[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3550-H3553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
A TRIBUTE TO RUSH LIMBAUGH, SR.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Emerson] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a
distinguished and gentle man from southeast Missouri, a man who
embodied what is right and good about this great Nation,
[[Page H3551]]
Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr., a gentle man who earned the affectionate
disinction, patriarch of southeast Missouri.
Mr. Limbaugh passed away last week at the honorable age of 104 in his
Cape Girardeau home of Sylvan Lane. He had a long and valuable life.
His passing will inevitably leave a tremendous void. He was a dear
friend and mentor of mine, and of countless others, from all walks of
life.
What made Mr. Limbaugh such a special person was his uniquely simple
character. Those who had the privilege to come in contact with him
certainly were amazed at his breadth of knowledge and command of
oratory skills. No question, Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. was a living
testament to the american dream. But he was without pretense, truly a
humble man, a devout Republican and a very committed democrat.
Born in rural Bollinger County, about 90 miles southwest of St.
Louis, Mr. Limbaugh was the product of a one-room primary school. As
with everything he approached in life, he excelled in his education. In
fact, through diligence, organization, and keen focus, he put himself
through high school, paying most of his expenses by doing carpenter
work and farm labor. Following high school, he went to college at the
University of Missouri at Columbia. His work on the university farm and
various odd jobs, such as firing furnaces, carpentry, waiting tables,
caring for animals, and assisting a Methodist minister all helped to
foot the bill for his continuing education.
He always stressed that the more you can learn, the better off you
would be. His list of personal accomplishments help to prove that he
was indeed a man who lived by his own words and convictions. He
prepared himself well, worked hard, and made his family, community, and
country proud.
Among his most notable achievements, Mr. Limbaugh left this world
last week as the oldest practicing attorney in the United States.
That's right, at 104 years of age, Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. still went
into the office at least twice a week to the Limbaugh, Russell, Payne
and Howard law firm that he founded 50 years ago in Cape Girardeau. To
help put his 80 years of service in perspective, he started practicing
law in 1916 at the age of 24 when Woodrow Wilson was President.
Not only was Mr. Limbaugh a scholar in the law, but also in history,
in political theory and Judeo-Christian tradition. He and I shared a
pleasure of never-endingly researching Abraham Lincoln. When we would
get together, inevitably a discussion about Lincoln would come up, and
we both looked forward to swapping new stories or novel tales about our
Nation's 16th President.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Limbaugh's many
contributions to our community and our Nation. He was a servant of the
Methodist church, the Boy Scouts, and the Salvation Army among others.
In 1958, one of his personal highlights came when the U.S. State
Department invited him to lecture in a newly liberated India before
lawyers, judges, and university students about constitutional
government and the American judicial system. They were so impressed
with his commentary and remarks that the All India Law Teachers
Association subsequently honored him.
We will all dearly miss Mr. Limbaugh, the patriarch of the Limbaugh
family, of Cape Girardeau and of southeast Missouri. Many folks know
about his now famous national radio talk show grandson, Rush Limbaugh
III. ``Pop,'' as his family would call him, also is responsible for the
great legal legacy of Limbaugh lawyers whom include son, a U.S.
District Judge, a grandson, Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court,
another grandson, a prominent attorney in southeast Missouri and
throughout the Midwest, a son and grandchildren who are educators.
Throughout his extraordinary life, he was always true to his roots--
hard working, composed, dedicated, and most of all humble. His life and
character epitomize that America is the land of opportunity for those
who have the heart and the will to make the most of it.
Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. was indeed a legend in his time.
[From the Southeast Missourian]
400 Attend Limbaugh Funeral
(By Chuck Miller)
The patriarch of the Limbaugh family was laid to rest
Thursday afternoon next to his bride, who died almost 19
years before him.
For the most part, the funeral service for Rush Hudson
Limbaugh Sr. was of typical United Methodist fanfare,
probably the way the Limbaugh would have wanted it. The most
extraordinary aspects of the service were the cross-section
of people that paid their last respects and the ``van loads''
of flowers sent in remembrance of a man whose legal career
spanned more years than most people's lives.
Limbaugh, 104, died Monday, April 8, 1996, at his home on
Sylvan Lane. He practiced law for more than 80 years.
State officials, judges, community leaders and others--
about 400 people in all--gathered at Centenary United
Methodist Church for the service. The minister, the Rev. Dr.
Neil Stein, delivered the eulogy.
