[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 12, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING GAYE THERESA LeBARON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 12, 2023

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mister Speaker, I rise today along with 
my colleague Congressman Jared Huffman to honor Gaye Theresa LeBaron in 
celebration of her outstanding career as a journalist, teacher, author 
and historian.
  Born in the town of Scotia, California, in 1935, Mrs. LeBaron moved 
to Boyes Hots Springs in Sonoma County when she was 14 years old. She 
attended Santa Rosa Junior College before transferring to the 
University of California, Berkeley to pursue a bachelor's degree in 
English and History.
  Her illustrious career as an historian and human-interest columnist 
at the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California, began in 1955 when she 
became an intern. During her 65 years with the Press Democrat as a 
reporter and later columnist, she wrote 8,500 columns, married her late 
husband John LeBaron and had her 2 children, Suzanne and Tony. Mrs. 
LeBaron has since gifted her research notes, correspondence, memoirs, 
unpublished documents, newspaper clippings and photographs to Sonoma 
State University. Students and the public enjoy access to the Gaye 
LeBaron Collection.
  Mrs. LeBaron has a deep love of Sonoma County history. She told our 
county's story as a lecturer at the Santa Rosa Junior College for 35 
years as well as at Sonoma State University's Osher Lifelong Learning 
Institute. She has written 3 books on the history of Santa Rosa: Santa 
Rosa: A Nineteenth Century Town, Santa Rosa: A Twentieth Century Town, 
and The Wonder Seekers of Fountaingrove. Mrs. LeBaron also served on 
the Sonoma County Museum Leadership Council, further dedicating herself 
to the history of Sonoma County. Now her permanent exhibit at the 
museum, Sonoma County Stories, will ensure future generations can 
experience her life's work.
  Widely renowned in our community, Mrs. LeBaron received the 
Representative Mike Thompson Sonoma County Woman of the Year Award in 
2016, an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Sonoma State University and 
a President's Medallion from the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is evident that Mrs. LeBaron has dedicated her life 
to the people of Sonoma County through her writing, teaching and 
service.

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