HALL OF PRIDE
2018 Hall of Pride Inductees
Dr. Thomas N. (Tom) Taylor
Dr. Thomas N. (Tom) Taylor is a 1956 graduate of Tallassee High School. He spent 50 years in the field of education.
Dr. Taylor attended all 12 grades in the Tallassee public schools. He served as president of the THS student body and his Class of ‘56 during 1955-56. He earned three degrees from Auburn University–B.S. (1960), Master of Education (1963), and Doctor of Education (1972).
Dr. Taylor’s professional career began as a junior high school science teacher in Langdale, now Valley, Alabama (1960-1964), and went on to become supervisor of instruction of the Elmore County School District, Wetumpka, Alabama, in 1964. After earning his doctorate, Taylor’s career took him to Jackson, Mississippi Public Schools for seven years, serving as assistant superintendent of ten elementary schools and, later, assistant superintendent of all the secondary schools in the district. His career took him to Arab and Florence, Alabama, where he was superintendent of the Arab City Schools (1979-86) and Florence City Schools (1986-93).
Dr. Taylor moved from elementary and secondary education to post-secondary education, becoming professor and dean of the School of Education at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. In addtion to serving as dean, he taught a graduate class each semester to students who were pursuing Master’s degrees in Educational Leadership (1993-98). He retired for a year, but returned to full-time employment, becoming principal of Gary Road Intermediate School in Hinds County, Mississippi (1999-2001). After retiring a second time from his full-time jobs, Taylor worked as a part-time education consultant with the JBHM Education Group in Jackson, Mississippi (2004-2010). He is now fully retired.
Dr. Taylor served eight years on the Auburn University College of Education National Advisory Council, which included three years of service as chairman of the council. After his term ended, he was named an emeritus member of the advisory council. He is a member of the College of Education Patron of the Keystone, and the Auburn Alumni Association, where he was designated as a “Golden Eagle” in 2010. He was named a member of the College of Education Honor Roll in 2013 for his “selfless service, dedication, and commitment to the field of education.”
Dr. Taylor was a Rotarian for 25 years and served as president in Arab, Alabama and Clinton, Mississippi. He received the club’s highest honor, the Paul Harris Fellow. Dr. Taylor is a member of the Tallassee High School Alumni Association and serves as chairman of the scholarship selection committe. He and his wife Laura live in Clinton, Mississippi.
Edwin R. Watkins
(1926-2012)
Director of Bands, Tallassee City Schools, 1950-1987
2018 Service Award
Edwin R. Watkins, Colonel Watkins, Mr. Watkins, Sir, served as director of bands for Tallassee City Schools for 37 years. He inspired more than 7,000 band students and countless teachers, administrators, parents, and community members with his musicianship, teaching ability, loyalty, and integrity,
Born in Tuscaloosa County, he was drafted into the Army during World War II and traveled with Army bands—concert, marching, and dance—throughout the Pacific theater. They played USO shows, parades, and dances for Army brass, soldiers, and civilians.
After his discharge in 1946, he enrolled at the University of Alabama and earned a music education degree in 1950. That fall he and his new bride, Betty, came to Tallassee to take over the THS band, which totaled 45 juniors and seniors.
Over the years, Colonel Watkins built that first band into one of the most acclaimed high school bands in Alabama history. He frequently composed original fanfares and other arrangements. By 1966 had written 161 consecutive halftime shows without a repeat. The “Long Blue Line” became a regular at parades and competitions across central Alabama. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the band consistently won superior ratings at competitions, with shows featuring great choreography from the majorettes and flag corps, brilliant and contemporary musical selections, and drills with a lot of whimsy that crowds adored.
Colonel Watkins also directed the beginner and intermediate bands and directed the THS Glee Club for 10 years. He worked with Dr. John Cottle, organist and choir director of Tallassee First United Methodist Church, to inaugurate the McCraney Memorial Concert, that planted the seeds of the many arts events sponsored today by the McCraney-Cottle Arts Council.
Colonel Watkins was tapped into Phi Beta Mu, the National Fraternity of Bandmasters, and became its national president. He was active in the Alabama Bandmasters Association and was elected to the Alabama State Teachers Hall of Fame. He was posthumously inducted into the National Association of High School Band Directors Hall of Fame in 2012.
