The Honorary Alumni Association Celebrates 40 Years

By Merrill Mills, Director of Leadership Giving

ESTABLISHED IN 1981, the Honorary Alumni Association serves as a meaningful and longlasting way to honor parents, trustees, faculty and staff, and friends of the school whose distinguished service and generous support have made a lasting impact. Forty charter members were inducted as part of Country Day’s 40th Anniversary celebrations, and many of the charter members are still deeply tied to Country Day today.

The common thread among all 40 years and 175 members of the Honorary Alumni Association is an authentic love and appreciation of Country Day. They share that it’s more than a school—it is a family, an opportunity, a lifelong relationship, an extraordinary gift. Their reflections show a special sense of gratitude and heartfelt commitment, not only to innovation and strengthening the institution but also to maintaining its heart and soul.

Every year the Honorary Alumni Association inducts a volunteer and a faculty/staff member who have rendered loyal and dedicated service to Country Day through outstanding generosity of their talents and resources.

Country Day inducts new Honorary Alumni every year at a special event called the Honorary Alumni Association Dinner. This tradition includes awarding the Alumnus/Alumna of the Year and the David L. Hood Jr. Award for Volunteer Service, so the evening is a celebration of distinguished service to Country Day. All award recipients, the Oak Society, the Country Day Fund Head’s Circle, major donors, and special guests of the school are invited to this special event. Because the Honorary Alumni Association Dinner was postponed this year, Country Day created a commemorative look back with reflections from members of the Honorary Alumni Association. The video and the list of the members of the Honorary Alumni Association, the Alumni of the Year, and recipients of the David L. Hood Award for Volunteer Service can be viewed at charlottecountryday.org/ alumni/honorary-alumni-association.

Smoky and Margaret Gragg Bissell, 2015

Smoky Bissell is a charter member who was inducted in 1981. Reflecting 40 years since his induction he notes,

You can’t get any closer to an institution than being an alum, and this was a tremendous honor for all of us. Country Day represents a batch of happy memories for our family, and it is wonderful to reminisce and remember.

Pat Clayton and Paulette Beatty, 1984

Paulette Beatty helped create the Honorary Alumni Association in 1981 and was inducted in 1991.

Members of the Honorary Alumni Association have devoted themselves to Country Day and pushed the school forward. This is a family and even though there is innovation in everything, these leaders have kept the core and the soul of the school. The Honorary Alumni Association is a really meaningful way to recognize and honor these leaders by making them part of an organization that will survive all of us.

Watts Hamrick ’77, Scott Perper, Carl Showalter, and David Mancos, 2016

David Mancos was inducted in 2015.

Since I started in 1999, the physical plant has changed tremendously, and the financial stability of the school has grown because of this exceptional community. The school’s dedication to excellence and the caring of this community has not changed, and I hope it never does. I am humbled and honored to be part of the Honorary Alumni Association; it means that my work and dedication have been noticed and recognized.

Alvin Pearman ’01, Drew Witman ’06, and Bob and Donna Witman, 2006

Donna Witman and her husband, Bob, were inducted in 2006. Donna reflects,

Country Day is a special place. It has been a home away from home for me and my family for a long time, and I was touched to be named an Honorary Alum. I feel very lucky to be a part of this association, which honors and celebrates Country Day constituents for their gifts of time, talents, and resources above and beyond, and for their true love for the school.

Wellford Tabor and Mark Reed, 2020

There are lots of ways to lead at Country Day, and thankfully we’ve had wonderful people over the last 40 years make the school what it is today. When you look at this crowd, you see people who have walked before you and have made a massive difference as educators, as leaders, as philanthropists; it is certainly humbling, and I am honored and grateful to be part of it.

