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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2002
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Willie Huffman's Recipe for Homespun Happiness |
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Willie and Gloria Huffman |
McKenzie's Willie Huffman grew up in nearby Henry
blissfully oblivious to the community's simple treasures;
taken for granted was the warmth and mutual support that
permeated the small town with a peaceful environment that
fostered happy childhoods and cooperative fellowships
among adults.
"Everybody knew everybody," reminisces Willie with a
wistful smile, recalling auctions held each week where
children arrived on bicycles to enjoy the energy-charged
atmosphere that added fun to games of tag. "We just had a
lot of fun," he says.
On temperate days his father, Ruben Huffman, and other
gentlemen from the community sat on park benches in
downtown Henry, Willie says, "talking about stuff and
whittling."
Mostly-abandoned buildings now overlook the streets where
Willie and his friends played in the downtown area that
once boasted two grocery stores, a post office, a bank,
and an antique store as well as Bly and Dora Haynes' café,
where Willie recalls one could buy sandwiches and plate
lunches. Expediency moved most services to nearby Highway
79, loosening the embrace that sheltered the children of
yesteryear.
It's a phenomenon Willie believes has afflicted all small
towns as progress increases the pace of living. "It was a
lot different back then in any town," he says, "people
were more friendly, kids were probably closer, everybody
just knew each other and helped each other. Henry was
small - there was not a whole lot going on - but I enjoyed
it; I think it was a great place to grow up."
Willie was the baby of the family, coming along later in
life to his father and wife Lennie, who already had three
children - a son and four daughters - when they married,
the youngest of whom was six years older than Willie when
he was born on March 8, 1959, with the oldest already 23.
Willie chuckles at his late-born status, sharing that his
mother turned 39 just five days after he was born and his
father turned 44 eleven days after he was born. Sadly,
Willie has lost one stepsister to death and his father
died last year as well, though his mother still lives in
Henry. His stepbrother, Robert Alexander, and stepsister,
Elena Rowe, both live in Paris while two other stepsisters
Lina Gary and Annie (A. J.) Coates reside in Toledo, Ohio.
Willie's education got an early boost when older cousins
who lived next door took him to school with them when he
was just four or five years old, before kindergarten was
common in the region. School was "a little black country
school sort of like one-room schoolhouses" that was
located on land now occupied by Replogle sawmills in the
years before integration.
When school was dismissed for the day, it continued for
Willie who became the student for the girls who played
"teacher" at home. "I was the pupil," Willie grins, "I'd
have assignments to do. That's when I probably got my
start in education; I was a little bit ahead of some of
them because of that."
He started his first real year of studies in the first
grade at Central High School, riding the bus to Paris the
year before integration allowed him to continue his
studies in Henry his second year. It was a welcome change,
as he recalled "everybody kind of feared Mrs. Hurt", his
first grade teacher.
Pop Warner tackle football and Little League baseball were
mainstays of Willie's junior high years in Henry, but upon
entering the ninth grade back in Paris at Grove School,
scheduling and transportation difficulties brought about
by attending the relatively distant school, with both his
parents working, put an end to after-school sports. His
father worked in manual labor jobs including the Co-op and
L& N Railroad. His mother's jobs included cooking for the
Carroll County Country Club and working as housekeeper at
Bethel College.
Willie's own work ethic became apparent during his teen
years while a student at Henry County High School. A job
at Kentucky Fried Chicken gave way to increased hours at a
new job with Kroger Supermarket in Paris as Willie began
distributive education classes his senior year, which
allowed him to leave school after half a day in order to
be earn high school credits while on the job.
The summer after he graduated in 1977, Willie began
working fulltime for Emerson Electric Company in Paris
before starting Bethel College in the fall, where he
studied business administration and was a member of the
Business Club and the Black Student Union. Subsequent
summers, Willie worked at Atlantic Homes in Henry, a job
he continued for four years after earning his degree in
1981.
It was during this time while searching for a new car at
the Gary Simmons dealership in McKenzie that he noticed a
lady who was also searching for the right car. He
recognized her as the sister of his friend Margaret, who
was an upperclassman when he began his studies at Bethel.
