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[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 161 (Friday, October 3, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2224-E2225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                         TRIBUTE TO ELLEN LANER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 3, 2008

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
good friend and constituent, the late Ellen Laner of Mission Hills, 
Kansas, who passed away on September 28th.
  Ellen Laner led a long and productive life, which served to make 
Johnson County, Kansas, a much better place for her neighbors and 
friends. Ellen was a committed and passionate community volunteer who 
also was very politically engaged. She was named Citizen of the Year by 
the United Community Services; twice named Volunteer of the Year by the 
Johnson County Mental Health Association; received the Hannah B. 
Solomon Award from the National Council of Jewish Women; awarded the 
Stand Up, Speak Out Award from the Mainstream Coalition; helped in the 
establishment of Johnson County Community College and served as a 
member of its Board of Trustees; had many years of service in the 
Kansas League of Women Voters, eventually serving as President; was 
very active in the establishment and growth of the Mainstream Coalition 
and served as President; volunteered as a Board Member of the Johnson 
County Library Foundation; was an active volunteer for Planned 
Parenthood of Kansas City and Western Missouri, working as its Resource 
Development Director and for a short time was its Executive Director; 
and was a founder of the Johnson County Coalition for Prevention of 
Child Abuse, now known as Sunflower House.
  Ellen Laner was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, the daughter of Noland 
and Isabel Blass. She came to the Kansas City area in 1950 after her 
marriage to S. Harvey ``Bud'' Laner, who preceded her in death in 1980. 
She was a member of the New Reform Temple and Oakwood Country Club, and 
loved golf, bridge, dogs, and professional sports. She is survived by 
her son and daughter-in-law, Joel and Marsha Laner, and their three 
children, Allison Laner, Blass Laner and Duncan Laner of Kansas City, 
Missouri. She also is survived by her brother and his wife, Gus and 
Patricia Blass of Little Rock, and their children, Gus Blass, III, and 
his wife, Becky; by her sister Constance Blass O'Neill and her husband, 
Chris; her sister-in-law, Barbara Phillips of Little Rock and her 
children, Beverly Wittenberg and Peter Phillips and her great-nieces 
and nephews.
  Ellen Laner's civic accomplishments range far and wide, and our 
community owes her a great deal for her leadership in making Johnson 
County the strong and caring community that it is today. I was a part 
of the same generation of many young women, educated in colleges across 
the Nation in the 1960s, who ended up in Johnson County as the wives of 
the young men who worked in various professions and businesses in the 
Kansas City metropolitan area. Motivated by the political turbulence of 
the 1960s, we wanted to do more for

[[Page E2225]]

our community and Nation, in addition to raising our families. Ellen's 
leadership in the League of Women Voters inspired both men and women to 
use our education to volunteer, seek public office, and take leadership 
roles in improving our government, our libraries, and our public 
schools, and the lives of those who were not as fortunate as us. Many 
of the women who have served Johnson County so exceptionally well as 
mayors, city council members, school board members and legislators were 
motivated, supported and inspired by Ellen Laner.
  Madam Speaker, we were fortunate to know Ellen Laner, and we are so 
very grateful for what she contributed to our lives. I am grateful to 
this House for giving me the opportunity to share this tribute with my 
fellow Members of Congress and with the American people.

                          ____________________
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