Besides the eulogy, a violinist began the service, a
soloist sang a Christian hymn and a trumpeter performed
``Amazing Grace.'' It was a relatively simple service for a
man who gained international fame as a lawyer and who lived
through the Space Age and witnessed this country fight six
wars. But Limbaugh enjoyed living a simple life in Cape
Girardeau.
In addition to family members such as a U.S. district judge
and nationally known radio and TV talkshow host, Secretary of
State Bekki Cook, a former associate in the law firm Limbaugh
founded, and State Auditor Margaret Kelly attended the
ceremony.
Three justices from the Missouri Supreme Court also
attended the service. One of the justices, Stephen N.
Limbaugh Jr., was bidding farewell to his grandfather. Chief
Justice John Holstein and Justice William Price also paid
their respects.
A host of other officials from state representatives and
senators to city leaders and lawyers also attended.
``No one can really tell the story of the life of Rush
Hudson Limbaugh,'' Stein said. ``He joined this church
in 1911, before most of us came into being.''
The minister said Limbaugh was a man who made everything--
family, clients and God--take center stage in his life. ``A
grandson told me that Pop--that's what everyone called him--
made each of them feel they were the most important one in
his life,'' he said.
``Even though he is gone physically,'' Stein said, ``it
makes no sense to stop living up to his standard.''
Limbaugh lived a long and quality life, Stein said, because
of his ability to adapt to new things. ``Most people resist
change, but Rush never aged,'' he said.
The minister quoted a line from a book Limbaugh wrote but
never published about his life with his wife, Bee. ``On the
night of her death, he wrote, `For the first time in 63 years
I was utterly alone except for the memories of the greatest
soul I had ever known,' '' said Stein.
A long funeral procession to Lorimier Cemetery followed the
service.
____
[From the Southeast Missourian]
Rush H. Limbaugh Dies at Age of 104
(By Jay Eastick)
In 1902, on a small farm along the Little Muddy Creek in
Bollinger County, a passion for the law first stirred in a
10-year-old boy.
A Daniel Webster oration the boy memorized had inspired him
to become a lawyer. Fourteen years later, he set out on a
legal career that spanned eight decades.
On Monday, the lifetime love affair between the man and the
law ended.
Rush Hudson Limbaugh, one of Cape Girardeau's favorite sons
and the nation's oldest practicing lawyer, died Monday
afternoon at his home at 635 Sylvan Lane. He was 104.
Funeral arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Mt.
Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau.
Limbaugh's interest in law never waned and even in recent
months, he headed into work about twice a week at the
Limbaugh, Russell, Payne and Howard law firm that he founded
50 years ago in Cape Girardeau.
His love of the law now is a family legacy.
His son Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., who died in 1990, practiced
law with him, along with another son, Stephen N. Limbaugh,
who now is a federal judge in St. Louis.
Stephen practiced law with his father for 30 years before
President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the federal bench.
``I remember him most of all as a tremendous inspiration as
a lawyer and a teacher, not only from a professional point of
view, but in our relationship as well,'' Stephen said Monday.
He always has been most impressed with his father's even
temperament. Although he could be a ``very fiery advocate''
for his clients, the elder Limbaugh was able always to
maintain his composure and craft solutions to legal
quandaries, Stephen said.
Despite his own stellar legal career, Stephen said he
``couldn't possibly ever measure up'' to his father's
stature.
The Limbaugh legal legacy extends to a third generation.
Four of his grandsons followed in his footsteps and pursued
legal careers. John and Dan, sons of Rush's son, Manley, both
are lawyers. Stephen's son, Stephen Jr., now is a Missouri
Supreme Court judge, and Rush Jr.'s son, David, practices law
at the firm his grandfather started.
[[Page H3552]]
David said his grandfather wouldn't want his family
boasting about him. ``But he was an extraordinary man,
exemplary in every way, yet very humble,'' he said.
``He was a devoted Christian, a lawyer's lawyer, a
community servant and a gentle and kind man whose family was
the very center of his life.
David said the loss of his grandfather was ``made easier
with the knowledge that he led a rich and fulfilling life and
that he is now residing in a happier, more peaceful place.''
Rush Limbaugh's oratorical skills were passed down to his
most famous progeny, Rush H. Limbaugh III, who hosts the
nation's most-listened to radio talk show as well as a
syndicated half-hour television show. He also is the author
of two best-selling books.
By any measure, Rush Limbaugh's was a full life. His vita
runs to several pages and reflects a commitment to excellence
and the highest code of legal ethics.
