[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15772]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIFE OF PATRICIA YATES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 10, 2017

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in memory of Patricia Yates, 
who passed away on October 2, 2017, after a lifetime of public service 
to her community. Born in San Francisco on February 18, 1921, Mrs. 
Yates was raised in a family with a well-regarded history of public 
service at both the state and local level. This environment helped mold 
in her a passion for service. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1941 
before immediately going to work for the federal government.
  During World War II, Mrs. Yates worked as an economist for the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, and traveled across the country to inspect 
stores and track the prices of vital goods. This exposure to people 
from all walks of life and their diverse lifestyles, contextualized her 
dedication to public service.
  By 1952, Mrs. Yates moved with her husband to Marin County, where she 
would reside for the rest of her life. She attained a Masters of Arts 
in teaching from Dominican University in 1967, and became a teacher at 
San Domenico High School in San Anselmo. There, she endeavored to 
instill her passion for civic engagement into her students, eventually 
becoming the chair of the school's social studies department. After 8 
years of teaching, Mrs. Yates retired in order to pursue her growing 
passion for land and resource conservation in Marin County.
  Following years of volunteer work with Marin Conservation League, 
Mrs. Yates became one of the first women to be elected to the Board of 
the Marin Municipal Water District in 1982. She occupied this role for 
six years over the course of two terms, serving as the Board President 
for two of those years. Even after retiring from the Board in 1991, she 
continued to volunteer her time teaching students and the public about 
ecology and the importance of the natural environment.
  Mr. Speaker, the depth of Mrs. Yates' service to her community has 
left a lasting legacy in Marin County, and she will be dearly missed. 
It is therefore appropriate that we pay tribute to her today and honor 
her many contributions.

                          ____________________