[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5855]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          REMEMBERING INA BOON

 Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, Missouri has lost a true crusader of 
the civil rights movement. Ina Boon passed away Monday, February 27, in 
St. Louis, at the age of 90 after dedicating her life to fighting and 
advocating for justice and equality through her long tenure at the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP.
  Ina Boon started as a volunteer for the St. Louis Branch of the 
NAACP. She quickly demonstrated her tenacity and strong leadership 
skills to work her way up in the organization. Ms. Boon's work included 
a position at the NAACP headquarters in New York, but she is best known 
for the work she did as the region IV director of the national NAACP 
office. In that role, she became the national office's longest serving 
regional director.
  Over the years, she became a fearless advocate and organizer, helping 
to address racial inequities in the workplace. Even in the face of 
adversity, she was not deterred. When her counterpart Medgar Evers was 
killed in 1963, Ina Boon sent her children to live with family members 
in Wisconsin, while she continued to push for changes. For over 50 
years, Ina Boon worked in various roles for the NAACP, never ceasing 
and always full of energy, even up to her retirement in her late 70s.
  As a true civil servant, Ina Boon continued to give back after her 
retirement through her work on many St. Louis area boards such as the 
Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Center, the St. Louis Black 
Roundtable, and the Eastern Star Missionary Baptist Church. She even 
provided her expertise to help the local St. Louis County NAACP, where 
she volunteered to serve as their branch president.
  Ina Boon is survived by her son Gentry Trotter, founder of Heat-Up 
St. Louis/Cool Down St. Louis. Like his mother, Gentry Trotter saw the 
needs in the community and stepped up to address them. His organization 
focuses on regional energy assistance to help as a safety net to 
prevent low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities from 
losing their heat or air-conditioning in times of freezing temperatures 
or the excessive summer heat. The organization also offers energy: 
efficiency education and advocates for public engagement regarding 
utility rates, health, and safety issues. Ina Boon leaves behind 
nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and seven great- and great-great-
grandchildren. She will be missed by many, but her work and efforts 
will never be forgotten.

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