"I didn't see Willie," his wife, Gloria, laughs. "But I
saw her; she looked a lot like her sister," Willie smiles
happily. "I went home and called her up later that day and
asked her out and here we are."
Gloria relied on the advice of her big sister in deciding
whether or not to meet the mystery man whose unexpected
call she had received. "I called Margaret up and said,
'Who is Willie Huffman?'" she laughs. "She said, 'Oh, he's
a nice guy.'"
The couple met in February and married in November the
same year, 18 years ago this Saturday, on the day after
Thanksgiving. "That throws a lot of people off," says
Gloria who states the couple still sometimes receives
anniversary congratulations on the day after Thanksgiving,
though the date of Thanksgiving (celebrated on the fourth
Thursday of November each year) varies with the changing
calendar.
The couple moved to McKenzie where Willie took a job as
Admissions Counselor for Bethel College in October 1985,
recruiting mostly in Memphis and Jackson. A Huntingdon
native, Gloria worked at the Carroll County Courthouse in
the Register Of Deeds Office, where she had first began
working part-time at the age of 16.
As the years passed, the family grew on April 1, 1986 when
son Bryan was born on his mom's birthday. Two years later,
Willie's career took a new direction when he began working
at the Tennessee Technology Center (known then as the
State Area Vocational-Technical School) in the area of
counseling and financial aid, a job that allowed him to be
home with his family more often than his previous position
that entailed much travel. In March 1989, Heather was born
to make the family complete.
Gloria made changes in her career as well, leaving the
Register of Deeds office in 1987, then working for farm
credit services and, later, Baptist Memorial Hospital
before settling into her current position with the local
Child Support Enforcement office in Huntingdon beginning
in 1991.
When McKenzie City Councilman Doug McCadams passed away
while in office, Willie answered the call for citizens
interested in the position to write a letter expressing
their interest. Mayor Bob Putman and councilman appointed
Willie to assume the position in February 1992. The
townsfolk cast their own votes of confidence in the
general election that was then held in May.
"I became the first black to ever be on the city council,
appointed or elected," Willie says with his characteristic
smile. "I had to get out with help of my dear wife here
and campaign the whole town," he continues, explaining the
seat was at that an "at large" position rather than a
sixth ward. "We went all over town and had the help of a
lot of good people, black and white. That's when I
realized I couldn't have pulled it off without the white
or the black communities especially being a newcomer to
the community."
Willie believes his ties to Bethel College as a student
and counselor helped win the seat he has held through
three elections, running the last two unopposed. He has
also been a member of the Lion's Club, serving as
secretary for several years, and has been a member of the
board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce. More
obvious than his credentials, however, is his genuine
smile and upbeat, friendly personality that is the outward
manifestation of the core values he learned growing up in
Henry.
As Willie's career at the Vocational School progressed, he
served as district chairman of TASFAA (Tennessee
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators) and
as vice-chairman of the Minority Concerns Committee,
eventually moving up to assistant director of admissions
before becoming student services coordinator in 1998. In
August 2000, a lateral transfer led him to the Technology
Center in Paris where he assumed greater responsibility in
the larger school.
On the home front, Willie and Gloria's priorities are well
in place: their primary pastime is watching their children
enjoy the activities of youth: Bryan is a member of the
McKenzie High School basketball team and Heather plays
softball in the summers while participating as a
cheerleader at McKenzie Middle School.
The family worships together at Greater Enon Missionary
Baptist Church where Gloria sings in the choir. "Willie
cheers me on," she says, giving her laughing husband a
gentle shove.
The simplicity of their lifestyle is no accident. "I just
think the reason I'm where I am is because of the
upbringing I had by my parents," he says. "They got us in
church early; between the family values I learned at home
and the values I learned at church, both contribute to my
moral values I have now and the same goes for Gloria.
"My thing has always been to try to treat people the way
you want to be treated; That's always been my belief and
philosophy. My parents told me there's always somebody a
little worse off than I am and to try not to forget that
and never look down on anybody, because you don't know
what their situation is or what yours may become. I try to
teach that to my kids as well." |
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2002
Feature
Archives: |
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2001
Feature
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or
Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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