Expand / Collapse search
☰

Senate passes unanimous resolution honoring late Sen. Johnny Isakson

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  January 5, 2022 9:10pm EST
Johnny Isakson
FOX 5 Atlanta

ATLANTA - The late U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson was honored on the Senate floor on Wednesday, the day before a planned memorial in Atlanta.

"I come to the floor today to honor a friend, our late senator from Georgia, my predecessor, Senator Johnny Isakson. I mourn this great loss with the rest of Georgia and people all across our nation. And since his passing, I know I've joined many of you in reflecting on the countless memories and moments that we shared with Johnny Isakson," said Senator Reverend Warnock 

A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: SEN. JOHNNY ISAKSON AND REP. JOHN LEWIS' MUTUAL RESPECT, FRIENDSHIP

Former Sen. Johnny Isakson on his friend, John Lewis

Retired U.S. Sen. from Georgia, Johnny Isakson, called late Rep. John Lewis a friend. Lewis was there for the beginning and end of Isakson's political career.

Sen. Warnock also passed a bipartisan resolution honoring the late senator which unanimously passed.

"Without a doubt, Senator Isakson cared deeply for Georgia, and he cared deeply for our country. He was a patriot, a public servant, and there are members of my staff, I'm proud to say, who used to work for Johnny. And they will tell you that he never hesitated to show up. I often talk in my other job about the ministry of presence. Sometimes half a job is to show up. And he knew how to show up for people. Whether it was paying a visit to an ill patient, ill parent of a staffer, or seeing a disabled veteran. Senator Isakson dedicated years of service to our beloved state, to our veterans, our families, and our children," Sen. Warnock comment.

Sen. Warnock rekindled one of Sen. Isakson’s traditions in hosting a barbecue lunch for all Senators to foster bipartisanship. 

"Johnny Isakson always showed up, and he was unafraid to work across ideological differences, political differences in our state and our country, and I'll never forget that example of public service," Sen. Warnock said. "I bring these lessons and other advice Senator Isakson gave me to my work for Georgia here in the Senate, and I'm already looking forward to next year's bipartisan barbecue, which Senator Isakson started and we carried on this year in his honor."

Memorial service plans for U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson

The family of former U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson announced a memorial service for the late senator. They ask all who would attend to be fully vaccinated.

A memorial is planned for the late senator in Atlanta on Thursday afternoon at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. 

The family is asking in lieu of flowers to donate to The Isakson Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and funding for research related to neurocognitive diseases, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and related dementia. 

"He's a model of public service, an example to future generations of leaders on how to stand on principle and make progress while also governing with compassion and a heart for compromise. I hope we can all remember the lessons of Senator Isakson's service, always looking for ways to make friends, to move our state and nation forward. And when that doesn't work, looking for how we can make, as he called it, future friends," Warnock said.

Born in Atlanta, the 1966 University of Georgia graduate served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966 until 1972.

The three-term Republican senator stepped down in December 2019 because of health issues. He dedicated the remaining years of his life to raising awareness and funding for research related to neurological diseases.

Isakson is survived by his wife Dianne, their three children and eight grandchildren.

WATCH: FOX 5 NEWS LIVE COVERAGE

_____