Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on March 24, 2009, to honor the memory of Harmon G. Cropsey, former member of the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate

Click here to view bill details.

 

Senator Sanborn’s statement is as follows:

You know, as we over look our lives and the things that we have done in our lives, I think Senator Harmon Cropsey is just a great example of what one should strive to be. We look back at our lives and look at the selfless behavior he exhibited in his life. He put community and family first. His legacy will live on through his children and through his grandchildren—indeed, something to be very proud of.

The tribute summed up his life so elegantly. I won’t even attempt to do that, but if you look at the churches he has started, the war that he fought in, the children, and the grandchildren, you know that just minutes after he left this life, the Lord smiled on him and said, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”

 

Senator Barcia’s statement is as follows:

I, too, would like to share a few of my memories with one of, I think, the greatest public servants I had the privilege of serving with during my lengthy career in public service. Senator Sanborn just spoke to the issue, and we just adopted a resolution that I think captured the essence of what Harmon Cropsey was and represented during his time on earth. I would just add a few memories that I have, and I know that a bit later Senator Cropsey will be introducing his mother, but we are blessed also in this chamber today to have Mrs. Marian Cropsey who, as already has been mentioned, raised six wonderful children and had a lengthy marriage to Harmon. Marian, we are glad to see you on the floor today as the Senate adopted the resolution for Harmon and the great work he accomplished throughout his career.

I want to say that my memories go back to meeting Harmon when I was a State Representative. He was very active on behalf of the Friends of Michigan Schools, or as we used to think, the one-room school houses where so much great education occurred in the early history of our state. Harmon was always great about reminding us about the values of education and the importance of family and parents in terms of tutoring and mentoring their children to succeed. Obviously, the six children who he raised, as well as those others in the extended family who he touched throughout his life, have gone on to distinguish themselves. We all have a lot to learn and remember about those values that Harmon was so eloquently instructing us in.

The resolution spoke to his service to his country. He was a military hero, a devoted husband and father, and a very good friend to those who worked with him. I know that today it seems, as we look at what is happening at the federal level and sometimes here in Lansing, that sometimes we lose the civil tone during our discussions of important issues that confront our state and nation. One thing that I can say about Harmon, Senator Cropsey, is that he was always such a civil, decent, and good-hearted individual.

He did have a number of issues that he was passionate about. Clearly, education was first and foremost, as has been mentioned. I want to share kind of a funny story; hopefully, it is appropriate for the chamber today. I think Marian was on the trip, and we were on the agriculture committee touring the western Upper Peninsula. We had a delegation of House and Senate agriculture leaders. One of the members of the House, who will remain nameless, was single at the time, but he was also someone who was probably approaching my age. He was single, but he brought a guest along with him to tour the Upper Peninsula, the timber industry, and the agricultural resources that the Upper Peninsula has to offer—looking at various policy issues. We were hosted by one of the companies up there—the paper mills, I believe—so we had a number of legislators there. Harmon was leading the delegation, and he got to this one individual—a few legislators had their spouses such as Harmon did; some of us were alone—this gentleman from the House did have a guest, she was about 20 or 22 years old. So I think Senator Cropsey was a little perplexed in terms of making the introduction. When he got to this one representative, he said, “Representative so-and-so and his daughter.”

I just want to say he truly was an outstanding individual. There are a lot of memories we have that I can’t recount on the floor today, but he was admired and respected not only here in the state of Michigan, but literally throughout the Midwest and nationally. I know for those of you who are strong supporters of private education, one of the issues that came up and I know that Harmon was a leader on—I think he actually let me introduce the resolution—the Michigan Supreme Court refused at one point to render a decision on some litigation that had been initiated before the Supreme Court relative to the Department of Education’s authority to regulate private education in the state. That was regulating the qualifications and credentials of anyone who could teach, as well as the curriculum that would be suitable, including, I might add, a ban on religious instruction. This struck right at the heart and the core of private education, religious education in our state. Senator Cropsey allowed me to introduce a resolution which he had drafted which was subsequently adopted by the Senate and the House, requesting that the Michigan Supreme Court reconsider their decision on the case of Bridgeport Baptist Academy v. the Michigan Department of Education.

