In Honor of Rita Dolan Sellar
IN HONOR OF RITA DOLAN SELLAR
Mr. REED. Mr. President, on Tuesday, February 24, 2004, an extraordinary resident of Newport, RI celebrated a monumental achievement, her 100th birthday.
Rita Dolan Sellar has led a full and exceptional life. She was born February 24, 1904, to Clarence Dolan and Rosalie Brown Dolan. She had two sisters, Rose and Alexandra.
As a young lady, Rita attended Foxcroft School in Virginia, where she is now the oldest living alumna. Later she married Norrie Sellar, and they traveled extensively throughout the world.
Rita and Norrie had five children: Daphne, Norrie, Rosalie, Owen, and Alexandra.
Rita was an accomplished and bold horsewoman, who in the 1930s founded and played on the first women's polo team, in Aiken, SC, and rode in fox hunts, steeplechase races, and jumping contests.
She was also an active sailor, who kept sailboats in Newport Harbor, and often sailed with her sister-one of America's first and most capable women sailors.
Her home in Newport, "Seaweed," has hosted five generations of the family, innumerable cheerful parties and dinners, and an extensive array of friends, cousins, in-laws, and visitors. She is the oldest member of Newport's Spouting Rock Beach Association.
In addition to her 5 children, she has 15 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, as well as 3 step-grandchildren and 6 step-great-grandchildren, of which she is the beloved, affectionate, and patient matriarch.
Rita Dolan Sellar has led a successful and remarkable life as evident by her many achievements and, more importantly, her large, loving and successful family which includes former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse.
I would like to congratulate Rita on her 100th birthday. This extraordinary moment is not about the number of years she has lived but the accomplishments she has made during those years and the excitement, pride, love, and joy she has brought to her many family and friends through her life. I wish Rita a happy birthday and many more.