Patricia Ellisor Gaines ’62 opened an art show at the Arts Revive Gallery in Selma titled “Preacher’s Daughter.” The show was inspired by an interview with Margaret Jemison about the experiences and memories of people growing up in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. An art major at BSC, she holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia, and her works have been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, and New Zealand. Gaines and her husband, writer Charles Gaines ’64, split their time between Birmingham and Nova Scotia. Read more about “Preacher’s Daughter” and what inspired it here.

Jeff Pomeroy ’92 of Birmingham was named chair of Baker Donelson’s real estate group. A shareholder of the firm’s Birmingham office, Pomeroy handles cases related to commercial and mixed-use real estate, entity formation, and governance. He previously served as general counsel for Bayer Properties and as vice chair of the Hoover Industrial Development Board. A history major and Sigma Chi at BSC, Pomeroy earned his J.D. at Samford’s Cumberland School of Law.

Walker Hayes ’02, country star and writer of Billboard #1 Hit “Fancy Like,” performed at NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis as part of the NBA’s Crossover Concert Series on a bill that included Lil Wayne, Keith Urban, and Jelly Roll. Hayes moved to Nashville in 2005 to pursue a career in music. Since then, he has released three studio albums and multiple singles that charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. At BSC, Hayes sang in the choir, majored in music with an emphasis on piano, and was a member of Theta Chi. He and his wife, Laney Beville Hayes ’01, live outside Nashville.

Kindred Motes ’12 of New York City was honored by PoliticsNY and amNY Metro as a 2024 Power Player in Corporate Social Responsibility. A Somerville, Ala., native, Motes is the founder of KM Strategies Group, a consulting firm that dedicates 10% of its net profits to nonprofit organizations, resulting in significant contributions to Alabama Forward, the ACLU of Alabama, the Equal Justice Initiative, and many others. Motes has previously worked at Wallace Global Fund, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. In college, he was an English major.

Ernestine Chapple ’48 of Birmingham on February 23. A member of Alpha Omicron Pi at BSC, where she served on the Honor Council, she worked as a certified professional secretary at the Balfour Company. Deeply devoted to the arts, Chapple belonged to the Alabama Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society and volunteered at the Alabama Theatre and the Birmingham Museum of Art. She was the first woman elected to the administrative board at Eleventh Avenue United Methodist Church and was a charter member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

Karla Bell Maneval ’68 of Leeds on January 30. A native of Haleyville, she majored in English and was a member of the Canterbury Club at BSC. After graduation, Maneval had a long career in teaching, with stops at Johnson High School in Huntsville and Calhoun Community College in Tanner.

Doris Earnshaw Williams ’54 of Harrisville, West Va., on February 4. Born in Washington, D.C., she was raised on a farm in Mitchellville, Md. At BSC, she majored in sociology and minored in botany. Williams was always active in her local community, advocating to end the improper spraying of power lines, blocking illegal gas dumping, and keeping the local library open. Williams owned a pet store and worked as a proofreader for the Ritchie Gazette. A passionate gardener, she grew most of her own food, and was a master seamstress, woodworker, stained glass artist, and model builder.