[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 195 (Saturday, December 17, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8762-S8763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO MARY MIDDLETON
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a woman who
was a dear friend of mine, now sadly departed, who was deeply committed
to serving her community in northern Kentucky, and who left everything
she touched a little better off than it was before she found it. I'm
speaking of Mrs. Mary Middleton of Fort Mitchell, KY, who tragically
died in an accident on November 22, 2011. She was 83 years old.
I know northern Kentucky would not be the same if not for the
timeless dedication of Mary and her family over more than five decades.
A community leader, philanthropist, lifelong adventurer and supporter
of public service, Mary Middleton's loss is a great loss for the people
of Kenton County and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Mary grew up in Wisconsin, although there's no doubt that after more
than 50 years Kentucky was her home. As a young woman she was keen on
traveling the world. Also a frugal woman, she attempted to do so on ten
dollars a day. Somewhere in France she ran out of money and had to
telegraph her father to send her some more.
Mary also went to work for the YWCA as a way to travel and have
someone other than her father foot the bill. On a YWCA assignment in
Hawaii, she met a young Naval officer named Clyde Middleton. The couple
married, and when Clyde was transferred to Cincinnati by his employer
Procter & Gamble, eventually settled in northern Kentucky.
``They got off the airplane and saw all the beautiful trees and said
this is where we want to live,'' says their son, John Middleton, who is
the Kenton County circuit court clerk. ``And northern Kentucky is a
much better place because she was here.''
Mary was determined to make her mark early. In the 1950s, she ran for
a Kentucky State House seat as a Republican, at a time in Kentucky when
it was impossible to be elected unless you were a man and a Democrat.
Thankfully, times have changed on both counts.
Mary did not succeed in that race, but she didn't let that stop her
from having an influence. In 1960, she founded the Kenton County
Republican Women's Club, an organization that is still one of the
strongest and most active of its type in the State. And Mary continued
to be involved with the club until her passing.
Mary also played a critical role in supporting her husband Clyde's
political career during his two decades of public service in the
Kentucky legislature and as Kenton County judge- executive. And as I
already mentioned, her son John is currently the Kenton County circuit
court clerk. Public service runs in the Middleton family.
So has compassion for those who are less fortunate. Mary showed that
compassion in so many ways--through her volunteer work with the
Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Church Women United, and her home church
of Gloria Dei Lutheran. Somehow she also found time to dedicate to the
Covington Optimist Club and the Florence Woman's Club, as well as the
Kenton County Republican Women's Club she founded.
The day before she died, Mary drove a cancer patient to treatment at
St. Elizabeth Hospital, something she and Clyde had done for years.
Mary was a teacher at the McMillan Center Alternative School. The
Cincinnati Enquirer honored her in 1981 as a Woman of the Year.
This Christmas season, as Kentuckians flock to the shopping malls and
stores, they will walk by the familiar Salvation Army red kettle and
hear the bell. Sadly, one bell ringer who will be missing is Mary
Middleton.
It's a testament to the effect she had on others that, within days of
her death, dozens of volunteers in Kenton County stepped forward to
fill the hole she left behind and ring that bell.
Elaine and I are profoundly saddened by the loss of Mary Middleton,
and our deepest condolences go to her family: her husband, Clyde; her
sons, John, David, and Richard; her daughter, Ann Schmidt; her eight
grandchildren, and many other beloved family members and friends.
Mr. President, I know my colleagues here in the U.S. Senate join me
in honoring Mrs. Mary Middleton, mourning her loss, and wishing for
comfort for her family. The Cincinnati Enquirer recently published an
article celebrating Mary's life. I ask be unanimous consent that it be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 23, 2011]
Northern Kentucky Matriarch Mary Middleton Killed by Garbage Truck
Mary Was An Organizer, A Leader, And An Inspiration To Anyone Who Met
Her
(By Brenna R. Kelly)
Fort Mitchell.--No one was a stranger to Mary Middleton.
Whether it was the people donating money as she rang the bell
for the Salvation Army, the cancer patients she drove to
treatment or the new family who moved onto her street--she
cared.
Middleton, who was the first northern Kentucky Republican
woman to run for office and later became a well-known
philanthropist, was hit and killed by a garbage
[[Page S8763]]
truck Tuesday morning in front of the Fort Mitchell Avenue
home where she lived for 52 years. She was 83. ``She loved
making people feel good,'' said her son John Middleton,
Kenton Circuit Court Clerk. ``I think that's what's going to
be the loss, not just for us, but for the whole northern
Kentucky community.''
It was raining Tuesday morning about 10:20 a.m. when Mary
Middleton apparently took a bag of garbage out to a Bavarian
garbage truck on her street. Police were still investigating
how the accident occurred, but the truck hit Middleton in the
street.
Emergency responders called for a medical helicopter but it
was unable to respond because of the weather. Middleton died
at the scene. The driver of the truck was taken to St.
