[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
MORNING BUSINESS
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DEATH OF HAM WILSON
Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, on January 26, 1993, I paid tribute to E.
Hamilton ``Ham'' Wilson, who at that time had just retired from his
long-time position as government affairs director at Alabama's Auburn
University. Prior to that, he had been chief executive officer of the
Alabama Cattlemen's Association.
Ham's many friends at Auburn and throughout the agricultural
community in Alabama were deeply saddened on March 11, when Ham passed
away. He served as Auburn's chief lobbyist beginning in 1985, when
former president James E. Martin established the position to ensure a
permanent presence for Auburn at the Alabama State House. The job was
tailor-made for Ham, who had already earned a distinguished reputation
statewide through his work with the cattlemen's association.
I extend my deepest condolences to Louise L. Wilson, Ham's wife of 46
years, and to their entire family in the wake of their painful loss. I
ask unanimous consent that an article appearing in the March 12 edition
of the Montgomery Advertiser summarizing Ham's life and work be printed
in the Record at this point.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Montgomery Advertiser, Mar. 12, 1994]
Rodeo King Wilson Dies
(By Mary Orndorff)
Auburn University and the entire agricultural industry in
Alabama lost one of their own Friday. Edward Hamilton ``Ham''
Wilson died at the age of 72.
``He was the spirit of Auburn, the spirit of beef farming
in Alabama, the spirit of the Cattlemen's Association and the
spirit of the rodeo,'' said longtime friend and legislative
dean, state Rep. Pete Turaham, D-Auburn.
Mr. Wilson didn't just sport a white cowboy hat to shade
his perpetually grinning eyes--he earned the ``good guy''
image that goes with it. Since 1958, the Greenville native
wore a white hat to his historic creation, the Southeastern
Livestock Exposition Rodeo. And for 36 years, thousands
showed appreciation for his work by flocking to Garrett
Coliseum for the annual event, which returns later this
month.
Mr. Wilson was king of the rodeo from the day of its birth
to the day of his death. He was at the rodeo's ticket office
Wednesday, the day of the heart attack that eventually took
his life.
As executive vice president of the Alabama Cattlemen's
Association, the livestock ring leader nurtured the industry,
the rodeo and the association for more than 40 years.
``His work, his work was his greatest passion. He gave his
life to his work to the Alabama Cattleman's Association, to
Auburn University and to the rodeo,'' said his wife of 46
years, Louise L. Wilson.
Their children, Edward Hamilton Wilson Jr. and Nancy Wilson
Blount, live in Montgomery with five grandchildren, Bradley,
Hallie and Nancy Beth Wilson, and Jess and Wilson Blount. A
sister, Elizabeth W. Kitching lives in Greenville.
Bill Blount, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party,
described his father-in-law Friday as vibrant.
``I remember lively discussions around the Sunday dinner
table,'' Mr. Blount said. ``He cared passionately about
current events, about his state, his city and his country.''
Even in the sticky arena of politics, friends and rivals
recalled Ham Wilson's honesty and integrity. Protecting the
cattle industry in legislative battles was a job requirement,
and he was Auburn University's first full-time lobbyist from
1985 to 1992.
``Ham was successful because he was the kind of fellow who
is a friend to everyone,'' said House Speaker Jimmy Clark, D-
Eufaula.
It's been said the cattlemen's group rarely sought
legislation, but what it had on the books was nearly sacred.
``I was kind of lucky,'' Mr. Wilson said in a December 1992
interview before his retirement from the Auburn post. ``I not
only knew the lawmakers, I knew their mammas and daddies.''
Mr. Wilson and Rep. Turnham were college buddies at the
Loveliest Village on the Plains, where Mr. Wilson graduated
in 1943 with a degree in agricultural science. ``I've never
seen a more caring and unselfish person in my whole life,''
Rep. Turnham said.
The list of civic and community groups that count the World
War II veteran in the memberships is lengthy: Montgomery Area
Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery Rotary Club, Men of
Montgomery, Montgomery Country Club, Capital City Club, First
United Methodist Church, Alabama 4-H Club Foundation, Alabama
Sheriff's Boys and Girls Ranches, and he was a charter member
of the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame.
Honors and awards poured in, but even more poured out. Mr.
Wilson created things. He opened the Cattlemen's Association
headquarters in downtown Montgomery, now undergoing a $1.5
million renovation and expansion; started the Alabama
Cattleman magazine in 1958, one of the nation's largest and
most widely recognized livestock publications; and the
country's first comprehensive beef promotion program started
under his leadership. In 1979, the Ham Wilson Livestock Arena
was dedicated at Auburn.
In 1985, Mr. Wilson told a reporter the accomplishment of
which he is most proud as Cattlemen's Association chief was
the expansion of cattle production from a sectional Black
Belt occupation to a statewide industry. It is now a $1.5
billion staple in Alabama's economy
By his retirement, the state association had blossomed into
the country's largest, with more than 16,700 members.
``Ham was truly a unique individual and did much for the
state's youth and the livestock industry that he cared so
much about,'' said Billy Powell, now executive director of
the cattlemen's group.
Bubba Trotman, a former president of the association's
state and national organizations, said Friday that he owed
his cattleman career to Mr. Wilson. ``This is a great loss to
all the people of the state.''
James E. Martin, Auburn's former president who hired Mr.
Wilson in 1985, said in 1992, ``Ham Wilson just doesn't meet
a stranger.''
In lieu of flowers, the Wilson family asks donations be
made to the Alabama Cattlemen's Association Foundation, the
Auburn University School of Agriculture and the American
Heart Association. Services are Sunday at 3 p.m. at First
United Methodist Church in Montgomery.
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