Stulz, Richard

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TRIBUTE TO RICHARD STULZ (House of Representatives - June 05, 1996)

[Page: H5923]

Mr. Speaker, America is a great country because we are a Nation that is filled with great people.

A wonderful person passed away a couple of days ago, a good friend, Dick Stulz, who was one of the border patrol leaders in the San Diego area, was a wonderful citizen, a wonderful husband and had a great family of children and grandchildren who absolutely adored him.

Dick Stulz was a guy who believed very strongly in two things: securing America's border and taking care of his people.

Last time I saw him, he had a border patrol agent under his wing as one of the union leaders of the border patrol, and he was trying to see to it that this gentleman who had been assaulted at his house by illegal aliens would get some protection from his government.

Dick Stulz passed away a couple of days ago and his wife Veronica gave me that call about that tragic situation. She was at his side when he passed away.

I thought it would be important to tell my colleagues a few things about Dick. He was born in Philadelphia, PA. He was one of those guys who joined the Marine Corps in 1952, served with them for 30 years. As his duty stations, both at home and abroad, he was instrumental in establishing the communications networks that are required to support various military activities.

Furthering his dedication to government service, Dick was a lifetime member of the Navy-Marine Corps Military Affiliate Radio System. As such, he participated in several recovery missions during man's historic decade in space, spanning Apollo missions 7 through 17, where he played an integral role in processing and patching both military and civilian phone traffic between the recovery ship and various points around the globe. His work on the Apollo recovery missions earned him lifetime membership with the VHF Spacenet.

In addition to his military service, as I said, he worked for 25 years with the United States Border Patrol. His job was effectively coordinating communications between field stations and agents on patrol along our border. And during this time at the Border Patrol Dick became highly involved with the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613, where he served as first vice president, and it was Dick Stulz who interested me in the idea that the Border patrol needed help and that the Border Patrol represented not just a faceless agency that secured America's border, but it represented some of the finest public servants in the United States. And it was a result of Dick's work that we started a scholarship fund for the children of Border Patrol families, and we are going to continue that fund. We are going to call it the Dick Stulz Memorial Fund. His wife Veronica, I know, will help us to make it work and keep it going.

And I just wanted to remind my friends also that on a more personal level Dick was always mindful of his

military brethren and their sacrifices, and he actively supported a lot of veterans organizations. He had the distinction of being the only non-Hawaiian member of the Hawaii VFW Post 9512. He supported Pop Warner leagues around the country, and additionally he did just about everything that his children and grandchildren asked him to do.

Dick Stulz was a wonderful American. He is a kind of a person that makes this country work and gives us faith in our fellow man. So, Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleagues join me in wishing the very best for Dick's family in mourning his passing.

Congressman Duncan Hunter of California