E2318 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks November 20, 2008 

universities throughout the U.S. have also 

been granted. 

Throughout her life, Dolores Huerta has 

proven to be a highly effective community 

leader whose commitment to justice and public service has proven beneficial for farm workers, working families and women throughout 

the nation. At the age of 78, Dolores’ relentless work continues. We thank her for her 

noble service and wish her continued success 

for the future. 

f 

IN HONOR OF DR. CARL KOHRT 

HON. DEBORAH PRYCE OF OHIO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, November 20, 2008 

Ms. PRYCE. Madam Speaker, on behalf of 

the citizens of Ohio, I want to recognize the 

accomplishments of Dr. Carl Kohrt, as he retires as president and chief executive officer of 

Battelle Memorial Institute. 

Carl assumed the leadership of Battelle in 

2001 after a long career at Kodak. He immediately put his experience from the private 

sector into practice at the world’s largest nonprofit independent research and development 

organization. Over the past eight years, 

Battelle has grown substantially in business 

volume and impact. Battelle has won competitions to manage and operate research and development laboratories for the Department of 

Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, 

and international organizations. 

Battelle has also been selected for many 

projects in support of various national and 

homeland security programs. In fact, within a 

few weeks of Carl’s arrival at Battelle in the 

summer of 2001, he was able to marshal 

Battelle’s suite of capabilities to help the 

United States respond to the impact of the 

9/11 attacks. Battelle was later asked by the 

White House to provide staff to help with the 

creation of the Department of Homeland Security. 

Carl Kohrt has also enhanced Battelle’s corporate role in the City of Columbus and the 

State of Ohio. He developed a strategic partnership with The Ohio State University. 

Battelle has supported many civic enterprises 

on behalf of the State of Ohio, the City of Columbus, Franklin County, and other organizations, such as COSI. 

The son of schoolteachers, Dr. Kohrt, has 

left a major imprint on Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in 

Ohio through the Metro School, which is a 

partnership with The Ohio State University and 

the school districts of Franklin County. Battelle 

has also joined with the Bill and Melinda 

Gates Foundation, as well as other educational entities in the State of Ohio, to develop additional schools with a focus on STEM 

education throughout Ohio. Carl’s indelible imprint on Ohio will be a signature effort on behalf of STEM education. 

The way to judge one’s impact on an organization or community is to measure one’s 

personal and corporate accomplishments. 

Through this lens, it is easy to conclude that 

Carl has been an outstanding leader for 

Battelle as an organization and an outstanding 

leader in the Columbus metropolitan area. 

Carl has made a significant difference, and we 

extend to him and his family best wishes and 

good health in his retirement. 

IN RECOGNITION OF SHERYL 

YOUNG AND COMMUNITY 

GATEPATH 

HON. JACKIE SPEIER OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, November 20, 2008 

Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I would like 

our chamber to recognize a giant in the nonprofit community, Sheryl Young, Chief Executive Officer of Community Gatepath, which 

serves San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa 

Clara Counties. 

Sheryl oversees one of the largest and oldest local non-profit organizations in our nation. 

Each year, the organization serves more than 

8,000 children, adults, seniors and their families, as well as the countless professionals 

who support them. For close to 90 years, 

Community Gatepath, with a budget of $11 

million, has provided programs, support services, education, and information to those most 

vulnerable in our society. Sheryl’s staff of 150 

employees are dedicated to making their 

motto more than just words. These good people have their hearts committed to Turning 

Disabilities into Possibilities. 

Sheryl Young has more than two decades 

of managerial experience and her keen business sense has lifted Community Gatepath to 

new levels. She has an almost unnatural ability to build sustainable non-profit programs. 

Sheryl has drawn from the best of non-profit 

and for-profit management styles to craft the 

unique organizational model that works so well 

for Community Gatepath. Sheryl is a gifted administrator who leads by example and is always poised to attempt new programs or explore new tools to better service the developmentally disabled community. She is an inspiration to her staff, board of directors and the 

community leaders who work with her. 

As proof of Sheryl’s standing in our community, ‘‘The Sheryl Young Community Impact 

Award’’ has been established to pay tribute to 

persons, businesses and organizations who 

make an impact in their community by helping 

people with disabilities. 