He was known by his peers as a superb lawyer. More than
that, he is remembered by those who knew him as an uncommon
man, someone who combined public distinction with private
character.
And so colleagues, when asked to name Limbaugh's
achievements, are as likely to point to his work as a Sunday
school teacher or scout leader as they are to his many career
distinctions.
A former president of the Missouri Bar, charter member of
the Missouri Bar Foundation and member of the American Bar
Foundation, among other professional organizations, Limbaugh
also was a member of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education,
the Salvation Army Advisory Board and was chairman of the
Cape Girardeau County Republican Committee.
He had been honored by the American Security Council, the
All India Law Teachers Association, and the University of
Missouri. He also was named ``Mr. Cape Girardeau'' by the
Golden Eagles Marching Band of Southeast Missouri State
University, and was an Honorary Citizen of ``Father
Flanagan's Boy's Town.
In 1985, then Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft declared May 17
``Rush H. Limbaugh Day'' in the state in honor of the Cape
Girardeau laywer.
At a dinner that night, President Reagan remarked in a
letter that Limbaugh's contributions ``read like a virtual
who's who of accomplishment.'' U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Lewis Powell called Limbaugh a ``great credit of the legal
profession.''
Ashcroft, now a U.S. Senator from Missouri, said Monday
that Limbaugh ``set an example'' for all who knew him.
``Rush Limbaugh exemplified the character, commitment and
vision that has led this great state from the 1900s through
the Great Depression, up until today,'' Ashcroft said. ``He
understood the promise of America because he embodied it.''
One of the highlights of his career came in 1958, when the
U.S. State Department invited Limbaugh to lecture in a newly
liberated India before lawyers, judges and university
students on the subject of constitutional government and the
American judicial system.
The product of a one-room primary school in rural Bollinger
County, Limbaugh attended Millersville High School before
transferring to the Normal School in Cape Girardeau, where he
paid most of his expenses doing carpenter work and farm
labor.
At Normal School, he was elected to the Benton Literary
Society, for which he won numerous oration and debating
awards. In 1912, he was awarded the gold medal for
participation in the Interstate Normal Oratorical Contest at
Emporia, Kan.
He paid his way through college at the University of
Missouri at Columbia by working on the university farm and
various odd jobs--firing furnaces, carpenter work, waiting
tables, caring for animals and assisting a Methodist
minister.
At college, his oratory skills won him more awards and
helped to hone the skills he later would employ in the
courtroom.
He argued more than 60 cases before the Missouri Supreme
Court and many prominent civil cases, Limbaugh was a
specialist in probate law and helped draft the 1955 Probate
Code of Missouri.
Limbaugh also tried cases before the Interstate Commerce
Commission, the U.S. Labor Board, the Internal Revenue
Appellate Division and trial and appellate agencies of the
U.S. Coast Guard.
____
[From the Southeast Missourian, April 9, 1996]
Colleagues Call Limbaugh a Lawyer's Lawyer
(By Chuck Miller)
Friends and colleagues of Rush Hudson Limbaugh, 104, said
within hours of his death that other people should measure
their personal and professional lives by the standard he
lived by.
A Cape Girardeau Icon who also achieved international fame
as a lawyer touting American jurisprudence abroad, Limbaugh
died Monday afternoon.
``It's a sad day for Cape Girardeau,'' said U.S. Rep. Bill
Emerson, ``Mr. Limbaugh had a long and valuable life. His
passing will inevitably leave a tremendous void. He was a
dear friend and mentor of mine.''
Emerson said he and Limbaugh shared a hobby of researching
Abraham Lincoln. When the two men would meet, they would swap
a new story about America's 16th president. ``That was one
thing we looked forward to,'' he said.
Emerson said one of his fondest memories always will be the
dedication of a new school in Winona. The federal government
funded half of the project, he said, and a Winona banker,
represented by Limbaugh at age 96, funded the other half of
the project.
``So it was Rush Limbaugh and Bill Emerson on the back of a
flatbed truck for the dedication,'' he said. ``And he made
the most remarkable, beautiful statement: He was quoting off
the top of his head about the importance of a public
education. He just wove it together so beautifully.
``He was a legend in his time.''
Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spalding III said Limbaugh ``made''
Cape Girardeau in many ways.
``He put us on the map in a lot of respects,'' he said.
``We hate to see his passing. He paid his dues and helped a
lot of young attorneys over the years, which we're all
grateful for.''
