Last week the State of Arkansas lost a giant in the political world. Dale Bumpers, a former Governor and Senator, had served the State of Arkansas for many decades. As an intern for Arkansas' junior Senator at the time, David Pryor, I first met Senator Bumpers in 1986. His service to his fellow Arkansans began in the Fourth Congressional District, where he returned home to Charleston to serve as city attorney after the Marines and law school. He went on to serve on the local school board before mounting multiple successful bids for statewide office. Charleston Public School District is not only known for producing stellar graduates and for the Tigers' powerhouse football program, but for heeding Dale Bumpers' advice in 1954 and becoming the first public school in the former Confederate States to desegregate. His decades of public service were about serving others, not prestige or power. In his autobiography, Dale said it was his father who encouraged him to enter public service, calling it a noble profession. As we remember Senator Bumpers, I can think of no nobler act than serving others. I appreciate Dale Bumpers' example and his servant's heart. ____________________
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