[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 14, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





            IN RECOGNITION OF MR. ERNEST ``BOBO'' CLOUD, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 14, 2018

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a 
dedicated mortician and compassionate public servant, the Honorable 
Ernest ``Bobo'' Cloud, Jr., who will celebrate 33 years of 
distinguished service to the City of Cairo, Georgia. His celebration 
will take place on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at Mount Calvary 
Missionary Baptist Church in Cairo.
  Ernest Cloud, Jr. was born on May 4, 1948, to the union of the late 
Ernest Cloud, Sr. and Sarah Brown-Cloud. He graduated from Washington 
Consolidated High School in 1966, and went on to attend and graduate 
from Gupton-Jones School of Mortuary Science in Atlanta, Georgia in 
1971. After graduation, he received a greater calling upon his life and 
enlisted in the United States Army. But, this was not the only calling 
that he would receive in his lifetime. Ernest continued to pursue his 
interest in mortuary science by serving in the funeral service business 
alongside his father.
  Mr. Cloud's distinguished civil service has been mirrored by his 
extensive involvement in his community. In conjunction with his 
professional accomplishments, Mr. Cloud served on several boards, 
including the boards of the Georgia Funeral Service Practitioners 
Association, Inc. (where he served as the Budget and Convention 
Chairmen and the Past President), the Cairo Civics Club (where he 
served as the County Chairman), the Cairo High School Booster Club 
(where he served as President), Epsilon Nu Delta Mortuary Fraternity, 
Inc. (where he served as the Vice President for GA, FL, and AL), and 
the Fourth District Funeral Service of Georgia Practitioners 
Association, Inc. (where he served as the Assistant Secretary). He also 
belonged to a number of prestigious organizations, such as the Grady 
County Branch of the NAACP, the Georgia State Board of Funeral 
Services, the Suwanee River Area Council Boy Scouts of America, and 
several others.
  A trailblazer of firsts, Ernest was the first African-American 
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in Grady County, and in 1985, he 
became the first African-American to serve on the Cairo City Council. 
He has held this prestigious seat for the past 33 years.
  Dr. Benjamin E. Mays often said: ``You make your living by what you 
get, you make your life by what you give.'' We are so grateful that Mr. 
Cloud has given his time and service to the City of Cairo. A man of 
great integrity, his efforts, his dedication, and his expertise are 
unparalleled. The light in Cairo, Georgia shines a little brighter 
because of Ernest Cloud, Jr.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me, my wife Vivian, and the 
more than 730,000 residents of Georgia's Second Congressional District 
in thanking Mr. Ernest ``Bobo'' Cloud, Jr. for 33 outstanding years of 
service to the City of Cairo, Georgia, our state, and our nation.

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