[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2-E3]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GOVERNOR JAMES B. EDWARDS SERVICE

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2015

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, at the Service of Worship 
Celebrating the Life of James Burrows Edwards at historic St. Philip 
Episcopal Church of Charleston (American statesman John C. Calhoun is 
buried in the St. Philips Churchyard), his beloved son-in-law Kenneth 
B. Wingate, Sr., Esq. delivered the following Reflections.


                              REFLECTIONS

       I'm Jim's son-in-law, and I want to reflect on the life of 
     James Burrows Edwards, the Charming Captain of our Ship.
       Jim Edwards was a great man, by any possible measure. 
     Webster defines ``great'' as eminent or excellent. Jim 
     accomplished more in a lifetime than any other 10 people 
     combined. He served the nation in the Merchant Marines as a 
     17 year-old during World War II, crossing the Atlantic 11 
     times, carrying equipment and supplies to England, France and 
     Germany, and returning each time with wounded American 
     soldiers. By the end of the war, Jim had ascended in rank 
     from dishwasher to able-bodied seaman to quartermaster. He 
     studied hard while off duty, and ultimately earned his third-
     mate's license which authorized him to guide ships ``of any 
     tonnage, on any waters of the world.'' And guide ships he 
     did, all of his life.
       Jim paid his way through the College of Charleston, working 
     summer jobs such as transporting general cargo to ports of 
     call around Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. Not 
     your typical undergraduate student at the College, was he, 
     President McConnell?
       Jim married his childhood sweetheart, Ann Darlington, in 
     1951, though not everyone in her family could see the 
     potential in this young man. Ann's step-grandmother, ``Gran'' 
     was at home shortly before their wedding. Jim dropped by and 
     asked Gran what she thought of all this commotion. She 
     replied, ``I guess it's okay, but Ann sure could do better 
     than that little boy from Rifle Range Road!'' Jim said, ``I 
     think so, too.''
       Jim and Ann worked their way through dental school at the 
     University of Louisville. Ann worked for the Red Cross in the 
     hills of Kentucky as a nurse, while Jim ran for and was 
     elected president of the student body in his spare time. 
     These early ventures honed his impressive personal skills, 
     teaching him how to break down barriers, build rapport, pull 
     together a team. Jim also worked odd jobs, such as selling 
     mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby. One year at the Derby, 
     while selling concessions, Jim bet $6 on Dark Star, a long-
     shot at odds of 25-1, simply because the horse had trained in 
     South Carolina. Dark Star won the race, and Jim took home a 
     fat purse, and a lesson on long-shot victories.
       I don't intend to drag you through each of his fascinating 
     and successful careers in oral surgery, in state politics, in 
     serving on President Reagan's cabinet as Secretary of Energy, 
     and then returning to the Medical University of South 
     Carolina for 17 years as president. You were all there with 
     him and with Ann, his forever first lady, at every memorable 
     and enjoyable step of the way.
       Not only was Jim a great man, but far more importantly he 
     was a good man. The Bible only refers to two people, Barnabas 
     and Joseph of Arimethea, as ``good.'' The biblical definition 
     of good is generous, with a willingness to put other's 
     interests above one's own. It's rare to find a great man; it 
     is more rare to find a good man. But it is exceedingly rare 
     to find a great man who is good.
       Jim had three specific qualities that endeared him to us 
     all:
       First was his HUMOR; that quick wit, often self-
     deprecating, never vulgar. He loved to tell the true story of 
     being in the hardware store in Moncks Corner, wearing his old 
     hunting clothes, when a woman going up and down the aisles 
     kept staring at him. Finally, she came over and said, ``Has 
     anyone ever told you you look like Jim Edwards?''. He said, 
     yes, and before he could say anything else, she said, ``Makes 
     you mad as hops, doesn't it?''
       Even the name of O' Be Joyful, his magnificent home 
     overlooking Charleston harbor is a whimsical, double-
     entendre. Yes, it's intended to reflect the biblical 
     encouragement to live each moment joyfully. But it's also a 
     reminder of how Jim and Ann got the house. A widow, Kathryn 
     McNulta, owned the home but was reluctant to sell it. 
     Periodically Jim and Ann would go sit with her on the piazza, 
     and she would offer them a drink called an O' Be Joyful--a 
     can of limeade, a can of light rum, a can of dark rum, and 
     the white of an egg. Ann would look at Jim quietly and say, 
     ``I can't drink that!'' And he said, ``You will if you want 
     the house!''
       Jim's second endearing quality was his HUMANITY; he had a 
     genuine concern for the well-being of others. He always 
     looked for the best in people, but cast a patient and 
     sympathetic eye when they fell short. His care for others 
     could be seen in his lifelong commitment to improvements in 
     healthcare and in education. One of the landmark pieces of 
     legislation while he was governor was the Education Finance 
     Act, which altered the way funds were distributed to schools 
     across

