2021FallWarrior

Karey Todd (’76) retired in 2020 as a client project services leader with IBM in St Alumni Updates 70 s 90 s

directors for the bank’s holding com- pany, First Forest Corporation.

Decatur native Brian Cooper (’91) of Denver, N.C., was promoted to manager of the Lincoln

Lola Barton Beckham (’05) of Phila- delphia was featured as Cook of the Week in the Neshoba Democrat newspaper. Nick Smith (’05) , a Union native, was named principal of Union Middle School. Cody Killen (’06) was named princi- pal at Newton County High School. He previously served as principal of Neshoba Central Middle School. He was featured in a recent article in the Newton County Appeal newspaper. Barry Richardson (’07) was named assistant principal at Philadelphia Ele- mentary School. He previously served as a teacher and athletics director. Ron and Beth Alexander (’08) Reiss of Brandon proudly announce the birth of their first child, a son, John Hampton Reiss. Born on March 25, 2021, in Flowood, John was 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 22 inches long at birth. Mystee Dale (’09) became the first female firefighter in the history of the Hattiesburg Fire Department. She is a recent graduate of the Fire Academy. Dale is a graduate of Choctaw Cen- tral High School and is a former Lady Warrior basketball player. Philadelphia native Michael Hardy (’09) , known professionally as Hardy, was nominated by the Country Music Association for Songwriter of the Year, New Male Artist of the Year, and Music Event of the Year in association with his song “One Beer,” featuring Lauren Alaina and Kevin Dawson. His 2020 debut album is titled “A Rock.” He also performed at this year’s Ne- shoba County Fair. ECCC science instructor Dekota Anthony Cheatham (’09) was fea- tured as the Cook of the Week in the Neshoba Democrat newspaper. Cheatham teaches biology at ECCC and also runs the retail side of An- thony’s Syrup Co., a family business run by her parents.

County Farm Bureau. He has been with North Carolina Farm Bureau for 16 years. Lincoln County is 25 miles northwest of Charlotte. Jay Murphy (’92) was promoted to manager of technical support at Tay- lor Machine Works, Inc. Tabitha McGee Chaney (’97) was featured in the Newton County Ap- peal newspaper’s Decatur Community News. She is assistant principal of Newton County Middle School. Justin Chaney (’99) celebrated his 400th victory as Newton County High School’s fast-pitch softball coach. Kris Robertson (’99) was promoted to plant manager at Weyerhaeuser in Philadelphia. Robertson has been with the company for 22 years. He received his degree from ECCC in automation and controls. the University of Florida’s Excellence Award for Assistant Professors, one of the university’s top honors for junior faculty. Majure, a native of De- catur, is a graduate of Newton County High School and East Central. An assistant curator of the Florida Mu- seum and curator of the University of Florida Herbarium, Majure’s research combines plant classification and evolutionary biology to provide the fundamental knowledge needed for ecological and pharmacological stud- ies, as well as conservation decision- making and plant biodiversity work. Drew Kenna (’04) of Bank of Forest was elected to serve as vice president of the Mississippi Young Bankers, a section of the Mississippi Bankers As- sociation. Kenna serves as president and chief operations officer of the Bank of Forest where he has been for 15 years and serves on the board of 00 s • Florida Museum of Natural History bota- nist Lucas Majure (’01) is a 2021 recipient of

Louis, Mo., and moved to Philadel- phia. He is enjoying retired life and spending more time with family and friends and enjoying his hobbies of astronomy, motorcycling, and pho- tography. In St Louis, he was a mem- ber of ASEM (Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri), where he did visual observations of the moon and planets and helped extend ASEM membership by participating in the library pro- gram. He assisted with presentations at local libraries in St. Charles County demonstrating the use of telescopes ASEM provided to the local libraries to loan out to kids and parents inter- ested in learning astronomy. a teacher at Newton County Elemen- tary School. She taught 34 years for the Newton County School District. Steve Nelson (’87) was named head- master, athletics director, and head football coach at Newton County Academy. A Newton native, Nelson served the last two years at Lamar School as high school principal and boys basketball coach. He also has football coaching experience at Lake and Northeast Lauderdale. Clara Chapman (’89) of Newton serves as director of admissions at Laird Hospital in Union. She said in a recent message to the college, “I appreciate East Central Community College for being a high-quality junior college close to home that I could attend in 1987. It allowed me to be able to take care of my mother and also allowed me to be able to get the education I needed to start a career in which I have been invested in for over 23 years.” 80 s • Cindy Russell Thomp- son (’84) was awarded the Golden Apple Award for her work as

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