FACULTY AND STAFF
FACULTY AND STAFF
Catching Up with Retired Faculty by Jane Lauderdale Armstrong ’74
Harry Lloyd It was the spring of 1960, and Tar Heel Harry Lloyd was completing his master’s degree in physical education at Chapel Hill. Harry was a graduate assistant coach for the Tar Heels baseball team, but with graduation looming, he knew he needed to find a full-time position. A fellow graduate student named Pete Higgins had been to Atlanta to interview at the still-young Westminster Schools and suggested Harry give them a call. Westminster was looking for a baseball coach and history teacher, and Harry fit the bill. Within a week of his interview with Dr. Pressly and Emmett Wright, Harry “committed” to Westminster. He describes his first days at the School this way: “It didn’t take long to realize that I liked Westminster. I decided I’d stay.” During the early years, Harry taught history and coached girls basketball and varsity baseball. In 1965, Harry assumed the role of athletic director. With the opening of Turner Gym and the proliferation of girls’ team sports, Westminster’s athletic program expanded rapidly in scope and depth under Harry’s leadership. During his years as athletic director, Westminster captured 53 state championships. In 1983, Bob Ward assumed athletic director responsibilities, and Harry continued as physical education department chair. For 37 classes of Westminster graduates, Harry is primarily known as Coach Lloyd. His varsity baseball teams consistently achieved winning seasons, including three state championships. In 2002, Harry was inducted into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame along with fellow Westminster coaches Paul Koshewa and Wayman Creel. Current faculty member and baseball coach Chad Laney ’95 described Coach Lloyd’s influence this way:
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I have never met anyone who is as knowledgeable and passionate about the game of baseball as Coach Lloyd. He has, as they say, given his life to the game, and no one is a better ambassador for baseball than Coach Lloyd. I had the pleasure of both playing for him and coaching alongside him, and I am a much better person for it. Coach Lloyd is a master of positive thought, simplicity, and purpose, but his teachings go beyond the diamond and deep into his players’ lives. Two of my favorite examples include: “Follow your passions and do them to the best of your ability,” and “Control what you can control and do not worry about what you cannot.” Harry coached many young people through the summer baseball camp he began with three other coaches in 1975 and continued to run through 2008. The camps regularly attracted pro scouts. Harry is not the only Wildcat in the Lloyd family. His wife, Carolyn, also worked at the School for many years, and his sons, Brad ’75, Pat ’77, and Russell ’82, are Westminster alumni. Coach Lloyd retired from Westminster in 1997. Sadly, several years later, Mrs. Lloyd passed away from cancer. Harry remained active with the baseball camps and regular golf games with friends, including Rankin Cooter and Eddie DuPriest. In 2009, Harry remarried; he and his wife Joanne share a passion for golfing and fishing. They divide their time between their home in Johns Creek and their cottage at Lake Chatuge. From their back deck, they look across the lake to a panoramic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a view Harry describes as spectacular. However, what the Lloyds enjoy most is spending time with their combined 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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