[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO COUNCILMAN W.B. WILSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 21, 2024

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a community 
leader and devoted public servant. W.B. Wilson--the ``Workhorse of 
Williamsburg County''--transitioned from this life on March 15, 2024. 
His rich sense of humor, wisdom, and optimistic spirit will be sorely 
missed.
  Councilman Wilson dedicated his life to serving others. He was 
elected to the Williamsburg County Council in 1994 and immediately got 
to work improving the county's roads, many of them rural roads that had 
never been paved.
  W.B.'s proudest achievement was improving access to clean water in 
the county. After his father died from kidney disease directly 
connected to unsafe drinking water, W.B. made it his mission to ensure 
others in his community did not suffer the same fate. As a result of 
various USDA grants and loans he helped secure, Williamsburg County now 
has abundant access to clean drinking water. It was through his efforts 
to improve the essential infrastructure of Williamsburg County and his 
various other talents that W.B. earned his reputation as a natural 
leader.
  In addition to his work on the Williamsburg County Council, W.B. was 
actively involved in the South Carolina Association of Counties, the 
Williamsburg County Billing Committee, the Community Emergency Response 
Team, the Hemingway High School band and athletic booster club, and 
many other organizations. He also served on the boards of various 
community organizations and volunteered as a firefighter.
  Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Verlena Dicker Wilson, 
daughter, P. Jeanette Simon, son, Andre Wilson, brother, Samuel C. 
Wilson and sisters, Fannie Smith and Valtricia Cunningham.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in celebrating 
the remarkable life of Councilman Wilson. Over the course of W.B.'s 
long career of service, there wasn't a person in Williamsburg whose 
life he didn't touch. His decades of work improving the lives of the 
people of Williamsburg will resonate for years to come.

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