[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 30, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING CITY OF ORANGE MAYOR WILLIAM BROWN CLAYBAR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 30, 2012

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a public 
servant that I have had the honor to know and work with.
  A native and lifelong resident of Orange, Texas, William Brown 
Claybar is more than just a Mayor, he is a community leader. Brown 
Claybar runs a small business the community has relied on for more than 
three decades. While serving our community at city hall, he is also 
serving our Lord and his flock in many varied roles at the First United 
Methodist Church.
  A graduate of Lutcher Stark High School and Stephen F. Austin State 
University, Brown Claybar pursued further studies at the Commonwealth 
College of Mortuary Science and Rice Institute--Advanced Management 
Institute. A Past President of the South East Texas Funeral Directors 
Association, he has also chaired the Legislative Committee for the 
Texas Funeral Directors Association, served as Secretary of the 
Selected Independent Funeral Directors, a board member of the Greater 
Orange Area Chamber of Commerce and served as a former President and 
trustee of the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School 
District.
  It is impossible to name all his civic and community service, because 
the list is so long--the 1999 Community Builders Award from Madison 
Lodge 126 AF & AM and the Texas Grand Lodge of Texas, the 2002 
distinguished Christian Service Award from Salem United Methodist 
Church, the 2003 Velma Jeter Scholarship Foundation Humanitarian Award, 
the 2008 Torch Award from the Bereavement Chamber of Commerce and the 
April 2011 ``Person of the Year'' award from The Record Newspaper.
  While he's proud of his many forms of service, his community is now 
taking a moment to let him know how proud we all are of him and how 
honored we all are that his wife Linda and their children and 
grandchildren have so willingly shared him with the town they all love 
so much.
  When Brown Claybar says he has ``thoroughly enjoyed'' being Mayor, he 
means it. Through two severe hurricanes, Mayor Claybar has managed 
Orange's ``competing interests'' with a steady grace and a very large 
dose of common sense. While understanding the impossibility of ``being 
all things to all people,'' Mayor Claybar has been the glue that has 
kept Orange together in tough times. His town will miss him. His staff 
will miss him. I will miss him.
  Orange is a unique community that has faced difficulty with a humble 
and stalwart determination. That is also a fit description for Mayor 
Claybar who has helped the Golden Triangle's jewel navigate a tough 
start to the 21st century following Hurricanes Rita and Ike.
  After a decade as mayor of Orange, William Brown Claybar is leaving 
city hall a stronger place than he found it. That truly is the highest 
compliment a Mayor can pay a community he loves so much.

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