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Congressional Daily Record
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July 21, 2026
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Download official Extensions PDFReturn to issue contextHONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE RUSSELL THOMAS, JR.,
FORMER MAYOR OF AMERICUS, GEORGIA
HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, but with profound gratitude, to honor the life and legacy of one of Southwest Georgia's most devoted public servants, the Honorable Russell Thomas, Jr., former Mayor of Americus, Georgia, who departed this life on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at the age of 91. A memorial service celebrating his extraordinary life will be held on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at Americus First Methodist Church, with Reverend Tom Dowdy and Reverend Daryl Brown officiating.
Russell Thomas, Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 22, 1934, to Dr. Russell Thomas and Margaret Camp Thomas. In 1939, the family returned to Dr. Thomas's hometown of Americus, and from that day forward, Russell Thomas and Americus, Georgia belonged to one another. He graduated from Americus High School in 1952, earned a degree in Agricultural Management from Auburn University, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and completed his military service as a medic in the United States Army Reserve.
Thomas Farms, Inc. with his family and founding or co-owning Americus Creosote Company, T&T Logging, and Georgia Forest Products. But to Russell Thomas, the land was never merely a business. Long before conservation of the longleaf pine ecosystem became a national cause, he was protecting the native longleaf stands at Thomas Farms, quietly practicing the belief that productive timber management and wildlife conservation should go hand in hand. He was a steward in the oldest and truest sense of the word—a man who understood that we do not really own the land; we hold it in trust for our children.
The people of Americus first elected Russell Thomas, Jr. as their Mayor in November 1979. and he served from 1980 to 1988. They called him back in 1993, and he served again from 1994 to 2001—fifteen years in all of steady, visionary, and selfless leadership. In his first term, he worked with the City Council to confront substandard housing and expand housing opportunity. He would later join with Millard Fuller and Habitat for Humanity on the Sumter County Initiative, an audacious campaign to eliminate substandard housing in Americus and Sumter County—a partnership that helped make our corner of Georgia a beacon to the world for what neighbors can accomplish when they take up hammers and hope together.
to restore the historic Windsor Hotel. When many said the grand old landmark could not be saved, Russell Thomas simply refused to give up— and today the Windsor stands as the crown jewel of downtown Americus, a monument in brick and mortar to one man's stubborn faith in his hometown. He was likewise instrumental in the restoration of the Rylander Theatre, establishing it as the center of the performing arts in Americus, for which he received the Lifetime Friend of the Rylander Award in 2016. Under his leadership, in 2000, Americus was designated one of the first ten Georgia Cities of Excellence. In 1994, in recognition of his public service, the City of Americus named its public safety building the Russell Thomas, Jr. Public Safety Building— an honor rarely bestowed upon the living and richly deserved.
His service extended far beyond City Hall. He served on the Americus Board of Education from 1972 to 1980; as chairman of the Sumter County Board of Tax Assessors from 1976 to 1980; on the board of directors of The Charles L. Mix Memorial Fund, including more than twenty years as its chairman; on the South Georgia Technical College Foundation Board of Trustees; and on the governing board of the Rosalynn Carter Institute at Georgia Southwestern State University. Elected to the Board of Directors of Citizens Bank of Americus in 1985, he served as Chairman of the Board from 1985 to 1999—a period in which the bank was rated the number one community bank in Georgia—and remained on the board until 2025, serving his community's financial wellbeing across five decades.
Mr. Speaker, the record of offices held, and buildings restored tells us what Russell Thomas did. But it does not tell us who he was. Who he was could be found in his office at the back of the old Americus Hardware Store—another of his renovations—where, long past the age when most men retire, friends and neighbors stopped by daily to talk politics, business, and the affairs of the town he loved. Who he was could be found in his backyard, where this former mayor and bank chairman raised tomatoes and waged a good-natured annual contest with the backyard animals to see who could reach the ripe ones first. And who he was could be found riding the dirt backroads of Thomas Farms in his old Tahoe, with his faithful dog Barnabas at his side.
Russell found solace and peace driving those backroads. And Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues to sit with that image for a moment. Here was a man who buried a beloved wife, Andrea, after forty-five years of marriage; a man who bore the deepest grief a parent can know in the loss of his son, Russell, III; a man who carried the weight of a city on his shoulders for fifteen years. And when the sorrows came—as they come to every life—he did not grow bitter, and he did not withdraw from the people. He drove out to the land, under the longleaf pines he had protected, with his dog beside him, and he made his peace—and then he came back to his beloved Americus, and went back to work, and kept on serving. That quiet resilience, that faithfulness that outlasted heartbreak, is the truest measure of the man, and it is the inheritance he leaves to all of us who remain.
Russell Thomas, Jr. was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Andrea Patterson Thomas; his son, Russell Thomas, III; his parents, Dr. Russell Thomas and Margaret Camp Thomas; his sister, Margaret T. Sullivan; and his brothers, Frank Gordon Thomas and John Laurence Thomas. He leaves to cherish his memory his children, Mary Frances “Mimi” Thomas, Anne Camp Thomas, Beth Thomas Cheek (James), and John Braxton Thomas; his daughter-in-law, Angie Ballard Thomas; eight grandchildren: ten great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, stepchildren, extended family, and friends who loved him dearly.
Mr. Speaker, the Scriptures teach us in Matthew 25:21, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Russell Thomas, Jr. was faithful—faithful to his family, faithful to his land, faithful to his hometown, and faithful to the God he served. On behalf of my wife, Vivian and the more than 765,000 residents of Georgia's 2nd Congressional District, I extend my deepest condolences to the Thomas family, and I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life, the legacy, and the extraordinary public service of the Honorable Russell Thomas, Jr.—Mayor, steward, builder, and friend—a good and faithful servant who has entered into the joy of his Lord.