Published: April 13, 2006 03:52 pm      

Senior center names Brown its Woman of the Year

Diane Brown has served her community in many ways, from working as a teacher to taking on the role of businesswoman in a local bank, to helping to found several community service organizations. She has helped countless individuals achieve their dreams and helped to build the community.

To honor her lifetime of work, the Fair Park Senior Center named Brown the 2006 Woman of the Year as part of its Women's History Month celebration.

"What a wonderful honor," said Brown. "All of us understand that nobody does things alone. You have to have a supportive family, which I had. You have to have raw material to teach, and the children of Cumberland County are as bright as children anywhere.

"What a wonderful honor. I really didn't know I had done so much. But I had a long and wonderful career and opportunity and I live in one of the best places and I have one of the best families, and I think it would be my pleasure in my retirement to continue to see the growth and progress in Cumberland County."

Many community leaders, family members, friends and colleagues were on hand to help celebrate the occasion and let everyone know why Brown was most deserving of the award.

"The attributes I most admire about her are her integrity, her tenacity, when she believes in something, she's not going to give up, and her love of learning and her enthusiasm for teaching," said Muffin Liskovec, director of the Cumberland County Higher Education Center.

Brown is a third-generation Cumberland Countian, the only child of Moses E. and Agnes Lee Garrison Dorton. Her great-grandfather was the founder of the First National Bank of Crossville/Union Planters.

Brown has been married to Jesse W. "Jay" Brown for 52 years, and the couple have one daughter, Carolyn Brown Darling, and two granddaughters, Diana and Rebecca.

Brown is a graduate of Cumberland County High School, and a member of the CCHS Hall of Fame. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Vanderbilt University, and, upon completion, she returned to Cumberland County to teach English, history and economics at CCHS.

"I worked with Mrs. Brown years ago as a teacher, and she was a good peer tutor for many of us," said Nancy Hyder, CCHS assistant principal.

County Mayor Brock Hill remembered being a student in Brown's history class while at CCHS. "I got through 16 years of formal education and only won one academic award, and that was the year I had Diane Brown as my teacher for American history and won the Woodman of the World Award. I know your name should be on that award, not mine. I still enjoy history a lot because of the way you taught it and made it interesting."

Cosby Stone, CEO of TAP Publishing, said he had had the privilege of knowing Brown in a number of roles in his life, as a teacher, a coach, a leader, a colleague and as a friend.

"She made learning fun and she made history come alive. She was very good at getting teenagers to think critically," Stone said. "She got us to think about ourselves and our view of the world and our view of politics and our view of history. We all came out of her class as better thinkers."

Liskovec said, "A real testament to her love of learning and enthusiasm for teaching came when I had the opportunity this week to go to several businesses and I mentioned this event, and on every occasion, the person I was speaking with said, 'She was my teacher, and I loved her as a teacher.' Many said she was the best teacher they had ever had. To think that to this day the mention of her name evokes such appreciation for what they learned from her, and as an educator, I can think of no higher compliment."

She was twice elected Cumberland County Teacher of the Year, and she volunteered for more than 10 years as coach of the CCHS tennis team. Brown was also elected president of the Cumberland County Education Association and successfully obtained the first negotiated teachers' contract in Cumberland County.

When her father died in 1982, Brown left teaching for the business world. She served as senior vice president and member of the board of directors for First National Bank of Crossville/Union Planters.

"As I moved into the business world, it was my husband's leadership that continued the tradition and role in the community. We had a very strong board of directors. All in all, what wonderful opportunities I had. And all of these gracious words you've heard are not just for me, but for my family, my colleagues and my friends in the community," Brown said.

Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham III recalled working with Brown during that time.

"It was at that time that I really understood what a community bank was and what needed to be done to promote the community," Graham said. "It was those standards and the prototype she and Jay set that I'm more interested in because that's one of the reasons Crossville is so great today."

Stone said, "She is and always has been the consummate professional. She is someone who displays integrity, intelligence and care in everything she does."

Brown has shared her skills with numerous organizations in Cumberland County, including Art Circle Library and the Cumberland County Playhouse. She was also a member of the originating board of directors for both Cumberland County Habitat for Humanity and the 4C's Foundation.

