Richard Turner ’93 was named president and CEO of Fort Smith, Ark.-based sport shooting industry supplier Umarex USA. Turner has served as company president since March 2017, following his role as vice president of sales and marketing that he held since 2006. He has spent the past 20 years in senior management roles in the outdoor and shooting sports industry, including with PRADCO Outdoor Brands and Russell Outdoors/Mossy Oak Apparel.

Derek Ellington ’97.

Derek Ellington ’97 of Summerfield, N.C., will join Wells Fargo & Company in October as the head of small business banking. In this position, Ellington will be responsible for driving growth and helping small business clients succeed financially with a team of nearly 2,000 professionals. He takes on this new role after 24 years with Bank of America in retail banking, commercial banking, credit, and small business banking. Ellington has most recently served as the business banking region executive for the Atlantic South.

Leanna Bankester Pittard ’98, attorney at Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley, P.C. (BBGA), is joining the law firm’s new Birmingham office. Pittard has practiced with the Georgia-based law firm since 2009 and specializes in product liability litigation, specifically medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Her husband, Jeb Pittard ’98, is also a BSC graduate.

Watson Donald ’01.

Watson Donald ’01 has been named Senator Richard Shelby’s new chief of staff. Prior to this role, Donald served as the federal affairs manager for Alabama Power and as the senior director of external affairs at Southern Research. He returns to Shelby’s staff after serving as his national security advisor from 2007-2009 and also has legislative experience under Congressman Jo Bonner and former Senator Jeff Sessions.

Matthew Lambert ’01 was selected as Albertville High School’s new athletic director and as assistant athletic director for Albertville City Schools. Lambert has coached baseball in the school system since 2016 and has spent the last 19 years coaching at schools throughout north Alabama.

Clark Lea ’01 will start his first season this fall as Vanderbilt University’s 29^th head football coach, a position he began in December 2020. Lea, a two-time Vanderbilt graduate, returned to Nashville after his time as the University of Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator from 2018-20. At Notre Dame, he coached in nine bowl games, two of which were College Football Playoff appearances. Lea began his college sports career at BSC, playing on the 2001 National Championship baseball team before transferring to Belmont University.

Walker Hayes ’02 and his summer release, “Fancy Like,” have reached the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and moved into Billboard’s Country Airplay top 40. “Fancy Like” is Hayes’ third single to chart Hot Country Songs, and the song has also inspired a viral TikTok dance started by Hayes and his daughter Lela. Hayes and his wife, Laney Beville Hayes ’01, moved to Nashville in 2005.

Rev. Dr. Marion McCoy Gibbs ’44 of Leesburg, Fla., on July 21, 2021. Gibbs graduated from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and received honorary doctorates from Florida Southern College and Bethune-Cookman University, where he served as a trustee for 26 years. He was ordained as an elder in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist church in 1945 and went on to serve seven churches across the state. In 1989, Gibbs retired in Leesburg and returned to Morrison United Methodist, where he served in the 1960s, as the part-time minister of pastoral care and visitation. He continued in that position until 2018 and was instrumental in starting Morrison’s Opportunity Shop, a thrift store that supports mission projects and other ministries. Gibbs was a district superintendent in three different districts in Florida, served as the conference’s program council director, and was elected to four general and jurisdictional church conferences.

Marilyn Miller Snow ’48 of Birmingham on July 14, 2021. Snow was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority at BSC and went on to teach in the Jefferson County and Bessemer City School systems for 13 years. She was an active member of First Presbyterian Church for more than 70 years, where she served as a children’s Sunday School teacher, president of First Presbyterian Women, liturgist, and a member of the handbell choir. The ministry dearest to Snow’s heart was First Light, a center for homeless women and children in Birmingham.

Dr. James C. Johnson ’52 of Birmingham on July 8, 2021. Johnson knew he wanted to be a doctor from an early age, and he was a beloved medical provider for many generations of Birmingham residents. He graduated from UAB School of Medicine in 1956 and completed his internship at Hillman Hospital before joining the U.S. Air Force as a flight surgeon. He attained the rank of captain and was stationed in San Antonio as the base doctor. Johnson and his family returned to Birmingham in 1959, and he started Shades Mountain Clinic in Bluff Park with Dr. Ernest Campbell and Dr. Joe Bancroft. He soon completed his residency at Children’s of Alabama and served as chief resident for one year, leading to Vestavia Pediatrics, which he founded with Dr. David Simpson. Stories have been told about patients in their mid-20s sneaking back into the office for treatment from their favorite pediatrician. Johnson received the Wallace Alexander Clyde Distinguished Service Award for Excellence in Pediatrics from Children’s Hospital in 1998, among other honors. He was a member of Canterbury United Methodist Church, Vestavia Hills Country Club, and The Birmingham Sailing Club, and he was a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Johnson’s wife of 67 years, Sally Wood Johnson ’53, also graduated from BSC and received the College’s Distinguished Alumna Award in 2008. Two of their children, Susan Johnson Lawrence ’79 and the late Mark Johnson ’81, are also alumni, and their grandson John Lawrence is a current BSC student.

James Ralph Connell ’53 of Birmingham on June 28, 2021. Connell was born in Birmingham and was a longtime resident of the Acipco-Finley community. Following his graduation from BSC, he served in the U.S. Air Force Signal Corps in Japan and later worked in logistics for Illinois Central Railroad. Connell was a loving husband, a loyal brother, and a role model and friend to many.

