[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 49 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM J. HEARIN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SONNY CALLAHAN

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and remember the 
life of a great man, William J. ``Bill'' Hearin. Mr. Hearin passed away 
Monday, February 19, 2001 at the Mobile Infirmary. He was chairman of 
the boards of the Mobile Register and Energy South, Inc., the parent 
company of Mobile Gas Service Corp. Our thoughts and prayers go out to 
his wife Emily, his daughter, Ann Bartlett, and to all of his family at 
this difficult time.
  Bill was very active in the community. He rose through the ranks at 
the Mobile Register becoming co-publisher, then publisher and 
president, then chairman. He had one of the longest tenures at the top 
levels of a metro newspaper, and as a result he had a significant and 
lasting relationship with Mobile. Hearin was involved professionally in 
the newspaper industry, where he served as president of the Alabama 
Press Association, director of the Southern Newspaper Publishers 
Association and as a member of the American Newspaper Publishers 
Association.
  Bill Hearin was a leader in Mobile's social circles, where he served 
on the reception committees for a few of Mobile's oldest mystic 
organizations. He also served on the committee for the Camellia Ball. 
He was named Mobilian of the Year in 1977, and in 1987 he received an 
award for Outstanding Civic Leader in the state.
  After the death of Ralph B. Chandler, Bill took the reigns of the 
Chandler Foundation, which later became the Hearin-Chandler Foundation. 
The foundation distributes more than $10 million among Mobile 
charities. Mobile can thank Bill Hearin for so many things.
  My heart goes out to Mr. Hearin's family and to all those who grieve 
his passing. He gave unselfishly to the city he loved. William Hearin 
was a Mobile icon and a true newspaper man in every sense of the word 
and his contributions to our community will never be forgotten.

                          ____________________