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Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a resident of my community, Clifford DeBaptiste, who will be celebrating his 100th birthday this May.

Clifford has served our community for over 70 years, first in the Army, where he reached the rank of sergeant major, and then as a business and civic leader in our community.

After serving in uniform, Clifford moved to West Chester with his wife, Inez, and his daughters, Lillian, Inez, and Celeste, where he attended our West Chester University and the first degree-granting HBCU, our Lincoln University.

He and Inez opened several funeral homes, becoming active members of the local business community. During this time, he also served 13 terms as the chairman of the Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors.

In 1994, he made history as the very first Black mayor of our West Chester. His work revitalized West Chester's downtown and led to incredible growth for local businesses, with the number of restaurants in the borough rising from 15 to 57 during his term.

Since his retirement, he has remained very active in our local community. We are so grateful for his contributions and for those of his daughter, Lillian, who followed in his footsteps and is now the current mayor of West Chester. I wish a happy early birthday to Clifford.

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