Dr. Donald William Englebert ’53 of Birmingham on June 17, 2021. After graduating from BSC, Englebert attended the University of Alabama School of Dentistry and went on to practice pedodontic dentistry for nearly 60 years. He enjoyed serving multiple generations of families in the Birmingham area and strived to treat each patient as family. He took great pride in his profession and his role as a father, brother, and friend to many. Englebert was a member of Vestavia Country Club and the Birmingham Kiwanis Club, where he served as co-chair of the Athletic Affairs Committee. He comes from a family of BSC alumni: his father, H. Ben Englebert ’25, coached basketball at the College, served as athletic director from 1935 to 1940, and was named to our Sports Hall of Fame in 1981; his mother, Ruth Herren Englebert ’30, taught piano for 65 years; and both his sisters, Nancy Englebert Mullins ’71 and the late Mary Ann Englebert Whitaker ’50, and his son, Donald G. Englebert, Jr. ’82, are also BSC graduates.

Donald B. Duffey ’57 of Huntsville, Ala., on July 3, 2021. Duffey had two passions in life: airplanes and flying, and being a business owner. He always encouraged people to share his love of flying and took them up in one of the many planes he owned throughout his life. He also established Alabama Business Forms in 1971 and, for nearly 50 years, worked tirelessly for his employees and his customers. Duffey was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Nancy Murphree Fleisher ’65 of Nashville, Tenn., on June 17, 2021. Fleisher studied English at BSC and received her master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody School. While in Alabama, she founded and helped run a camp for youth with cognitive disabilities. In Tennessee, Fleisher taught college English courses, worked at the Dede Wallace Mental Health Center, and co-founded and directed Abintra Montessori School in West Nashville. Fleisher served as a resettlement host for Somali Bantu refugees through Catholic Relief Services, volunteered with the Nashville Children’s Theater, and served as president of the Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee as a master gardener.

Ellen Worthy Massey ’65 of Dunwoody, Ga., on July 6, 2021. Following her education studies at BSC, Massey received her master’s degree from Samford University and taught elementary school for many years. She will be remembered for her kindness, her spirit for service, and her Southern hospitality, which she demonstrated most through her Supper Club, her family gatherings, and her English garden. Massey was a member of St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church for 33 years as well as a member of Daughters of the American Revolution, Questers, and Alabama Club.

William Francis Roberts II ’70 of Birmingham on July 12, 2021. Roberts “lived life like it was prose” as an educator. He taught English, drama, speech, and psychology to high school classrooms in Sylacauga, New Orleans, and Shenzhen, China. He was an outstanding composer and musician – and loved music from James Brown to high church hymns – and was an avid reader and foodie. Most of all, Roberts was passionate about his family and friends, serving as a mentor to many and leaving everyone with several “Bill stories.” His wife, the late Vicki von Gal Roberts ’78, daughter Terri Roberts Munro ’03, and son-in-law Paul Munro ’04 also graduated from BSC.

Mettie “Tootsie” Smith Henry ’74 of Annapolis, Md., on July 21, 2020. Following graduation from BSC, Henry attended the Wake Forest University School of Law and began her longtime law career in Annapolis. She was in private practice for 23 years with her husband, represented Anne Arundel County for 14 years, and, in her last few years, proudly practiced law with her youngest son. In her spare time, Henry loved to spend time with family: She watched her son play baseball, sat along Town Creek in the western Maryland mountains, relaxed on the beach of Hatteras, North Carolina, and hosted the Christmas Eve extended family social. Henry was an active member of St. Andrews Methodist Church and the Annapolis Elks Lodge #622.

Virgil Paul Fowler ’99 of Eureka Springs, Ark., on July 12, 2021. Fowler grew up in Cullman before studying English at BSC. He opened The Insurance Store to help the families and businesses of Eureka Springs, where he has lived the last 10 plus years.

Dr. John H. Davis III, former BSC faculty member, of Gulf Shores on July 10, 2021. Davis graduated from Southwestern College (now Rhodes College) and pursued master’s and doctoral studies at the University of Alabama, where he earned his doctorate in 1972. Davis served as a professor of finance at Auburn University, Samford University, and BSC and also became a business appraiser with his own company, Business Valuations Services. He was a member of the Appraisal Institute, the Senior Real Property Appraisers, and the Senior American Society of Appraisers.

Dr. Gamaliel Perruci, former BSC faculty member, of Marietta, Ohio, on July 9, 2021. Perruci spent eight years at BSC as a political science instructor and director of Latin American studies. He was born in Recife, Brazil, and he came to the United States in 1981 to attend college, graduating with degrees in journalism and economics from Baylor University. He then earned his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida and came to the Hilltop in 1991. Perruci spent eight years at BSC as a professor and director of Latin American studies. From here, he was hired at Marietta College to teach in the McDonough Leadership Center, later becoming dean in 2003. In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, Perruci was the author and co-author of numerous books and articles, including “Global Leadership: A Transnational Perspective” (2019), “Understanding Leadership: An Arts and Humanities Approach” (2015), and “Teaching Leadership: Bridging Theory and Practice” (2018). He was also a consultant for The New York Times and frequent guest analyst for BBC World Service and Radio France International. Read more about Perruci’s legacy here.