In Honor of Du Wayne Amen

Floor Speech

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Mr. BUDD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary career of duWayne Amen.

duWayne is retiring from his position as Director of Facilities at Summit School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. duWayne started at Summit School in 1976 with an acute skill for all things mechanical. In the following 45 years, duWayne became ingrained in nearly every aspect of Summit's community and physical development, as he oversaw a number of expansion projects within the school.

Madam Speaker, it is not often that the influence of an individual's career is physically visible, but one walk through Summit School's campus is a testament to duWayne's hard work and dedication. Men like duWayne are hard to come by, and everyone who met him is better for it, myself included.

When asked about the way he hopes to be remembered, duWayne responded: ``That I was professional-minded, to the point of being a perfectionist. But I enjoyed a good laugh. I wanted always to make things better than I found them. And that I really care about people, especially children.'' This is exactly how I remember duWayne and his work during my years at Summit.

You see, duWayne and I started about the same time, except he was graduating from Wake Forest University and I was starting kindergarten. duWayne was my bus driver, and because we lived on a farm so far away, we really got to know each other on those long drives. A lot of my love for the woodshop, mechanical shop, and life in general, came from duWayne, and I'm very grateful for him.

Madam Speaker, please join me in thanking and honoring duWayne Amen and in wishing him well as he embarks on the next season of life.

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