By Suzannah Solomon Wilson

The Tallassee High School Alumni Association is pleased to announce our inductees for the 2025 Hall of Pride. The ceremony will be Sunday, April 13 at 2 p.m. in the Tallassee High School Performing Arts Center.

This year’s posthumous inductees are Dr. Catherine James-Peters (Class of 1990) and Coach Duane Webster (Class of 1949).

Dr. James-Peters was a family practice physician licensed in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. She also earned an MBA from Auburn University so that she could better understand the financial complexities of running a medical organization.

Coach Webster was a legend in high school football in Alabama, coaching at both Tallassee High School and Reeltown High School. His Reeltown team won the state championship in 1987. He was inducted into the AHSAA Hall of Fame in 1994.

There is much more to be learned about these two outstanding individuals, so we hope you will join us in April. The public is invited and welcome.

Previous Hall of Pride Inductees:

2015
Mrs. Vicki Atkins Oliver Baker (Class of 1964)
Mr. Bennie Little (Class of 1936)

2016
Mr. William E. Goss (Class of 1948)
Dr. Byron Brightwell Nelson (Class of 1925)
Dr. James Robert Piper (Class of 1951)

2017
Mr. John L. Allbrittin (Class of 1981)
Mr. Samuel Oscar Dunn (Class of 1938)
Mr. Ernest C. Hornsby (Class of 1955)
Mr. Jessee Willard Pienezza (Class of 1934)
Mrs. Marion Woodall Powell (Class of 1974)

2018
Dr. Byron Brightwell Nelson, Jr. (Class of 1953)
Mr. Joseph Wilson Patterson (Class of 1928)
Col. Bobby W. Smart (Class of 1967)
Dr. Thomas N. Taylor (Class of 1956)
Mr. Edwin R. Watkins (Service Award)

2019
Coach Derrick Ansley (Class of 2000)
Dr. Henry Lee Taylor (Class of 1952)
Dr. G. Larry Whatley (Class of 1958)
Mrs. Marjorie Carter (Service Award)

2020
Mr. Jerry Cunningham (Class of 1978)
Coach Jackie Davis (Class of 1946)
Mr. Billy Gillyard McKenzie (Class of 1948)
Coach Carl Stewart (Service Award)

2021
Ms. Lacey Brewer (Class of 1985)
Mrs. Michelle Hayes Cole (Class of 1992)
Mrs. Sylvia Farrow Phillips (Class of 1974)
Mrs. Olivia Pienezza Solomon (Class of 1955)
Coach John Edward “Hot” O’Brien (Service Award)

2022
Col. Jesse Charles (Jake) Bush, Jr. (Class of 1944)
Dr, Boyde Jerome (Jerry) Harrison (Class of 1970)
Coach Howard Dean Tippett (Class of 1953)
Mr. Russell Hill Stokes (Service Award)

2023
Col. (retired) Mary Stonaker Burrus (Class of 1982)
Cynthia Farrow Martin (Class of 1972)
Arthur Ted Oliver (Class of 1989)

2024
Joan O’Daniel (Class of 1964)
Stacy Goss (Class of 1965)
Bernice Paschal Rivers Barton-Simmons Cooper (Class of 1970)
Susan Schonberger Swagler (Class of 1982)