[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 81 (Monday, May 23, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E768-E769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO WINSTON THOMAS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 23, 2016

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Winston 
Thomas, a distinguished public servant in the states of South and North 
Carolina.
  Born August 20, 1942, Winston was a native of Detroit and a graduate 
of its prestigious Cass Tech High school with a concentration in 
Electrical Engineering. He came to South Carolina to attend Benedict 
College in Columbia, graduating with a degree in Chemistry. He was a 
gifted athlete, attending Benedict on a football scholarship and also 
competing in basketball, baseball, and track, where he was part of a 
record-setting 4x200 relay team.
  While Winston passed up a professional athletic career when he 
declined a free agent offer from the Philadelphia Eagles, sports 
remained his lifelong passion. He participated in three all-state 
softball teams, was a member of the first all-black team to play in the 
Columbia Softball League, and competed in the United States Softball 
Association State Championship. At Benedict, Winston was an athletic 
institution, working as an assistant basketball coach, helping to start 
a swim team, and creating an Athletic Hall of Fame (into which he was 
deservedly inducted).
  Even more impressive than Winston's athletic accomplishments was his 
tenure in public service. His career began as a science teacher and a 
coach at Booker T. Washington High School. He subsequently served as 
Director of the Aging Program at the Columbia Urban League and as a 
Representative for the South Caroline Deferred Compensation Commission. 
From 1983 to 1988, he served as a Program Information Coordinator on 
the staffs of two South Carolina governors of different parties. 
Democrat Richard W. Riley and Republican Carroll A. Campbell. The fact 
that he was trusted by leaders on both sides of the aisle is a 
testament to his diligence and public-spiritedness.
  I had the great pleasure of seeing these qualities firsthand in 1988 
when he became my Executive Assistant at the South Carolina Human 
Affairs Commission. Winston played an instrumental role in the 
Commission's work, and countless South Carolinians benefited from his 
service there. Though he left the Commission and moved to Charlotte 
shortly before I left the Commission to serve in Congress, our region 
continued to benefit from his commitment to public service, with stints 
at the Urban League of Central Carolina and 100 Black Men of Greater 
Charlotte, which was selected as chapter of the year three times under 
his leadership. After leaving 100 Black Men in 2004, Winston started 
another career as an antique store owner, his store MAMALU, named after 
his mother, Lula Ballard, was recognized as a North Carolina Treasure.

[[Page E769]]

  Winston's love of sports and community leadership was synthesized in 
the Rudolph Canzater Memorial Classic, an annual golf tournament which 
we started over 30 years ago and renamed for our mutual friend Rudolph 
Canzater. That tournament is sponsored by the James E. Clyburn Research 
and Scholarship Foundation to raise money for college scholarships for 
students in South Carolina. Thousands of young people are grateful for 
Winston's generosity, as am I.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in offering 
condolences to Winston's daughter, Alanna Thomas of Baltimore, his 
cousins, Wesley Ballard and Angela Dixon of Detroit, and all of the 
rest of his family and many friends. He will be sorely missed, but he 
lives on in the countless people whose lives were improved by his 
selfless service and loyal friendship.

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