[[Page E3]]

     South Carolina. And of course his thirty years of service as 
     president and then president emeritus of his beloved Medical 
     University. He continued fundraising for MUSC literally to 
     the end of his life. After his stroke in 2013, when he could 
     no longer take potential donors out to restaurants, he and 
     Ann would entertain them at home. As recently as three weeks 
     ago, he attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 
     refurbished College of Nursing.
       Jim's humanity could be seen in his legendary generosity, 
     as well as his friendliness and hospitality to all. He never 
     met a stranger, never turned down a request for help, and 
     never let race or creed or party affiliation color his love 
     for people. Though he held his Republican ideals closely, he 
     embraced everyone across the aisle. He loved and served with 
     Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Strom Thurmond, but he 
     also loved and served with Bob McNair, Rembert Dennis, and 
     Fritz Hollings. He was always collegial, always the 
     statesman.
       Finally, Jim will be remembered for his HUMILITY. He never 
     let success go to his head. Though he had many titles (third 
     mate, lieutenant commander, doctor, chairman, senator, 
     governor, secretary, president--in fact, he often joked he 
     couldn't keep a steady job) his favorite title was just plain 
     Jim. His beautiful Limerick Plantation was simply ``the 
     farm.'' His favorite vehicle was always his old truck, which 
     always had a few dents. Though he walked with kings and 
     presidents, and sat with captains of industry and commerce, 
     he never forgot his roots on Rifle Range Road. He often 
     quipped that when you leave office, you go from ``who's who'' 
     to ``who's he?'' very quickly. He was never pretentious.
       I guess in a word, Jim was a Renaissance man--he could do 
     anything, and do it well. He could repair engines, recite 
     poetry, build furniture, design jewelry, grow luscious 
     vegetables and flowers, win elections, shoot the lights out 
     with a shotgun, navigate by the stars, negotiate a deal, 
     close a sale, cast a vision and recruit a team to transform 
     an institution or a party or a state. And he could make his 
     grandchildren laugh. His ``joi de vie'' was contagious, and 
     he infected all of us with his charm.
       A few months ago, sitting in O' Be Joyful at the 
     magnificent table he built with his own hands, Jim and I 
     talked about what I should say to you today. First he asked 
     me to exhort you in your faith. Jim first placed his trust in 
     Jesus Christ at age 5, sitting on the knee of his 
     grandfather, Joseph Hooker Hieronymus, an itinerant Methodist 
     minister in the hills of eastern Kentucky. Jim always 
     treasured this little Bible given to him by his grandfather 
     at that time, and had this tucked inside a larger Bible when 
     he was sworn in as governor. After Jim's stroke last year, we 
     spent many evenings as a family reading and discussing the 
     parables of Jesus, how we enter, grow, live and finish in the 
     kingdom of God. And finish in faith Jim has done.
       Second, he asked me to encourage you, especially Ann, and 
     Jim, and Cathy, and you grandchildren, not to grieve as 
     others do who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died 
     and rose again, and even so will return one day and will 
     bring with him those who have fallen asleep, and that we will 
     always be together with them who trust Christ and loved his 
     coming. We declare this by the word of the Lord. May it be 
     so, for each of us today.

  The Sermon was lovingly delivered by the Right Reverend Dr. C. Fitz 
Simons Allison.


