[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 79 (Friday, June 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   IN MEMORY OF AUBREY LEE McALISTER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 2002

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of 
Aubrey Lee McAlister, who passed away around this time last year--May 
15th, 2001. I still think of him often. He was 89. Audrey was a 
distinguished reporter, war veteran, caring community leader and 
beloved husband and father. He and his wife, Aubrey, were dear personal 
friends--ones we visited with often.
  Aubrey was born on October 5, 1911 in Walters, Oklahoma. Even as a 
young teenager he showed his eagerness to work in journalism spending 
his after-school afternoons learning to operate printing equipment and 
type setting as a printer's devil in the local paper's office.
  After High School, Aubrey went to Cameron College and transferred to 
Oklahoma State University, where he received his degree in journalism. 
At the outbreak of World War II, Aubrey enlisted in the US Navy, even 
though he was exempt from the draft. As a Navy enlisted correspondent 
he served in the Pacific theater aboard the USS Colorado, a vessel that 
participated in the battle for Okinawa.
  Aubrey moved to Bonham in 1955 when he bought the Bonham Daily 
Favorite, a local newspaper, with a partner. He served as its publisher 
until 1976. Across the state he was active as a member of the board of 
the Texas Press Association. He served as the President of the TPA in 
1964.
  Within the community, he served as an elder and a deacon of his 
church, the First Presbyterian Church, and was a long-time and active 
member of Rotary International. He was a Paul Harris Fellow and had 
served as president of two different clubs. In 1964, he was named East 
Texas Chamber of Commerce Man of the Month and the Bonham Chamber of 
Commerce named him the town's Outstanding Citizen. He also served as 
the chairman of the Bonham Water Authority, which oversaw building a 
community water reservoir. He helped organize the city's first planning 
and zoning commission and was chairman of the Fannin County Fair.
  Most of all, Aubrey was a loving father and husband who always showed 
his kindness to others. He was survived by his wife, Audrey; one son, 
Don McAlister; a granddaughter, Sara Delao; and his brother, Ray 
McAlister. Mr. Speaker, we will miss him but always remember him as a 
beloved community leader and kind man who gave a lot to East Texas--
Aubrey Lee McAlister.

                          ____________________