[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 128 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H6568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE LIFE OF JAMES LOUIS MAXWELL, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Holding) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reflect on the life of the 
late James Louis Maxwell, Jr., a gentleman from a small eastern North 
Carolina county, whose innovative mind and entrepreneurial spirit 
helped grow his grandfather's local milling company into a thriving 
international agribusiness. Louis Maxwell's story is certainly one of 
commercial and financial success, but it is, more importantly, Mr. 
Speaker, about a life devoted to family and community.
  On January 9, 1927, in Wayne County, North Carolina, James Louis 
Maxwell and his wife, Ruth Herring, welcomed the birth of a son, Louis, 
Jr. He was an active youngster and became involved in Boy Scouts, 
proudly earning his Eagle Scout badge. He would later say that scouting 
had a transformational impact on him, and he remained actively involved 
with the Scouts throughout his life.
  Louis' grandfather, Hugh Maxwell, founded Goldsboro Milling Company 
in 1916, a family business, which is honored, Mr. Speaker, to celebrate 
101 years of business this year. The company began with the production 
of various feeds for farm animals, along with milling cornmeal and 
making grits.

  Young Louis, a graduate of Goldsboro High School, attended Davidson 
College, but left to serve his country during World War II. After 
completing his Naval service, Louis enrolled in UNC-Chapel Hill, 
graduating in 1950 with a degree in commerce.
  Proud of, and loyal to his deep roots in eastern North Carolina, he 
returned home to Goldsboro and immediately began working in the family 
business, and he rose quickly through the ranks.
  Louis was always looking at ways to expand the family business, and 
he began the company's efforts in raising turkeys, hoping that eastern 
North Carolina would be favorable to growing those large birds. Turkey 
production grew rapidly, and today, Mr. Speaker, Louis' vision and hard 
work have helped his company become the largest producer and processor 
of turkeys in the world, having acquired Butterball Company some years 
ago.
  Continuing to grow agribusiness across the United States, Louis 
expanded his family's ventures, becoming a major swine producer, along 
with timber and blueberry farming. His visionary acumen has now carried 
through five generations of the Maxwell family and shows no signs of 
slowing down.
  Yet, despite all of the many achievements of this good man--and I 
have really not even touched the surface of those achievements--he is 
truly a humble person. To Louis Maxwell, helping folks in his 
communities, by providing good jobs and many opportunities, was one of 
the most honorable things he thought a man could do to serve his fellow 
man. He expected much from himself and from those he employed, and he 
was pleased to reward loyalty and hard work.
  His outlet, when he wasn't working hard, what he liked to do was 
spend his time outdoors. Louis was the ultimate outdoorsman. If it 
wasn't hunting season, it was fishing season. His children were right 
there with him, and they say that he was still out in the boat fishing 
even in his later years. They always stuck to one rule, though, which 
was: he had to clean the fish that he caught.
  Louis was a born and bred Methodist and was a lifelong member of St. 
Paul's Methodist Church in Goldsboro. No matter where he was, Mr. 
Speaker, he never met a stranger, never walked past someone without 
saying hello, and he was a proud American. He loved his flag, and he 
loved his country.
  But most importantly, he spent more than 60 years married to the love 
of his life, Mary Ann Jeffreys, until she passed in 2014. Together, 
they had four children, eight grandchildren, and now a great-
grandchild. Louis was very proud of his family, as they were of him. He 
cherished his role as a husband, father, and grandfather.
  In his lifetime, Louis Maxwell enriched countless lives in ways too 
many to express. He will truly be missed. He was a friend.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________