Colonel and Mrs. Watkins raised their children, Susan and Danny, in Tallassee and were devoted to community and church activities throughout their lives, and sang in the choir and participated in other music programs. He frequently played clarinet and organized ensembles for special services. Edwin Watkins was a long-time member of the Tallassee Lions Club, played with the Alabama Cavaliers and painted lovely watercolor and oil canvases.
Dr. Byron Brightwell Nelson, Jr.
Dr. Byron Brightwell Nelson, Jr. is a 1953 graduate of Tallassee High School and has spent his entire life in education. As a student at Tallassee High School, he served on the Student Council and was president of the Senior Class, played football and basketball, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award a Scout can receive.
Dr. Nelson earned a B.S. and an M.S. degree from Auburn University (1957 and 1959) and an Ed.D. degree from George Peabody College for Teachers, Vanderbilt University, in 1965. His teaching and administrative career spanned 54 years, beginning with a teaching position at Wetumpka High School. From there he moved to Capitol Heights Junior High School in Montgomery and became Director of Finance for the Richmond City Schools in Richmond, Virginia, in 1963. He stayed there until 1967 when he took the position of principal at Edgewood Junior High School in Brevard County, Florida.
He returned to Virginia in 1968 as a principal and served as assistant superintendent for Richmond City Schools from 1969 to 1971. Dr. Nelson returned to Alabama in 1971, serving as superintendent for Arab City Schools (1971-1974), Decatur City Schools (1974-1992), and Homewood City Schools (1992-1998). After a short stint as interim superintendent of Jefferson County Schools in Birmingham (April- June 2000), he spent four years as consultant and partner, N & P Educational Associates.
Dr. Nelson was named one of “100 of North America’s Top Executive Educators” by Executive Educator magazine in 1984 and was inducted into the Alabama Leadership Hall of Fame in 1994. Dr. Nelson served as president of the Alabama Association of School Administrators (1977-1978), is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, was awarded the Silver Beaver award from the Tennessee valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and served on the Alabama Textbook Committee (1983-1984). He received the Leadership Award from the Alabama Council for School Administrators and Supervision (1981) and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Auburn University College of Education in 2014.
Dr. Nelson was on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of North Central Alabama (1976-1992) and the Alabama Council on Economic Education. He was president of the Decatur Rotary Club (1981-1982) and was named Decatur Civitan Club’s Citizen of the Year in 1994. Dr. Nelson received the KermitA. Johnson Superintendent Award from the University of Montevallo in 1985. He was a recipient of the Rotary Club Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service and was a presenter at the Truman Pierce Symposium 2000 at Auburn University.
Dr. Nelson and his wife Carolyn reside in Union Grove, Alabama.
Joesph Wilson Patterson, Sr.
(1911-2010)
Class of 1928
Joseph Wilson Patterson, a 1928 graduate of Tallassee High School, devoted 42 years of his professional life to the Tallassee Mills, the last 16 of which he served as the General Manager (CEO) of the Tallassee Mills division of Mount Vernon Mills, Inc., of Mauldin,
South Carolina.
Patterson earned a B.A. degree in businesss administration from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1932, and began working in the Tallasee Mills in 1934. His first job was in the weaving department, sweeping the floors. He worked his way up from floor sweeper to second hand (shift supervisor) in the weaving department to overseer in the carding department.
Patterson was named superintendent of the Tallassee Mills in 1946, and served in that capacity until 1960 when he was named the Patterson was named superintendent of the Tallassee Mills in 1946, and served in that capacity until 1960 when he was named the
Agent/General Manager (CE0). As CEO he was responsible for not only the three mills but also the company stores, the doctors, the dentists, mill housing, the water treatment plant, the sewage treatment plant, the community library, and two community theatres.
He retired in 1976.
Tallassee historian William E. Goss wrote in an article for the Tallassee Tribune (February 28, 2008), “During his tenure and under his leadership, he watched the Tallassee Mills develop, produce, expand, and become one of the major textile mill plants in Alabama, the
South, and the nation. He took the lead as CEO, was innovative, and made many improvements in the Tallassee Mills.” South, and the nation. He took the lead as CEO, was innovative, and made many improvements in the Tallassee Mills.”
