[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 95 (Tuesday, July 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM JACKSON BEVIS, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARION BERRY

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 10, 2001

  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
Arkansan and an outstanding citizen, and I am proud to recognize 
William Jackson Bevis, Sr. in the Congress for his invaluable 
contributions and service to his community, to our state, and our 
nation.
  William was from Scott, Arkansas, and was born on August 14, 1922, in 
Pulaski County, Arkansas. He married Mary Jo Barnett in 1942, and they 
were blessed with three sons, Bill Bevis, Jr., Don R. Bevis, and Bob 
Bevis.
  William was President of W.J. Bevis & Sons, Inc. and owner of William 
J. and Mary Jo Bevis Farms. He attended Peabody School and graduated 
from Scott High School in 1941. He was elected to Lonoke County 
Agriculture Conservation and Stabilization Service Commission in 1950 
and served off and on for 25 years. He served 20 years on the District 
Soil and Water Conservation Board and was appointed by then-Gov. Dale 
Bumpers to chair a study of water diversion from the Arkansas River to 
the eastern Arkansas Delta. He served on the Lonoke School Board from 
1962 and 1972. William was elected to the Federal Land Bank Board and 
served 15 years, 10 years as chairman. He was President of Farm Credit 
Services of Central Arkansas for 10 years and was appointed by Farm 
Credit of St. Louis to a task force for Missouri, Illinois, and 
Arkansas, to restructure regulations for farm loans and credit in these 
states. He was appointed by then Gov. David Pryor to the State Board of 
Corrections for a five-year term. He was appointed by then Gov. Bill 
Clinton to the Arkansas Agriculture Museum Board in Scott and he, along 
with Governor Clinton and State Rep. Bill Foster were instrumental in 
securing funding for this preservation project for the farming 
community of Scott. ``This,'' as said by William, ``is a project that 
is very dear to me.''
  William was a life-long member of All Souls Church in Scott. He has 
served as Sunday School Superintendent, Chairman of the church Board of 
Directors, and as All Souls Church Trustee until the age of 75.
  Sadly, William died last month. He was preceded in death by one son, 
Judge Don Bevis of Cabot, and he is survived by his wife of 58 years, 
Mary Jo Bennett Bevis, two sons--Rep. Bill Davis, Jr. and his wife Kay 
of Scott and Bob Bevis and his wife Liz of Scott--along with numerous 
grandchildren and great-grandchildren and a host of friends.
  On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies and condolences to the 
family of William Jackson Bevis, Sr. His name commands respect and 
honor from all who knew him.




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