Hyder works with the 4C's Foundation. "Last year, there were 18 scholarships awarded to graduating seniors. We're still strong and we appreciate the support you gave to get it started as a charter member several years ago," Hyder said.

Melinda Weigle, director of Cumberland County Habitat for Humanity, noted that since the program began in 1996, 30 homes had been constructed and four more were under way.

"We've grown so big in this county thanks to your help," Weigle said.

As a member of the Roane State Foundation, Liskovec said Brown was adamant in her support of an accessible, affordable and quality higher education for the people of Cumberland County.

"When it was appropriate, she reminded them Cumberland County was one of the eight counties in Roane State's service area and we had needs that needed to be addressed," Liskovec said.

Stone and Brown served as co-chairs of the committee to raise funds for the Cumberland County Higher Education Center. The group raised $3.2 million in about six months for the facility.

"It was not an easy road," Liskovec said. "But the accomplishment attests to the integrity and commitment and the energy Cosby and Diane brought to that campaign."

Stone related a story of the RSCC foundation being polled on their top priorities for the college, and Brown wrote her top three priorities were a campus for Cumberland County.

"Basically she stuffed the ballot box and persuaded Dr. Hoppi (former president of RSCC) it was time for Cumberland County to have a real satellite college campus facility," Stone said.

"It was a tremendous achievement and Diane's leadership was invaluable and extraordinary throughout that process."

Stone also said he'd been honored to have known Brown as a friends, as well.

"She always lifted you up and inspired you and encouraged you to do your best and be your best," Stone said. "I think she has a special glow of excellence, of leadership, of honor and goodwill. I would like to think some of her students have learned to reflect that just a little bit."

Brown thanked everyone for the award and said, "When you think about getting honors, there are people today in our community, and I'm thinking particularly of young women, who go to work everyday, who raise their children, who mold their family who in turn mold the community. They're the real ones to be honored.

"But I have to tell you, it makes me feel awfully good so many of my friends and family and others of the community have thought well of me. I was asked one time why I had taken on some project. And my answer was because I was taught to do the right thing and I always felt the right thing was to do something to benefit those in the community, particularly children, so their lives might have a good quality, and they in turn would then develop the community. You see that happening here, because sitting here are some of my former students, and they are the community leaders today."

In addition to being named Woman of the Year, Brown also received a special joint resolution from the Tennessee General Assembly presented by state Rep. Eric Swafford, a Certificate of Merit and Appreciation from Cumberland County presented by Hill and a Certificate of Commendation from the city of Crossville presented by Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham III.





Previous Honorees

1994: Margaret Perkins, helped to establish the TVA and other electric cooperatives.

1995: Mary Crabtree, previous director of the Cumberland County Playhouse.

1996: Barbara Parsons, genealogical society president who worked to designate the courthouse as a museum.

1997: Retired state Sen. Anna Belle O'Brien, state senator and the first woman to chair the Senate Democratic Caucus.

1998: Lena Keene, instrumental in preserving the history of Pleasant Hill Academy and Pioneer Hall.

1998: Vancieneta Wisdom, helped to save the Palace Theatre and other historic sites.

1999: Emma Jean Vaden, helped establish the Cumberland Homestead District.

2000: Jane Johnson, helped to save the oral and pictoral history of the Hebbertsburg community.

2001: Former state Rep. Shirley Duer, state representative who helped Tennessee grow responsively and progressively.

2002: Peggy Houston, helped establish the first senior center in the Upper Cumberlands to administer programs under the Older Americans Act.

2003: Pauline Sherrer, publisher of the Crossville Chronicle.

2004: Sally Oglesby, Crossville city clerk and Region V director of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

Nancy Hyder, first woman elected as a Cumberland County Commissioner.

Hazel Hubbard, first woman deputy in the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department.

Vivian Warner, first woman lawyer in Cumberland County.

Amanda Dodson Houston, Crossville's chief financial officer.

2005: Joanne Harrison Stone, benefactor, teacher and advocate for education, the arts and to her worthy causes in Cumberland County.