[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 26, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE END OF AN ERA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ROY BLUNT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 26, 1999

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the ending of a 
tradition of dedication of serving the public by the Gray family of 
Carthage, Missouri. On August 27, 1924 Howard H. Gray opened the 
College Pharmacy on the square in Carthage. On October 31, 1999, Howard 
Gray's son, Bill Gray will close the doors of the College Pharmacy for 
the last time.
  Bill Gray has spend the last 60 years in his ``first home''. First as 
an eleven year old youngster working for his father as a curb hop, 
picking up order from customers at the curb and running them in to his 
father to be filled. Later, Bill worked the soda fountain which in 
those days was filled with teenagers...quite a lively place. Upon 
obtaining his pharmacist degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas 
City, in 1950, Bill became an owner in the family business.
  Over the last forty-nine years, Bill Gray has served the citizens of 
Carthage as a pharmacist and friend. Filling prescriptions, answering 
the questions of a nervous mother whose child is ill and even making 
house calls to deliver medicine to the elderly all have endeared 
College Pharmacy and Bill Gray in the hearts of the people of Carthage.
  Life has not been all work for Bill. For over thirty-one consecutive 
years, Bill led a group of Carthage residents, known as Clyde's Bluff 
Dwellers, down the Buffalo River for a late spring float trip to enjoy 
the beauty of the Ozarks. Bill's knowledge of the Buffalo River is 
legendary.
  For over 75 years, three-quarters of a century, Howard and Bill Gray 
helped the sick in Carthage get better and they did it with hometown 
service. On October 31, Bill Gray will hang up his blue pharmacist's 
coat, turn off the lights and lock the door to the College pharmacy for 
the last time. With the turn of a key, an historic landmark in 
Carthage, Missouri will become a memory.
  I congratulate the Gray family for their years of faithful service to 
the public and, specifically, wish Bill Gray the best in the years 
ahead as he enjoys his retirement.

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