                                 sermon

       Rarely have I had such an encouraging experience as helping 
     to plan this funeral service with the family of Jim Edwards. 
     They knew exactly what they and Jim wanted. They knew because 
     their Christian faith was continually expressed within their 
     family and at family gatherings. If you want to know what Jim 
     Edwards believed, examine carefully this funeral service. The 
     psalms, hymns, lessons, and prayers, The Old Rugged Cross 
     truly express his faith. They told me right away that Jim's 
     favorite biblical text was Micah 6:6-8.
       ``And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, 
     to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.''
       ``Doing justly'' is enormously difficult. In medicine, when 
     a life is at stake, justice does not allow ineptness, 
     incompetence, carelessness, or sloth. Instead discipline, 
     rigor, warnings, and possibly terminations are needed. Surely 
     Jim had to face such decisions continually in his public 
     life.
       Loving mercy seemed to come easily to Jim and many of us 
     have experienced his encouragement that we did not deserve. 
     Mercy is at the heart of all graceful relationships, but 
     inappropriate mercy can lead to inefficiency, poor 
     performance, and sentimentality. Sentimentality is long range 
     cruelty. Good bedside manners are desirable but not at the 
     expense of knowledge and rigorous training. I am sure that 
     Jim faced uncertain and complex issues of mercy. Doing justly 
     and loving mercy can be very difficult and frustrating.
       Walking humbly with God is a key to dealing with decisions 
     of justice and mercy, not unlike issues we all face daily. 
     Walking humbly with God is an acknowledgement that our truth 
     is only partial and inadequate. Only God's truth is perfect. 
     My physician father used to say, ``Deliver me from people who 
     are certain they are right.'' Walking humbly with God as 
     expressed by Abraham Lincoln, ``with malice toward none; with 
     charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us 
     to see that right.''
       The humility that is required for the decisions of justice 
     and mercy is clearly expressed by the phrase ``as God gives 
     us to see the right.'' Jim certainly faced many frustrations 
     and difficulties in his leadership. I remember General James 
     Grimsley, when he was President of the Citadel, asking Jim 
     what was the difference between his experience in 
     professional politics and that of academic politics. Jim's 
     answer was that professional politics was Sunday school sin; 
     academic politics was graduate school sin.''
       Jim's humor was an essential part of his humility. He could 
     laugh at frustration and laugh at himself. He knew something 
     of Christopher Frey's wisdom: ``Comedy is an escape, escape 
     not from truth, but from despair, a narrow escape into 
     faith.'' Walking humbly with God enables us to see the 
     laughableness of human pretension and the joy of knowing and 
     trusting in the benevolent truth beyond ourselves, in God's 
     truth. If I think my opinion is absolute with no higher truth 
     over it, my truth becomes my God. My opinions become dogmas. 
     If I am a doctor there is no check on my view short of the 
     morgue. Or in the case of politics, without humility, we will 
     have stagnation, chaos, or tyranny.
       Jim and Ann, the two names come naturally together after 63 
     years of marriage. A trained nurse and childhood sweetheart, 
     she became a partner in all activities whether politics, 
     administration, fund raising, entertainment, or whatever 
     needed attention. But above all she shares his faith.
       Recently Martha and I had lunch with them. Jim's concern 
     for the health and morality of our society was uppermost on 
     his mind. He seemed to sense that absence of humility in 
     these times, and the lack the of ``walking with God,'' the 
     underpining of our society. The result being society's 
     unbecoming commitment to certainties, about what is really 
     uncertain, and uncertain about what is really certain.
       Cathy and Ken told me that he knew that his favorite text 
     from Micah ``do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your 
     God'' was an ideal that needs the gospel to make it 
     effective. ``I am the way the truth and the light.'' This 
     text is only understood when one realizes that the Christian 
     God is perfect, and we are not. We cannot as sinners stand in 
     his presence. And ``no one comes to the father except by me'' 
     is not meant to be discourteous to other religions but to 
     express the Christian commitment to the majestic perfection 
     of God. Only by God's word, his only begotten Son, can a 
     Christian stand in his presence.
       Our problems were diagnosed years ago by J. B. Philips in 
     his very short book, Your God is Too Small. Jim's God was not 
     a small God but a God before whom we are all sinners. As a 
     sinner himself Jim could have compassion for other sinners 
     and knowing he was a forgiven sinner his life could be lived 
     with compassion for others. This produced the charm and 
     diplomacy so well and widely described in our newspapers.
       But the journalists failed to mention that his 
     extraordinary gifts, love and consideration for others, were 
     rooted in his realization that he was a forgiven sinner. It 
     nurtured and influenced all his commendable activities.
       Psalm 103, the family's choice, was the fruit of their 
     family devotions in which they recited the Psalm 
     antiphonally. They knew it by heart: ``He has not dealt with 
     us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our 
     iniquities.'' This verse can help us walk humbly with our 
     God.
       The Gospel also makes it abundantly clear that Christ has 
     gone to prepare a place for us. Where our goodness falls 
     short, his goodness stands in our stead. The secular dogma, 
     that this world is all there is ism, in Reinhold Niehuher's 
     phrase, leaves us bereft of true hope.
       The secular hope is that nature is no longer creation 
     revealing the awesome majesty of God but a mere object of 
     random chance without design or purpose. One of the most 
     accomplished and attractive leaders of secular belief is the 
     psychiatrist, Allen Wheelis. In his later years he is now 
     unpersuaded by his earlier attempts to make death a 
     meaningful conclusion rather than a fated inescapable and 
     meaningless end. He now protests: ``A symphony has a climax, 
     a poem builds to a burst of meaning but we are unfinished 
     usiness. No coming together of strands. The game is called 
     because of darkness.'' The seculaar hope ends with the dark 
     oblivion of death. This is the unacknowledged cry of the 
     world for a deeper and meaningful hope.

                          ____________________