[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO LARRY A. FOSTER

                                 ______


                            HON. MAC COLLINS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 9, 1995

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
my constituent, Mr. Larry A. Foster of Forest Park, who recently passed 
away. His passing at the young age of 54 is a loss that is felt, not by 
just his family and friends, but by the community he lived in, loved, 
and served over the years. He will be greatly missed.
  Larry was born in Atlanta but moved to Clayton County at an early 
age. he was a star athlete at Forest Park High School where he played 
lineman, participated in two State championship football games and was 
named all-State lineman of the year. His talent on the playing field, 
combined with his academic performance in the classroom, won him a 
scholarship to Auburn University. He later transferred to Virginia 
Military Institute where he also played football.
  He served his country with honor and distinction in the U.S. marine 
Corps. Larry spent 13 months of his 3\1/2\ years in the Corps in 
Vietnam. After leaving the Marines as a lieutenant, he returned to his 
beloved Georgia where he taught school and coached football at 
Hapeville and attended night law school at Emory University.
  When the night school program ended, Larry faced a difficult choice. 
The choice he made shows us a great deal about this man's character and 
determination. He left his secure job of teaching and the coaching he 
loved, to enter Emory as a full-time law student.
  After graduation, he started a legal career that grew and flourished 
through the years. He joined a well-known private law firm in Clayton 
County, but he also found the time to serve his community and State in 
so many other ways. From 1973 to 1989, he served as the Clayton County 
School Board attorney and from 1989 to 1993 he was the attorney for 
Clayton County. At various times during his career he also served as 
city attorney for both Riverdale and Morrow.
  His love of education led him to the Georgia Board of Education where 
he served for 14 years. During his time on the board, Larry played a 
major role in shaping the State's ``no-pass, no play'' rule, which 
requires student athletes to maintain their grades to be eligible to 
play competitive sports. He was a champion of local school 
superintendents and principles, pushing for better training programs 
and better benefits to keep school leaders from leaving the State.
  Service to the community went beyond his legal expertise, however. He 
was a member and past president of the Southlake Kiwanis Club, the past 
president of the Clayton County Bar Association, and past district 
director in the Boy Scouts where he was active for many years.
  Larry will be greatly missed. He will be missed by his wife, Mary Jo, 
to whom he had been married since 1968, and by his two children, Rachel 
Foster and Larry Allen Foster, Jr. He will be missed by his mother, 
Frances Foster, and his three brothers, Paul, Donald, and Terry.
  Their loss is also a great loss to the people of Clayton County and 
the State of Georgia. He touched the lives of so many people--his 
fellow classmates and athletes in his youth, the men he served with and 
led in the U.S. Marine Corps, the students he taught and the football 
players he coached while a teacher at Hapeville school, his fellow 
attorneys, teachers, principals, superintendents, youngsters in the Boy 
Scouts.
  The list goes on and on. Larry will be missed. His all-too-short life 
exhibited the grit, the determination, professionalism and service for 
which we all should strive in our lives. He was more than just a 
constituent, he was a friend. I am proud to have known Larry Foster, 
and I will miss him.

                          ____________________