[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 6060] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HONORING HUGH CODDING ______ HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY of california in the house of representatives Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today along with my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, to honor the life and memory of Hugh Codding, who helped shape and define Sonoma County over the course of the 92 years he was with us. He was a legend in his lifetime; a home builder, commercial developer, banker, city councilman, civic leader and philanthropist, who during the construction boom years of the 1950s and `60s, changed the face of the county forever. He built his first home in the 1930s and honed construction skills in the Seabees in World War II and brought those skills home with him. He leveraged his $400 discharge pay into a construction project and with profits earned from that endeavor and a small bank loan, he built one of the first shopping centers in the state, the first of several he would eventually build in the county. As much as he was a builder and developer, he was also a showman. He earned Time magazine designation as the wunderkind of the post-war boom by building an entire house in three hours and 18 minutes and a church in five hours and 16 minutes. He gave back generously to his community, helping fund and sustain both the Luther Burbank (now Wells Fargo) Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa and the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. There was scarcely a non profit organization in the county that didn't experience his generosity, whether it was the 4-H Club, the Earl Baum Center for the Blind, the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation, the Sonoma County Community Foundation, the Children's Health Network, Artstart, the Southwest Community Health Clinic, Planned Parenthood, the Blood Bank of the Redwoods, the Green Music Center, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the Jewish Community Free Clinic, the Council on Aging, the Sonoma County Museum or the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Rosa and many more. He is survived by his wife Connie; former wife Elizabeth Mulkey; son George David Codding; granddaughters Alexis Codding, Lois Codding, Lisa Codding Chodrick, Terra Saxton and his stepchildren Brian Baker, Pamela Reed, Lisa Malapit, Melinda Bailey, and Bradley Baker. Madam Speaker, Hugh Codding was an influential and respected resident of Sonoma County who will be greatly missed. It is therefore appropriate that we acknowledge him today and honor his memory. ____________________