HR387: Commending Autry O. V. DeBusk.
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 387
WHEREAS, Autry O. V. DeBusk, the owner and chairman of DeRoyal Industries, Inc., headquartered in Powell, Tennessee, is a highly successful entrepreneur and a distinguished native of Lee County; and
WHEREAS, Autry “Pete” DeBusk was raised on a farm in Rose Hill, where he learned the values of hard work and perseverance; and
WHEREAS, after graduating from Thomas Walker High School in Rose Hill, Pete DeBusk received a bachelor’s degree from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, and attended graduate school at the University of Georgia; and
WHEREAS, Pete DeBusk became a pharmaceutical salesman in the mid-1960s, and founded his own company, Pete DeBusk and Associates, in 1970; and
WHEREAS, Pete DeBusk developed the idea of an orthopedic cast boot and patented his first orthopedic product in 1973, the same year he founded STAT Medical, which became DeRoyal Industries; and
WHEREAS, DeRoyal Industries was incorporated in 1976, and, by 1978, the company had established a patient care division, a surgical division, and a patient protection products division; and
WHEREAS, under Pete DeBusk’s leadership, DeRoyal Industries grew to become the undisputed leader in medical device innovation, and it is one of the most recognized manufacturers in the international health care market today; and
WHEREAS, DeRoyal Industries has about 2,000 employees and is the leading supplier of orthopedic soft goods to hospitals in the United States; the company markets more than 25,000 medical and surgical products and holds more than 70 U.S. patents; and
WHEREAS, Pete DeBusk serves as chairman of the Lincoln Memorial University Board of Trustees, and he is a co-founder of the college’s DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and the John J. Duncan, Jr. School of Law; and
WHEREAS, Pete DeBusk’s entrepreneurial spirit and business success has contributed greatly to the economy of Southwest Virginia, and specifically Lee County; and
WHEREAS, DeRoyal Industries has a manufacturing facility in Rose Hill and the Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine DeBusk Veterinary Teaching Center, located in Ewing, offers state-of-the-art training facilities; and
WHEREAS, while Pete DeBusk now calls Tennessee home, he has never forgotten his roots in the Commonwealth and he has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to giving back to his hometown community; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Autry O. V. DeBusk, a distinguished native of Lee County, hereby be commended on his entrepreneurial success as owner and chairman of DeRoyal Industries, Inc.; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Autry O. V. DeBusk as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for his professional success and efforts to boost the economies of the Appalachian region.