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[Pages S99-S100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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TRIBUTE TO DICK TRAMMEL
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to acknowledge the
remarkable career and service of a man who has played an instrumental
role in the growth and development of northwest Arkansas over the last
four decades.
Dick Trammel, a pillar of the community and a leader who has been
involved in almost everything positive that has happened in and around
my hometown of Rogers, AR, has concluded his service at Arvest Bank
after 43 years. He is also ending a 10-year term on the Arkansas
Highway Commission this month.
Dick is a homegrown Arkansan. A native of Pocahontas, he attended the
University of Arkansas where he was a cheerleader for the Hogs football
team and earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration
in 1960. After graduation, Dick returned home to work in the cotton gin
and grain elevator business and became an active member and leader in
Pocahontas and Randolph County.
As we all now know, the 1960s saw the founding of retail giant
Walmart by Sam Walton. As Walmart was headquartered in Bentonville, Sam
was able to entice Dick to relocate to the region and join First
National Bank & Trust Company in Rogers in 1975. First National Bank
eventually became part of Arvest Bank and Dick worked for the company
for over four decades, retiring as executive vice president, member of
the board of directors and board secretary of Arvest Bank, Rogers.
While enjoying a successful career at Arvest, Dick also played an
outsized role in northwest Arkansas. He served as president and board
member of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, was a board
member at a local United Way, founded the Single Parent Scholarship
Fund in Benton County, was a charter member of the Northwest Arkansas
Community College Board of Trustees, and served on the Rogers Youth
Center Board of Directors, among so many other philanthropic and civic
endeavors.
He is also a board member of the U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation
which is incredibly meaningful given the importance of the Marshals
Service to the region and the work we have done to help make the U.S.
Marshals Museum in Fort Smith a reality. We worked together not only in
that capacity, but in many other ways to help the region grow as Dick
has spent the last 10 years on our State's highway commission following
his appointment to the panel by former Governor Mike Beebe in 2009.
Just recently it was announced that, through many years of persistent
work between members of Congress from Arkansas and Missouri and the
respective legislatures and State government agencies in both States,
that a multimillion-dollar grant has been secured to complete the Bella
Vista Bypass on Interstate 49. Dick and his colleagues on the highway
commission understood just how important this was for the region and
worked hand-in-hand with the congressional delegation to reach this
outcome.
As Dick's service at Arvest and on the Arkansas Highway Commission
comes to a close, it is only fitting to recognize his enormous impact
on a region in Arkansas that has experienced so much growth and
transformation throughout his career. Throughout all this change, Dick
Trammel has remained a constant source of stability, leadership, and
willingness to do whatever it takes to improve the quality of life for
everyone in the community.
When my brother and I moved to Rogers to establish a medical practice
in 1977, Dick was one of the first people we met. During that time and
over the decades that have followed, he has been a steadfast friend and
mentor. I greatly admire and appreciate his many contributions to a
place we both love and have served in different capacities over the
years.
I wish Dick and his wife Nancy well as he begins a well-deserved
retirement. He has always been dedicated to helping people, and his
lengthy career has demonstrated that commitment many times over. I am
grateful to Dick and his entire family for the way they
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have served and led. Because of his efforts, northwest Arkansas is in a
much better place today than we he first called it home.
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