Remembrance of Mr. Vincent Giedraitis

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share a remembrance of Mr. Vincent Giedraitis, a member of the ``Greatest Generation'' from Vernon, Connecticut who passed away at the age of 95 on August 10, 2020. Vin, as he was known to friends and colleagues led an extraordinary life, setting an example of how to really succeed by balancing family, professional success as an attorney, and service to his country at sea in the U.S. Navy.

Vin balanced a long life full of many interests and hobbies with his work, with his valued friendships and his vibrant family life. He was an avid skier and fisherman. He enjoyed tennis, ballroom dancing, boating, golf and making a yearly batch of wild grape jelly. He played, studied and worked with determination and great satisfaction. He graduated from New Britain High School and then served in the Navy as a radar engineer on the U.S. John Bole destroyer in WWII. In the time after the war, he attended Central Connecticut State College and graduated from McGill University with a degree in Philosophy. While at McGill he met the love of his life, Joyce, and they were married for over 70 years. After settling in Connecticut and while raising their family, he went on to earn his Law Degree at the UConn School of Law. He went on to work for IBM, Aetna Insurance, Fuller Brush and then established his own private law practice in Hartford. He became a Public Defender for the City of Hartford and then for the town of Vernon-Rockville.

Madam Speaker, I had a chance to see Vin's work in the Public Defender's Office up close over the years. As a law school intern who worked in the Hartford Superior Court, I helped interview clients and witnesses and assisted him during court hearings and trials. After passing the bar I continued to work with Vin as a public defender myself and in private practice. As most people know, public defenders have to grapple with high caseloads, sometimes difficult clients and limited resources to fully investigate cases. Sometimes public defenders succumb to viewing their role as moving cases along, and not pursuing the fullest defense possible. Not Vin. He took his oath and the constitutional duty under the Sixth Amendment to provide effective assistance of counsel to the fullest degree possible. I saw him press judges and prosecutors harder than they were normally accustomed in his pursuit of fairness and equal justice. It gave me a true insight into his strong character, which I admired deeply. As friendly and affable a person as he was, he had a spine of steel that was always centered on ethics and compassion.

Madam Speaker, Vin was devoted to his amazing, impressive wife Joyce, their eight children and many grandchildren who all loved him dearly and mourn his passing. Madam Speaker, I would ask the members to join me in honoring the wonderful life and legacy of Vincent Giedraitis.

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