[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3] [Senate] [Pages 3341-3342] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HANNAH COVINGTON McGEE, AN EXCEPTIONAL LADY Mr. HELMS. There are times, Mr. President, when every Senator, on one occasion or another, for one reason or another, feels the need to share with his colleagues a moment of grief or happiness or sadness or hope. This being a time like that for me, Mr. President, my purpose is to share a few thoughts about a wonderfully gifted, beautiful, thoughtful lady named Hannah Covington McGee. I suppose I should begin, Mr. President, by stating that Hannah married a young fellow named Jerry McGee 33 years ago. Dr. Jerry McGee today is president of Wingate University, a splendid Baptist institution in North Carolina. Jerry is the kind of friendly, caring and active husband and father with an enthusiasm for his responsibility as a top-flight educator--and his privilege of being Hannah's husband all those years. Mr. President, Jerry and Hannah this past weekend were enjoying a six-week sabbatical at Tortola Island, one of the British Virgin Islands. Their stay on Tortola had been, both said last week, the happiest weeks of their lives. It all ended when Hannah was awakened Sunday morning suffering an excruciating numbness which quickly developed into the massive cerebral hemorrhage that claimed Hannah McGee's life at such an early age. Hannah grew up in Rockingham in North Carolina. At age 14 she caught the eye of a star athlete at Richmond County Senior High School. She married that star athlete years later--- after both of them had finished college. They immediately began together devoting their lives to young people. A mutual friend asked Jerry about Hannah. Jerry's response was that Hannah provided the kind of relationship that everyone dreams of; he confirmed that he had been in love with Hannah since his high school football days when she was that 14-year-old girl with the ponytail. Mr. President, services for that beautiful, loving and caring Hannah will be held at the Wingate Baptist Church tomorrow very close to the campus of Wingate University. She will be remembered as one who was forever and tirelessly doing things for others and, as Jerry McGee put it, ``It never once occurred to her that anybody ought to do anything for her.'' Mr. President, I certainly know nothing more than anyone else about the hereafter, or what will happen on that inevitable day for all of us. But I suspect that Saint Peter was standing at the Pearly Gate Sunday motioning for Hannah to come in and take her seat on the right hand of God who loves her just as all of us who know her do. Mr. President, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer this morning published a detailed story, written by Wendy Goodman, praising Hannah McGee. I ask unanimous consent that Wendy Goodman's fine article be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Charlotte (NC) Observer, Mar. 2, 1999] Wingate President's Wife--and Much More--Dies (By Wendy Goodman) Wingate.--When Wingate University celebrates the opening of the George A. Batte Fine Arts Center later this year, a woman who had a hand in making the center a reality won't be there. Hannah McGee helped lead the fund-raising campaign and decorate the new building's interior. An art lover, McGee hoped Wingate would serve as a cultural center for Union County. McGee died Sunday morning in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of a brain aneurysm. She was 54. ``She had a great eye for things beautiful and artistic,'' said friend Stelle Snyder. ``You could see her love for the arts in her home, in her work at Wingate, in anything she did. ``Hannah had so many responsibilities behind the scenes, and she loved her work.'' Monday, flags at Wingate University flew at half-staff in honor of Hannah McGee. As the wife of Wingate President Jerry McGee, she left a lasting impression on the university and the entire community. A Rockingham native, she moved to Wingate about 6\1/2\ years ago when her husband was named president of the university. But Hannah McGee was more than a president's wife, friends said. ``Hannah touched so many things in her own special way here at Wingate,'' said [[Page 3342]] friend Barbara Williamson. ``People never even knew all the hard stuff Hannah did because it was all behind the scenes.'' Hannah McGee helped launch English as a second language program in Union County. As a board member of the Union County Players, she made costumes and worked backstage for several performances. She played a major role in beautifying and restoring the M.B. Dry Memorial Chapel at the school. She never hesitated to open the doors to her home and entertain students, faculty and other guests. ``Bit by bit, we'll see Hannah's no longer with us,'' Snyder said. Jerry McGee had taken a three-month sabbatical leave from the university in January to relax and spend more time with his wife of 33 years. The McGees were childhood sweethearts, and Jerry McGee often referred to Hannah as ``the girl with the ponytail who stole my heart.'' The couple were in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands when Hannah McGee got sick. She was flown to a San Juan hospital and died Sunday morning. ``She was the mother, wife, daughter and sister that everyone dreams of--one of the easiest people to love who ever lived,'' Jerry McGee said in a news release Monday. Hannah McGee is survived by her husband and two adult sons, Ryan and Sam. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Wingate Baptist Church and burial will follow at Dockery Family Center in Rockingham. A memorial service also will be March 9 in Austin Auditorium on the Wingate University campus. ____________________