[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 115 (Wednesday, September 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO ORANGE ``BUDDY'' HAYS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 22, 2004

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sorrow that I rise 
to inform my colleagues of the passing of Orange ``Buddy'' Hays, one of 
Miami-Dade County's most quietly effective and dignified patriarchs and 
a community leader and mentor who had the ability to transform the 
lives of everyone he met.
  Mr. Hays death on Sunday, September 12, 2004, has cast a veil of deep 
sadness over our community. The funeral services to celebrate his life 
were held Saturday, September 18, at Mt. Olive Primitive Baptist Church 
in Miami, Florida.
  Buddy Hays was a good and decent man who contributed greatly to our 
community, professionally, as a City of Miami police officer and as the 
District Manager of HUD for more than 30 years. But I knew him, much 
more closely and at a young age, as someone who was wise, and strong, 
and fair--a great role model.
  He was like a father and mentor to me, and I've been blessed and 
inspired by the good words and magnificent examples of this ordinary 
human being who went about quietly helping youngsters in our community, 
simply because of his great goodness and the fact that there were 
youngsters out there who needed his help. My friend, State Rep. Dorothy 
Bendross-Mindingall described Mr. Hays as someone who ``. . . will be 
missed by so many. He was steadfast and relentless in his mission to 
make this community a better place, and he did.''
  Buddy Hays was a delicately drawn character of quiet demeanor and 
dignified commitment to the well-being and growth of the neediest and 
most vulnerable in our community. He projected a vision of service and 
faith. His passing is a terrible loss, but the legacy of his caring and 
love lives on, and I am part of that legacy.
  The world is a better place because of Orange ``Buddy'' Hays. It 
would be a high goal for anyone to set to follow the path that he 
blazed.

                          ____________________