Local legislators followed a long-standing tradition in this year’s General Assembly session by passing resolutions that paid tribute to noteworthy residents, sports teams, groups and governmental workers.
Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-McLean-Great Falls) has passed resolutions honoring:
• McLean resident Victor Kimm, who worked for more than 30 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in 1989 earned the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Senior Executive. Kimm, who also advised the World Health Organization and United Nations on environmental management and regional development and served on the board of Share of McLean, died Nov. 19, 2021.
• The Langley High School golf team, which last October won the Virginia High School League Class 6 state championship at the Williamsburg National Golf Club.
The General Assembly passed resolutions patroned by Del. Marcus Simon (D-McLean-Falls Church) that commended:
• Virginia native Elizabeth Shupe, who celebrated her 90th birthday Feb. 11. Shupe, a former Falls Church resident who moved to a farm during the COVID-19 pandemic, has “inspired others through her kindness, wisdom and grace,” the resolution read.
• The Literacy Council of Virginia, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The council, which primarily assists low-income immigrants with limited English-language abilities, typically teaches about 1,500 students each year at sites across the region.
Assembly members passed a resolution from state Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston-Arlington) honoring:
• Barry Faison, a U.S. Army veteran who served for more than 45 years as chief financial officer for the Virginia Retirement System. Faison oversaw a modernization effort at the agency that enhanced employer reporting and record maintenance and created a paperless, electronic system that let retirees and members interact with VRS via the Web.
State Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax-Vienna) had the biggest haul of resolutions among local legislators, with ones commending:
• Vienna resident Thomas Anthony Fortkort, a former chief judge of the Fairfax Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, who died Oct. 9, 2021.
• Fairfax resident John “Jack” Rust, a U.S. Army veteran, lawyer and former state delegate who died Dec. 30, 2021.
• Kevin Roller, head coach of James Madison High School’s boys’ basketball team, who last September notched his 200th career win as a coach.
• The James Madison High School marching band, which last year won its third straight Virginia Marching Band Cooperative state title.
• The James Madison High School baseball team, which last year won the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state championship.
• The Oakton High School tennis program, which last year won district, region and state championships for its girls’ and boys’ teams.
• David Paylor, who retired in January as director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality after working for 45 years for the state government.
• Stewart Woodruff “Woody” Bentley Sr., a U.S. Air Force veteran and Rotary Club of Vienna member who died last April.
• The Middleridge community in Fairfax County, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020.
• Brion’s Grille, a Fairfax County eatery founded in 1989 by George Mason University alumnus Brion Sumser.
• The Fairfax High School gymnastics team, which last year won the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state championship, the first gymnastics-team title in the school’s history.