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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E885]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE OF DR. ELOISE KAILIN
______
HON. DEREK KILMER
of washington
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Mr. KILMER. Madam Speaker, I would like to take a moment to
commemorate the life of Dr. Eloise Whittlesey Kailin--a champion of
public health, good governance, and environmental issues who recently
passed away on June 1, 2019 at the age of 100.
Dr. Kailin was born in New London, Connecticut, but moved frequently
during her father's career in the U.S. Coast Guard. From the age of
eleven, she expressed her desire to become a physician, and that dream
was realized when she became one of the few women accepted into the
George Washington University Medical School class of 1943.
She married Harvey Kailin, Sr. in 1942, the year before her
graduation, and began her distinguished medical career in Washington,
D.C. She became board certified in allergy and immunology, served for
over thirty years as a writer and editor of medical abstracts for the
Journal of Allergy, and testified on Capitol Hill for the Clean Air
Act. After the family moved to Maryland, Dr. Kailin developed a
friendship with Rachel Carson, author of the seminal 1962 work about
the impact of pesticides on the food chain, Silent Spring. This
friendship likely strengthened Dr. Kailin's commitment to addressing
environmental issues both for the health of her patients and for people
throughout our country.
Dr. Kailin and her husband retired to Sequim in 1971 based on her
recollection of ``Sunny Sequim'' from high school years in Seattle in
the 1930s. Living on the North Olympic Peninsula, she saw the critical
need to protect its pristine beauty and spent nearly fifty years in
service to that cause.
Shortly after their arrival in Sequim, the Kailins became involved
in the fight against a proposed nuclear power plant on the Miller
Peninsula east of Sequim, which led to the founding of Protect the
Peninsula's Future (PPF)--a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of
the North Olympic Peninsula. The opposition prevailed, and the site
once considered for that power plant is now a part of Miller Peninsula
State Park. Dr. Kailin remained a board member of the organization she
helped found until her passing.
Through PPF, Dr. Kailin was instrumental in addressing countless
environmental concerns. Many believe one of their most significant
achievements was the fifteen-year court battle with the city of Sequim
over sewage treatment. In 1998, that fight resulted in the construction
of a state-of-the-art water reclamation facility which was expanded in
2010, nearly doubling its capacity.
This centenarian was the recipient of many awards including the
Clallam County Community Service Award, People for Puget Sound's Warren
Magnuson Puget Marine Protection Award, Washington Environmental
Council's Environmental Heroes Award, and the Eleanor Stopps
Environmental Leadership Award. Before her passing, she was also
recognized by the City of Sequim.
I am humbled to speak in recognition of Dr. Eloise Kailin--who is
often referred to as the ``matriarch of environmental activism'' on the
North Olympic Peninsula. I join her children, Harvey, David, and Janet,
and the citizens of our region's beautiful peninsula in mourning her
passing, but also in recognizing that her good work will contribute to
the health and well-being of the citizens in this gem of the Northwest
for generations to come.
____________________
