The Tallassee High School Alumni Association is pleased to announce its 2026 class for the Hall of Pride.

The inductees are:

The late Dr. James Riley Boddie, Class of 1968

Dr. Denise Taunton Reid, Class of 1986

The late Dr. Jimmy Durden, Service Award

Riley Boddie graduated from Auburn University, earned a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned a Ph.D. from Auburn University.

Denise Reid graduated from Troy University and earned a master’s and a Ph.D. From Auburn University.

Dr. Jimmy Durden, a native of Opp, Alabama, graduated from the University of Alabama and attended medical school at the University of South Alabama.  He opened his practice in Tallassee in 1981 and served the people of Tallassee for 28 years.  He was the team physician at THS for those 28 years, volunteering his time and expertise to the students.

The Hall of Pride induction ceremony will be on Sunday, April 12 in the THS auditorium.  The public is invited to come and hear more about the accomplishments of our outstanding inductees.

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)

2025
Dr. Catherine James-Peters (Class of 1990)
Coach Duane Webster (Class of 1949)