[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 152 (Friday, November 30, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN RECOGNITION OF MRS. EVELYN TURNER PUGH

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 30, 2012

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my 
sincerest appreciation to not only an outstanding public servant but an 
extraordinary banker and fiscal professional, Mrs. Evelyn Turner Pugh, 
Vice President of SunTrust Bank and Mayor Pro Tem of Columbus, Georgia, 
upon her retirement this year from SunTrust Bank. Retirement 
celebrations will be held on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at 
SunTrust Bank in Columbus and at 7:00 p.m. at The Benning Club at Fort 
Benning, Georgia.
  A Columbus, Georgia native, Mrs. Pugh received an Associate's degree 
in Secretarial Science, a Bachelor's in Management/Accounting and an 
MBA in Business Administration from Columbus College before it was 
known as Columbus State University.
  Beginning her career as a secretary at Columbus College and 
Progressive Funeral Home, Mrs. Pugh rose quickly through the ranks, 
holding a number of positions ranging from entry-level to managerial at 
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia across the span of thirty years.
  In 1999, Mrs. Pugh was appointed Vice President of SunTrust Bank, 
West Georgia, the position she still holds today. In addition, Mrs. 
Pugh also serves as City Councilor--Post 4 and in 2007, was elected 
Mayor Pro Tem of Columbus Consolidated Government.
  Due to her strong leadership and dedication to public service, Mrs. 
Pugh was appointed by former Governor Zell Miller to the Georgia Policy 
Council on Children and Families in 1995; the University of Georgia 
Carl Vinson Institute of Government Advisory Committee in 1995; and the 
Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse (MHMRSA) Funding 
Study Committee in 1998.
  Mrs. Pugh was also appointed Chair of the National League of Cities' 
Public Safety & Crime Prevention Steering Committee in 1996, where she 
worked with former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the U.S. 
Department of Justice to increase the flexibility in the use of grants 
from Community Oriented Policing Services, COPS.
  Moreover, Mrs. Pugh was elected as Georgia Chair of Women in 
Municipal Government in 1995 and President of the Georgia Municipal 
Association in 1999. She was appointed to the Georgia Public Defenders 
Council by former Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor. She has also served 
on the Board of Directors and Advisory Council of the National League 
of Cities.
  In conjunction with her professional accomplishments, Mrs. Pugh has 
served on a number of boards including the Board of Directors for 
Girls, Inc., St. Francis Hospital, Columbus Technical College, Columbus 
Housing Initiative, Liberty Theatre, and Muscogee Educational 
Excellence Foundation. She is also a member of the Columbus Chapter of 
The Links, Inc. and the Columbus Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta 
Sorority and has served as President, Treasurer, and Financial 
Secretary, among other roles, continuing the sorority's tradition of 
far-reaching service to the community. In addition, she has been 
awarded the Martin Luther King. Jr. Unity Award, among other 
distinguished honors. Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said 
that, ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space that we occupy 
here on this earth.'' Mrs. Pugh has paid her rent and she has paid it 
well.
  Mrs. Pugh has accomplished many things in her life but none of this 
would have been possible without the enduring love and support of her 
husband Reginald; children Marcus, Maurice, Tajuana, Talender and 
Reggie; daughters-in-law Tasha and April; and grandchildren Lincoln, 
Lyric, Makaylah, Imani, Caleb, Taylor, McKenzie, Jaylon, Kennedy and 
Regan.
  The great agricultural chemist George Washington Carver once said, 
``It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of 
automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, 
that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures 
success.'' By any measure, Evelyn Turner Pugh has been successful 
because of her service to humankind.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, 
along with the almost 700,000 people in the 2nd Congressional District 
of Georgia, in paying tribute to Mrs. Evelyn Turner Pugh upon her 
retirement from SunTrust Bank, while she continues her exemplary 
service to the Columbus, Georgia community.

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