{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2024-12-31-pt1-PgE1336", "2024-12-31", 118, 2, null, null, "HONORING THE LIFE OF MARVIN REASER, Jr.", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "HONORING", "E1336", "E1336", "[{\"name\": \"H. Morgan Griffith\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "170 Cong. Rec. E1336", "Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 196 (Tuesday, December 31, 2024)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 196 (Tuesday, December 31, 2024)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E1336]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                HONORING THE LIFE OF MARVIN REASER, Jr.\n\n                                 ______\n\n                        HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH\n\n                              of virginia\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Tuesday, December 31, 2024\n\n  Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Mr. Marvin Dennis Reaser,\nJr., who passed away on August 20 at the age of 84. Mr. Reaser was a\ntalented musician and beloved band director whose career spanned over\n30 years in Salem, Virginia, most notably leaving a lasting impact on\nSalem High School.\n  Mr. Reaser was born on July 28, 1940, in Nitro, West Virginia. His\nparents, Artie Lda Shomo and Marvin Dennis Reaser, Sr., raised him in\nSt. Albans, West Virginia, with a very modest family lifestyle.\n  Music remained a necessity for the Reaser household, with piano\nlessons being a requirement for Mr. Reaser, his sister, Sally, and his\nbrother, David. During his tenure at St. Albans Jr. High, Mr. Reaser\nplayed in the High School Band, which was directed by Alan Farley. Mr.\nFarley saw something remarkable about Mr. Reaser's musical ability and\nwould not soon forget his four-year impact on the school.\n  Mr. Reaser then enlisted in the United States Navy after attending\none year of college. He served for four years in the Navy, from Africa\nto Saudi Arabia, playing his trumpet for the Navy Band. Upon Mr.\nReaser's return from his service overseas, he landed two teaching jobs\nas band director for two different high schools, notably without a\ncollege degree--a testament to his skill and talent.\n  By 1968, Mr. Reaser earned his undergraduate degree from Morris\nHarvey College (now University of Charleston) in Charleston, West\nVirginia. This same year, his former high school band director, Mr.\nFarley, who had been working at Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, VA,\nreached out to Mr. Reaser asking for him to apply to the Band Director\njob there. After landing the job one year later, Mr. Reaser joined a\nteam that would shape his career for the next 30 years. With Mr.\nReaser's directing style closely mirroring what he had learned from the\nUnited States Navy, the award-winning Andrew Lewis High Band was widely\nknown for their student-led governance with emphasis on excellence and\nhard work.\n  When Andrew Lewis HS closed and its students were merged into Salem\nHigh School (Salem, VA), he became the band leader there.\n  Mr. Reaser, throughout his tenure as a band director, participated in\na number of complementary pursuits, such as playing trumpet for gigs in\nthe surrounding areas of Southwest Virginia, authoring a book, and even\nearning his master's degree in music composition from Radford\nUniversity.\n  In 2001, Mr. Reaser earned a key to the city from the Salem City\nCouncil, marking his retirement from Salem City Schools on a day that\nwas dubbed ``Dennis Reaser Day'' by the City of Salem. However, he knew\nhe had more to teach and went on to work as a band director for the\nHargrave Military Academy for three years and then assistant principal\nfor First Flight High School for over 10 years.\n  Mr. Reaser retired for good in 2015 and spent the remainder of his\nlife composing and arranging music, playing in community bands and\nsurrounding himself with his family and friends. Mr. Reaser\nunfortunately was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in his final seven\nyears, but always stayed ahead of his disease, averaging five to ten\nthousand steps per day instead of allowing the symptoms to overcome\nhim.\n  While I was never a member of the Andrew Lewis High School marching\nband as a student there, I was proud to know Mr. Reaser and admired his\nwork both with the marching band and all the other programs,\nparticularly the annual Opus.\n  Mr. Marvin Dennis Reaser, Jr. was a true example of someone who\ndelivers excellence to communities with his passion for music. He will\nbe remembered for his outstanding work as a teacher, a veteran, and\nfamily man.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2024-12-31-pt1-PgE1336"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9203879162669182, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}