of fresh air.
  He will never be forgotten.

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