[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7507-7508]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO JANE WINKLER DYCHE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a 
distinguished Kentuckian who is a leader in her community as well as a 
good friend. Jane Winkler Dyche is an accomplished attorney in her 
hometown of London, KY, as well as the master commissioner for the 
Laurel County Circuit Court and an active volunteer for many local 
causes.
  Dyche, the daughter of educators, originally trained as a teacher, 
earning a degree in home economics education from the University of 
Kentucky. She worked for 13 years in food and nutrition across Kentucky 
before earning her law degree at UK. She is now in her 21st year of 
practicing law.
  Dyche is well known in the region for her service on the board of the 
Kentucky Bar Association, including a stint as president. She served on 
the board of the Kentucky Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company and is a 
dedicated volunteer for Kentucky Educational Television. Dyche also 
works on behalf of the Laurel County Public Library and the God's 
Pantry Food Bank.
  Jane and her husband, Robert, have two children, Robert and John. 
They currently practice law together in the house that her husband grew 
up in, accompanied by their office dog, Stella.
  I want to commend my good friend Jane Winkler Dyche for her 
commitment to her community and to Kentucky. For many years, she has 
been a devoted supporter of worthy causes and a fixture in the 
Commonwealth's legal circles. Still an educator at heart, she continues 
to share her wisdom with others every day.
  An area publication, the Times-Tribune, recently published a profile 
of Jane Winkler Dyche. I ask unanimous consent that the article be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Times-Tribune, May 15, 2016]

 Tri-County Profiles: London Attorney Considers Herself an Educator in 
                               all Things

                       (By Christina M. Bentley)

       ``As a lawyer, I still teach people,'' said Jane Winkler 
     Dyche, Laurel County attorney and master commissioner, a 
     position in which she assists the Laurel Circuit Court in the 
     enforcement of judgments.
       ``I'm just teaching the jury, or I'm educating the judge in 
     my version of the case,'' she said.
       Dyche was raised by educators. Her father, Thomas Winkler, 
     was a teacher and school administrator in the Bell County 
     School System and her mother, Mildred, was a career nurse 
     who, at the request of the Pineville Community Hospital, 
     started the Pineville School for Practical Nursing, which was 
     later absorbed into the Kentucky Community College System. 
     Both the Winklers were WWII veterans--Mildred served as a 
     nurse in the Women's Army Corps--and met when Thomas Winkler 
     was being repatriated from his service in the Army Air Corps.
       ``They were incredible people,'' Dyche said. ``I was very 
     blessed to have parents who saw the importance of education . 
     . . I think being the child of a forward-thinking woman, 
     someone who actually started this hospital nursing program . 
     . . very little I do could begin to be close to touching or 
     hitting milestones like she did. I mean she was really very 
     forward-thinking, and there was really the expectation of 
     `you need to do the best you can do.' They encouraged free 
     thought and travel. They dragged us about a lot. That's 
     something I think--that wanderlust, the opportunity to see 
     things, new things, it's a huge world. I think sometimes I 
     see that folks' vision is not as wide as it needs to be. It's 
     a big world. It's a BIG world, and if we're too quick to 
     close our eyes or our ears, we're going to miss out on so 
     much.''
       Dyche herself has been very open to new opportunities in 
     her life. Like her father, she trained as a teacher, getting 
     a degree in home economics education from the University of 
     Kentucky and going on to work for 13 years with the 
     Cooperative Extension Service as an area extension agent for 
     foods and nutrition, a job in which her primary role was to 
     train others.
       ``I was an area extension agent, which is really different 
     (from being a county extension agent),'' Dyche said. ``I 
     eventually actually worked from Harlan to Harrison 
     (counties). I had no supervisory capacity, but I trained. I 
     taught people how to teach. I taught the paraprofessionals 
     how to teach the material to the low-income families, and to 
     do that I made home visits with every single one of the 
     assistants I taught twice a year, so I went in the homes with 
     them . . . I think that's where we're losing things now. I 
     think that there aren't enough people willing to say, `Okay, 
     if you want to change, how do we help you do that? Tell us 
     what we need.' How do we make that happen? You can't do it by 
     just giving people stuff. We've got to help people do with 
     what they have.''
       She met her husband, London native and fellow attorney 
     Robert Dyche, during her work with the Extension Service, and 
     said that that's how she made her way to London. The couple 
     have two children, Robert, who has an undergraduate degree 
     from Centre College and an MBA from the University of 
     Cincinnati and now works in Atlanta, and John, who is a 2016 
     graduate of Georgetown College. The elder Robert Dyche is a 
     former district court judge and also served on the Court of 
     Appeals. She said the law was something she, too, had always 
     been interested in, so she took advantage of the opportunity 
     granted her by the Extension Service to take study leave in 
     1992.
       ``I grew up in a little town where there were some good 
     lawyers that I admired. It was something I wanted to do. Once 
     Robbie got an 8-year term on the Supreme Court, our family 
     had at least one steady job, and that gave me the freedom to 
     try something new, and he was supportive in that. So I went 
     back to UK and came home on weekends. It was an adventure,'' 
     Dyche said.
       She is now in her 21st year of practicing law.
       ``I love to practice law,'' she said, ``It's very 
     interesting. I think sometimes it's sort of like a muscle, 
     you know--the more you use it the stronger it gets. And I 
     think to some degree our energy is the same way. If you don't 
     exercise, you don't feel like exercising. That's how I start 
     my day: do my Bible reading and do my exercises. It's pretty 
     simple.''
       Dyche's legal career has been very varied and has offered 
     her opportunities to serve her profession outside the 
     courtroom as well.

