[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 197 (Thursday, November 30, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5990-H5991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING ALBERT BURR ``A.B.'' McCALL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Rose) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a one-of-a-
kind man, father, husband, businessowner, U.S. veteran, and a great 
friend of mine, Mr. Albert Burr McCall, or A.B., as many called him.
  Mr. McCall passed away on September 13, 2023, at the grand age of 94. 
Living to that age is obviously quite a feat, but in A.B.'s case, the 
real feat was the full life he lived and the accomplishments he 
achieved.
  A.B. was a man of faith, a loving and loyal family man, a proud and 
patriotic American. He was an unwavering believer in the preservation 
of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and he contributed generously to 
those causes that shared his convictions.
  He saw the importance of hard work at a young age when he worked at 
the general store his grandparents started in 1896. That 
entrepreneurial spirit would prove to run in the family.
  A.B. graduated from Smith County High School in Carthage, Tennessee, 
and later earned an undergraduate college degree in agriculture from my 
alma mater, Tennessee Tech. He then earned a master's degree in animal 
nutrition from the University of Missouri.
  Mr. McCall started his professional career as a teacher, but after 
only 1 year, he found himself answering the Nation's call to serve in 
the military in the Korean war from 1952 to 1954. He was later 
discharged with the rank of first lieutenant after being wounded in 
combat by enemy fire.
  When he returned to the States, A.B. headed back to the classroom to 
teach agriculture to World War II veterans at an Iowa high school. 
While holding down that job and four others, he also worked toward a 
Ph.D. at Iowa State University, and most importantly, he met his wife, 
Virginia.
  They wed just 9 months after their first meeting and soon thereafter 
moved to Smith County, Tennessee, where he would buy into his father's 
furniture and appliance business and eventually open D.T. McCall & 
Sons, which is still thriving today in the Smith County town of 
Carthage and surrounding middle Tennessee towns and cities.
  A.B.'s success in business is attributable in no small part to his 
uncanny ability to sense a profitable opportunity when it came along. 
In 1958, he learned that a local cheese company was changing the way it 
made its product, which he realized would in turn require approximately 
1,700 Tennessee dairy farmers to obtain a new type of industrial cooler 
in order to keep supplying milk.
  A.B. did some digging and found a surplus of these coolers in North 
Carolina that were perfect to fill the needs of dairy farmers in 
Tennessee. After several trips east, he bought approximately 1,000 of 
these coolers to sell to Tennessee dairy farmers. He even stopped in 
South Carolina on the way home, filling one of the coolers with peaches 
to sell back in Carthage.
  Mr. McCall clearly had an eye for finding deals and passing savings 
on to his customers, but he was also a marketing genius. He is still 
known throughout middle Tennessee from his days as a regular on 
Nashville's ``The Ralph Emery Show.'' Thousands would tune in to watch 
him list all the deals he had on furniture because he made them laugh 
while doing it. He ended his live television ads by holding up his 
right hand and fist and saying, ``hey,'' which became an unofficial 
trademark of his.
  According to Home Furnishings Daily, D.T. McCall & Sons is ranked in 
the country's top 50 independently owned furniture dealers today. In 
terms of warehouse and sales floor footage, it is the largest furniture 
and appliance store in the United States.
  Albert and Virginia McCall leave behind two children, A.J. McCall and 
Menda McCall Holmes, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. 
Menda and her husband Howard are with us in the gallery today.
  D.T. McCall & Sons continues to be a family business, something in 
which A.B. took great pride. Mr. Speaker, A.B. McCall's life is a 
lesson for us all--that while a long life is a wonderful blessing, 
having a life well lived is the superior goal. Albert McCall did both.
  My prayers go out to all of his family and friends as they continue 
to mourn

[[Page H5991]]

the passing of their loved one and this great Tennessee man. Mr. 
Speaker, with that, I say ``hey.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
referencing occupants in the gallery.

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