[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 92 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E759-E760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN HONOR OF MRS. VEOLA DOTSON PORTER

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 5, 2018

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great 
woman of faith, compassion, dignity, grace and a dear friend of 
longstanding to my wife Vivian and me, Mrs. Veola Dotson Porter. Sadly, 
Mrs. Porter passed away on Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Her funeral service 
was Tuesday, June 5, 2018, at 11:00 am at the Friendship Missionary 
Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia.
  Mrs. Porter was born on November 28, 1921, in Gentian, Georgia to the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Dotson, Sr. She was the eldest of six 
children that were born to this union. Her formative years were spent 
in what is now the Milgen Road-University Avenue area in Columbus, 
Georgia.
  Her life would change forever when she met Mr. Jake D. Porter, Sr. at 
the Smith Grove AME Zion Church. She married Mr. Porter in 1942 and 
five children were born to this union.
  Her life was truly blessed because of her love for God and her 
family. She learned from the Christian example of her parents and 
passed the lessons learned on to her children who in turn are passing 
them on to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
  Moreover, she had a love for people and this fueled her desire at a 
very young age to become a nurse. She attended and graduated from 
Practical Nursing School in Columbus. Her nursing career began at St. 
Francis Hospital and ended with her becoming a private duty nurse with 
a specialization in New Born Care. During her nursing career, she 
upheld the principles as enunciated in the last sentence of the 
original Florence Nightingale Pledge: ``I shall be loyal to my work and 
devoted toward the welfare of those committed to my care.'' I believe 
Florence Nightingale would have been proud that such a woman entered 
her beloved profession. She ended her distinguished nursing career 
after 40 years and went on to serve as a faithful volunteer at the 
information desk at the Columbus Government Center.
  Mrs. Porter achieved much success in her life, but none of it would 
have been possible without her strong faith in God. Her spiritual 
journey after Smith Grove took her to Hopewell Baptist Church in 
Upatoi, Georgia. Following her beloved husband's death in 1980, she 
joined the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church where she served 
diligently as a Sunday School Teacher, member of the Choir No. 2 and 
the Deacons' Wives.
  She is survived by her children, Deloris, Jake, Ibrahim, Melvin, and 
Gwendolyn; two sisters; Deborah and Ange; her 21 grandchildren and 37 
great-grandchildren; and many other family members and friends.
  George Washington Carver once said that, ``How far you go in life 
depends of your being

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tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with 
the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong because someday in 
your life you will have been all of these.'' Likewise, Mrs. Porter did 
so well in her life because she never forgot where she came from and 
always she treated people with dignity and respect. She used her God 
given talents to help babies enter the world and to help all people 
from all walks of life. The scripture tells us that the race of life 
``isn't given to the swift nor to the strong, but to those that endure 
until the end.'' Mrs. Porter ran the race of her life with dignity and 
respect and she has now claimed her greatest reward.
  On a personal note, Mrs. Porter and the Porter family have been 
cherished friends to my wife, Vivian, and me, and we have been truly 
blessed by their friendship.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me, along with the almost 
730,000 people of the Second Congressional District, in extending our 
deepest condolences to Mrs. Porter's family, friends, and the Columbus, 
Georgia community during this difficult time. We pray that they will be 
comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks, 
and months ahead.

                          ____________________