Patterson served as chairman of the Tallassee City Board of Education and the Tallassee Community Hospital Board of Trustees, and as president of the Tallassee Chamber of Commerce. He served on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Tallasee and on the Board
of the Birmingham and Southern Railroad. He also served on the governing board of the East Tallasee United Methodist Church and the Tallassee First United Methodist Church. Patterson earned the Boy Scouts Silver Beaver Award for Distinguished Service and the 2001 Frances Wagnon Award for volunteer service.
In his letter of recommendation, Mr. Jackie Golden, member of the Tallassee High School Class of 1965 and a long-time employee of the In his letter of recommendation, Mr. Jackie Golden, member of the Tallassee High School Class of 1965 and a long-time employee of the Tallassee Mills, wrote, “My opinion is that Mr. Patterson was the last manufacturing ‘ICON’ and the single most influential person with matters concerning the city of Tallassee….Mr. Patterson always had a vision of the future because he knew that change and improvements were the key to prosperity not only for Tallassee Mills but for the city of Tallassee and its citizens.”
Patterson was married to the late Olive Ogletree of Troy and their children, Bill Patterson and Anna Patterson DeFore, graduated from Tallassee High School. Bill’s three children, Pat, Angie, and Katie, are also THS graduates. Two of Patterson’s 11 great grandchildren Tallassee High School. Bill’s three children, Pat, Angie, and Katie, are also THS graduates. Two of Patterson’s 11 great grandchildren attend Tallassee schools.
Colonel Bobby W. Smart
Class of 1967
Colonel Bobby W. Smart is a 1967 graduate of Tallasse High School. His father was a cotton-mill worker, and his mother’s career was with Tallassee Community Hospital. Colonel Smart spent forty-four years in service to his country and its allies as an active-duty Air Force officer, and as a civilian in the Senior Executive Service.
Colonel Smart earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management, a commission as an Air Force officer from the University of Alabama, and a Master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Army’s Command
and Staff College. He completed Professional Military Education courses at Squadron Officer’s Scool, Army Command and General Staff and Staff College. He completed Professional Military Education courses at Squadron Officer’s Scool, Army Command and General Staff College, NATO’s Command and Control Course in West Germany, and Air War College.
Colonel Smart has commanded four theater air control system and air defense organizations in the Air Combat Command and in U.S. Air Forces in Europe and the Pacific. He has served in key operational and staff leadership positions at Tactical Air Command Headquarters, and Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon. While serving as the Director, “First Air Force Transition,” he guided the historic transition on the Continental U.S. air-defense mission from the active-duty Air Force to the Air National Guard. He has served in leadership positions on the Continental U.S. air-defense mission from the active-duty Air Force to the Air National Guard. He has served in leadership positions in Thailand, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines. A command Air Weapons Controller, Smart controlled more than 1,500 air combat missions. He retired from the Air Force in the rank of colonel in March 2002 after 30 years of active duty service.
Upon retirement, Colonel Smart immediately began service as a civilian in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon. Within two years, he was selected to the Senior Executive Service (SES), the civilian equivalent of General Officer. In this 14 years in the SES, he was responsible for, among other things, modernization of Command, Control, General Officer. In this 14 years in the SES, he was responsible for, among other things, modernization of Command, Control,
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance resources, representing $30 billion of Research-and-Developoment funds, including improvement in capabilities of airborne control systems and armed and unarmed drones for use in the Global War on Terror; and developing policies and standards for over 200 programs valued at $17 billion.
In his last appointment, Colonel Smart was the next-to-highest ranking civilian in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, second only to the presidential appointe in charge. His reputation was one of treating everyone with respect and diginity. Acquisition, second only to the presidential appointe in charge. His reputation was one of treating everyone with respect and diginity. His active-duty awards include the Legion of Merit with oak-leaf cluster and the Meritorious Service Medal with silve-oak-leaf cluster.
He has been awarded the two highest civilian service awards, the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award and the Exceptional Civilian Service Award.
He is the founder and owner of B Smart Solutions, LLC. and lives in Virginia with his wife, Ginger. Their daughter, Jennifer Raley, lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, and their son, Richard, lives in Tallassee. They have two grandchildren.
