[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 129 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF LARRY WALTON COLSON

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2012

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I rise today to pay tribute to a great man and 
close friend, Larry Walton Colson. Mr. Colson passed away on September 
18, 2012. Visitation will be held at Carson McLane Funeral Home at 11 
a.m. on Thursday, September 20, 2012, and funeral services will be held 
on Friday, September 21, 2012.
  Mr. Colson graduated from Valdosta High School in 1966. He attended 
Valdosta State University and graduated with a degree in Business 
Administration. Mr. Colson was an entrepreneur at heart. He was the 
owner and founder of Colson Business Systems, Inc. as well as the co-
owner of Splash Zone.
  Mr. Colson loved his community and actively served in various 
capacities. He served on the Guardian Bank Board of Advisors, the South 
Georgia Medical Center Foundation Board and the Valdosta State 
University Board of Trustees. He was also a Blazer Booster as well as 
an avid Florida Gator Booster.
  A favorite pastime of Mr. Colson's was playing golf. He played as an 
amateur in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He was also an active 
member of Park Avenue United Methodist Church where he served as an 
usher.
  George Washington Carver once said, ``How far you go in life depends 
on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, 
sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong 
because someday in your life you will have been all of these.'' Mr. 
Colson went far in life because of his kindness and compassion for 
others.
  Mr. Colson is preceded in death by his father, George Wallace Colson; 
his brother, Gordon Wallace Colson; and uncles, Carlton Thomas Adams 
and Kenneth Carmen Colson.
  He is survived by his wife, Patricia Louise Colson; children, Rachel 
(Steve) Blankenship, Allison (David) Gracey, and Hunter Colson; his 
mother Myrtice Adams Colson; brother Greg Colson (wife Cheryl); sister-
in-law Valerie Colson; many loving nephews: Todd Hatcher, Brent Colson 
(wife Cara), Brad Colson, and Trace Colson; as well as many great 
nieces and nephews: Ellen, Cole, Julia and Tate Colson, Caroline and 
Davis Hatcher.
  Mr. Speaker, my wife Vivian and I would like to extend our deepest 
sympathies to Mr. Colson's wife Pat, their children and other family 
members during this difficult time. May they be consoled and comforted 
by their abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and 
months ahead.

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