They did, in fact, reconsider their decision, took the case under advisement, and rendered a decision in favor of the private schools and Bridgeport Baptist Academy. All of those students in private schools across the state today, as they’re sitting in class, as well as for generations to come, have a great deal to be grateful for the service of Senator Harmon Cropsey and all that he has accomplished on behalf of our great state.

I want to express to Senator Cropsey, Mrs. Cropsey, and all members of the Cropsey family our heartfelt condolences on your loss. But it is a celebration that we recognize today here in the Senate by adoption of this resolution, that we were graced with the presence and contributions of Senator Harmon Cropsey for 91 years. We are so grateful, Mrs. Cropsey, to you and Alan. I know how proud your dad was of your continuing the legacy of the Cropsey family, as well as your five siblings. Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to share those memories about Senator Cropsey today.

 

Senator Garcia’s statement is as follows:

I rise to express my appreciation to the late Senator Harmon Cropsey because it was Senator Harmon Cropsey who actually gave me my first job in the Senate back in June of 1990. I had just left the Army, traveled from Fort Hood, Texas, back to Michigan, my home state, and had been fortunate enough to have interviewed over the phone with Harmon Cropsey and members of his staff. He gave me a chance without actually having sat face to face.

Having said that, I am not really sure when we first met because Senator Alan Cropsey was a substitute teacher in my high school when I went to school here in Michigan, and I also played against George, one of his other sons, in basketball and soccer in high school. I guess I am reaching a bit back.

Coming here to work in the Senate, I had served for nine years on active duty, and the civilian world was completely new to me. I had to learn all about how things were done in the Senate. I learned things like there is a holiday called Sweetest Day, which I had never heard about. I learned that you have to actually write speeches and not just give them. In the military, you don’t pull out a speech and read it to your troops and expect them to go on into battle, but in politics, we do things a little bit different.

It reminds me, being the junior guy on the totem poll in the office, Senator Cropsey was supposed to go give a speech to veterans up in Mt. Pleasant. They said, “Well, Valde is a veteran, and he is a new guy, so let him write the speech.” I said, “Okay, how do we do this? What do you need me to say?” They said, “You’ll be fine; you’re a veteran; you’ll think of something; you can handle it.” Not knowing exactly what to do, but I found some facts. I give speeches by just using notes; I don’t write anything down. Having said that, I wrote some notes down for the Senator. I gave them to him and he put them in his pocket and went off to give his speech. I’m watching in the Gallery as he gives his speech and I noticed that he is having trouble delivering the speech. I start to get worried thinking that he might be having a heart attack, or he might faint. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that he was reading my notes verbatim. That is not how you prepare a speech for a Senator. Well, needless to say, I didn’t write any more speeches after that. It was still a good thing to learn.

One other thing, for those of you who had the opportunity to go to his funeral service, what was discussed was the fact that Harmon never threw anything away. One of the first rules I learned, when you go into his office, which, by the way, was in the landing there in between the first and second floors. We had one of those halfway offices and the windows, you had to look down to look outside. You never touched anything in his office because he literally would have a heart attack.

The time came when we had to put all of his stuff in boxes because he was retiring in December of 1990. So as we started pulling things out, we found things that you wouldn’t believe. I mean, they were all old; we will just put it that way. It reminded us of Winston Churchill’s famous quote in talking to the people of England about the pilots of the battle of Great Britain, if I could just paraphrase something that went something like, “Never have so few hid so much for so long in such a little space.” That would describe Harmon to a tee because he did not throw anything at all away.

I just want to say if it were not for the fact that Harmon Cropsey took a chance on me—hired me, gave me the opportunity to learn how the Senate operates—I probably would not be here today. He gave me the experience I needed. Having worked for him, I then was hired by the late Senator Doug Carl, and the rest, I guess, is history. I just want to say to Marian and the family, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the service because as others have said, Harmon was very well-respected on both sides of the aisle, and that is the kind of Senator I want to be remembered as when I leave the chamber.

 

Senator Cropsey’s statement is as follows:

I wanted to introduce my mom and have her stand. I have my wife in the Gallery with my son Joel who just returned from Iraq two weeks ago; my youngest sister Lindsay Jo, my brother George, who Valde Garcia played against in soccer and basketball, and his wife Mandy. Please welcome them here today.

