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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF RUTH PASSEN
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HON. NANCY PELOSI
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, April 29, 2019
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a beautiful
life. Ruth Passen was a pioneer of community journalism, a champion for
social justice and a strong voice for our American values of equality,
fairness and progress. Her passing is a great official loss for our San
Francisco community and a deep personal loss for all who were blessed
to call her friend.
Ruth Passen was a San Franciscan through and through. Born and raised
in the city of Saint Francis, she dedicated herself to being an
``instrument of peace'' and spent a lifetime sowing love, hope, light
and joy in our community and around the world.
Ruth made a difference in so many ways. Together with her dear
friend, the late, legendary Enola Maxwell, Ruth helped build the
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, known as the Nabe, into a
transformative beacon of hope, healing and help for so many in our
community. Understanding the unifying power of the arts, Ruth was also
an inspired, effective force in bringing her beloved jazz and theater
to the Nabe and our wider Bay Area community.
Ruth earned the deep respect of all as an innovator and a leader of
local journalism. In 1970, she made history as she launched the Potrero
View, which has become San Francisco's longest running community
newspaper, as well as one of its most respected. Ruth's visionary
leadership over four decades has brought local news and community
services to countless families in our City, and has helped set the
standard for editorial integrity in the field.
All San Franciscans can take great pride in the progress that Ruth
advanced for equality, fairness and freedom around the world. She
worked tirelessly to bring peace and justice to communities in need,
first through the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom
during the 1960s and 70s, and then through her work with the people of
El Salvador in the 1980s.
She brought that same persistence and dedication to progress to the
labor movement, where along with her late respected and remarkable
husband Joe, she was a fearless voice for the rights of working men and
women throughout the West Coast, on the waterfront, in the farms and in
all workplaces. Through their involvement in Young Democrats, Ruth and
Joe also helped bring more progressive voices to Washington, ensuring
that the People's House would serve the American people.
San Francisco and America have been blessed by the life and
leadership of Ruth Passen. May it be a comfort to her son Marc,
daughter-in-law Dianne, granddaughters Natalie and Teresa, and all her
loved ones that Ruth and her beloved Joe have been reunited. May it
also be a comfort that so many mourn with and pray for them during this
sad time.
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