H*4597 Resolution, By Bowers, Agnew, Alexander, Allen, Allison, Anderson, 
Anthony, Atwater, Bales, Ballentine, Bannister, Barfield, Battle, Bedingfield, 
Bikas, Bingham, Bowen, Brady, Branham, Brannon, Brantley, G.A. Brown, 
H.B. Brown, R.L. Brown, Butler Garrick, Chumley, Clemmons, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, 
Cole, Corbin, Crawford, Crosby, Daning, Delleney, Dillard, Edge, Erickson, 
Forrester, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, Gilliard, Govan, Hamilton, Hardwick, 
Harrell, Harrison, Hart, Hayes, Hearn, Henderson, Herbkersman, Hiott, Hixon, 
Hodges, Horne, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Jefferson, Johnson, King, Knight, 
Limehouse, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, McCoy, McEachern, McLeod, Merrill, 
Mitchell, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Munnerlyn, Murphy, Nanney, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, 
Neilson, Norman, Ott, Owens, Parker, Parks, Patrick, Pinson, Pitts, Pope, 
Putnam, Quinn, Rutherford, Ryan, Sabb, Sandifer, Sellers, Simrill, Skelton, 
G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, Sottile, Southard, Spires, 
Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Toole, Tribble, Vick, Viers, 
Weeks, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis and Young
 A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR HAMPTON COUNTY FIRE CHIEF GENE
 RUSHING, UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT, AFTER THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OF
 OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, AND TO WISH HIM
 CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN THE YEARS AHEAD.

   01/12/12  House  Introduced and adopted (House Journal-page 120)

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR HAMPTON COUNTY FIRE CHIEF GENE RUSHING, UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT, AFTER THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OF OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, AND TO WISH HIM CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN THE YEARS AHEAD.

Whereas, the members of the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina are grateful for the integrity and intelligence that Hampton County Fire Chief Gene Rushing has given to fire safety and protection in our State, along with an unswerving commitment to the Estill and Hampton County fire departments; and

Whereas, born September 1, 1949, to Lois and William Rushing of Scotia, Gene Rushing graduated from Estill High School and married his beloved wife, Joan Mixson Rushing, in October of 1968; and

Whereas, together they reared four fine children: Rebecca, Regina, Patricia, and Benjamin, who have blessed them with five adoring grandchildren; and

Whereas, he worked in Estill for Mikells, Inc., a farm equipment dealership, for twenty years, and joined the Estill Fire Department in 1978, which remains all volunteer to this day; and

Whereas, on March 5, 1990, Hampton County hired Gene Rushing to establish and organize the Hampton County Fire/Rescue, which had no fire protection at that time; and

Whereas, he successfully persuaded all of the seven municipal governments in the county to provide fire protection for the county areas on a contractual basis from their nine fire stations; and

Whereas, within a year, Fire Chief Gene Rushing succeeded in securing approval for new fire apparatus and had it placed in all of the nine stations; and

Whereas, over his career, he administered approval for and construction of four new fire stations in the county; started and completed a dry-hydrant program, which provided forty hydrants for use in the county; and started a road-naming project to organize county-road names and delete those used in multiple locations; and

Whereas, gaining the respect and trust of all his personnel, he initiated numerous beneficial programs within the department, such as fleet replacement, training, recruitment, personnel insurance coverage, firefighter reimbursement, and improvement of the Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating from nine in many areas and ten in some to six; and

Whereas, in 1986, he became a South Carolina Fire Academy instructor and has logged over four thousand teaching hours at the academy; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the years of loyalty and devotion that Gene Rushing has given to fire safety for the citizens of the Palmetto State and wish him much enjoyment in a well-deserved retirement. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, recognize and honor Hampton County Fire Chief Gene Rushing, upon the occasion of his retirement, after thirty-four years of outstanding service to the citizens of South Carolina, and wish him continued success and happiness in the years ahead.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Hampton County Fire Chief Gene Rushing.