Thanking Ed Haley for His Long Career of Public Service

Floor Speech

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Mr. KUSTOFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank Edward ``Ed'' Gardner Haley of Shelby County for his long career of public service to west Tennessee. Now, Mr. Speaker, everyone just knows him as Ed. Ed recently announced that he is going to end his long career in public service.

Ed is a west Tennessean through and through. He grew up in north Shelby County, just outside of Millington and graduated from Millington Central High School in 1956.

Before starting his career in government, Ed spent 8 years in the United States Air Force, 4 years on Active Duty, and 4 years in the reserves. He then worked for the U.S. Postal Service, and then with DuPont.

Now, in his nearly five decades of public service to our community, he has held a lot of titles: city manager for the city of Millington, superintendent for the town of Arlington, representative in the Tennessee General Assembly, and Airman First Class in the United States Air Force.

Ed is also the proud husband to his wife, Kay, and a loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Also, a special shout-out to Gracie.

In 2014, Ed announced his retirement serving the town of Arlington. That was just a false alarm. Given his long history in Millington, he couldn't refuse Millington Mayor Terry Jones' offer to be the new city manager in Millington.

Millington is also home to Ed Haley. Today, he says he is retiring for good. He recently told the Daily Memphian: I am not going to quit working, but I am really retiring.

It all started in 1973 when Ed accepted a job with Shelby County government working in safety. He worked under the county's first-ever mayor, Roy Nixon, who took office in 1976. Ed served various roles in Shelby County government for 27 years, when he left to become Arlington's town superintendent.

In between all that, Ed served as Millington alderman from 1972 to 1990, and he was then elected to the State House of Representatives. Ed served three terms in the Tennessee General Assembly.

In classic Ed fashion, he agreed to stay in Arlington and lead for 3 years, but he ended up staying for 14 years. Then he returned home to Millington on, you guessed it, another 3-year contract. He stayed for 9 more years.

Ed has always had an open-door policy, and he wanted to hear from anyone and everyone that had a problem. Ed is a fix-it type of guy. In my opinion, if you looked in the dictionary under public servant, there would be a photo of Ed Haley.

Oftentimes, Ed would do whatever he needed to do, whether that was mowing a lawn for somebody or providing a meal to someone in need. Everyone who has ever met or worked with Ed has been touched by how much he truly cares about people and his community.

When Ed started this final tour in Millington, he drove around the city taking pictures and putting together a list of 52 projects he thought would improve the community. It took him a few years to complete the projects, but he finished every single one of them.

I offer my congratulations to Ed on a job well done, and I thank Kay, as well. On behalf of our community, we thank him for his lifetime of public service. Ed is really a good friend, and he is a good man. Roberta and I wish him the best in his next chapter coming up.

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