[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1690-E1691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF RAYMOND C. SINGLETARY, JR.
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HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a
great American farm advocate, successful businessman and dedicated
community leader from the State of Georgia, Raymond C. Singletary, Jr.
Mr. Singletary, a pillar in Georgia's agricultural community,
recently passed away at the age of 99 at Pioneer Community Hospital of
Early in Blakely, Georgia. His funeral service was held at the First
United Methodist Church on Saturday, September 17, 2011.
He was born March 26, 1912 to the late Raymond Cook Singletary, Sr.
and Emma Quillian Singletary. He was preceded in death by his loving
wife Margaret Sparks Singletary, his two sons Raymond Clifford
Singletary and Marvin Sparks Singletary, and a brother A.J. Singletary
and a sister Alice S. Dunn.
A lifelong Georgian, Mr. Singletary attended Sewanee Military Academy
and graduated from Emory University in 1932 where he was a member of
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Following his graduation from college, Mr. Singletary embarked on a
tenured and successfully dynamic professional career in the
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fields of agriculture, banking and community service. He was a member
of the Blakely Peanut Company and served as President from 1944 until
1978, and as Chairman of the Board from 1944 to 1985. Additionally, he
was a member of the National Peanut Council, and served as the
association's Chairman in 1966.
Along with his advocacy efforts on behalf of Georgia's peanut
farmers, Mr. Singletary was the Supervisor of the Flint River Soil and
Water Conservation District from 1944 to 1971, and was Supervisor
Emeritus from 1977 to 2011. Moreover, he served as a member of the
Presidential Commission on World Hunger from 1979 to 1980.
Despite the demanding commitments associated with his occupational
duties and agricultural advocacy initiatives, Mr. Singletary still
found time to remain actively involved with other community
organizations. He was a Mason, a Shriner, former Chairman of the Board
of the First United Methodist Church and a distinguished member of the
Blakely Rotary Club. In 2009, he received the Rotary Club's most
prestigious award, the Four Avenues of Service Award.
He is survived by a daughter, Anne S. Hammack and her husband Albert
of Dalton, Ga.; a daughter-in-law, Henrietta Singletary of Albany, Ga.;
a sister, Emily S. Garner of Milledgeville, Ga.; 5 grandchildren: James
Albert Hammack, III and wife Elizabeth of Atlanta, Ga; Margaret H. Long
and husband Jason of Atlanta, Ga; McArthur Singletary and Duncan
Singletary, both of St. Simmons Island, Fl. and Raymond Singletary of
Atlanta, Ga.; 2 great-grandchildren: James Albert Hammack IV and Mary
Moore Hammack of Atlanta, Ga.
I would like to ask my colleagues to join me in paying homage to
Raymond C. Singletary, Jr. He lived a full life and the people of
southwest Georgia will always be indebted to him for his unyielding
support of our state's peanut farmers and our agricultural community
at-large. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the
Blakely, Georgia community at this time of great loss.
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