Cord Byrd: “On Wednesday, September 20, the Senate lost one of its own family members. Not a member with a capital ``M,'' elected by…”

“On Wednesday, September 20, the Senate lost one of its own family members. Not a member with a capital ``M,'' elected by the people, but an unpaid, unsung, but O so important member of the Senate family. On Wednesday, Maureen Mansfield, the beloved wife of former majority leader Mike Mansfield, passed away. It is safe to say that without the efforts, energy, dedication, and love of Maureen Mansfield, the Senate and the people of Montana might never have benefited from the extraordinary talents of Mike Mansfield. Like myself, Mike was raised by an aunt and uncle after the death of his mother when he was just 3 years old. During the First World War, Mike Mansfield dropped out of school and joined the Navy, and he also served with the Army and the Marine Corps. Upon his return to Montana, he worked as a mucker in the copper mines and did not resume the schooling he had left in the eighth grade. Maureen, a high school teacher when her younger sister introduced her to Mike, encouraged him to return to school. She helped him to apply to Montana State University and helped him complete his high school equivalency courses before completing college. She cashed in her life insurance and worked as a social worker in order to support her husband in school. Then both of them went on to earn Master's degrees. Maureen Mansfield did not believe, and disproved, the old saw that you cannot change a man and that all efforts to do so are futile.”