1987: Doris Miller, John Miller, Martha Bledsoe, Louis Bledsoe 2010: James Roberts and Nancy Ehringhaus

1991: Erskine Bowles, Gary Bechtel, Nina Dooley McLean ’77, Carolyn Bechtel, Bob Johnston

2010: James Roberts and Nancy Ehringhaus

Honorary Alumni Association Members

Ernest A. Anderson Jr. Sylvia C. Ashcraft David S. Ball Paulette N. Beatty Carolyn M. Bechtel Gary H. Bechtel Katherine and Thomas M. Belk Foundation* Howard C. Bissell* Margaret Gragg Bissell William F. Blue Jr. The Blumenthal Foundation Erskine B. Bowles Janet Y. Bradshaw Elizabeth D. Brand R. Alfred Brand III Robin R. Branstrom William J. Branstrom III John M. Burke The Martin L. Cannon Family Foundation* J. Patrick Clayton Louise B. Cobb Larry J. Dagenhart Kevin S. Daly Calvin C. Davis Jr. Erica U. Deshaies Patrick L. Diamond The Dickson Foundation, Inc.* The R. Thomas Dooley Jr. Family The Dowd Foundation, Inc.* Kay S. Earnhardt* Nancy R. Ehringhaus Charles L. Fonville Gary B. Forbis The Shelton Gorelick Family The William Gorelick Family Beverly S. Hance James H. Hance Jr. Henry A. Harkey Libby Z. Helms Robert A. Heyer Debra H. Hickman Jennifer H. Hinote David L. Hood Jr. Annette S. Hunter G. Patrick Hunter Jr. Jacqueline J. Hunter James E. S. Hynes R. Michael James A. Emerson Johnson F. Franklin Justice Edward E. Kelly Dianne Lawing Leon Levine Sandra P. Levine Mary Beth M. Luxton Douglas A. MacGregor* Norma N. Mackenzie David L. Mancos Christopher B. Martin Rebecca L. Martin Albert L. McAulay Jr. Lillian D. McAulay Susan M. McConderee William B. McGuire Jr. James H. McLawhorn H. Woodward Middleton John S. Miller Jr.* Ronald W. Miller Carol C. Morris Margaret P. Otey Beth Shaw Penegar James J. Penegar Anne B. Perper Scott B. Perper Walker L. Poole Patsy G. Ratterree Sandra H. Raymore The Rea Family* Sallye T. Richards James W. Roberts Russell M. Robinson II Art C. Roselle R. Downie W. Saussy Jr. Kathleen W. Shaw Kirk A. Shaw Laura N. Shaw Tamara O. Shaw Whitney R. Shaw J. Carlton Showalter Jr. Jane V. Showalter Aubrey M. Springer III H. Keith Stoneman Jr. A. Wellford Tabor Sr. Martha C. Thorne Frank W. C. Timson Jr. Mary Allen Todd Charles V. Tompkins Jr. Bradley C. Touma The J. Mason Wallace Family* Clare V. Walton L. Edgar Walton Jr. Gilbert G. Webb Eugenia N. White Donna S. Witman Robert C. Witman

IN MEMORY

Virginia K. Abernethy Wilbert Alexander* William H. Barnhardt* Bruce A. Beery* Claudia W. Belk John M. Belk Louis A. Bledsoe Jr.* F. J. Blythe Jr.* J. Chadbourn Bolles* Marjorie M. Bray* Richard V. Bray Sr.* John C. Bristor Julia M. Britt Louise J. Brown* Thomas C. Burton* John C. Camp* Henrietta C. Cannon* James G. Cannon* Marion W. Cannon Florence C. Chapman Gladys T. Coddington John R. Cook* Nancy F. Cox Stuart Warren Cramer* Harry L. Dalton* Mary K. Dalton* William H. Dougherty Jr.* Sally C. Dowd* John T. Fielder Sr.* Joyce P. Hackney Angelia M. Harris* James J. Harris* Martha W. Haywood* Dolly S. Hickman David L. Howe* Frances S. Hyatt Edwin L. Jones Jr.* Mary C. Jones* John F. Ladley* J. Harold Lineberger Joseph W. Lineberger Alice Litwinchuk* Eleanor K. Martin* James H. Martin Jr.* Ross S. McElwee Jr. Doris B. Miller* Edward M. O’Herron Jr. Margaret B. O’Herron Allison H. Pell Sr.* Ellyn G. Pell* William R. Pitts* Jimmie P. Pritchard* John G. Pritchard* Nancy E. Rea* Zeb M. Rea* Elizabeth G. Reddig* Horton C. Reed N. Winthrop Robinson Paul W. Sanger* Susan M. Saunders C. Ray Shaw Shirley E. Shumake Julia Cramer Smith* Judith F. Sutker James R. Tice William K. Van Allen Sr. Charles R. Willard Sr.* Mimi M. Wood* William Wade Wood* Herbert M. Woodward