Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 29, 1992 TAG: 9202290182
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DIMINUTIVE ROANOKE GROCER STANDS TALL IN STATE CAPITOL
The mighty machine of state government idled long enough Friday to pay tribute to a 69-year-old who runs a corner grocery in Roanoke.Lucy Saleeba, whose store is in Southeast Roanoke, was honored for her kindness to people there over four decades.
Saleeba, who never had set foot in the state Capitol before, said she was flabbergasted when the packed House of Delegates gave her a standing ovation. "It was beautiful," she said afterward.
The whole thing was Roanoke Del. Victor Thomas' idea. A grocer himself in Northeast Roanoke, he's known Saleeba since he was a boy. "She's always like a breath of fresh air," he said.
For weeks, he secretly arranged to honor her and called her just a couple of days ahead to invite her to Richmond.
His resolution in praise of her went on for nine long "whereases." She was given a framed copy - "almost as big as she is," Thomas aide Lynn Hudson said of the pint-sized Saleeba.
"Whereas," Thomas wrote in House Joint Resolution No. 276, "regular customers of Saleeba's Grocery visit often, not for the purpose of purchasing goods but for the friendly face, deep laugh and undivided attention of Lucy Saleeba.
"Whereas, every Christmas Eve she gives a party for her customers, featuring 300 ham biscuits and her famous pimiento cheese and chicken salad . . . .
"Whereas, she is motherly toward her regular customers, taking care of them on a daily basis by preparing food and beverages for their arrival before and after work and listening to them discuss their problems and offering her support during their times of need."
Standing with Saleeba before the House, Thomas called her "a beacon of human kindness and compassion for generations of Roanokers." He said she has counseled people about alcoholism, financial stress and family troubles.
"If any of you have the good fortune to visit Saleeba's Grocery," he said, "you should pay special attention to an arrangement of silk flowers on a shelf. . . . Those flowers symbolize the gratitude of a friend and customer Lucy talked out of committing suicide."
After a newspaper story last fall about Saleeba's store and the meals she fixes there for widowed neighbors, Roanoke sanitation officials insisted she remodel her kitchen and get a food permit. People all over Roanoke volunteered labor and equipment to help her. Now she has a spruced-up kitchen - and a permit.
Two of Saleeba's three children, Ed and Elizabeth Saleeba, came to Richmond with her Friday, as did her friend and right-hand man at the store, Leroy Etter.
Lucy Saleeba accomplished what policy issues rarely do - she brought Democrats and Republicans together.
Roanoke Valley Democrats Thomas, Richard Cranwell and Clifton Woodrum presented her to the House, along with Salem Republican Steven Agee.
"I can't tell you how many kissed me," she said of the delegates flocking around her. "Oh, it was just out of this world."
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY