[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 16448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING FLOYD McKINLEY SAYRE, JR.

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize a friend and 
colleague, Floyd McKinley Sayre, Jr., who recently departed this life. 
I came to know Floyd many years ago and interacted with him while 
serving in the West Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the U.S. Senate. Recent testimonies to his life 
state that he was ``a good man by all accounts and lived his life in a 
pursuit of endeavors he felt were right, good and virtuous.'' 
Throughout my friendship with Floyd, I found this to be true.
  Floyd was born in Beckley, WV, on July 17, 1930. He graduated from 
Woodrow Wilson High School before going on to West Virginia University, 
where he was an active member in the Sigma Nu fraternity. After 
college, he had a successful military career where he served in the 
Berlin Brigade in Germany, guarding West Berlin during the Cold War. 
Upon his return, Floyd started a professional career with the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce that eventually brought him home to West Virginia.
  Floyd owned and managed Floyd Sayre's Management Consultants and was 
the first certified professional executive in West Virginia. He worked 
hard to bring a certification program to the State and mentored many 
future executives. As a student of West Virginia politics, he 
understood how to navigate the halls of the State legislature, where he 
is remembered as a gentleman and forceful advocate for a better West 
Virginia.
  In 1960, Floyd married his wife, Ruth Ellen Thomas, who was his 
staunch supporter and companion for his entire career, and together 
they had three sons, Floyd, Richard, and David. Floyd loved spending 
time with his family and friends, gardening, bird watching, and rooting 
for his beloved West Virginia Mountaineers. Floyd was a Rotarian, as 
well as a Paul Harris Fellow and past president of the Southern Pines, 
NC, Rotary Club. Floyd was also a member of the church I attend, 
another community in which he will be sorely missed.
  I am honored to have known Floyd and his wife, Ruth, and my thoughts 
and prayers are with his family. West Virginia owes him a debt of 
gratitude for his service to the State. I am proud to have called him a 
friend and fellow Mountaineer.

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