Glenn English: “It is a real honor to be able to participate in an action which would recognize the value of the long public service…”

“It is a real honor to be able to participate in an action which would recognize the value of the long public service that Jim Merry provided as a community leader and as a member of the State legislature, serving in his last 2 years as chairman of the local government committee and also my colleague at the same time that I was serving in Congress. Jim Merry was the kind of legislator that I think Mr. Jefferson had in mind when he considered that our legislatures would be populated with individuals who were citizen politicians. Jim Merry came by his interest naturally. His father had been a State representative in Crawford County during the 1950s and early 1960s, and Jim had been a borough councilman, had been head of the chamber of commerce, and was enormously active in his community. When the seat came into play in 1980, Jim ran and in something of an upset won the seat and quickly made it his own. He was a fine legislator, an active community member.”