[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF SCOTTY PROBASCO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Speaker, Chattanooga, Tennessee, the great State 
of Tennessee, and our Nation lost a wonderful man last Friday.
  Scotty Probasco, my dear friend, passed away suddenly. All of this 
week, we have had memorials, tributes, eulogies--all justly deserved 
for this great man. I was wondering what I was going to say today as I 
put together these notes, but I want all of America to know about this 
special man and my dear friend.
  Scotty Probasco was born on November 26, 1928. He attended the Bright 
School in Chattanooga. He attended the Baylor School in Chattanooga, 
Dartmouth College, and then the Wharton School at Penn. He was a gifted 
man, a very bright man, a great businessman, but he was a giver.
  As I was thinking this week as to what I was going to say about 
Scotty, it was what did Scotty mean to me and what did Scotty mean to 
our community and to our Nation.
  Scotty was something else. He would walk into a room, and he would 
smile. I think of Scotty Probasco's smile. Always an optimist. In our 
profession, sometimes you have good days and bad days. Whenever I would 
run into Scotty, he would smile and always encourage me, but he didn't 
just do that with me; he did that with everyone.
  As most of you all know, I proclaim Chattanooga is the greatest 
midsized city in America, sometimes as the greatest midsized city in 
the world. It is because of people like Scotty Probasco that we got 
there. Scotty was truly outstanding. He gave and he gave and he gave. 
As a community leader, whether it was the United Way or any other 
charity, he was always there. As a man of Christ, he was there for the 
First Presbyterian Church.
  He is survived by his loving wife, Betty; by their four children, 
Scott, Zane, Ellen, and Ben; and by 12 wonderful grandchildren.
  As I think of what our Nation needs today more than ever it is more 
Scotty Probascos--folks who will always accentuate the positive, who 
are always looking for the good in people, and who are always 
encouraging us to do our best.
  There is always a loss when we lose a friend, and there was a great 
loss when Chattanooga lost Scotty Probasco last week, and we all feel 
that. We feel that dearly. I feel that dearly. Yet, when I think of the 
generations to come and of the generosity, of the philanthropy, and of 
the kindness of Scotty Probasco and what that means to us as a people, 
this will be his legacy.
  I am going to say something to him and to his great family today: 
Scotty Probasco, thank you, dear friend. Thank you for a job well done, 
and God bless you.

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