[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E14-E15]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN MEMORY OF GOVERNOR JAMES BURROWS EDWARDS

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2015

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, during Christmas week the 
people of South Carolina lost a true patriot with the death of Doctor 
James B. Edwards of Mount Pleasant. The following obituary highlights 
his love and affection for his devoted family and community.

                         James Burrows Edwards


                                obituary

       James Burrows Edwards Mt. Pleasant--James Burrows Edwards, 
     DMD, 87, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, died Friday, 
     December 26, 2014. Jim was born June 24, 1927, in Hawthorne, 
     Florida to the late O.M. and Bertie Ray Edwards. Both parents 
     were school teachers, careers which led them to St. Andrews, 
     South Carolina, in 1935 and Mt. Pleasant in 1937.
       As a boy in Mt. Pleasant, Jim spent his spare time at Ft. 
     Moultrie, home of the 263rd Coast Artillery, and acquired a 
     lifelong love of the military and life at sea. Jim graduated 
     from Moultrie High School in June 1944, and took a job with 
     the Army Transportation Corps as a deck hand on an L-78 tug 
     boat. Though only 17 years old, he joined the Merchant 
     Marines in December 1944. Jim was assigned to the Dogwood, a 
     Liberty Ship converted to a hospital ship transporting 
     wounded servicemen home from Europe. Eventually he also 
     served on the U.S.A.T. Bridgeport, the George Washington, and 
     the Larkspur. Jim worked his way through the ranks from 
     ordinary seaman to an officer by age 19, licensed to pilot 
     ships transporting ``any tonnage on any water in the world.''
       In 1947, Jim began studies at the College of Charleston, 
     while also working as a night officer on ships as a member of 
     the Master, Mates and Pilots Association. During summers, he 
     remained active in seafaring trade, delivering coal to France 
     and England, granite for the Santee Cooper Dam, and general 
     cargo to ports throughout the Caribbean and South America.
       Jim graduated from the College of Charleston in 1951, 
     married Ann Darlington, his childhood sweetheart, and entered 
     dental school at the University of Louisville. Upon 
     graduation, he served two years on active duty with the U.S. 
     Navy in Chincoteague, Virginia, as a general dentist. He 
     would remain active in the United States Naval Reserve until 
     1967, retiring as a lieutenant commander.
       After completing graduate medical training at the 
     University of Pennsylvania in 1958 and a residency at Henry 
     Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, Jim pursued his 
     dream to return to Charleston, establishing his practice in 
     Oral and Maxillofacial surgery in 1960.
       While building a thriving practice, Jim entered the 
     political arena, serving six years as the Charleston County 
     Republican Party chairman. An unsuccessful bid for the United 
     States Congress in 1971 was soon followed by his election to 
     the South Carolina State Senate in 1972. Two years later, Jim 
     was elected Governor of South Carolina--the state's first 
     Republican Governor since reconstruction. Jim served as 
     governor from 1975 to 1979, returning briefly to his oral 
     surgery practice in Charleston.
       In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Jim as Secretary 
     of the United States Department of Energy, a position he held 
     until November 1982, when he was called as president of the 
     Medical University of South Carolina. Jim served as president 
     of MUSC for 17 years, retiring in 2000. As president 
     emeritus, Jim actively continued fundraising for the MUSC 
     Health Sciences Foundation until 2014.
       Among numerous civic and academic honors, Jim was granted 
     the Order of the Palmetto for his public service to the State 
     of South Carolina, and is an inductee into the South Carolina 
     Hall of Fame. He served on the Board of Directors of the 
     Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy 
     Donnelly Foundation, SCANA, South Carolina National Bank, 
     Encyclopedia Brittanica, Waste Management, Chemical Waste 
     Management, J. P. Stevens, Brendles, IMO Delaval, Inc., 
     Philips Petroleum, National Data Corporation, Burris Chemical 
     Co., the W. M. Benton Foundation, the MUSC Health Sciences 
     Foundation, and the Communications Satellite Corporation 
     (COMSAT).
       Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Ann; his 
     son, James B. Edwards, Jr. and his wife, Jenny, of Columbia; 
     his daughter, Catharine E. Wingate, and her husband, Ken, of 
     Columbia; grandchildren, Miriam Wingate Ashworth, K. Bryan 
     Wingate, Jr., Ansley Darlington Edwards, James B. Edwards, 
     III, Catharine Paxson Wingate, and Hellen Tucker Edwards; one 
     great-grandchild, Eliza Ann Wingate, and numerous nephews and 
     nieces. In addition to his parents, Jim was preceded in death 
     by his sister, Josephine E. Pinckney, his brother, Dr. Morton 
     Thomas Edwards, his sisters, Ada Frances E. Melchers and Jane 
     Ann E. Varn.
       Visitation will be from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, 
     December 28, 2014 at St. Luke's Chapel, on the Campus of the 
     Medical University of South Carolina. The funeral service 
     will be conducted at St. Philip's Church at 1:00 p.m. on 
     Monday, December 29, 2014 by The Rt. Rev'd. Dr. C. FitzSimons 
     Allison. Interment will follow in the churchyard of Christ 
     Church, Mt. Pleasant, after which the family will receive 
     visitors in the parish hall of Christ Church.
       The family requests, in lieu of flowers, that memorials be 
     made to the MUSC Foundation for the College of Nursing or for 
     the College of Dental Medicine. (MUSC Foundation, 18 Bee 
     Street, Charleston, SC 29425).
       Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr Inc., Mount Pleasant Chapel. 
     A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our 
     website at www.jhenrystuhr.com. Visit our guestbook at 
     www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston.

