[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 158 (Tuesday, October 3, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN HONOR OF COMMISSIONER LUKE POPE STRONG, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 3, 2017

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I pay tribute to an outstanding civic leader 
and public servant of Georgia, a pillar in the Colquitt County 
community, and a friend of longstanding, Commissioner Luke P. Strong, 
Jr. Commissioner Strong passed away on Sunday, September 24, 2017. A 
funeral service was held on Friday, September 29, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at 
Lakeside Assembly of God in Moultrie, Georgia.
  Commissioner Strong was born on April 4, 1947, to the union of Luke 
Strong, Sr. and Mamie Brown-Strong. He was a product of the Colquitt 
County School System and graduated from the historic William Bryant 
High School in 1964. After graduation, he received a greater calling 
upon his life when he enlisted in the United States Army. He served 
proudly and honorably for five years. But, this was not the only 
calling that he would receive in his lifetime. He attended Gupton-Janes 
School of Mortuary Science in Atlanta, Georgia. He also was a graduate 
of the ABAC Police Academy and served as a police officer for one year 
at the McRae Police Department and four years as a deputy with the 
Montgomery County Sheriffs Department. He then served, alongside his 
father, as the Vice-President of Strong Enterprises.
  In 1986, he was elected as the first and only African American 
Colquitt County Commissioner, which launched a historic career in 
public service that would lead him to become the longest seated elected 
official in Colquitt County. In 1995, he founded Luke Strong and Son 
Mortuary, L.T.D, which has grown to be one of the leading funeral 
establishments in South Georgia.
  Shirley Chisholm once said that, ``Service is the rent that we pay 
for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Commissioner Strong 
paid his rent and he paid it well. He gave his time and talents to many 
social and civic organizations to include: the Moultrie Colquitt Branch 
of the NAACP, The Georgia Association of County Commissioners, Georgia 
Association of Black Elected Officials (GABEO), The National 
Association of County Commissioners, The Moultrie Men's Club, American 
Legion Post 533, and Moultrie Technical College Board of Directors. In 
2016, he was the recipient of the Ram Round-Up and Community Service 
Award. Commissioner Strong was also a God fearing man. He was a member 
of the Grant Chapel A.M.E. Church where he was a member of the Board of 
Stewards, Board of Trustees and the Sons of Allen.
  The great agricultural chemist George Washington Carver once said 
that, ``How far you go in life depends on your being tender with young, 
compassionate with aged, sympathetic with striving and tolerant of the 
weak and the strong. Because someday in your life you will have been 
all of these people.'' Commissioner Strong never forgot this lesson and 
was a man who would give you the shirt off of his back. He never 
advertised what he did for others, but was the true epitome of 
``Servant Leadership.''
  On a personal note, Commissioner Strong and his family have been dear 
friends to my wife Vivian and me for many years and I will miss the 
wise counsel that he imparted to me over the years.
  Commissioner Strong has accomplished much in his life but none of 
this would have been possible without the love and support of his 
family. His legacy lives on through his wife, Betty, his six children, 
four grandchildren and all of those that he touched in a very special 
way.
  Mr. Speaker, my wife Vivian and I, along with a multitude of other 
people all across Georgia, salute Commissioner Luke Pope Strong, Jr. 
for his outstanding public service and his everlasting commitment to 
improving the quality of the Colquitt County community. I ask my 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to join us in extending our 
deepest condolences to Commissioner Strong's family during this 
difficult time. We pray that they will be consoled and comforted by an 
abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.

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