I rise to thank the people who came to Dad’s funeral. It was on short notice due to the fact that one of my brothers had to go overseas. My father died on Friday night and we had the funeral the following Wednesday. Many of you commented that you wanted to be there, and I was amazed at how many actually were there. I want you to know how special that is. Same of you sent flower or cards, and many of you gave words of condolence. Some of you who were around here when my father served have shared some very special memories of my dad. I want to say thank you. I appreciate the thoughts that Senator Sanborn shared; Senator Garcia, who was on my father’s staff, and especially Senator Barcia who served when my father and I served together. Thank you so much, gentlemen.

Ninety-one and a half years is a nice, long run. Dad had a full and eventful life. The lives of his children and grandchildren reflect the ideals that Dad lived. I just want to briefly share how some of those ideals impacted us and this great state of Michigan.

Dad had a sacrificial love for this country. He was part of the greatest generation that fought and won World War II. He was also an ardent anti-communist. He was very grateful to see the collapse of Soviet communism in the late 1980s and 1990s. As you are aware, two of my sons serve in the Marines. Joel, as you know, is here today having safely arrived back from Iraq just a couple of weeks ago, and another of Dad’s grandsons serves as a major in the U. S. Air Force.

Dad had a tender love for his family. He and Mom motivated all of us children. My sister Lindsay is following in my mother’s and grandmother’s footsteps as a registered nurse. My brother George and his wife Mandy are farming my father’s and grandfather’s farms in Cass County. Dad started farming with a team of horses and a plow. A good farmer back then could plow an acre in a day. Today, George can plow an acre in a few minutes, and the ground will produce three to four times as much as when Dad started farming. My sister Carolyn, who had to work today, has some of my father’s humor and his knack for working with numbers.

Finally, and most importantly, Dad had tremendous faith in God. He grew up attending the rural church where his funeral was recently held. Mom, too, had grown up in a very religious home, but in the early 1950s when he and Mom were just starting their family, they had more than just a spiritual understanding; they had a spiritual awakening. They realized that Jesus’ words applied personally to them when He said, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.” They understood that God’s salvation was not earned by them; it had been paid by Jesus Christ on Calvary and was freely given by God to anyone who believed. That started a relationship with God that motivated Dad for the rest of his life.

Dad often talked to the people around him about his spiritual awakening and how they could share God’s free gift of eternal life. This inspired all of us children. My oldest brother Bob has been a medical doctor in Africa for 25 years, where he helped to set up a hospital in the southern part of the little country of Togo, West Africa. Togo is one of three little countries nestled between the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. My father’s memorial fund will be given for the building of a new hospital in the northern part of Togo. My other older brother Dave helped to started two Christian schools in South Africa. The reason we had to have the funeral earlier rather than later in the week is because he was flying to France and then Africa to look at the feasibility of starting a seminary or a school there.

Dad’s stands on public policy were influenced by his spiritual awakening. He believed that not only is life a gift from God, but so is our liberty, just as is stated in our Declaration of Independence. As a result, he was staunchly pro-life and actively involved in the pro-life movement from its inception in Michigan. He defended the right of parents to control the education of their children. After all, God gave the children to parents, not to a department of education. When the Michigan Department of Education attempted to assert control over the Christian schools, Dad sponsored legislation in the 1980s to guarantee their religious freedom. In fact, they had a rally out front on the Capitol steps in favor of Dad’s legislation, which was the largest demonstration that Lansing had seen since the civil rights marches and war protests of the 1960s.

I have been especially blessed to have served with my father in both the Michigan House and the Senate. It is rare that a father and son have the opportunity to serve together in the Legislature. Former Representative Ted Stopczynski told me that Dad and I were the fifth father and son team to serve together in the Michigan House of Representatives. Representative Stopczynski should know. He and his father were the fourth team to serve together. Dad and I took it one step further and became the first, and so far the only, father and son team to serve together in the Michigan Senate. So as I look around this chamber today, many special memories come back of serving the people of Michigan with my dad. I want to thank the people of Cass, St. Joseph, and Kalamazoo Counties for giving my father the opportunity to serve them in the Michigan Senate.

On behalf of my mom and the rest of the family, thank you for passing this memorial resolution.