[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S847-S848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING MAYOR EMORY McCORD FOLMAR

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a friend 
and the former mayor of Montgomery, AL, Emory McCord Folmar. He passed 
on from this life on November 11, 2011, and I wish to honor Mayor 
Folmar's courage and service to his country, the State of Alabama, and 
the city of Montgomery.
  Mayor Folmar was born in Troy, AL on June 3, 1930, to Marshall Bibb 
Folmar and Miriam Woods Pearson Folmar. At the age of 14, the Folmar 
family moved to Montgomery, AL, where he graduated from Sidney Lanier 
High School in 1948. Mayor Folmar attended the University of Alabama, 
where he earned a B.S. in business in just 3 years. During his time at 
the Capstone, he served as a cadet colonel in the Army ROTC and was a 
member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Upon graduation, Mayor 
Folmar received a regular Army commission and was assigned to the 
parachute training and instructors' school for the 11th Airborne 
Division of the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, GA.
  He married Anita Pierce in February 1952, immediately prior to his 
deployment to the Korean war theatre later that summer. During that 
intense conflict, Mayor Folmar was wounded in combat and received the 
Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. He also received the French 
Croix de Guerre for his actions with the 23rd Regiment of the 2nd 
Infantry Division and French troops. Following the Korean war, he was 
assigned to Fort Campbell, KY, as an airborne jump master until 1954. 
Mayor Folmar was then and until his last breath a true American patriot 
who loved, respected, and defended the men and women who serve our 
Nation in uniform. As everyone knew, this was a part of his very being.
  Emory and Anita then moved to Montgomery, where he joined his 
brother, James Folmar, to run a successful construction and shopping 
center development company. In 1975 Mayor Folmar was urged to enter 
political life and run for the District 8 seat on the Montgomery City 
Council. He was elected president of the city council and became mayor 
of Montgomery in 1977 in a most remarkable election. He was elected 
mayor with 65 percent of the vote, despite having 57 competitors. Mayor 
Folmar went on to serve as mayor for 22 years until 1999. Mayor Folmar 
was a fiscal conservative who was most proud of the financial health of 
the city. He was famous for maintaining a balanced budget and 
establishing a healthy reserve fund. Mayor Folmar was also known to 
walk municipal ditches and visit public property in order to ensure 
that municipal services were operating at peak performance. He would 
often say, ``It's not what you expect, it's what you inspect.'' He was 
perhaps one of the greatest mayors in the history of Alabama and one of 
the best in America. He was honest, courageous, a superb manager, and, 
quite noticeably, direct and plain spoken.
  In 1980, Mayor Folmar served as State chairman of President Ronald 
Reagan's finance committee, and in 1984, he served as Reagan's State 
campaign chairman. In 1982, Mayor Folmar ran a competitive race as the 
Republican candidate for the Governor's office in Alabama. Mayor Folmar 
also served as the State campaign chairman for Bush-Quayle in 1988 and 
again in 1992. After retiring from politics, Mayor Folmar worked as a 
business consultant and then was appointed commissioner of the 
important Alabama Beverage Control Board in 2003 by Gov. Bob Riley. He 
served the State in this role until 2011, doing superb work making the 
department leaner and more productive.
  On a personal note, I had the pleasure of working closely with Mayor 
Folmar when he served as campaign chairman for my first campaign for 
the Senate in 1996. I will always appreciate and remember his support 
throughout the years and his leadership in Alabama. Those of us who 
knew Mayor Folmar know also that he was a man of faith who was an elder 
at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, AL. Governor Riley noted 
how impressed he was with Mayor Folmar's wisdom and scriptural 
knowledge. Emory Folmar had the reputation in Alabama as an extremely 
intelligent, hard-working, honest, and headstrong leader. He was all 
that and more.
  His dedication to serving the Nation in military conflict and to 
serving the citizens of the State of Alabama and city of Montgomery, 
AL, as a public servant will continue to inspire others for generations 
to come. We shall miss

[[Page S848]]

his leadership in the public arena. I feel quite privileged to be a 
U.S. Senator and to have the honor to pay tribute to Mayor Emory McCord 
Folmar's life and service to this great Nation.

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