John Myers: “I rise this afternoon with sorrow to announce the passing of a former Member of Congress and a good friend of many of…”

“I rise this afternoon with sorrow to announce the passing of a former Member of Congress and a good friend of many of us, Richard L. Roudebush. Dick was a veteran of World War II. In 1953, Mr. Speaker, he was elected the State VFW Commander in the State of Indiana. In 1957 he served as National Commander in the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In 1961, he was elected to Congress where he served for 10 years. Mr. Speaker, here he was known affectionately as 'Mayor of the Cloakroom' because of his humor, good sense and friendliness. He sat often back in the corner here with about four or five other associates and always was a person who had something nice to say about everyone else here. While he served in the House, he can be remembered as a friend of the veterans. He also was a farmer himself, so he fought for farmers' legislation. In the House he was one of the sponsors of legislation to establish June 14 as Flag Day, to be recognized as a national holiday. He also fought for many things for the veterans and for patriotism. He served until 1971 in the House, and since that time he served, as in 1977 he was elected and selected to serve, as Administrator of the Veterans Administration where he served for 3 years. He will be missed by many of us. He was a great friend. We will miss Dick Roudebush.”