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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING MARILEE K. SCAFF
______
HON. JUDY CHU
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, April 22, 2019
Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the
life of Marilee K. Scaff, who passed away on March 8th, 2019 at the age
of 103. Ms. Scaff was an active member of the Claremont community for
nearly 70 years and her passion for public service, education, and the
outdoors will leave a positive impact for years to come.
Marilee Scaff was born in San Marcos, Texas, on November 27th, 1915.
As her father worked on the Southern Pacific Railroad, her family lived
in several communities across the southwest, instilling in her an early
love of nature. She eventually settled in Austin for college on a Girl
Scouts scholarship, setting her sights on a sociology degree, and later
graduate degrees in American history and educational psychology. Dr.
Scaff's passion for learning and education would play an ongoing role
in her life, as she taught at El Roble Intermediate School in my
district, held faculty positions at the University of Iowa and the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, acted as First Chair of the
Clinebell Counseling Center at Claremont School of Theology, and served
twice on the Claremont Board of Education. Dr. Scaff also travelled
broadly, serving as a missionary in the Philippines with her husband,
Alvin, beginning in 1940. She returned to teach there 40 years later,
after living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for several years in the
interim.
The Scaffs lived in Claremont periodically beginning in the 1960s.
Ms. Scaff was an active member of the Claremont United Church of
Christ, where she established the nursery school, the Claremont and Los
Angeles Leagues of Women Voters, and a founding member of the United
Nations Association. She was closely involved with the Rancho Santa Ana
Botanic Garden through the end of her life, where she gave tours and
taught school children about local wildlife. It was this same
enthusiasm that she brought to community efforts to save the Thompson
Creek Spreading Grounds in Claremont, as well as other sustainability
measures, making her the city's resident expert on water issues. When a
ballot measure to allow Claremont to acquire their own water system was
placed on the ballot in 2014, Dr. Scaff, who was 99 years old at the
time, was chosen to lead the campaign effort, bringing that measure to
victory by a 71 percent margin.
Marilee Scaff was an integral member of the Claremont community for
more than half a century, and because of tireless dedication to service
and working towards a better community for all of us, I was honored to
recognize her as our 2015 Woman of Distinction for the City of
Claremont. She will be missed by her three children, five
grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and the entire community she
loved so dearly, but her legacy will be felt for years to come.
____________________