One member after another approached the podium to speak about Frazier. The speakers included, Joel Williams, George Wright, Mayor Dennis Ramsey, Judge Randy Wright, Catherine Cook, Steve Buelow, Jennifer Methvin, Floyd Young, Jr., Kenneth Muldrew and Mark Keith.
Ramsey reiterated a comment made by George Wright.
“George made the comment that he guessed that George (Frazier) would be Mr. Hope, Arkansas; well there is no guess about it, George is Mr. Hope, Arkansas,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey then went on with his acclamation of Frazier by saying that Frazier had been a part of his life for some 50-plus years.
“I got to know George when I was probably seven or eight years old; shortly after we moved to Hope my mother went to work for Roy Anderson Insurance and George was already a fixture there,” Frazier said.
Ramsey said Frazier’s encouragement brought him back to Hope when he was trying to decide what to do after he finished his military service.
“My favorite story about George relates back to his 75th birthday. We had a surprise birthday party for him at then Citizen’s National Bank, now BancorpSouth. We had phones set up and Senator David Pryor called in to give his regards to George, then Mac McLarty called in also.
Then, all of a sudden the operator came on and said ‘Can you hold the phone for Air Force One?’, and it was President Clinton calling George from Air Force One, and he talked for several minutes about the impact George had on his life,” Ramsey reminiscenced.
“But George affected everybody from the least of us to the one time leader of the free world,” he said. “That tells you a little bit about a small man whose big shoes would be hard to fill here in Hope. George has been an inspiration to us for many, many years and will be for many years to come.”
Eighth Judicial District-North Circuit Judge Randy Wright, the younger brother of George Wright, also referenced to growing up next to the Frazier’s.
“Of course, everyone else before me has talked about how great an impact George has made on all of our lives. Having grown up next door to him, George was kind of responsible for me as a younger brother of three siblings; for my survival,” Wright jested. “George’s house became the safe house to me to actually thrive and go on.”
Wright then touched on a more serious note to follow others in saying Frazier has been a mentor to “all of us”.
“Several years ago, George was the president of the Independent Insurance Agents of the United States and he had an opportunity, really to stay in Boston, and really from a career and professional standpoint, it would have been a big deal for him to do, but he just couldn’t leave this little community of Hope, and we are very fortunate that he didn’t do that. Certainly, all of our lives have been touched in a good fashion by George and Effie Frazier,” Wright added.