[[Page 7508]]

       ``I've had a chance to do a lot of different things. I 
     practiced with a firm'' when I first got out of law school 
     ``and I office-shared with a lot of more experienced lawyers 
     because I didn't feel like, especially with a family, that I 
     needed to be by myself, so there were other lawyers who were 
     very instrumental in providing nurture to me during that 
     time'' and I had an opportunity to begin serving on the 
     Kentucky Bar Association board of governors,'' she said.
       Dyche was asked to take on the unexpired term of a 
     departing board member and went on to serve as the president 
     of the Kentucky Bar Association, shortly after her husband 
     retired from the Court of Appeals and the two went into 
     practice together, occupying as office space the house that 
     Robert Dyche grew up in, which he and his siblings didn't 
     want to part with after his parents' death.
       ``Robbie came here to practice law as I was beginning my 
     president-elect and president duties with the KBA and he 
     really made it possible for me to take the time that those 
     volunteer positions take because you travel statewide,'' 
     Dyche said. ``And I had the opportunity to meet a lot of 
     people and to preach the gospel of ethical lawyering. Also 
     during that time, I served on the board of directors of the 
     Kentucky Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, a mutual insurance 
     company formed by Kentucky lawyers to serve Kentucky lawyers 
     for our professional responsibility, or professional 
     malpractice, insurance, and that was very interesting. The 
     things you learn!''
       In addition to her service to the profession, Dyche has 
     also spent most of her life as a dedicated volunteer to a 
     number of causes, beginning with Kentucky Educational 
     Television.
       ``(KET) was really my first big volunteer activity as a 
     young bride coming to London, Kentucky,'' she said. ``Leonard 
     Press, who actually started KET, knew my father through 
     Daddy's work with the school system. He could see how public 
     television, especially educational television, could reach 
     into the hills and hollows of southeastern Kentucky because 
     it was such a challenge to bring educational material to 
     people who really needed it, and it was during the time in 
     the '60s of (the Work Experience and Training Program). KET 
     could bring educational programs in where others could not, 
     and my fascination with that program and with the television 
     programs that were offered ``caught my eye as a young adult 
     when they were looking for volunteers here in southeastern 
     Kentucky. I had an opportunity to work for many years as a 
     very active volunteer with them'' I did a lot of Friends of 
     KET activities and was president of that board and then 
     served on their foundation board for a number of years as 
     well, so I guess that kind of got me hooked on how exciting 
     volunteering can be.''
       Dyche also continues to support the Extension Service and 
     Laurel County Public Library. She served on the Site-Based 
     Councils of both North Laurel High School and London 
     Elementary School when her children were students there.
       ``There's just all this stuff you get a chance to do if you 
     keep your eyes open to opportunities to serve, and I think 
     that's incredibly important that we keep our eyes open for 
     those opportunities ``If people want to serve, if they want 
     to volunteer, they will find something. There's something out 
     there for you to do,'' she said.
       Most recently, Dyche's spirit of community service has 
     found its outlet in God's Pantry Food Bank.
       ``(God's Pantry) picks back up on my interest in people who 
     are at risk nutritionally,'' Dyche said. ``There are hungry 
     people here, especially during the downturn in the economy. A 
     number of years ago, I was contacted by representatives of 
     God's Pantry Food Bank in Lexington, and just the other day, 
     we had a `Business After Hours' at our warehouse here in 
     London that opened in December of 2013. Since July 1 of 2015, 
     over 3 million pounds of food has been distributed from 
     there. Last month, this warehouse distributed more than the 
     Lexington one did. I'm all for God's Pantry. This is an 
     agency that is five-star on Charity Navigator for the fifth 
     or sixth year in a row. I think that's really important that 
     people check to see what they're working on. You give them a 
     dollar, they'll turn it into $10 worth of food ``We're really 
     excited that we continue to grow our agencies in this area.''
       Dyche sees the common thread between all of her activities, 
     however, to be teaching people, and she said that is both the 
     hardest and the most satisfying part of her work, whether 
     it's in the classroom or the field, the courtroom or the 
     boardroom.
       ``Teaching people things that they're unfamiliar with and 
     explaining that something may not work out well. That's 
     tough. That's really difficult,'' she said. ``But I like the 
     teaching bit, whether it's teaching about volunteer causes 
     that benefit lots of people or explaining to a client a 
     concept that is new to them. I like smart clients. I like to 
     work with people who are interested in learning how this 
     happened, why this happened, and how we go forward. We've 
     been incredibly blessed to get to work with a lot of 
     interesting folks over time. So I'm still a teacher.''
       For all her work and community service, however, Dyche 
     still finds time to garden and cook, and she's a voracious 
     reader. She also teaches mahjong to a group every week at the 
     Laurel County Public Library.
       Hers is a busy life, but she said she feels a 
     responsibility to keep it that way.
       ``I think if God has blessed us--and I think God has 
     blessed almost everyone--I think we in turn have the 
     opportunity to give back,'' Dyche said. ``God gives us all 
     the same number of hours in a day. It's how we choose to use 
     them.''

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