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RECOGNIZING JOYCE ``CLARK'' SCHRAM ON HER 90TH BIRTHDAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon) for 5 minutes.
Mr. BACON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of our great constituents and a great friend of mine, Joyce ``Clark'' Schram, who celebrated her 90th birthday on June 24. Joyce grew up on a farm, raising cows for milk and butter and chickens for eggs.
To this day, Joyce remembers the winter day in 1936 that her father told them they had to give up their family farm. Joyce compares that day to a funeral. They loaded up and moved to a new farm near Council Bluffs owned by a wealthy man who knew nothing about farming. The Clark family lived on that farm for about 3 years until they moved to another farm east of Crescent, Iowa.
On December 7, 1941, Joyce remembers celebrating her Uncle Leonard's birthday when his father-in-law, who was listening to the radio, shouted from across the big dining room table: ``We are at war.'' The room became silent. A few hours later, the family learned of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Months after this, Joyce recalls occasionally hearing the air raid sirens from Omaha and how they had to turn off their lights in their houses until an all-clear signal was given.
Because her family had recently moved, Joyce had a 2-mile trek to her new school. She recalls her father making a path through the timber so she could complete the journey on her pony. Joyce's family moved once again to Council Bluffs, where she attended Thomas Jefferson High School and graduated in 1949. Although she graduated with a scholarship, she sacrificed going to college so that her family would not struggle financially.
Joyce then went to work at Omaha Standard Truck Body for a short time before working at an insurance company. In 1952, she quit and moved back to help out at her family's farm, which was devastated by a flood. After helping her parents for a month, Joyce was offered a job at Mutual of Omaha as a claims auditor. During this time, men were hired more than women, but many men were serving in the Korean war, and Joyce had the skills needed to fill this job role.
That fall, Joyce met her future husband, Conrad ``Connie'' Schram, shortly before he was deployed to Korea. When he returned a year later, he and Joyce began their courtship, married in 1955, and moved to a farm south of Valley, Nebraska.
In 1956, their son John was born, and in 1957, their daughter Kathleen was born but tragically passed a month later. In 1960, they had a son, but he also, sadly, died at birth. Despite their losses, Joyce and her husband had more children, twin boys, Tim and Tom, who are both friends, and daughter Mary.
Staying in the family business of farming, Joyce and her husband moved from a hill farm in Papillion, Nebraska, to the Hickey farm, which is on ground west of Joyce's house in the Platte River, Iowa, area. They lived there until 1976 when they built their house that Joyce lives in today.
Joyce's husband unexpectedly passed in 1980, leaving Joyce to raise four children. While her twin boys were away at college, her older son John took over the family farm. Joyce said that it was a miracle that the family was able to survive through these tough times after her husband's passing. Joyce credits her children, her sister, Evelyn, and brother-in-law, Norman, for keeping her strong through those tough months.
Joyce went back to school briefly before working for the Sarpy County Election Commission, where she has worked for 12 years to include as the Sarpy County Election Commissioner. In 1996, she was honored and selected as an electoral college member and has been active in the Republican Party for 35 years.
Joyce Schram has lived an eventful, blessed, and full life surrounded by her family and many friends who love and adore her. It should be noted that to this day, Sunday dinner prepared by Joyce has been a staple in her home as long as anyone can remember, and of course, everyone is welcome for dinner.
On behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives, we wish Joyce all the best and congratulate her as she celebrates 90 years of life.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 165
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