[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 24, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E609-E610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING FRED SMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 24, 2025

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn tribute to Frederick 
W. Smith, the founder of FedEx and a visionary business and civic 
leader who revolutionized global commerce. Mr. Smith passed away on 
Saturday at the age of 80. Mr. Smith took an idea for express package 
delivery that he wrote about in a 1965 college term paper and turned it 
into a multinational corporation worth billions, employing more than 
500,000 people at 2,000 locations worldwide. Mr. Smith's father, James 
Frederick Smith, the founder of the Toddle House restaurant chain and 
the Dixie Greyhound bus line, died when he was 4 and he and his 
brother, Richard, were raised by their mother. Mr. Smith attended Yale 
University, where he was a fraternity brother of future president 
George W. Bush. He later served as a Marine officer and platoon leader 
in Vietnam, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and two 
Purple Hearts. Mr. Smith founded Federal Express in 1971 in Little 
Rock, Arkansas, and moved it to his hometown of Memphis in 1973, where 
it grew exponentially through acquisitions. A visionary leader who 
never forgot his roots, Mr. Smith became a dedicated civic booster, 
helping bring the NBA's Grizzlies to Memphis where they play at the 
FedEx Forum and supporting the FedEx-St. Jude Championship charity golf 
tournament since 2009. Mr. Smith was a relentlessly loyal supporter of 
the University of Memphis, from the FedEx Institute of Technology to 
the athletic programs and his personal commitment to refurbishing 
Liberty Stadium, the home of the football Tigers. He was also a strong 
supporter of the Memphis Zoo, bringing pandas from China aboard a FedEx 
plane, and supporting the Teton Trek exhibit which displays nature 
photography taken by his late daughter, Woodland Smith Rice, who passed 
in 2005. Mr. Smith was a legendary business leader who often testified 
before Congress as a representative of the Business Roundtable.
  I extend my profound condolences to Mr. Smith's wife, Diane Davis 
Smith, and nine children: Laurie, Stacey, Richard, Kathleen, Molly, 
Arthur, Rachel, Samantha and Buchanan; his brother, Richard Gary Smith; 
and granchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and his first 
wife, Linda Grisham, as well as friends and the extended FedEx 
community around the world. His drive, intellect, wise counsel

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and integrity made him one of the greatest businessmen of his 
generation. He led a remarkable life, and he will be greatly missed.

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