[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  A TRIBUTE TO MRS. EVERLEE SMAW MILLS

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                      HON. FRANK W. BALLANCE, JR.

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2003

  Mr. BALLANCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Mrs. Everlee Smaw Mills, 
one of my most senior constituents on the occasion of her 90th 
birthday. Mrs. Mills has lived through and experienced every noteworthy 
event in our nation's history that has punctuated the 20th Century. At 
the tender age of 16, instead of engaging in some of the lighthearted, 
fun activities enjoyed by youth today, Mrs. Mills was experiencing an 
America devastated by the stock market crash of 1929 and the onslaught 
of the Great Depression. At a time when she should have been enjoying 
life and planning for what little prosperity a segregated nation could 
offer an under-education Black woman, Mrs. Mills as a youth was facing 
bread lines and food rations.
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Mills is a remarkable woman, not just because of 
her long tenure but also because of her resolve to do well in all 
circumstances. For instance, she lived through the death of both 
parents at an early age, World War I, death of her spouse, World War 
II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, death of three of her 
children, and has seen our troops sent to Iraq to battle terrorists.
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Mills gave birth to 11 children and fed and 
nurtured many others, including grandchildren and neighborhood youth 
who wandered home with her children. It is my understanding, Mr. 
Speaker, that she never turned anyone away who needed a helping hand. 
Mr. Speaker, this remarkable lady, worked in a domestic capacity until 
she retired at the age of 75, and over the years she and her husband, 
(decedent) William Mills never once accepted welfare. As a widow, since 
the late 1940s, Mrs. Mills taught and stressed the importance of self-
sufficiency to her children. They were taught to ``pay their own way'' 
in society.
  To Mrs. Mill's credit, Mr. Speaker, her children have grown under the 
shade of her guidance to enter a cadre of notable professions. For 
instance, her children are employed in the following capacities: US Air 
Force serviceman, an engineer who has been assigned to work on NASA 
projects, a representative with the Wall Street Currency Exchange 
Department, the first Black elected to the Board of Commissioners in 
Beaufort County, an accomplished welder for the most prestigious truck 
body builders in the country, Hackney & Sons, and one daughter and son 
who have become ministers.
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Mills is a lifelong member of Beebe Memorial CME 
Church of Washington and was named the Woman of the Year in the 1980s 
and Woman of Distinction in 2001. She is revered in her church for the 
solid advice that she imparts to the youth and her peers, and has 
become a well-respected pioneer in building church programs.
  Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Mills is a true marvel. She still lives 
independently and enjoys ``Soap Operas''. She reads the Bible 
religiously. Her family history is traced in Beaufort County as far 
back as slavery. Her love for the area runs deeper than we understand. 
It pleases Mrs. Mills greatly to be simply a loving mother, devoted 
church member and lifelong resident of Beaufort County, North Carolina. 
I ask my Colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Mrs. Everlee Smaw 
Mills, an exemplary citizen.

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