[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 76 (Thursday, June 9, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A TRIBUTE TO CLARENCE BOSWELL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM H. PUTNAM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 9, 2005

  Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a great Floridian, 
the senior member of our State's Bar, a true gentlemen in every good 
sense of the word, and my neighbor. Clarence A. Boswell died on 
February 22, 2005 at the age of 102, and for 75 years of his life he 
actively practiced law in my hometown of Bartow, Florida.
  Clarence Boswell was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1924, and with 
that admission he began one of our State's longest and most 
distinguished legal careers. During a time when lawyers tended not to 
specialize, Clarence Boswell distinguished himself as an accomplished 
litigator, an acknowledged expert in real estate, probate and trust 
matters, and a beloved adviser to businesses and families both great 
and small.
  For 50 years Clarence Boswell was recognized in the Courthouse as the 
determined defense counsel for the railroad. Unknowing opponents were 
often surprised by the tenacity with which this soft-spoken, genteel 
southerner defended his client's interests. As a real estate attorney, 
Clarence Boswell handled some of the largest real estate transactions 
of his time, and was used by other attorneys as an expert witness on 
property issues. However, the traits that most endeared him to his 
clients were the effective, competent and calm counsel he consistently 
offered those passing through his office. A local judge once referred 
to Clarence Boswell as a lawyer's lawyer and a gentleman's gentleman.
  In his community, Clarence Boswell was a charter member of the Bartow 
Rotary Club when it was founded in 1924. He served on the Board of 
Trustees of Erskine College in Due West, SC, and as that Board's 
Chairman. He was a life long member of the Associate Reformed 
Presbyterian Church and served as the Moderator of that denomination's 
Synod. He was attorney for the Polk County School Board for forty years 
and was instrumental in the founding of Polk Community College.
  Above all else, Clarence Boswell's greatest love was for his family 
and his wife of 63 years, his beloved ``Toggie''. He is survived by his 
two children, eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.
  Clarence Boswell was the last of a generation who were born into a 
time before the Depression, two great wars, I and the rise of the 
American Century. It was a generation of men who stood, bowed and wore 
hats, not baseball caps that they tipped to one another in passing and 
removed indoors. They were people who always presented a facade of 
innocence, who never spoke openly of certain things, and who detested 
rudeness and vulgarity. Now, I am not one who cries to bring back the 
``good old days'' but with the passage of time, we have lost in this 
country many good things that once spoke of manners, respect, courage 
and honor. Today I pay tribute to one who represented those good 
things, Clarence Boswell.

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