[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3527]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO REVEREND CRAWFORD W. KIMBLE

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
Reverend Crawford W. Kimble, pastor emeritus of the Good Hope 
Missionary Baptist Church, which was originated in Freedmen's Town in 
1872, and my dear friend. My sympathy to Mrs. Kimble and all of his 
family.
  Reverend Kimble died earlier this week in Houston at the age of 95. 
He will be laid to rest on Saturday, March 1, 2014.
  Reverend Kimble was the fifth of six pastors at the Good Hope 
Missionary Baptist Church. He served as pastor for approximately 35 
years. His dream was part of the building of Good Hope in its current 
location on North MacGregor.
  Reverend Kimble was born in Elgin, Texas, on March 24, 1918, and he 
followed the ministerial paths of both his father and grandfather. He 
began preaching at 33. He started his church in 1951, and he joined it.
  He preached his first sermon in 1959, and later became the pastor to 
many giants of Texas, including the Honorable Barbara Jordan, the first 
African American United States Congresswoman from the South, and Dr. 
Lonnie Smith, who played an important role in minority voting rights in 
primary elections.
  It is astounding to find that prior to becoming Reverend Kimble, he 
was in the newspaper business as an editor of the Houston Informer. He 
was also part of The Kansas City Call, which was the oldest African 
American newspaper, and it ended with The Kansas City Call that he was 
a part of.
  After more than 30 years in retirement, Reverend Kimble continued to 
write. He had many books, and he also was part of the Crawford W. 
Kimble senior living facility, which he lived in in the Fourth Ward, 
Freedmen's Town, that was named after him by Reverend Elmo Johnson.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just say that this giant is deserving of our 
honor and respect and commendation, and let us all remember his book, 
``Watch the Tree, It Might Fall on You.''
  Reverend Kimble, may you rest in peace. God bless you, and God bless 
your family.

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