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“TRIBUTE TO M. GAYLE CORY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S4180 on April 25, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO M. GAYLE CORY
Mr. DASCHLE. The Senate family this week lost one of its own, Gayle Cory, the former postmaster of the Senate, who died of cancer on Wednesday evening.
Gayle's Senate career spanned 35 years. Beginning as a receptionist with Senator Ed Muskie in 1959, Gayle became the executive assistant to our former majority leader, George Mitchell, before her appointment to the Senate post office.
As an officer of the Senate, Gayle reformed and strengthened the operations of the Senate post office, improving service to Members and assuring the strong financial controls so essential as a matter of public trust. The Senate lost a dedicated employee of enormous personal integrity when Gayle resigned in January of 1995.
It was not her work, however, that defined Gayle. It was her personal warmth and her generous spirit. Gayle gave of herself and her time to all who asked--colleagues at work, constituents from Maine, citizens from around the entire country. All who turned to Gayle Cory knew they were heard and that she would do her best.
She was realistic about people's behavior but optimistic about their potential. Perhaps that is why she dedicated all of her life to public service. Gayle believed that if people were given the opportunity to behave well, most of them would, so she made it her business to create such opportunities for everyone who came into contact with her. Perhaps that is why Gayle was so well loved by so many. She brought out the best in everyone.
On behalf of the Senate family, I extend my condolences to Don Cory, Gayle's husband, to her daughters and stepchildren, to her brother, Buzz Fitzgerald, and her sister, Carol. Our prayers and our thoughts are with them.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. President, many of us in the Senate are today mourning the loss of a very dear friend, long-time aide to Senators Edmund S. Muskie and George J. Mitchell, and former Postmaster of the U.S. Senate.
Gayle Cory died Wednesday night, succumbing to the cancer that caused her retirement in January 1995 after a too brief career as Senate Postmaster. Her death comes nearly 1 month after the death of her dear friend, former Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie. Gayle was a member of Senator Muskie's staff from the very beginning of his Senate career in 1959, and she was at his side throughout his years in the Senate. She was one of a very few Senate aides who moved with him to the Department of State when Senator Muskie was appointed Secretary of State in 1980. But their friendship, and Gayle's friendship with Jane Muskie and the Muskie children, continued long after Senator Muskie left public life.
She returned to the Senate to join the staff of former Senator George J. Mitchell. She served as his top personal assistant until he became Senate Majority Leader, when he appointed her Postmaster of the U.S. Senate. As Senate Postmaster, Gayle oversaw many improvements in the post office security operations. She also instituted many reforms which effectively preserved the integrity of the Senate Post Office during the same period of time that the House postal services were engulfed by scandal.
Gayle Cory was very special to all of us fortunate enough to know her and work with her. She did not have acquaintances * * * to meet Gayle was to be her friend, and all of us, regardless of our political affiliation, knew we could count on her help and her wise counsel. Few of us in this body today understand the workings of the Senate as thoroughly as Gayle did, and she used her knowledge and experience to work for the people of Maine. She loved Maine deeply, and the people of Maine were always her first priority. She was the first contact for many Mainers coming to Washington, and even those meeting her for the first time were made to feel welcome, to know they had found a friend. In fact recently, my office was visited by a family from Gayle's hometown of Bath, whose sole reason for stopping by was to inquire about Gayle.
Gayle worked hard and successfully over the years but she never sought personal recognition for her efforts. She was loved and deeply respected by members of my staff, many of whom kept in touch with her after her retirement. We are deeply saddened by her passing. We have lost a wonderful friend, but she will live on in our memories and in our hearts.
I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Gayle's husband, Don, to their two daughters, Carole and Melissa, and to her brother and sister, Duane Fitzgerald and Carole Rouillard of Bath, ME.
I extend my sympathies, too, to Gayle's extended family here in the Senate--the staffs of former Senators Edmund S. Muskie and George Mitchell, and the staff of the Senate Post Office. They, too, have lost a member of their family.
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