[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 105 (Friday, June 22, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E899-E900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN HONOR OF MR. JERRY C. GRIMSLEY

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 22, 2018

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I pay tribute to a devoted and hardworking 
businessman, Mr. Jerry C. Grimsley. Mr. Grimsley passed away on Monday, 
June 11, 2018. A funeral service was held on Friday, June 15, 2018, at 
First Baptist Church in Colquitt, Georgia.
  A Georgia man through and through, Jerry was born on July 19, 1939, 
to Clarence E. Grimsley and Julia Tassie Odom Grimsley on their family 
farm in Miller County, Georgia. After graduating from Miller County 
High School in 1957, he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College 
in Tifton, Georgia.
  Mr. Grimsley was a highly trusted leader in the agriculture and 
financial services industries. He built quite an impressive career

[[Page E900]]

which began in 1962 at Farmers Fertilizer and Milling Company as Vice-
President and Co-Owner with his father-in-law. He became the President 
of Farmers Fertilizer and Milling Company in 1974 and helped it to grow 
from a small feed and fertilizer manufacturer into an internationally 
recognized leader in the peanut shelling industry. Mr. Grimsley also 
was the Founding Director of Peoples Bank, now Peoples South, when it 
was chartered on March 16, 1973. During his tenure as Founding 
Director, the bank grew from one small branch in Colquitt to twenty-
nine branches across Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. He served in this 
capacity for 45 years until early 2018, when his health started to 
decline. Upon his retirement, he became the Director Emeritus of 
Peoples Bank and the owner of a local golf course which he named 
``Clydesdale Meadows''.
  Throughout his career, Mr. Grimsley served on a number of boards and 
was affiliated with several associations. He was President and Chairman 
of the Board for the Southeastern Peanut Sheller's Association (1975 to 
1976); the Board of the National Peanut Council (1985 to 1987); and 
President of American Peanut Sheller's Association (1990 to 1991). In 
addition to these roles, he also served as the Chairman of several 
peanut-based committees. In 2000, Birdsong Peanuts purchased Farmer 
Fertilizer and Milling Company, and Jerry served as a consultant in the 
Southeast Division.
  George Washington Carver once said, ``No individual has any right to 
come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind distinct 
and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.'' We are all so 
blessed that Mr. Jerry C. Grimsley passed this way and during his 
life's journey did so much for so many for so long. He leaves behind a 
great legacy in public service to the countless residents of Colquitt 
whose lives he touched and brightened.
  He is survived by his sons, Gerry and Scott; and a host of family and 
friends who will miss him dearly.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me, along with my wife, 
Vivian, and the more than 730,000 residents of Georgia's Second 
Congressional District in paying tribute to Mr. Jerry C. Grimsley for 
his remarkable leadership in our great State of Georgia. We extend our 
deepest condolences to his family, friends and the Colquitt, Georgia 
community during this difficult time and pray that they will be 
comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks, 
and months ahead.

                          ____________________