Sheryl is a graduate of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive 

Program for Non-Profit Leaders. She also 

earned a Masters of Public Health from the 

University of California at Berkeley, a Masters 

Degree in Special Education from Ball State 

University and a Bachelors Degree in Political 

Science from Purdue University. 

Madam Speaker, I first met Sheryl while she 

worked for San Mateo County and I was a 

County Supervisor. A member of my staff had 

a sister who gave birth to a child with Down 

Syndrome, named Heidi. The new mother was 

grief-stricken because she had been told by 

doctors that she would be unable to raise 

Heidi by herself and should turn her daughter 

over to a residential treatment center. I 

reached out to Sheryl and she did not disappoint. She called numerous community 

agencies, eventually contacting Poplar Center, 

which was the predecessor to Community 

Gatepath, and asked if there was any other alternative to giving up the child. Not only was 

the organization able to help Heidi, but they 

nabbed a remarkable volunteer, too. Sheryl 

was so impressed with the program at Poplar 

Center that she stayed involved. Shortly thereafter, Sheryl’s heart and her head convinced 

her to leave county government and accept an 

offer to lead the Poplar Center. 

By the way, Madam Speaker, I am pleased 

to note that this year, Heidi will graduate from 

high school after having lived with her family 

since she was born. 

Madam Speaker, I have known Sheryl 

Young in many capacities. She has been my 

constituent, my colleague, my boss and, more 

significantly, my dear friend. Sheryl has been 

a loving role model to her daughter, Megan 

Viera, who, with Sheryl’s support, has graduated from college and is ready to begin a life 

of her own. 

Sheryl is at once kind, fun-loving and intensely driven. When you work with Sheryl, 

you work hard, but you also enjoy every 

minute of it. 

Madam Speaker, please join me in thanking 

Sheryl Young for being a tenacious, spirited, 

inspired leader who, no doubt, lifts us all. 

f 

IN MEMORY OF MARSHALL 

PARKER 

HON. JOE WILSON 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, November 20, 2008 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam 

Speaker, on Saturday, November 15th, South 

Carolina lost a distinguished statesman with 

the death of former State Senator Marshall 

Parker of Oconee County. 

A thoughtful tribute to his courageous service was published November 18, 2008, in The 

State newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina, 

professionally authored by John O’Connor. 

[From The State, Nov. 18, 2008] 

ONE OF FIRST ELECTED DEMOCRATS WHO

LATER RAN AS A REPUBLICAN DIES

(By John O’Connor) 

Marshall Parker, who helped blaze a path 

for state Republicans in the 1960s, died at his 

Oconee County home Saturday. He was 86. 

Parker was among the first elected Democrats to run later as a Republican, twice losing U.S. Senate contests against Ernest 

‘‘Fritz’’ Hollings in 1966 and 1968. 

Parker was born in Seaboard, N.C., but was 

first elected to the Seneca City Council and 

Oconee County Board of School Trustees before winning a state Senate seat in 1955. 

Parker served a decade in the S.C. House. 

‘‘He taught me about working hard,’’ said 

grandson Burl Williams, who frequently 

mended fences at Parker’s farm. ‘‘He had a 

presence...you could see people looked up to 

him.’’ 

In 1966, Parker decided to become a Republican and challenge friend and former colleague Hollings for the U.S. Senate seat left 

vacant by Olin Johnston’s death. The race 

was decided by several thousand votes, with 

some of Parker’s supporters believing he had 

won. 

‘‘If that race had gone another few weeks, 

(Parker) might have won it,’’ said Crawford 

Cook, who worked on both Parker’s and Hollings’ campaigns. ‘‘There were none any 

tougher than that first one.’’ 

Parker believed his role in creating the 

state technical college system was his most 

important accomplishment, friends said. 

Others also credited him as an example for 

those switching to the Republican Party. 

Williams believed that Parker, as a dairy 

farm owner, understood early that the Republican Party better matched his ideals. 

‘‘There were people who stood up and were 

candidates even though they couldn’t win,’’ 


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