[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 10, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E151-E152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JAY LAWHON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARION BERRY

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 10, 2004

  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
Arkansan and an outstanding citizen. I am proud to recognize Jay Lawhon 
in the Congress for his invaluable contributions and service to his 
community, his family, his state and this nation.
  Mr. Lawhon was born on a small farm near Harrison in northwest 
Arkansas in 1919. After serving in the Navy in World War II, Mr. Lawhon 
moved to southeast Arkansas to become a vocational agriculture teacher. 
He served as principal of McCrory High School before beginning his 
career in the seed industry. Mr. Lawhon opened Lawhon Farm Supply in 
the late 1950's, and passed the thriving business to his son, Noal, in 
1975 in order to begin his work as a missionary.
  As lay leader in McCrory's Methodist Church and founder of the World 
Christian Relief Fund, Mr. Lawhon made several humanitarian trips to 
Bangladesh when floods and famine struck in the 1970's. He later 
traveled to Haiti to help build a hospital and continued to visit the 
country to teach Haitians to drill and repair wells for water and plant 
trees.
  Jay Lawhon was a faithful and dedicated husband to his wife, Lillian, 
a loving father to

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Noal and the proud grandfather of two grandchildren and one great-
granddaughter. Throughout his life, he was dedicated to serving his 
fellow citizens as a leader in both his profession and his community, 
and he deserves our respect and gratitude for his priceless 
contributions. I will be forever honored by his friendship.
  On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies to Jay's family, and 
gratitude for all he did to make the world a better place.

                          ____________________