EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 923

WHEREAS, on September 7, 2004, Mississippi lost one of its great treasures with the passing of former Governor Kirk Fordice; and

WHEREAS, Kirk Fordice was a true Mississippi success story. He was a successful Vicksburg businessman who willed himself into the state's highest office, achieving what many believed impossible at the time; and

WHEREAS, he focused our state's energies on economic development during his terms and moved Mississippi's economy into a new era of growth. He imprinted his brand of fiscal conservatism on Mississippi's budget by creating the first-ever "Rainy Day Fund"
and leaving Mississippi with a $350 million surplus. He introduced welfare reform to Mississippi and helped make ours a two-party state; and

WHEREAS, his frank, outspoken and unwavering style made him a respected figure with his political opponents and a beloved governor by Mississippians across the state who elected him twice; and, WHEREAS, the prayers of this State are with the family and friends of Kirk Fordice;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Haley Barbour, by the authority vested in me as Governor by the Constitution and laws of the State of Mississippi, do hereby proclaim a period of official mourning in the State of Mississippi and do hereby order all flags of the United States of America and the State of Mississippi be flown at half-staff on all buildings and grounds of the State of Mississippi and all areas under its jurisdiction beginning September 7, 2004, and ending September 10, 2004.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Mississippi to be affixed.

DONE at the Capitol in the City of Jackson, the 7th day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the Independence of
the United States of America, the two hundred and twenty-ninth.

HALEY BARBOUR
GOVERNOR

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