[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 154 (Friday, December 18, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2345-E2346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO J. REESE PHIFER

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                          HON. SONNY CALLAHAN

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 18, 1998

  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of 
Alabama's most outstanding business leaders, the late J. Reese Phifer, 
who recently passed away in his hometown of Tuscaloosa. With your 
permission, I would like to enter into the Congressional Record an 
article that appeared in the New York Times which noted Mr. Phifer's 
many contributions, not only to the business world, but in service to 
the greater community as a whole. Mr. Phifer was a noted civic leader 
and philanthropist, and his death leaves a void, not only to his 
family, but to his beloved state and nation. The article is entitled: 
``J. Reese Phifer, 82, Founder of Aluminum Screen Empire'':
  J. Reese Phifer, who turned a tiny aluminum screen factory into a 
business that dominates its worldwide market, died on Sunday at DCH 
Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa. He was 82.
  Phifer Wire Products Inc., which was stated in 1952 in an old 
warehouse by Mr. Phifer, a lawyer with no previous manufacturing 
experience, now employs more than 1,000 people to produce more than 
half the world's aluminum insect screening and more than 60 percent of 
the world's fiberglass insect screening.
  The company that Mr. Phifer founded also produces Sunscreen, which 
block out solar rays and reduce heat, and Phifertex, a vinyl coating 
used on outdoor furniture.
  Born on February 19, 1916, Mr. Phifer was the son of William and Olga 
Gough Phifer. His father operated a grocery store, and Mr. Phifer and 
his brother grew up delivering groceries and stocking shelves.

[[Page E2346]]

  He earned a bachelor's degree in commerce and a law degree from the 
University of Alabama. He also learned to fly airplanes which would 
later play an important role in his business. ``He set up a law 
practice and trained French and British Pilots in Tuscaloosa County 
when World War II broke out,'' said his brother, Joseph Tyler Phifer, 
of Tuscaloosa. Later Mr. Phifer ferried airplanes needed in the war 
effort from the United States to Europe.
  After the war, he resumed his law practice, but he sought new 
challenges. ``He told me that he wanted to get into manufacturing,'' 
his brother said. ``He said that's where the money was. He looked all 
over for something that wasn't manufactured in the South. He came up 
with screen because we use more screen in the south than anywhere 
else.''
  Once he started the Phifer Aluminum Screen Company in 1952, Mr. 
Phifer did a little of everything. ``He was doing the selling 
himself,'' Joseph Phifer said. ``He'd get in the plane and sell the 
wire and then come home and help make it. He had a little bitty office 
with one secretary and the guy who helped him set up the looms.''
  The company was renamed Phifer Wire Products in 1956. In 1973, the 
company moved to its current site, and has experienced almost constant 
expansion.
  Though he preferred to keep a low profile, Mr. Phifer was also widely 
known as a civic leader and philanthropist. In honor of his 
contributions to the University of Alabama, the university's trustees 
renamed the old student union building Reese Phifer Hall in 1991. It 
now houses the School of Communication. He also received an honorary 
doctorate from the university in 1984.
  In 1964, Mr. Phifer established the Reese Phifer, Jr. Memorial Trust, 
a charitable arm of Phifer Wire, in honor of his son, who died in an 
airplane accident.
  In addition to his brother, Mr. Phifer is survived by his wife, Sue 
Clarkson Phifer of Tuscaloosa, three daughters, Beverly Clarkson 
Phifer, Karen Phifer Brooks and Susan Phifer Cork, all of Tuscaloosa, 
and seven grandchildren.

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