Victoria Hallman '75 of Birmingham, a former cast member of “Hee Haw,” released “From Birmingham to Bakersfield,” a once-lost album produced more than 40 years ago by country music legend Buck Owens, on April 22. Read more on the BSC Blog.

Les Potts ’95 of Starkville was named interim Vice President for Finance and Administration at Mississippi State University. Potts has worked in Mississippi State’s Division of Finance and Administration for 14 years. Since 2020, he has served as associate vice president for administration with administrative oversight of all campus operations.

Nicole Boomhover ’97 of Birmingham was named the Executive Director of The Firehouse Ministries, which serves chronically homeless men in Birmingham. She served as Director of Mission Advancement at St. Martin’s in the Pines for nine years prior to this move.

Ansley Collins Browns ’01 of Houston was promoted to Manager of the International Space Station Payloads and Commercial Facilities Branch at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Read more about Browns and her career at NASA here.

Lauren Kilgore ’05 of Nashville, a partner at Shackleford, Brown, McKinley & Norton LLP, was named to Billboard magazine’s 2023 list of top music lawyers. A graduate of Vanderbilt University’s School of Law, she was cited for her work as an “essential resource for the music industry’s rising artists, songwriters, and superstars.”

Samantha Sittig Goldfarb ’08 of Birmingham was featured in the Spring 2023 Edition of The Light, First Light Women’s Shelter’s newsletter, for her volunteer work. She serves as a facilitator for Round Table Talk, a weekly, hour-long session providing First Light clients with a safe, confidential, and judgement-free space.

Aaron Parr ’10 was named president of St. Pius X Catholic School in Atlanta after serving as its interim president, director of enrollment, men’s basketball coach, and history teacher since joining the faculty in 2011. A history major at BSC, Parr holds a master’s degree from Concordia University Irvine.

E.G. “Red” Bailey on April 21. Bailey enrolled at BSC in 1947, while attending Birmingham School of Law at night. After graduation, he worked for AmSouth until his retirement in 1989 as a vice president. In retirement, Bailey enjoyed travelling the world with his wife, the late Mariam Wilder Bailey ‘50.

Rev. J. Walker Epps Jr. ’71 of Headland on April 25. Epps graduated from BSC with a religion degree, and earned a master’s of divinity degree from Boston Theological Seminary. After ordination as a United Methodist minister, he served congregations in the Alabama-West Florida Conference and served as district superintendent of the Dothan area. He served on the BSC Board of Trustees from 2006-2012.

James R. Harper, Jr. ’73 of Fairhope on April 5. A member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity, Harper began his career in banking and real estate development and later owned hospitality television stations in Orlando and New Orleans. In his 40s, Harper decided to become an attorney and graduated from Jones School of Law in Montgomery in 1996. According to his obituary, his house served as refuge for a number of cats, dogs, rabbits, squirrels, birds, hamsters and one “evil duck.” In 2020, Jim was awarded Layperson of the Year by the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association for his pro bono work on behalf of animals.

Dr. D. Bruce Irwin ’72 of Birmingham on April 14. After graduating from BSC with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Irwin attended the UAB School of Medicine and later founded American Family Care, the nation’s leading provider of accessible primary care, urgent care, and occupational medicine. He served as a BSC trustee from 2016 until his death and endowed several scholarships. His survivors include his son, Donald Bruce Irwin, Jr. ’06. For more on his life and impact, read more on the BSC Blog.

Joseph Eston Murchison Jr. ‘58 of Birmingham on March 29. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Murchison worked for U.S. Steel for 40 years and was recognized for designing super steel grades to improve product availability, a slide gate system for teeming steel, and a “Lolly Pop” tester to quickly analyze steel and hot metal. Murchison served as president of the American Society for Metallurgy and the local chapter of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, and was a member of International Globetrotters. After retiring from U.S. Steel, he worked as a metallurgical consultant in Serbia and Slovakia, and was a member of U.S. Steel Engineering Consultants. He trained Romanians, Chinese and Saudi Arabians in steelmaking. Murchison loved all sports, particularly Alabama football and NASCAR. He often assisted sports writers in the press boxes in Tuscaloosa, at Legion Field, and at Talladega.

Celesta Kay Tanner ’88 of Hoover on April 14. A 1962 graduate of Ensley High School, Tanner graduated cum laude from Birmingham-Southern while working full time with Southern Company. As a project manager with Southern Company, she traveled extensively and internationally to Israel, Egypt and Canada. Passionate about literacy, she volunteered with Birmingham Baptist Literacy/M-Power and Alfalit International for 40 years, editing curricular and training materials for literacy facilitators that are used internationally. She traveled to Liberia and Jamaica to instruct literacy trainers, and a school was named for her in Liberia.

Lillian Gilbert Evans Whitney ’51 of Hartselle on March 25, 2022. A tennis and club softball standout at BSC, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a double minor in English and social studies. She taught those subjects in various schools in the Birmingham area, then raised three children with her late first husband, John E. Evans, Jr. ’53. Whitney also served for many years as a Girl Scout Leader or co-leader and was affectionately nicknamed by her Scouts as “Mama Lil.” Read more on her rich life in her full obituary.