A man devoted to his wife, community and his career was how
John Blue, the former managing editor of the Southeast
Missourian, described Limbaugh.
``He was president of the Rotary when I joined in 1949,''
Blue said. ``He was one of our better presidents. He also was
a top lawyer and a great orator. There was no hemming or
hawing with him; it was just forthright speech.''
Blue credited Cape Girardeau's growth in the 1920s and
1930s to Limbaugh the community leader. ``We experienced
phenomenal growth then, and he was responsible for that,'' he
said.
Al Lowes, a Cape Girardeau attorney, landed Limbaugh, a
past president of the Missouri Bar as a lawyer's lawyer.
``He was a top-notch, all-around lawyer,'' he said. ``He
was extremely hardworking and ethical. He was really the
epitome of what a lawyer ought to be.''
Lowes said other aspiring lawyers should look to Limbaugh
and his career when entering the profession. ``You just
couldn't have asked for a finer man to have been a lawyer,''
he said.
Another attorney, former state Sen. Al Spradling Jr.,
agreed: ``He has to be one of the most outstanding lawyers
that Cape Girardeau ever had. He had more honors bestowed
upon him than any other lawyer in Southeast Missouri. He was
honored by the Missouri Bar more than any attorney in
Southeast Missouri.''
Spradling said before he ever went to law school he was a
gopher for the only meeting of the Missouri Bar held in Cape
Girardeau.
``He was responsible for the Missouri Bar having a meeting
in Cape Girardeau because he was president,'' he said. ``It
was the first and the last time the Missouri Bar has had a
meeting here.''
In addition to achieving the top spot in the Missouri Bar,
Limbaugh also was a special envoy to India, touting American
jurisprudence to that nation during President Dwight
Eisenhower's administration.
But even though his legal career took him around the world,
he continued to reside in Cape Girardeau where his law
practice began in 1916.
Don Thomasson, another Cape Girardeau attorney, said he met
Limbaugh in 1953 while serving as prosecutor in Marble Hill.
``I saw him sitting in Ward's Cafe,'' he said. ``I thought
he was God. He was such a gentleman and a great attorney.''
Thomasson said he remembered speaking at a celebration a
decade ago honoring Limbaugh for 75 years of practicing law.
``A few of us said some good words about Mr. Rush,'' he
said, ``and then he spoke. He sounded far more intelligent
than any of us.''
Morley Swingle, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor, asked
Limbaugh for help while compiling photographs and
biographical sketches of every prosecutor who served in Cape
Girardeau County, a position created in 1886.
``Rush Limbaugh personally knew every single prosecuting
attorney,'' he said.
Swingle said he didn't have a picture for one of the
prosecutors, Robert Whitelaw, who served in the late 1890s.
But he did have a picture of a group of unknown county
officials taken about the same time as Whitelaw was
prosecutor.
``I took the photograph to Mr. Limbaugh,'' he said. ``He
got his magnifying glass out, looked at the picture and said,
`No, he's not in this batch.''
Swingle said Limbaugh was an influence on his life because
of his love for the law and the court system.
``He also was the very epitome of what one strives to be as
a public speaker,'' he said.
____
[From the Southeast Missourian, April 10, 1996]
Rush Limbaugh: A Life of Service to City, Country
A decade or so ago, a high-ranking resident of Washington,
D.C., was visiting relatives in Cape Girardeau. His hosts
insisted on taking him to meet Cape's most distinguished
citizen, Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. When the visiting chief of
staff to a U.S. senator met the elderly gentleman, who
graciously received him at home, Limbaugh inquired as to his
guest's hometown. ``Oh, you won't know it--you can't possibly
have heard of it,'' responded the visitor. ``I'm from a
little town in upstate New York.'' Limbaugh pressed his
visitor for the name. Told the answer, he descended upon his
visitor with encyclopedic thoroughness, delivering a detailed
rendition
[[Page H3553]]
of the strategic importance of that town in the Revolutionary
War, how it related to the world-decisive Battle of Saratoga,
and what this meant in the war for American independence.
Awestruck--having heard facts about his own hometown he
didn't know--the visitor departed, shaking his head in
amazement. Longtime friends of Limbaugh will understand the
visitor's reaction. Among people who have had the privilege
of knowing him these many years, astonishment and amazement
long ago became commonplace.