Elizabeth Hospital to be tested for drugs or alcohol, which
is routine after a fatal accident involving a commercial
truck, said Fort Mitchell Police Chief Jeff Eldridge.
The driver, John Boaz, has worked for the company for 15
years, said Bavarian spokesman Rick Bruggemann. ``Our deepest
condolences and prayers go out to the family,'' Bruggemann
said. Boaz, who has an excellent safety record, was
devastated, he said.
Accident reconstruction experts from Erlanger Police and
the Boone County Sheriff's Office are helping Fort Mitchell
investigate the accident.
Middleton's husband, former Kenton County Judge-Executive
Clyde Middleton, was at home when his wife was hit. He called
John Middleton at work and word quickly spread across
northern Kentucky Republican circles. As Mary Middleton's
body lay in the street covered by a sheet and shielded by
yellow tarps, family and friends began gathering at the red
brick home near the Fort Mitchell Country Club.
One of those friends, Shawn Baker, rushed to the home to be
with the family.
``I admired Mary more than any person I know,'' said Baker,
of Crestview Hills, who was in the Kenton County Republican
Women's Club and several other groups with Middleton. ``She
had so much class. Mary was an organizer, a leader, and an
inspiration to anyone who met her.''
Though she was better known as a political wife, it was
Mary who made the family's first foray into politics. In the
late 1950s she ran for state representative at a time when
the area elected men and Democrats, said family friend and
Kenton County Republican activist Rick Robinson.
She then supported her husband through his two decades in
the Kentucky Senate and more than seven years in Kenton
County's top job before he resigned in 1998 after a
controversy involving the awarding of a courthouse
construction bid.
``She was the perfect political wife too, she pushed Dad to
do the things and to be nice to people when maybe he didn't
want to be nice,'' John Middleton said.
Mary Middleton grew up in Wisconsin but was adventurous and
left to travel the world. After trying to see the world on
$10 a day, she ran out of money in France and had to
telegraph her father for money, her son said.
She went to work for the YWCA, which sent her to work in
Hawaii where she met Clyde, a Naval officer. She followed him
to Japan and the couple married.
Eventually, Clyde Middleton ended up working for Procter &
Gamble in Chicago. When he was transferred to Cincinnati, the
Middletons settled in northern Kentucky.
``They got off the airplane and saw all the beautiful trees
and said this is where we want to live,'' John Middleton
said. ``And northern Kentucky is a much better place because
she was here.''
In addition to the Salvation Army, she volunteered for the
Red Cross, Church Women United, Kentucky Symphony and at her
church, Gloria Dei Lutheran. She was also active in the
Covington Optimist Club, the Florence Woman's Club and Kenton
County Republican Women's Club, which she founded 51 one
years ago.
In 1981, she was honored by the Enquirer as a Woman of the
Year. She was also a teacher at the McMillan Center
Alternative School.
``She was everybody's mother,'' said Kenton County Sheriff
Chuck Korzenborn, a Republican who counted Middleton as one
of his first supporters when he ran for sheriff. ``She was a
person who had only one thing on her mind, what was good for
the community and the people in it.''
``Mary's fine, she's with her maker and with the Lord.
She's fine, but the people down here are going to miss her
very, very much.''
On Monday, Mary Middleton drove a cancer patient for
treatment at St. Elizabeth Hospital, something that she and
her husband had done for years. On Tuesday, she was planning
her regular visit to a nursing home, where she sat with
friends and strangers alike.
``She was truly a humble servant,'' said Becky Sittason,
whose grandmother Middleton was planning to visit. ``She
doesn't have to flaunt it or say `here is who I helped.' ''
Sittason, who has known Middleton since she was 6, only
found out she volunteered as a bell ringer when she read it
last year in the newspaper.
Of all the organizations she was involved in, the Salvation
Army was special to Middleton, said both Baker and her son.
She helped organize the charity's annual fashion show and
would line up volunteers to ring the bell along with her.
``She would never ask anyone to do something that she
wouldn't do herself,'' Baker said.
Middleton rang the bell for more than 20 years and
recruited her entire family for shifts at local stores.
``It just makes your Christmas to know you've done a little
something for other people,'' she told the Enquirer last
year.
In addition to her husband and son John, of Edgewood, she
is survived by her sons David, of Lexington; Richard, of
Independence; daughter Ann Schmidt, of Orlando; and eight
grandchildren.
``Each one of the children could say that they felt
special,'' John Middleton said, ``and they were her favorite;
that's because she made you feel that way.''
``She always went out of her way to do what's right and to
make everybody feel the best about themselves,'' he said.
When she died Tuesday, there was a note on her desk she had
just written welcoming a family that had recently moved onto
the street.
``She didn't know who they were,'' her son said, ``but she
wanted to make them feel welcomed. People don't do that as
much now days, but she did.''
Funeral arrangements are pending with Linnemann Funeral
Homes.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________