  The Lexington County Chronicle published an inspiring tribute which 
reflects the extraordinary impact of Lexington County voters in 1974 
where the county's victory margin of 10,433 was a large majority of the 
statewide victory margin of 17,477.
  As an indication of the family's appreciation of Lexington County, 
its Member of Congress, Joe Wilson, was selected to be an Honorary Pall 
Bearer.

           Former S.C. Gov. James Edwards Succumbs to Stroke

                            (By Hal Millard)

       James B. Edwards, the state's first GOP governor since 
     Reconstruction, has died.
       He was 87.
       Edwards, a dentist by trade who in 1974 became the first 
     Republican governor in South Carolina since 1876, died Dec. 
     26 at his Mount Pleasant home from complications caused by a 
     stroke.
       Politicians throughout the state mourned his passing.
       Expressing her sympathy, Gov. Nikki Haley wrote on Facebook 
     that Edwards ``appreciated the opportunities and challenges 
     of this office.''

[[Page E15]]

       ``Governor Edwards always offered kind words of support and 
     encouragement--and we are forever grateful for his 
     friendship,'' Haley wrote. ``Michael and I are deeply 
     saddened by the passing of Governor Edwards, whose love for 
     South Carolina inspired him to serve until his last day . . 
     .''
       GOP Congressman Joe Wilson of Springdale echoed those 
     sentiments and added, ``I am grateful to have had a lifetime 
     of working with Dr. Jim Edwards, and the honor of knowing his 
     wife Anne, daughter Cathy, and son Jim. Dr. Edwards was a 
     tireless stalwart for conservative limited government to 
     expand freedom.
       ``In high school, I would visit his dental office for 
     Goldwater materials, in his capacity as Charleston County 
     Republican Chairman,'' Wilson continued. ``In 1974, he 
     courageously ran and was elected as South Carolina's first 
     Republican governor. At that time, I worked with him on the 
     State Development Board, where he recruited Michelin Tire 
     Corporation to produce job opportunities for our citizens. I 
     was honored to serve him in the visionary Reagan 
     Administration as Deputy General Counsel as he achieved 
     success in deregulation as Secretary of Energy.
       Wilson also hailed Edwards' 17-year tenure as president of 
     the Medical University of South Carolina.
       ``His return to Charleston as president of the Medical 
     University of South Carolina resulted in MUSC becoming 
     recognized for world-class universities,'' Wilson said. 
     ``South Carolina has lost a Southern Gentleman, devoted dad 
     and grandfather, who has made a difference as a key architect 
     for a political revolution.''
       Wilson noted that Edwards' groundbreaking win in 1974 was a 
     precursor to the current Republican dominance in the Deep 
     South.
       ``Dr Edwards' vision of an inclusive Republican Party came 
     to fulfillment [in December] with the U.S. Senate victory in 
     Louisiana, from his start with no elected statewide 
     Republican officials in the five-state Deep South, and now 
     all statewide officials are Republicans,'' Wilson said.
       Edwards became governor amid the turmoil of the Watergate 
     years and was one of the few GOP bright spots in an election 
     year in which Democrats dominated. A long-shot candidate who 
     had previously served two years as a state senator from 
     Charleston County, Edwards defeated Gen. William Westmoreland 
     in the GOP primary, then upset long-time Democratic 
     Congressman William Jennings Bryan Dorn in the general 
     election.
       Edwards served in an era when governors were prohibited 
     from serving consecutive terms. Following his term as 
     governor, Edwards was nominated as President Ronald Reagan's 
     Energy Secretary; serving two years in that role before 
     resigning to become president of MUSC.

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