over the Memorial Day weekend, Alaska lost two really great men. These men were doers and they were builders in every sense of the word--both literally and figuratively. They were family people, and they were the best of friends to one another and to so many of us. Today I wish to pay tribute to Sam R. Brice and Howard A. Otis-- although, nobody called him Howard. We all knew him as ``Buzz'' Otis. I wish to take just a few moments this afternoon and tell Members of the Senate a little bit about these two very wonderful and great men. You really couldn't find two more genuine Alaskans than Sam or Buzz. Yet neither was born in the State. They came to Alaska. Sam grew up in Florida. He was educated at Columbia University in New York City. So he was a long way from New York City when he came to Fairbanks, AK. He served in the Marine Corps, and then he moved to Alaska to help his parents, Luther and helenka, establish a family construction business there in the Interior. The story is pretty legendary about his mother helenka. His mother spelled her name always with a lower case ``h''. She didn't want the capital, and always made sure that you put the emphasis on the ``len'' in helenka. She was really the epitome of an independent, self-reliant, really strong Alaskan woman, and she wouldn't let anyone forget that. She was very outgoing, vivacious, and had a heart of gold. I think it all wore off on her children. We certainly saw that in Sam.…
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