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“IN MEMORY OF EVANDER S. SIMPSON” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2377-H2378 on May 2, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN MEMORY OF EVANDER S. SIMPSON
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to pay homage to Evander S. Simpson of Smithfield, North Carolina, who died on April 27 after a long and fruitful life. His passing has removed from North Carolina's Second Congressional District a giant of community service, a leader of humanity, and a man who has left the world immeasurably better than he found it.
The death of Evander Simpson leaves a void that will not soon be filled. Mr. Simpson was a member of what Tom Brokaw called ``The Greatest Generation.'' Those were the men and women who went off collectively to save the world when World War II was thrust upon them. And it was they who, when the war was over, joined in joyous and short-
lived celebrations, then immediately began the task of rebuilding their lives and the world that they wanted.
Brokaw's description certainly fits the life of Evander Simpson. Born in 1914 in Sampson County to a father who served for 35 years as a teacher and principal, his future and career direction was foreordained. Mr. Simpson attended the University of North Carolina, eventually receiving a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and an advanced certificate for school administration from that institution. By the age of 24, Evander had become principal of Newton Grove High School.
World War II intervened; and Mr. Simpson, then serving as Secretary to the Committee on Education in the U.S. House of Representatives, volunteered for the Navy, answering the call, as Tom Brokaw said, ``to help save the world from the two most powerful ruthless and military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs.'' Mr. Simpson served as a gunnery officer in action in the Arctic and in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
With the end of the war, Mr. Simpson came home to North Carolina, and for the next 3 years worked at North Carolina State University counseling the thousands of Tar Heel veterans who were flooding into our colleges and universities determined to make up for the time that they had lost while they were off fighting the war. A position as a high school principal followed, but in 1951 Mr. Simpson was appointed superintendent of Johnston County schools, a position which he would hold for 29 years and that would define the rest of his life and leave an indelible impression on the people of Johnston County and North Carolina.
Evander Simpson and Johnston County's schools were at the heart of the county's progress over those 29 years. Eighteen schools were consolidated into five. Accreditation for all schools in the country from the State Department of Public Instruction and the Southern Association of Schools was obtained. Teacher pay supplements were established, kindergarten programs were established county wide, and Mr. Simpson was deeply involved in the establishment of the Johnston County Community College. Mr. Simpson earned a reputation of being one of the top school superintendents in the nation during those years.
An indefatigable man whose devotion to his county was legendary, Evander found time to serve 14 years on the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina, to serve as president of the North Carolina Education Association, to serve for 30 years on the Johnston County Board of Health, and to serve for six years on the board of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Mr. Simpson was a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International, a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Chamber of Commerce. That organization awarded him its Distinguished Citizen Award in 1969. He was a deacon, Sunday school superintendent, and Brooks Bible Class teacher for more than 35 years at Smithfield First Baptist Church.
No man has ever loved his country and its history more than Evander Simpson. Johnston County residents know that his every speech would include references to the great documents of this Nation. A speech to veterans might include George Washington's prayer on his inauguration as President. A speech to a civic club would include a reference to the Declaration of Independence or Lincoln's Gettysburg address, both of which he could recite to memory. The great speeches of history were fodder for his mill, including the great inaugural speech by President Kennedy, ``Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.''
Generations of Johnston County individuals were influenced by the great good of Evander Simpson. He believed in the innate goodness of men and women, that people of good will could find acceptable answers to any problem, that the spiritual needs of humanity must be served, that planning for the future was preferable to lamenting of the failures of the past.
The great sportswriter Grantland Rice could have had Evander Simpson in mind when he wrote the following: ``For when the great scorer comes to mark against your name, he writes not that you won or lost but how you played the game.''
Evander Simpson played the game with dedication to God and his community. We who are left can only thank a kind providence that placed him along beside us on this highway of life.
I am also pleased this evening to say to this body that I am also placing with this speech a tribute to Evander Simpson read by Miss Carolyn G. Ennis at Mr. Simpson's funeral on April 30, 2000, and that tribute follows my remarks herewith, Mr. Speaker:
A Man Named Simpson
(By Carolyn G. Ennis)
And God stepped out on spaceAnd he looked around and said,I'm lonely, I'll make me an educator.So God made many teachers and principals.And the young children were taught.And the young children learned. And God said, ``That's good.''And God said, I'm lonely still. I need a dynamic leaderA man who knows how to look like a banker,How to act like a gentleman,How to think like a politician,And how to work from sunrise to midnight like a homegrown country farmer.So God made many, many more educators,But he was lonely still. And God said, ``I'll make me anExcellent educator:A man with vision, values, agility and versatility;A professional man and Crusader with a pioneering spirit.One whom the power of office will not spoil nor kill,One who has a conscience and a will,To do the right thing at the right time, the right way.So God sat down by the side of the riverIn a place called Sampson County.With his head in his hand he thought and thought.Then God said, ``I'll make make me an extra--special educator
--A superintendent for schools.A man for consolidation, accreditation, and integration,A man for providing sources and resources to developThe best educational opportunities for all children andFor all teachers in Johnston County;A man who will know how to ``command'' from his experienceIn the military so others will learn how to march in unityTo the same drumbeat for excellence in education.So God made this ``Educator of Excellence''.And Johnston County, North Carolina, the United States ofAmerica and the entire educational arena of the worldHave never been quite the same, since God createdMr. Evander S. Simpson, who was and still is an extra-Special, excellent educator. And God said, ``That's Good,''And today, we echo again in fond memory of Mr. E. S. SimpsonRelections of your life to repeat. That's good
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