[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 67 (Thursday, May 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1018-E1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING TOM GREEN FOR HIS SERVICE TO TENNESSEE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 18, 2005

  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Tom 
Green. The humorist Will Rogers once said that the secret of his 
success was that he never met a man he didn't like. The same can be 
said of Tom Green. He makes friends with everyone, everyday, 
everywhere. He is the ultimate people person, always asking--and, much 
more important, caring--about you, your family, your friends, and 
remembering the details perfectly for decades. I wish I had a fraction 
of his talent.
  Tom is well known back home for his wonderful family, for his 
continuing and tireless efforts benefiting the Natchez Trace Parkway, 
as well as for his dedication and service to Nashvillians during his 
long business career and, more recently, as a key member of my district 
staff.
  The Natchez Trace is the pioneer roadway that connected Nashville 
with the lower Mississippi River at Natchez. In modern times

[[Page E1019]]

the Trace fell into disuse and was nearly lost to history. In 1934, 
Congress ordered a survey of the old wagon road, and, in 1937, provided 
initial funding for construction of what would eventually become the 
444-mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway running through rural Mississippi, 
Alabama and Tennessee. Today, the Parkway is one of the most visited 
national parks and serves as a unique thoroughfare, allowing us to ride 
in comfort along an ancient trail through some of the most beautiful 
scenery in our country.
  Tom has helped the Natchez Trace Parkway for decades, from the days 
of legendary Congressmen Jamie Whitten of Mississippi and Tom Bevill of 
Alabama. He worked hard to secure federal funding to complete and 
beautify the Parkway. Everyone associated with the Parkway knows that 
Tom is a great organizer, motivator, and promoter of the Trace. Just 
stop and eat a ham biscuit at the famous Loveless Cafe at the head of 
the Trace and you'll hear Tom's name mentioned frequently and with deep 
respect. Without Tom's efforts, the Natchez Trace Parkway would not be 
the link between the past and future of our region that it is today. 
Everyone in the Southeast United States is indebted to Tom for his 
vision. He helped save the Trace before it was too late.
  His tireless work on the Natchez Trace Parkway is just one of his 
important contributions. Tom is a true servant of his community. Born 
to remarkable parents in Lewisburg, Tennessee, he served in WWII and 
came home to graduate from the University of Tennessee, manage the 
local co-op and open a small business. He was so popular he was elected 
Mayor of Lewisburg. Later moving to Nashville, he helped many Middle 
Tennessee businesses expand, thanks to his keen credit decisions while 
heading up industrial development projects for Third National Bank. 
Those years were the golden age of Third National under the leadership 
of the legendary Sam Fleming, but it was men like Tom Green that 
brought the loans to the bank. Money is a commodity; customer 
relationships are more precious than gold.
  Tom went on to help all Nashvillians when he spent more than a decade 
as the associate general manager of the Nashville Electric Service, the 
local electric utility. Just one of the many people Tom helped was an 
African-American barber in a poor part of town. The barber would call 
Tom to tell him about an upstanding citizen who just couldn't pay their 
electric bill that month, but would pay when they found work. He asked 
Tom to keep their lights on and Tom did just that. As a former banker, 
Tom knew how to make character loans, whom to trust and whom not to. 
Despite being a monopoly, NES kept the goodwill of its hardworking 
customers and Tom made even more lifelong friends at a time when most 
white Nashvillians did not care much about goodwill in the black 
community. The barber is still in business in the same location and I 
have visited his barbershop with Tom. The barber's name is Vernon 
Winfrey, and he is the father of Oprah Winfrey. Tom bent over backwards 
to help him before he had any realistic hope of fame or fortune. That's 
the kind of guy Tom is.
  Married for 53 years to Pat Green, the Greens are the parents of four 
outstanding grown men and grandparents of eleven children. Tom is an 
active member of the Nashville Downtown Rotary Club and Christ the King 
Catholic Church and finds time to volunteer at the Nashville's ``Room 
in the Inn'' program for the homeless and at St. Thomas Hospital. Pat 
is a renowned local teacher who is directly descended from Abraham 
Lincoln's first-grade school teacher. Needless to say, the Green family 
is well educated.
  Tom's generous spirit and joyful approach to life immediately come to 
mind when anyone thinks of him. No matter how busy his day may be, Tom 
always has a smile, an encouraging word and a couple of minutes just 
to talk . . . sometimes more than a couple of minutes. He'll pick up 
the conversation just where you left it . . . the day before, a week or 
a month ago. He always knows the news and has lots of tips about 
everyone's background, interconnections, and exactly how to approach 
everyone. His mind is better than a computer database. There's never 
been anyone like him.

  Of course, I am the lucky one. Tom Green has been a key part of my 
office staff for the past several years. No one could ask for a more 
positive, uplifting presence in the office, or a better person to 
represent you out in the community. Not only does he know everyone, he 
also has great ideas. For example, last year Tom Green persuaded Vernon 
Winfrey to make available Oprah Winfrey Scholarships to Nashville Tech 
Community College. Now all future generations will benefit from an old 
interracial friendship, formed on the basis of taking a business risk 
to keep the lights on for decent, hardworking people who were 
temporarily down on their luck.
  I am truly fortunate and want to take this moment to thank Tom for 
bringing his integrity, his energy and his ever-present sense of humor 
to my Congressional team. He can outwork a dozen people half his age. I 
want to take this moment to publicly offer my thanks, and the thanks of 
everyone in the 5th Congressional District of Tennessee, for Tom 
Green's extraordinary service to our community, our state and our 
country.

                          ____________________