[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 98 (Friday, July 11, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1413]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF MR. DON ROGERS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARION BERRY

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 11, 1997

  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay personal tribute to a man 
who was a mentor to me in my formative years as a pharmacist and small 
businessman; and a true friend in the years thereafter.
  Mr. Don Rogers was the owner and operator of Don's West Markham 
Pharmacy in Little Rock, AR, the place where I worked as a pharmacist 
from 1965 to 1967. Don Rogers was one of the finest businessmen that I 
have ever known, and I can't imagine having had a better teacher on how 
to do business with honor, integrity, and Christian values.
  He treated his customers and employees as individuals and friends 
with different needs to be respected. He listened to their concerns as 
if their problems were the only ones in the world that mattered at that 
moment, and when they left his store they felt better not only due to 
the prescriptions that he administered with loving care, but also 
because of the fine treatment that they received.
  I was blessed to have him as an employer and friend at that age. He 
taught me the value of putting the customer first; of caring about 
their needs before and after they came to the store; and of the caring 
for the health of the community before short-term profit decisions. 
These are lessons that all of us in public service would do well to 
remember as we go about our responsibilities in this hallowed chamber. 
Indeed, the things that he taught me have stayed with me in all the 
days since I had the privilege of working with him.
  Don Rogers passed away January 28, 1994, but his spirit still lives 
on in those who knew and loved him, and in those who did business in 
that pharmacy in Little Rock.




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