By Staff
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), saddened by the recent passing of "Mr. Niles" Larry Clymer, recently paid tribute to his friend in the U.S. House of Representatives. Upton's full tribute from June 17 follows below.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Larry Clymer, an outstanding public servant with a long and distinguished career of service in Southwest Michigan. Larry passed away unexpectedly this week and will be greatly missed by our community.
As the longtime mayor of Niles he was a valued and trusted friend. Upon my election to Congress, part of Larry's legacy came to Washington with me, in the form of his son, Jeff, who served as my first Legislative Director.
Though Larry was an active Republican, he was not afraid to create coalitions to put the best interests of Niles first – a lesson I learned from him and follow still today. He was indeed "Mr. Niles" and I always appreciated his thoughts and interests, regularly weighing in on behalf of the greater community good.
I would be hard pressed to find someone with a greater dedication to Niles and Berrien County, Mich. Larry faithfully served our community for a combined 28 years – 14 as the mayor of Niles and 14 as a Berrien County Commissioner. Outside of his official duties, Larry earned the nickname "marrying mayor" after performing more than 250 marriages, and was known for sense of humor.
Larry was an exceptional public servant, and a gentleman. He has given a lifetime of service to our community, and our thoughts today are with his wife, Eleanor, and his family. We lost a treasure in Niles, and we will all miss him sorely. God bless "Mr. Niles."
I yield back.