Congresswoman Laura Richardson Honors the Life of Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr., a public servant and community leader, whose impact has been felt not only in Southern California but throughout the country. On July 5, 2011, Mr. Roberts passed away, leaving a legacy of service and patriotism. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him, but his example lives on in all of the lives that he touched.

Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr. was born in 1925--at the height of the Harlem Renaissance--to Mary Queen Dorsey in Vidalia, Louisiana.

Leonard, Sr. was no stranger to meeting and overcoming adversity. In his desire to serve his country, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) at the young age of sixteen, where he participated in the efforts to rebuild our Nation's infrastructure during the economic recovery efforts from the Great Depression. Later that year, Leonard, Sr. stepped forward to defend our country following the events of Pearl Harbor, despite being under age, and quickly advanced to the rank of staff sergeant. Leonard, Sr. was in the first wave to land on Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, as part of Operation Overlord, now known to most of the world as D-Day. He successfully led his platoon in many battles until his honorable discharge on December 7, 1945 at the close of the war. His entire outfit received the Bronze Indian Arrowhead for Assault Trooper, the Cor-De-Guerre--France's highest military honor--and several other medals and honors.

Upon his return home after military service, he sought out and married his childhood sweetheart, Dessie. Leonard, Sr. and Dessie moved to Boston, Massachusetts, taking advantage of the GI Bill and attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received an Engineering degree. In the following years, Leonard and Dessie welcomed three children to the family--Donna, Janet, and Leonard, Jr.

Leonard, Sr. soon moved his family to Los Angeles, California--where children Jacqueline and Keith were born--to begin his lifelong career in the Aerospace industry which was his civilian way of continuing his service to our country. He designed a four axis machine for specialized production of precision oversized aircraft parts which revolutionized the industry. In 1972, Leonard, Sr. established Roberts Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering Corporation (RAMEC), and continued to receive coveted government contracts, as a result of his expertise in precision manufacturing for nearly four decades until the time of his passing. Equally of note, Mr. Roberts was well known in the industry as a man of integrity.

Leonard, Sr. valued God, Country and, above all else, family, which is demonstrated by his marriage to Dessie for sixty-five years and his commitment to his children. His love will live forever in the hearts of his Grandchildren Allen Talbert, Kellie Clay (deceased), Chanel Troy-Thompson, Danielle Benoit-Williams, Natalie Roberts, Raquel Roberts-Richards and Bridgette Craddock and Grandchildren Tealor Chanel Mason, Jeraud, Jeremiah Jr. and Jehman Williams, Carl Quincy Clay, II, Lauren, Sydney and Brandon Talbert, Rameses Earl Roberts Richards, and Marcus Sebastian Mason.

Leonard, Sr. will be lovingly remembered by his sister Dottie and his nieces Cheri, Donna and Shanel, along with a host of other relatives and friends.

He recently imparted the profound statement to his loved ones, a motto which he lived by, ''Everything is manageable in a family.'' Leonard, Sr. lived his life by anticipating the outcome of an effort before beginning the task. It mattered not how straight the gate or how charged with punishment the scroll, Leonard Sr. was the master of his fate, he was the captain of his soul.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Leonard E. Roberts family. His passing is an enormous loss for my district, Southern California, and the Nation as a whole