[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 149 (Thursday, November 1, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11360-S11361]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN ERICKSON

 Mr. MILLER. Mr. President, Bessie Anderson Stanley once wrote:

       He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often 
     and loved much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the 
     respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; 
     who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has 
     left the world better than he found it, whether an improved 
     poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has always 
     looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; 
     whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

  These words aptly describe our friend, John Erickson, former 
administrative assistant to the late Senator J. William Fulbright of 
Arkansas and Director of Governmental Affairs for Ford Motor Company's 
Southeast Region. John died a few weeks ago at the age of 81, leaving 
behind a legacy that will long be remembered by those of us who knew 
him.
  I first met John in 1975 at the beginning of my first of four terms 
as Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. John came by to see me and I 
immediately knew that he was a special person. Our friendship carried 
over to my terms as Governor and until his death in Winter Park, FL, on 
September 3.
  John was a native of Roger, AR, where he began a political career 
that endeared him to U.S. Senators, Congressmen, and Presidents, and to 
everyone who knew him.
  His first experience in politics and public service began when he was 
a student at the University of Arkansas as Secretary to the late 
Congressman Clyde Ellis, who represented Arkansas' Third Congressional 
District. When Congressman John McClellan defeated Ellis for a seat in 
the U.S. Senate, John was asked to become secretary to Ellis' 
successor, J. William Fulbright.
  When John accepted Fulbright's offer, it began a partnership that 
lasted for more than two decades. John Erickson engineered Fulbright's 
election to the U.S. Senate in a highly contested race that included 
former Senator and the first woman elected to serve in the Senate, 
Hattie Carraway. Also in the race was Arkansas' sitting Governor, Homer 
Atkins. Fulbright won the race, bringing national attention to both the 
new Senator and to the skills of John Erickson.
  He served Senator Fulbright well and while building a reputation 
among his peers as a hard-working, politically savvy staff member whose 
devotion to his boss was exceeded only by his love for, and dedication 
to, his wife and family.
  John had a wonderful family. He married his childhood sweetheart, 
Sara Louise Glenn, with whom he enjoyed 53 years of companionship 
before her death in 1998. John and Sara Lou are survived by their 
children: Gunnar Erickson and his wife, Barbara of Malibu, CA; Karen 
Erickson of Colorado Springs, CO; and Kristin Erickson and her husband, 
Jon Farmer, of Winter Park, FL.
  In addition to his staff duties with Senator Fulbright, John provided 
political knowledge and skills to other candidates as well. In the 
national elections of 1952 and 1956, John took leave from Senator 
Fulbright's staff to work in the campaigns of Illinois Governor Adlai 
Stevenson, the Democratic nominee for President. He was a valued member 
of Stevenson's staff, often traveling with the candidate while managing 
his office operation in Springfield, IL.
  John joined Ford Motor Company in 1960 as civic and governmental 
affairs manager in Kansas City. While there, he served on the committee 
that planned the funeral services for former President Harry Truman. He 
moved to Atlanta in 1970 from where he worked with State and national 
officials on such issues as seat belt laws, highway safety and other 
legislative matters.
  John Erickson's life and his death touched the lives of all of those 
with whom he was associated.
  The poet Longfellow expressed it well when he wrote:

     Lives of great men all remind us,
     We can make our lives sublime,
     And departing, leave behind us,
     Footprints in the sands of time.

     Footprints, that perhaps another,
     Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
     A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

[[Page S11361]]

     Seeing, shall take heart again.

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