2007

atrick selecteil EC lAlumnus of theYear

- ment for four years l:lefore l was clsked to run for this postbon I now occup;. A successful campaign put me back to work September 1, 2006. As lhlef executive offi– cer, I perfom1 basically the same type of things for the county ,1s a governor would for llw sta le." Of his d.1ys spent as an I "Cj(_ student, Patrick. said, "My time at Enst Ct:>11tri1l was :onu of thl~·mosl jo)•htl and produr:tive V~Ms of mv e<~rlv ((lllld not h,:; \'l' attended &huol C\t that tin1e." • In addition to IJr. Todd, there were others on campus wlw had a great impact on Patrick's life. "Mrs. Stella Newsome \.o:a~ ~itch a ''precious friend and ll~.Khcr. She taught me that hl'ing poor was not a hindrance to becoming suc– CC$Sful. She encouraged me to per~' ere in my quest for knowledge and excellence. She c1lsO knew that I worked

.1duJthood. llus \\;i\5 n mo~t significant time in ~lidifying the direction of m\ life.'' His lime at East Central Jwtior College began in 1952 when he ,wived on campus with only $5 in his pocket. He expl.1incd, "My brother brought me to Fast Central on the day of testing for entrance ~con.>s It pou rt'CI rain so hc1rd tlw old : car floocll'd out twin• on our way so th.ll I arrin>tl at I 0 c1.m. tnstctld of 8 il.m. NL't.'Cilc~s to ::>

three small jobs every day just to stay in school and she did not want me to become discouraged and possibly fajl along the way. "There were others tha t had a. great impact on my life; {lotably, Mr. (G.L.) Palmer in the agriculture department; Mr. (Frank) Cross in chemjstry; Mr. Uames R. ) Bobo in social studies; Coach (Billy Ray) Lindsley in P.E.; Mr. (Frank) Leathenvood in the biology departmen t; and also Mr. (R.C.) Roberts, Mr. (L.D.) f'ergu~n and Coach (Arno) Vincent. These were all men– tors to.me in various ways. Patrick said he also enjoyed being on the East Central campus. "Campus life at East Central was wonderful! I was able to secure enough work on campus to pay my expenses for the most p art. On weekends, I worked for Mrs. Sullivan off campus, but 1 was a happy camper. "My teach~s were excel– ent and 1 was s tudying wha t J loved, which was agricul– ture and science. Life was a pleasure every day. No neg– Cont. page 28, Patrick I ~ . I Patrick is married to the

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annual I Iom('coming f~tivi­ tics scheduled S.1turday, October 13 on the IJl'C.ltur CClmpus. · P<1tritk s<1id Ill~ w;1s "<1bsnlutl•h stuntwd" whl'r~ he lw.lrd c()lll•ge l'res itknl l)r Pl~il Sutphin inionning hun nt·thr: honor. · 1 "J his is, \\'ithrlut dt~uht ont~. of tlw gre.1t(~t ho;H;(; anyorw, l'ottld nxeiVl~," Patrkk said. ,. , he onh· corn– p.ual?k~ w.lS Ill)' call· t(; th~· ministry.'' A ::X\)tl Count\' native, Patrid: i~ thl; 5on of the late Bronk.; nnci Gr,Ke Patrick and gH'\\' up in the Ringgold (ommuntty l ie currently rt•stdcs tn Martin, Tennessee,

Houston W. Patrick of Martin, Tennessee, was recently named Alumnus of the Year at East Central Community College in Decatur and will be recog ni~:ed during the (olk•gl•'s , - IL 0

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wlwn.' he serv es as Mayor of _.. m~ down to see JVlr. (Andy) Wl•ilkk•y County and also Milk , the head custodian, scrws as pastor of who handL'CI nw a straight Macedonja Primitive Baptist br?Cm and said, 'Your job Church, a pos ion he has will be to s~eep this walk hl•ld for41 consecutive years. every morning at 5:30.' I I [(• previously served gladly accepted lhe job and Wl'ilkley Collflty as Register swept the walk all across Qle of lA'L'

former Maxine Cockroft of Sebastopol, also an EC alum– nus (Class of 1961), who serves as an officer with First Citizens National Bank in Martin. They have one son, Joseph Madden Patrick, whc resides in Spring Hill, Tenn. with his wife, Jennifer.

lw.1rl attack in 2000," said my first job at East Central," l\1trick "I staved in retirP- he said, "withou t which I