[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 11, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   HONORING FORMER HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER E.A. ``SQUATTY'' LYONS

                                 ______


                            HON. JACK FIELDS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 11, 1994

  Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it was with deep sadness that 
Houstonians recently learned of the death of former Harris County 
Commissioner Everett Augustus Lyons.
  He may have been born Everett Augustus Lyons, but those Houstonians 
who knew him, who worked with him, and who benefited from the projects 
he championed called him by the nickname he initially hated, but the 
nickname that stuck: ``Squatty'' Lyons.
  ``Squatty'' was 84 when he passed away on Wednesday, May 4, while 
recuperating from pacemaker surgery. The sense of loss felt by his 
wife, Fern, and his three sons--Everett A. Lyons III, F.S. ``Scottie'' 
Lyons, and Jim Lyons, all of Houston--is shared by literally tens of 
thousands of Houstonians.
  ``Squatty'' played a role--a major role--in transforming Houston, TX 
and its suburbs from a medium-sized city into the Nation's fourth-
largest urban area. Projects which he helped plan and bring to fruition 
include the Astrodome, Houston's toll road system and Harris County's 
Flood Control District.
  But perhaps what he will be most remembered for is roads--the roads 
millions of Houston-area residents use each morning to get to work and 
each evening to get home.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, ``Squatty'' served as a Harris County 
commissioner for 48 years. His successor observed that ``Squatty'' 
helped oversee Houston's transition from dirt roads in the 1940's, to 
asphalt roads in the 1960's to concrete roads in the 1980's. As the 
population of the Houston area grew exponentially during those years, 
more and more Houstonians came to appreciate and depend on ``Squatty'' 
Lyons to make their lives, and their commutes, a little easier.
  ``Squatty'' was elected to the Harris County Commissioner's Court in 
1942. For the next 48 years, he was routinely reelected to office. 
During one 15-year period, in fact, he was not even opposed. And I know 
you will be glad to learn, Mr. Speaker, that ``Squatty'' was a 
Democrat.
  So why is this Republican taking time to salute this Democratic 
public servant?
  It's easy, Mr. Speaker.
  It's because ``Squatty'' always had the best interest of Houston, and 
all its citizens, in mind. His motto was, ``Anything that's good for 
the public, I'm for it.''
  And it's because ``Squatty'' gave politics a good name--using 
politics to enhance the public good rather than his own well-being. No 
one--regardless of his political persuasion, regardless of his point of 
view, and regardless of his position on a given project pending before 
the Harris County Commissioners Court--ever questioned his integrity or 
his commitment to the public good. Many people disagreed with 
``Squatty'' over the years on this issue or that issue, but when the 
debate was over, and when they had won or lost, they all came away 
knowing that they had had a fair hearing.
  Mr. Speaker, ``Squatty'' Lyons had a remarkable record of public 
service that may never be equalled in Harris County. His 48 years of 
service as a member of the Harris County Commissioners Court was 
distinguished by the progress it produced for the men and women of the 
Houston area. Having lived all of my life in Humble, TX, I know first-
hand the progress that ``Squatty'' helped make possible during the last 
half century.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to recognize E. A. 
``Squatty'' Lyons' long and distinguished record of public service; to 
tell Fern Lyons and her three sons how sorely our community, our State 
and our Nation will miss her husband and their father; and to ask for 
your prayers, and the prayers of my colleagues, for this great Texan.

                          ____________________