| Minor
remembered for loyalty, legacy By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer  | | Bill Minor |
Bill Minor was honored by friends
and long-time associates Thursday at funeral services in Holly Springs.
He was laid to rest in Potts Camp.
Minor, northern district highway commissioner
and former state senator, died November 1 while attending a meeting
of highway officials in Biloxi.
A lifetime of friends and family said
a final farewell as Minor’s body lay in state at the Eddie Lee
Smith Multi-Purpose Building in Holly Springs, his coffin draped with
the American flag, befitting a beloved and esteemed public servant.
Minor was remembered by his peers across
the political spectrum for his hard work, dedication, loyalty, vision,
honesty and much more.
Sen. Bill Stone of Ashland said of Minor
“home was important. He leaves big shoes to fill.” His primary lifetime contribution to
the state was his vision for economic growth by helping frame the 1987
four-lane highway bill - a $1.6 billion project that passed over former
governor Bill Allain’s veto. The bill has helped Mississippi to
become competitive in today’s markets, drawing industry and business
to the state. The highway infrastructure he helped lay will be his legacy,
living a hundred years beyond Minor’s lifetime, said Rep. Kelvin
Buck.
 | Photo by Barry Burleson
Honoring commissioner
MDOT vehicles lined North Memphis Street for the Bill Minor funeral
service last Thursday. Gov. Haley Barbour also announced flags would
be flown at half-mast in honor of the commissioner. |
Long-time friend Rep. Jack Gadd said
Minor did not need politics to be successful.
“But he did need public service,” Gadd said.
He called the late commissioner “a
no-nonsense, strong, honest, and hard-working ally.” “But it was your worst nightmare,
if he opposed you,” he said.
He quoted Minor as saying it did not
matter who gets credit for a road project.
“He would say, people won’t
be able to tell if it’s a Republican or Democratic road, once
it is built,” said Gadd. “He was not looking for publicity.
North Mississippi is going to miss him, but we will enjoy the fruits
of his labor for years and years.”
Sen. Allen Nunnelee said when Minor spoke
on the floor of the Legislature, everyone listened.
Minor voted his conscience even when
it was going to cost him politically, he said.
He remembered Minor for helping create
jobs and for helping get the Legislative car tag credit passed years
ago.
Former state Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck remembered
Minor for his “impeccable character” and for caring for
his fellow man and for Mississippi.
“He was loyal, trustworthy
and a true man of integrity,” Tuck said.
Tuck served with Minor in the Senate
and while she was lieutenant governor.
His old deskmate in the Senate, former
senator Travis Little, said Minor was a statesman.
“A
politician worries about the next election. A statesman worries about
the next generation,” said Little. “He fell in the category of a
statesman.”
He added the Nissan plant in Madison
as another of the commissioner’s legacies – the groundwork
put together for the automobile manufacturer when Minor was in the senate.
“If we had more Bill Minors,
I can assure you things would change for the better,” Little said.
Highway commissioner for District 2,
Dick Hall, said Minor didn’t seem to struggle with any new task.
He made it look easy.
“He didn’t seem to
experience the learning curve,” Hall said. “He spoke with
passion and with volume. You never doubted where he stood. He was the
right guy at the right time.”
Butch Brown, executive director of the
Mississippi Department of Transportation, summarized what many had already
said.
Minor was a leader, loyal, a legend,
a legacy, loud and lead-footed, he said, referring to the commissioner’s
driving habits.
“Everywhere he went, he became
a figure whom everybody would love and will miss,” Brown said.
Daniel Minor, the late commissioner’s
nephew, talked about the way his uncle helped teach him the right way
and the ropes of political life. His nephew recalled how Bill Minor
put him to work making stump speeches at age 20. He referred to his
uncle as “a true mentor, a great uncle, but a dear friend.” Rev. Joe Epting of Cornersville Baptist
Church; Bro. Chuck Fowler, formerly of Potts Camp Baptist Church; and
Rev. Joe Selman of Latter Rain Church; spoke of Minor’s contributions
to the faith community as deacon and as friend.
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