[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 118 (Monday, July 22, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H4644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THANKING ED HALEY FOR HIS LONG CAREER OF PUBLIC SERVICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUSTOFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank Edward 
``Ed'' Gardner Haley of Shelby County for his long career of public 
service to west Tennessee. Now, Mr. Speaker, everyone just knows him as 
Ed. Ed recently announced that he is going to end his long career in 
public service.
  Ed is a west Tennessean through and through. He grew up in north 
Shelby County, just outside of Millington and graduated from Millington 
Central High School in 1956.
  Before starting his career in government, Ed spent 8 years in the 
United States Air Force, 4 years on Active Duty, and 4 years in the 
reserves. He then worked for the U.S. Postal Service, and then with 
DuPont.
  Now, in his nearly five decades of public service to our community, 
he has held a lot of titles: city manager for the city of Millington, 
superintendent for the town of Arlington, representative in the 
Tennessee General Assembly, and Airman First Class in the United States 
Air Force.
  Ed is also the proud husband to his wife, Kay, and a loving father, 
grandfather, and great-grandfather. Also, a special shout-out to 
Gracie.
  In 2014, Ed announced his retirement serving the town of Arlington. 
That was just a false alarm. Given his long history in Millington, he 
couldn't refuse Millington Mayor Terry Jones' offer to be the new city 
manager in Millington.
  Millington is also home to Ed Haley. Today, he says he is retiring 
for good. He recently told the Daily Memphian: I am not going to quit 
working, but I am really retiring.
  It all started in 1973 when Ed accepted a job with Shelby County 
government working in safety. He worked under the county's first-ever 
mayor, Roy Nixon, who took office in 1976. Ed served various roles in 
Shelby County government for 27 years, when he left to become 
Arlington's town superintendent.
  In between all that, Ed served as Millington alderman from 1972 to 
1990, and he was then elected to the State House of Representatives. Ed 
served three terms in the Tennessee General Assembly.
  In classic Ed fashion, he agreed to stay in Arlington and lead for 3 
years, but he ended up staying for 14 years. Then he returned home to 
Millington on, you guessed it, another 3-year contract. He stayed for 9 
more years.
  Ed has always had an open-door policy, and he wanted to hear from 
anyone and everyone that had a problem. Ed is a fix-it type of guy. In 
my opinion, if you looked in the dictionary under public servant, there 
would be a photo of Ed Haley.
  Oftentimes, Ed would do whatever he needed to do, whether that was 
mowing a lawn for somebody or providing a meal to someone in need. 
Everyone who has ever met or worked with Ed has been touched by how 
much he truly cares about people and his community.
  When Ed started this final tour in Millington, he drove around the 
city taking pictures and putting together a list of 52 projects he 
thought would improve the community. It took him a few years to 
complete the projects, but he finished every single one of them.
  I offer my congratulations to Ed on a job well done, and I thank Kay, 
as well. On behalf of our community, we thank him for his lifetime of 
public service. Ed is really a good friend, and he is a good man. 
Roberta and I wish him the best in his next chapter coming up.

                          ____________________