[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3234-S3235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING SID McDONALD

 Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the life of 
Sid McDonald of Arab, AL, who passed away on May 15, 2015. He will be 
remembered as a skilled businessman who was committed to bettering his 
community and State through public service.
  Sid was born in Springfield, AL. He earned a degree from the School 
of Commerce and Business at the University of Alabama in 1961. However, 
his time at the University of Alabama goes well beyond his days as a 
student. He was a member of the University of Alabama board of trustees 
from 1992 to 2008, and served as the pro tempore of the board from 1999 
to 2002.
  Sid began his career in public service when he was named to the 
Alabama Commission on Higher Education in 1970, the year that it was 
created. He had a passion for education and was instrumental in 
establishing the Arab City School system where he became the first 
board chairman. Sid served the people of Marshall County in the Alabama 
House of Representatives for two terms and also served in the Alabama 
Senate from 1975 to 1979. He later served as Alabama's finance director 
under Governor Fob James from 1980 to 1982.
  After graduating from the University of Alabama, Sid began his 
successful business career. He became president of Brindlee Mountain 
Telephone Company, which he managed until it was sold in 2000. In 1983, 
he founded DeltaCom, a statewide long-distance telephone company, 
serving as its chairman until it was sold in 1996. He was one of the 
first outside members of the board of directors of Intergraph 
Corporation from 1997 until 2006. Most recently, he led the start-up of 
CBX Holding, LLC (Cold Box), an Arab producer and marketer of 
temperature

[[Page S3235]]

controlled cargo containers. In addition to his many business 
adventures, he was very active in commercial and residential real 
estate development.
  Sid's accomplishments and contributions to the State of Alabama have 
not gone unnoticed. He was elected in 2001 to the Alabama Academy of 
Honor's One Hundred Living Alabamians and was elected to the Alabama 
Business Hall of Fame in 2010. The University of Alabama also dedicated 
a facility on campus in his honor, Sid McDonald Hall.
  I offer my deepest condolences to Sid's wife Jane Plunkett McDonald, 
and to all of their loved ones as they celebrate his many life 
accomplishments and mourn this great loss.

                          ____________________