Warrior Magazine December 2019

Alumni Updates

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Mary Evelyn Rowzee Craft (’48) and Charles C. Craft celebrated their 70th wedding anniver sary Aug. 6, 2019.

Alabama. I am grateful to have attended there and I am happy to say as an East Central Alumni, I may have graduated with an average 2.5 GPA but finished my final semester with straight A’s and being accepted into the Dean’s List at UA. I honestly can say that EC has been a big part of my growth throughout my years and I hope that the school contin ues with the good work. I am gratefully thankful and Roll Tide.” Peyton Cain (’16), a graduate of the club’s trainee program, recently joined the Mississippi Braves as a full-time ac count executive, after serving as a sales trainee for the 2019 season. “Peyton joined us after the season began in 2019 and immediately displayed the diligence and drive the Braves organi zation seeks in our front office cul ture,” said Pete Laven, vice president and general manager. “His success in developing our Community Nights was a contributing factor to our attendance growth this past summer.” Cain gradu ated from the University of Tennessee at Martin in the spring of 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Admin istration and is a 2014 graduate of Newton County High School. At East Central, he was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and was as a right-handed pitcher on the 2016 MACJC State Champion baseball team. Cain was also a member of the UT Martin baseball team, where they set a school record for wins in 2017. Madison Claire Nowell (’12) to Tony Lee Sistrunk (’15), May 4, 2019 Hanna Ruby Farmer (’13) to Andrew Scott Smith, Nov. 23, 2019 Hannah McCurdy (’14 ) to Will Alexander, May 18, 2019 Taylor Nicole Alexander (’15) to Lance Bailey Vernon (’17), Oct. 5, 2019 Madelon Dianne Taylor (’16) to Jonathan Kreig Flippo, Nov. 23, 2019 Aerial Green (’17) to Channing Wall (’16) June 22, 2019 Chaney Elizabeth Mills (’17) to John Taylor Champion, July 6, 2019 Shelby Lauren Wilkerson (’17) to Christopher William “Buck” Rhodes, June 1, 2019 Megan Brooke Todd to Charles William (Trey) Kellum III (’18), Oct. 26, 2019 Brady Lee Thrash (’18) to Matthew Lucas Mitchell (’16), Oct. 12, 2019 Weddings •

Kelsey Killen (’19) to John Tubby, June 8, 2019 Bryce Callie Lott (’20) to Joseph Matthew Leach (’20), Sept. 28, 2019 InMemoriam • John Nesbit Grace, Jr. (former Warrior football coach 1949-54) Sept. 16, 2019 Donald Robert Sharp (’44) July 20, 2019 Roy T. Shepperd (’45) May 30, 2019 Lee Hamill (’48) Nov. 7, 2019 Malcolm Phillips (’48) Nov. 21, 2019 Leon Williams (’48) July 22, 2019 Joe Steve Webb (’50) Nov. 10, 2019 Dean Allen (’51) July 30, 2019 William “Sonny” Latham, Jr. (’52) Nov. 17, 2019 Sarah Darby McKay (’52) Aug. 23, 2019 Oscar Edward Wall, Jr., (’55) July 28, 2019 Melvin Tingle (’61) Oct. 18, 2019 Gloria Delores Williams (’63) June 26, 2019 Rev. Benny Buckley (’64) July 12, 2019 Vernon Crotwell (’68) Oct. 30, 2019 (Former Board of Trustees Member) Dianne Holder Parker (’70) July 28, 2019 Milton Dean Richardson (’70) May 20, 2019 Edward Hal Richardson (’72) June 6, 2019 James E. “Jim” Nabers, (’76) March 16, 2019 Cecil O. Price, Jr. (’77) April 20, 2019 Ann Ledlow Smith (’83) June 28, 2019 Katelyn Ann “Katie” Thomas (’10) May 9, 2019 In Memoriam - Staff Laura Reeves Thorne Laura Reeves Thorne (’83), long •

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Douglas M. Blount (’56) of Columbus retired from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Alice Couch (’57) of Martinez, Ga., re cently wrote in a message to the alumni office, “I’m enjoying retirement as much as possible by staying busy vol unteering in my home church, enjoying friends, and attending to health issues which inevitably comes with age.”

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Emily Bullock Yowell (’98), a member of the ECCC Student Hall of Fame, was promoted to full professor at the Uni

versity of Southern Mississippi, where she serves as director of the master’s program in counseling psychology and teaches in the Ph.D. program. Candice Stevenson (’98), a Forest na tive and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) refuge manager in Florida, has been named the new fire communica tion and education specialist for the National Park Service (NPS) Division of Fire and Aviation. The promotion will take McCormick and her family from Florida to Boise, Idaho, for her new position. Stevenson is the daughter of Hardy and Betty McCormick of Forest and is a 1996 graduate of Forest High School. After graduating from ECCC, she continued her education at Missis sippi State University where she com pleted her undergraduate and graduate studies. She has 15 years of experience with the USFWS.

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time business office accountant at East Central Community College, died Sept. 23, 2019, after a short illness. She began her employment at the college in 1991. She was a graduate

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Hillary Williams (’14), a native of Philadelphia, was named Canton Elementary School’s

Teacher of the Year for 2018.

Michael Billie (’16) recently graduated from the University of Alabama. In a re cent email, he wrote, “I wanted to send a big Thank You! to East Central Com munity College for preparing me for the next level. I was able to use the knowl edge that I gained at EC and it helped me with my junior and senior years at

of Decatur High School, East Central Community College, and Mississippi State University. She was a member of Clarke-Venable Baptist Church.

ALUMNI NEWS

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