[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      AN EXAMPLE OF FAMILY VALUES

                                 ______


                           HON. CLIFF STEARNS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 1994

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to put into the Record a 
wonderful eulogy to a great man. His son, Ed Holder, wrote this piece 
upon the death of his father. It surely illustrates the values and 
qualities of the families that made this Nation great.

                             Eulogy for Dad

                             (By Ed Holder)

       Dad accepted the responsibility of serving family and 
     mankind at a very early age. His father was taken away from 
     him when he was only nine months old. He served his mom from 
     the very beginning until he and mom could not physically keep 
     up with demands of her final care.
       He served his country by fighting the Germans in World War 
     II. He never talked about war; but, I do remember well that 
     Dad harbored no hate for the Germans.
       Dad and mom worked at pretty meager wages and for long 
     hours denying themselves of current pleasures so as to 
     provide a brighter future for their more immediate family and 
     soon to be extended family. Could you imagine the courage and 
     guts it took to pack up your wife and infant daughter to move 
     from Georgia to an area that you had no friends, family or 
     business contacts?
       They had very little capital and certainly no borrowing 
     capacity from the banks. Dad and Uncle Charles established 
     one of the first taxi businesses in Lake County as 
     automobiles were in short supply after the war. At night he 
     would do body and fender work to supplement that income. 
     Eventually, he had the opportunity to take over a closed gas 
     station and expanded it to include a very small luncheonette.
       As time went on, Dad and Mom both got more opportunity to 
     serve mankind. The luncheonette grew into a diner, again with 
     hard work and denial of but a few immediate pleasures. They 
     continued to put all of their capital back into their 
     business. They never took a vacation in the twenty-seven 
     years the restaurant was open and they took very few holidays 
     except for a quick trip to Georgia during Christmas.
       Holder's restaurant was really Dad and Mom's mission and 
     homes for the extended family that they created when they 
     came to Tavares. You didn't have to be born into the family, 
     be a blood relative nor could you be divorced out of it. The 
     family got together at various times, seldom all together. 
     There was one group of Blantons, Freemans, Tamsetts, Taylors 
     and others who were standing at the door at 6:00 am waiting 
     for their breakfast. Occasionally, they would bring family 
     gifts like gophers which they would turn loose in the 
     restaurant to liven the morning. Another group from the 
     courthouse, the phone company and the high school would come 
     by for plate lunches and hamburgers for dinner (in the South 
     and in those days dinner was served at 12:00 noon). The 
     afternoon family consisted of the normal `drug store 
     cowboys', politicos and political hopefuls. There was more 
     politics discussed at Holder's than there was at the 
     courthouse. On a Few occasions we were allowed to bring our 
     high school friends home for a meal. The more you ate the 
     more appreciation mom and dad felt. Jim Stinson and Tamsett 
     both ran a close race, neither yet determined a winner. The 
     biggest complement you could pay to mom and dad was to enjoy 
     a meal with them, even when the restaurant wasn't open. For 
     many of those people here today or that visited yesterday 
     there is a wealth of stories and memories that you are going 
     to hear. If you saw the movie `Fried Green Tomatoes' you 
     would get a feel for the atmosphere.
       As I said before, you didn't have to be a blood relative, 
     born in the family of even married to it, nor could you be 
     divorced from it. This homecoming and family reunion today 
     will allow us to share some memories of Holder's restaurant 
     with you, the extended family, that came to honor Dad today.

                          ____________________