Tribute to Gloria Garner JUNE 20, 2006
U.S. House of Representatives

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Gloria Garner, a 38-year veteran of the Knoxville Area Urban League. Her efforts will be long remembered and continually missed.  Gloria spent her 38 years of service with the goal of helping others help themselves. She is a great example of how individuals in our communities can make a difference in the lives of others.  I commend Gloria Garner for all that she has done for the men, women, and children of Knoxville. I wish her all the best in her future life, and am hopeful that others will stand in to follow in her path.  I would also like to include in the Record a June 16, 2006 article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel about Gloria's retirement and career for all of my colleagues, constituents and readers of the record, so that they can more fully understand her dedication.

HEART OF THE URBAN LEAGUE; GLORIA GARNER RETIRES AFTER 38 YEARS WITH KNOXVILLE AFFILIATE

(By Chandra Harris)

A walking encyclopedia chock-full of Knoxville Area Urban League facts, Gloria Garner is clearing out her bookshelves.

Retiring after 38 years with the league, Garner doesn't need a book to recount the history of the league because she is the history of the league.

The vice president of community affairs has held every position there is and was at the league since starting there months after its inception in 1968.

A handful of moves for the Urban League came before settling at East Fifth Avenue. But Garner was never moved to leave.

And four presidents came and went. Garner stepped in as interim director while the search was on for the next president.

When money was tight and staff was short, Garner's smile and tenacity remained steadfast through 40-plus-hour weeks.

She held onto the words of the national president from 1961-1971, Whitney M. Young, Jr.: ``Every man is our brother, and every man's burden our own.''

``Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reigns, all are unequal.''

Garner said she stood in then and will continue to stand in to bridge the gap of social and economic development in minority communities.

Even as she is dusting off her desk and packing up, she is still telling strangers and friends alike that they need to join the Knoxville affiliate of the National Urban League.

``Once an Urban Leaguer, always an Urban Leaguer,'' she said during a celebratory reception in her honor Thursday night at the University Club.

While she may no longer have an office to call her own come next Thursday, her official last day, Garner said, ``I will still be around helping wherever I can.''

``When you have a passion for what you do, you want to work hard.''

The on-time Head Start teacher who dreamt of becoming a nurse or joining the military still found a way to help people.

``There are people in jobs today that I had a hand in, and that's a good feeling,'' Garner said.

``The Urban League is my family and I was busy helping people,'' said the mother of five adult children when asked why her tenure was such a long one.

Without her insight through the years, there wouldn't have been a foundation of the league, Ernest Fulton and Douglas Upton said.

Fulton and Upton both worked with Garner in the early days of the league.

``She has a way with people,'' Upton said. ``She connects with people.''

And that was apparent Thursday night as dozens, including Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Vice Mayor and former Urban League President Mark Brown, offered encouragement and shed a few tears.

``We can't fill her shoes,'' said Phyllis Nichols, league president and CEO.

Life after checking into the Urban League some mornings at 7 for Garner will be filled with lunch dates, ``some good movies and relaxing travels,'' she said.

Grandson Kody Wills summed it up: ``That's my granny and she's a star.''