The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“IN RECOGNITION OF MRS. EVELYN TURNER PUGH” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1856 on Nov. 30, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN RECOGNITION OF MRS. EVELYN TURNER PUGH
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HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Friday, November 30, 2012
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my sincerest appreciation to not only an outstanding public servant but an extraordinary banker and fiscal professional, Mrs. Evelyn Turner Pugh, Vice President of SunTrust Bank and Mayor Pro Tem of Columbus, Georgia, upon her retirement this year from SunTrust Bank. Retirement celebrations will be held on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at SunTrust Bank in Columbus and at 7:00 p.m. at The Benning Club at Fort Benning, Georgia.
A Columbus, Georgia native, Mrs. Pugh received an Associate's degree in Secretarial Science, a Bachelor's in Management/Accounting and an MBA in Business Administration from Columbus College before it was known as Columbus State University.
Beginning her career as a secretary at Columbus College and Progressive Funeral Home, Mrs. Pugh rose quickly through the ranks, holding a number of positions ranging from entry-level to managerial at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia across the span of thirty years.
In 1999, Mrs. Pugh was appointed Vice President of SunTrust Bank, West Georgia, the position she still holds today. In addition, Mrs. Pugh also serves as City Councilor--Post 4 and in 2007, was elected Mayor Pro Tem of Columbus Consolidated Government.
Due to her strong leadership and dedication to public service, Mrs. Pugh was appointed by former Governor Zell Miller to the Georgia Policy Council on Children and Families in 1995; the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government Advisory Committee in 1995; and the Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse (MHMRSA) Funding Study Committee in 1998.
Mrs. Pugh was also appointed Chair of the National League of Cities' Public Safety & Crime Prevention Steering Committee in 1996, where she worked with former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the U.S. Department of Justice to increase the flexibility in the use of grants from Community Oriented Policing Services, COPS.
Moreover, Mrs. Pugh was elected as Georgia Chair of Women in Municipal Government in 1995 and President of the Georgia Municipal Association in 1999. She was appointed to the Georgia Public Defenders Council by former Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor. She has also served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Council of the National League of Cities.
In conjunction with her professional accomplishments, Mrs. Pugh has served on a number of boards including the Board of Directors for Girls, Inc., St. Francis Hospital, Columbus Technical College, Columbus Housing Initiative, Liberty Theatre, and Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation. She is also a member of the Columbus Chapter of The Links, Inc. and the Columbus Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and has served as President, Treasurer, and Financial Secretary, among other roles, continuing the sorority's tradition of far-reaching service to the community. In addition, she has been awarded the Martin Luther King. Jr. Unity Award, among other distinguished honors. Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said that, ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Mrs. Pugh has paid her rent and she has paid it well.
Mrs. Pugh has accomplished many things in her life but none of this would have been possible without the enduring love and support of her husband Reginald; children Marcus, Maurice, Tajuana, Talender and Reggie; daughters-in-law Tasha and April; and grandchildren Lincoln, Lyric, Makaylah, Imani, Caleb, Taylor, McKenzie, Jaylon, Kennedy and Regan.
The great agricultural chemist George Washington Carver once said,
``It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.'' By any measure, Evelyn Turner Pugh has been successful because of her service to humankind.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the almost 700,000 people in the 2nd Congressional District of Georgia, in paying tribute to Mrs. Evelyn Turner Pugh upon her retirement from SunTrust Bank, while she continues her exemplary service to the Columbus, Georgia community.
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