``Pop,'' said a certain nationally syndicated radio talk
show host to a rare studio guest four and a half years ago,
``Who was president the year you were born?'' ``Benjamin
Harrison,'' came the reply, without a second's hesitation.
When he was a guest on his grandson's national radio show
that afternoon in September 1991 on the occasion of his 100th
birthday, Limbaugh was rounding out only his first century.
He was still going to the office and billing hours as the
nation's oldest practicing attorney. That broadcast
originated from Kansas City because Limbaugh was there with
family to attend the annual meeting of the Missouri Bar
Association, of which he and a son were former presidents.
a national treasure
On that centennial, in a firm voice that belied his years,
Limbaugh continued, describing to an astonished national
audience a boyhood devotion to his first contemporary
political hero: Teddy Roosevelt. On in detail Limbaugh went,
describing what a heroic figure TR was, how crucial his
decisive action in sending the American naval fleet
worldwide, what this meant for an America beginning to emerge
from 19th century isolation into the first rank of world
powers, and why, therefore he, Limbaugh, followed the
magnificent TR out of the Republican Party to join the Bull
Moose insurgency in the great campaign of 1912. Through a
living, breathing history text was an audience of millions
introduced to a national treasure whom we here in Missouri,
and especially Cape Girardeau, had long valued so highly.
Glowingly, the accolades pour in--from judges, congressmen,
senators, fellow members of the bar, Rotarians, friends far
and wide. Family man as brother, husband, father,
grandfather, great-grandfather. Author of a legal textbook
and of numerous articles. Accomplished orator. Leading
Methodist layman and Sunday School teacher. Paul Harris
Fellow of Rotary International. Life emeritus trustee of the
Missouri Historical Society and its former president.
Patriarch of a family of lawyers and Republicans. Limbaugh
was a scholar in the law, in history, in political theory and
in the Judeo-Christian tradition of ordered liberty. A
scholar of the life of Patrick Henry, from memory he could
quote William Makepeace Thackeray and Blackstone and so many
others.
In 1985, family and friends packed into a local motel
banquet room to honor Limbaugh at a surprise dinner
celebration sponsored by local Rotarians. Tributes were read
from President Ronald Reagan and from Justice Lewis Powell of
the U.S. Supreme Court, long a Limbaugh friend. What stands
out in the memory, though, is the address of the guest of
honor. Few who were present that night will ever forget the
throat-catching sense of excitement he evoked when he arose,
without notes, for extemporaneous remarks. In a voice choked
with emotion, Limbaugh told his audience that they didn't so
much honor him as they did members of his family who, after
his father's early death, ``went without substance so that I
could be the first in the family to leave the farm and go to
Cape to the Normal School.''
the opportunity of education
Limbaugh often spoke of his excitement upon traveling to
Cape Girardeau--a day's ride by horse-drawn wagon--and
glimpsing the spires of the school's main building. Here was
a chance at education. From this hilltop, a great world
beckoned. Prepare yourself, work hard, make your family
proud, and you could accomplish anything. This, after all, is
America, and this school, he told an audience at the
university's 1973 centennial, is nothing less than ``the
fulfillment of a great national purpose.''
How richly he added to this school, this community, this
state and this nation. Few, then, there are of whom it can be
said, as it can of Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr., ``Well done,
good and faithful servant. Enter into my kingdom.'' Somehow,
we all know Limbaugh heard those words this week when the
Lord called him home.
____
[From the Southeast Missourian, Apr. 10, 1996]
Rush Limbaugh, Sr.
Funeral service for Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr., 635 Sylvan
Lane, will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Centenary United
Methodist Church. Dr. Neil Stein will officiate, with burial
in Lorimier Cemetery.
Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel from 4-
8 p.m. today, and Thursday from 10-11:30 a.m.
Limbaugh, 104, died Monday, April 8, 1996, at his home.
He was born Sept. 27, 1891, near Sedgewickville, son of
Joseph H. and Susan Presnell Limbaugh. He and Beulah ``Bee''
Seabaugh were married Aug. 19, 1914, in Cape Girardeau. She
died Sept. 2, 1977.
Limbaugh, the oldest practicing attorney in the United
States, had practiced law since 1916. He founded the law firm
of Limbaugh, Russell, Payne and Howard 50 years ago. He was a
member of Centenary Church.
Survivors include two sons, Manley Limbaugh of Chester,
Ill., Stephen Limbaugh of St. Louis; 10 grandchildren, and 19
great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, two daughters, four
brothers and three sisters.
____________________