[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 15 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E157-E158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          A TRIBUTE TO HUMBLE MAYOR HADEN E. McKAY, JR., M.D.

                                 ______


                            HON. JACK FIELDS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 1, 1996

  Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is with profound sadness that I 
bring to the attention of the House the passing of former Humble, TX, 
Mayor Haden Edwards McKay, Jr., M.D. Dr. McKay died on Saturday, 
January 13 in Humble--a town he lived in, helped build, and governed 
for more than three quarters of a century. Indeed, Dr. McKay was known 
throughout my home town simply as ``Mr. Humble.''
  I know you join with me in extending your deepest sympathy to his 
loving wife of 55 years, Lillian McKay.
  Dr. McKay served as an Humble city councilman for 14 years before 
beginning his 24-year tenure as mayor. During that time, he oversaw 
Humble's transition from a sleepy little town with wooden sidewalks and 
privately-owned utility companies to a modern, booming town with an 
unsurpassed quality of life for all of its people.
  The impact Dr. McKay had on my home town--both as a respected medical 
doctor and a dedicated public servant--was demonstrated by the more 
than 1,000 persons who attended his funeral in the Humble Civic Center 
on Wednesday, January 17.
  Dr. McKay was, first and foremost, a medical professional who 
delivered into this world and cared for generations of Humble-area 
residents--including generations in my own family. With his family, Dr. 
McKay moved to Humble in late 1919. He graduated from Charles Bender 
High School--now Humble High School--in 1926 before receiving his 
bachelor of science degree from Mississippi State University and his 
medical degree from the Chicago Medical School in 1936. With his 
father, the late Dr. Haden E. McKay, Sr., he opened a thriving medical 
practice in Humble in 1938.
  Some health care providers might have retired to easier and more 
peaceful pastures as they aged. Not Dr. McKay. He passed away Saturday 
at 87; he saw his last patient on the day before his death.
  It was that type of dedication that earned Dr. McKay innumerable 
medical and community service awards.
  In 1993, Dr. McKay received the Dr. Nathan Davis Award, presented by 
the American Medical Association, in recognition of his long and 
distinguished medical career as well as his government and community 
service. In 1979, he received the Distinguished Service Award of the 
Texas Medical Association, only the fourth physician to receive the 
award.
  Dr. McKay was a past president of the Texas Academy of Family 
Practice; a past chairman of the board of councilors to the 

[[Page E158]]
Texas Medical Association; a past president of the Harris County 
Academy of General Practice; and a former committee member of the 
American Medical Association. He found and served as the first chief of 
staff of the Northeast Medical Center Hospital, and he was a medical 
staff member at both St. Joseph Hospital and Memorial Baptist Hospital 
in Houston.
  Dr. McKay even found a way to combine his love of medicine with his 
devotion to his country. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Medical 
Corps as a 1st lieutenant. Serving until 1946, he held the rank of 
major at the time of his discharge.
  Despite the pressures and long hours Dr. McKay spent caring for the 
health of his neighbors, he also found time to serve his community in 
other ways. A long-time member of the Humble Area Chamber of Commerce, 
Dr. McKay was the recipient of the chamber's Outstanding Citizen 
Award--which was later renamed the Haden E. McKay Award. Dr. McKay was 
a longtime member of the Humble Intercontinental Rotary Club, of which 
he was a charter member and a past president, and he was an active 
member of the First United Methodist Church of Humble.
  Dr. McKay was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Arabia Shrine. He 
not only was the recipient of a 50-year Masonic membership pin, but he 
was presented with the Sam Houston Award by the Most Worshipful Grand 
Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Texas--the highest Masonic 
award for distinguished service that a Texas Mason can receive.
  As mayor of Humble, Dr. McKay played a key role in building a new 
community center; in remodeling and expanding the new Humble City Hall; 
in building a new criminal justice center; in building a new fire/EMS 
center; in building a new public works center; in expanding city parks 
and the criminal justice center; in spearheading the effort to build 
Deerbrook Shopping Mall; and in offering a site for the Houston 
Intercontinental Airport.
  Mr. Speaker, it is fair to say that Dr. Haden E. McKay, Jr., was 
larger than life. For several generations of Humble residents, he was 
the man who delivered them into this world; cared for them when they 
were sick; ensured the quality of their life and the lives of their 
fellow citizens as their mayor; and comforted their survivors following 
their passing.
  Dr. McKay did for my home town what he did for many of his patients--
helping it grow from infancy to maturity, providing his wisdom and 
compassion in time of need, and prescribing effective treatments for 
the problems that inevitably arise in any community as it grows and 
matures.
  Mr. Speaker, those of us who knew him, loved him, and depended on his 
wise counsel, were deeply saddened at Dr. McKay's passing. But we know 
that our community, and those of us whose lives he touched, are much 
the better for his having spent his life among us. We will continue to 
honor his memory and the contributions he made to our city's well-
being, and we will continue to keep him, and his beloved Lilian, in our 
thoughts and our prayers.

                          ____________________