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“TRIBUTE TO WALTER FRANK YORK” mentioning Jerry Moran was published in the Senate section on page S1612 on March 17.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO WALTER FRANK YORK
Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, on Monday, March 15, the community of Ashland, KS, celebrated the career of someone who dedicated nearly 45 years to the Stockgrowers State Bank. Walter Frank York has called Ashland home since the day he was born. His parents, Russell and Marjorie, brought him up in a modest home on a farmer's income during the 1950s and 1960s. Frank, as he came to be called by his family and friends, went on to study finance at Kansas State University, but the Vietnam war draft up-ended his plans before graduation.
Frank ultimately did not serve due to a back injury incurred while playing football for Ashland High, but the draft experience took him to Eagle County, CO, where he used his education to assist his sister with a new business that she was operating in Vail Village near the well-
known ski resort. While taking on this challenge in Colorado, he finished his degree at CU Boulder, despite his long-lasting love for the K-State Wildcats. After earning his degree, his route led back home when he applied for a vacant position at a bank in Ashland. His first day at Stockgrowers State Bank was March 15, 1976.
Working as a loans officer, Frank added a sense of small-town care for each of his customers over the years. After all, he would frequently see his customers at church, at the grocery store, and at Friday night sporting events in Ashland and surrounding communities in southwest Kansas. In 2007, he earned the title of executive vice president after years of loyally helping customers. One recent highlight from his career was being awarded as a recipient of the Pioneer Award in early 2020, which is given annually by the Kansas Ag Bankers division of the Kansas Bankers Association. When he achieved the award, one customer of his remarked to the Kansas Ag Bankers:
``Frank just makes it simple to do business and helps keep me connected to the Ashland community.'' In return, Frank likes to share that his clients and colleagues became ``family'' to him. Being surrounded by good people in an enjoyable community helped keep Frank at Stockgrowers for the entirety of his banking career.
I would be remiss if I did not speak of community involvement while sharing about Frank York. Whether it was being involved in his children's Boy Scouts troop, coaching local youth baseball programs in the summer, announcing football games for Ashland High, broadcasting SPIAA League high school basketball tournaments, or serving on the board of organizations near and far in Kansas, Frank has done it all. He currently serves on the board for KJIL Great Plains Christian Radio, in addition to the Kansas Leadership Center's board, and serves as president of the alumni board for his K-State chapter of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
I have had the joy of getting to know Frank on a more personal level in this past decade, as his son Tyler joined my staff after earning his degree at K-State. Frank lives in the same farmhouse that his grandfather built in 1912, just a few miles outside of Ashland. Farming and ranching has been a side passion and a hobby for him since he returned home for a career at Stockgrowers. It is something that he intends to continue for years ahead, thanks to the local volunteer firefighters that spared the York farmstead from destruction in March 2017 as wildfires burned close to 80 percent of Clark County. He considers himself blessed to have been of the more fortunate residents of the area. While I have appreciated his friendship over the years, Frank was an invaluable resource to me in the aftermath of the Starbuck Fire. Along with many others from Clark County, he informed me on ways we could help direct the USDA and other governmental agencies to coordinate in providing assistance to those that were severely affected.
The announcement of retirement from Frank came in mid-2020. His emotional final day at Stockgrowers State Bank was on December 31, 2020. Due to the challenges that the pandemic brought to communities of all sizes, a celebration of his retirement, unfortunately, had to be postponed. However, I couldn't think of a better date to celebrate the career of Frank York than the 45th anniversary of his first day of employment at Stockgrowers State Bank. While the difficulties of the pandemic will still prevent many well-wishers from making it to Ashland to personally offer their congratulations, I know that the amount of lives that have been positively affected by Frank are plenty and stretch far beyond Ashland. His family--including wife, Sue, and children Joshua, Tyler, Emily, Adam, and Jennifer--should all be extremely proud of Frank's career. I offer my sincere congratulations to someone I am proud to call my friend, Frank York.
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