Distinguished Alumni
John Harvey Edwards II - the Alumni Gold P Award
The late John Harvey Edwards II, a 1965 graduate of PC, was posthumously awarded the Alumni Gold P Award, the college’s most prestigious honor for alumni.
Edwards was a former Blue Hose football player who started his own highway construction firm, Site Prep Inc., and served as its president for many years. He also served on numerous alumni boards at his alma mater and was a devoted churchman at Church of the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Orangeburg, S.C., and Church of the Mediator in Washington, Ga.
He is survived by his wife Laverne and their three children and six grandchildren. Eldest son, John, a 1994 graduate of PC and the 2007 recipient of the college’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, said his father had a love affair with PC that spanned 50 years.
“He loved it for the principles it instilled in its students and its alumni and alumnae,” Edwards said. “More importantly, he loved the friendships he developed here – and he developed a lot.”
Edwards called his dad a true Blue Hose who enthusiastically supported his alma mater no matter who they played.
“We didn’t know it was Thanksgiving if we didn’t play Newberry College,” he said of the old tradition of playing for the Bronze Derby on Thanksgiving. “… He was our rock and he was a rock to this college and we’ll miss him.”
PC president Dr. John Griffith announced that the Edwards family has endowed the John Harvey Edwards II Scholarship for athletics in honor of their family patriarch.
Lillis and Jerry ’50 Smith - Robert M. Turner Scotsman Club Award
The college created a new award this year – the Robert M. Turner Scotsman Club Award, named in honor of 1948 graduate and former football player Mike Turner of Clinton. In addition to dedicating the award to Turner, the service award was presented to its first recipients – Lillis and Jerry ’50 Smith of Greenville.
Turner recalled his coach, Ben Moy, and his team’s triumph over Clemson University in 1948.
“We did, in fact, beat Clemson for the first time since I was born and the only time since,” he said. “Since that time, I have earnestly tried to pay back. To me, today, it is a wonderful thing to be so honored by my school – which I love very much.”
The Smiths have been loyal members of the Scotsman Club for 40 years and, in 2008, endowed a scholarship for athletics. With their most recent gifts, they will be inducted into the William Plumer Jacobs Society in Spring 2012.
Dr. William Dr. Brearley ‘77 - Mary F. Lehman Alumni Service Award
Dr. William Dr. Brearley ‘77 of Lexington, S.C., was this year’s recipient of the Mary F. Lehman Alumni Service Award. A physician and partner at Lexington Family Practice, he is a member of the Scotsman Club and a former member of the PC Board of Visitors. Since 2004, he has served on the college’s Board of Trustees.
“This is a special place,” said Brearley. “PC has made such a difference in my life and I appreciate so much the opportunities I’ve had here. One of the things I really enjoy doing is talking to high school students about PC – encouraging them to visit, to apply and to enroll because I know what opportunities they will have here. One of those opportunities is to learn about service PC-style. John Wesley once said, ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can,in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.’
Service. That is what transforms our lives from just existing into living. To serve is to live. … I think every PC graduate, no matter what their field of study or major – when they graduate from here with that diploma in their hand, they have their own personal B.S. degree in their heart – a bachelor’s of service.”
Bill Webb '58 - Dum Vivimus Servimus Award
The 2011 winner of the Dum Vivimus Servimus Award, 1958 graduate Bill Webb of Garland, Tex., also praised his alma mater for nurturing service. A semi-retired manufacturing manager who worked for Lance Inc. and Rubbermaid Inc., Webb has been a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America for 52 years.
“You catch the germ right here on this campus – and you carry it with you wherever you go,” he said.
Kathy Bangle ’87 - Thomas Aurelius Stallworth ’55 Award
This year’s Thomas Aurelius Stallworth ’55 Award – went to Kathy Bangle ’87 of Athens, Ga. A former admissions counselor and associate director of admissions at PC before becoming an advancement professional at the University of Georgia, Bangle said she rode many miles with Stallworth recruiting students throughout the Southeast.
“From those journeys, I gained a lot of wisdom,” she said. “I gained a lot of laughs. I met a lot of people (because) we stopped in every town. He always knew someone who lived there. And, of course, we never got on the interstate, so I know a lot of towns and a lot of people because of Tom Stallworth. Most of all, I learned a lot by watching him and his Christian life and his love for his family and this institution. I will carry that — and his spirit – forward with me forever.”
Tyler Hudson '96 - Outstanding Young Alumnus
Tyler Hudson of Columbia, S.C., a 1996 graduate of PC, was named the 2011 Outstanding Young Alumnus. He is the senior vice president and commercial real estate senior credit manager for NBSC, a division of Synovus Bank. He was named Outstanding Young Banker this year by the South Carolina Banker’s Association, and is a former chair of the association’s Young Bankers Division and its Personal Economics Program.
“I love this college,” Hudson said. “I have very fond memories of my days here – which wasn’t too long ago. What was ingrained in me was Dum Vivimus Servimus … I’ve never forgotten it as I’ve carried on my career. … I am truly honored and appreciate this.”
Doug Wallace - Honorary Alumnus
Doug Wallace, the college’s director of media services, was named an Honorary Alumnus. Wallace joined the college’s staff in 1989 to build a new media services program. Wallace joked that the men who hired him – Dr. Jim Skinner and Dr. Lennart Pearson – asked him to commit to at least two years at PC.
“I must have thought they said 22 years.’” Wallace said. “It truly is an honor and a privilege. In the years I’ve been here, I’ve met some of the truly finest individuals I’ve ever known – PC alums and PC students. It’s an honor to be associated with that group.”