Joseph S. Bruno

• October 26th, 2021

The life of Joseph S. ‘Joe” Bruno (Chairman Emeritus of Bruno’s, Inc., and Chairman of Big B, Inc. of Birmingham, Alabama) could well have been the subject of one of Horatio Alger’s books about boys of character who succeeded through hard work and honesty in the face of all odds. In 1980, Joe Bruno was one of the recipients of the prestigious awards named for the author of these well-known stories – and none other has been more deserving of this honor.

The eldest of the eight children of Vincent and Maria Theresa Costa Bruno was born in Bir­mingham on October 3, 1912. His parents had come to America from Sicily in 1909 to pursue their dreams of a better life.

Like many others who fled to the United States in the early 20th century, Vincent Bruno found work in a steel mill in the Birmingham area and settled in a small house in a company town near the mill.

To supplement the family income, the Brunos raised vegetables and chickens and kept a goat to provide milk for cheese. Any food not used at the table was peddled to neighbors. Since Joe’s father worked long hours at the steel mill, the supervision of the household and its finances rested primarily with his mother, and each child learned to assume responsibilities compatible with his or her age.

When he was twelve years old, it became Joe Bruno’s responsibility to seek work outside the household because his father’s work at the steel mill had become sporadic.

Twelve-year-old Joe went to board with the Vincent Rosato family and to work in the Rosato grocery store. His wages – $5 a week at the time – went into the family “kitty”, as did the wages of his brother Sam, who, at age twelve, went to board and work with another grocer. Even though the youngster was up at 4:00 to go to market with Mr. Rosato before school and often worked after school until 9:00 p.m., he made good grades in school. And, as he became more and more fascinated with the grocery business, he attended summer school to accelerate his graduation. His dream was for his family to own a grocery store.

In the depth of the Great Depression, Joe Bruno’s dream came true. The nineteen-year-old took a chance and used his family’s savings – $600 – to purchase a 20′ by 40’ grocery store from a man too ill to continue running it. This Bruno’s Grocery Store, on the corner of Eighth Avenue North and Tenth Street in Birm­ingham, would have fit inside a modern meat cooler. He and his brother Sam quit their jobs and moved the family into the small living quarters adjacent to the store.

The whole family participated in various capacities in operating the store, but Joe Bruno was considered the head of the family business. He immediately began to initiate some of the revolu­tionary marketing techniques that eventually resulted in the creation of one of the fastest grow­ing, most profitable, and most innovative food and drug chains in the nation.

For example, on credit, he bought stock in far larger quantities and more varieties than his competitors in the neighborhood. On handbills (distributed by his four youngest brothers after school) he advertised “brand names at low prices.” Although he established a policy of no credit-a dramatic departure from small groceries of that time-the store thrived. The public seemed attracted by the abundance and variety of goods and the low prices. Buying in volume and selling at advertised low prices for quality goods became two key factors in the growth of the Bruno stores.

As Joe Bruno has said, “You can’t stand still, and you can never stop dreaming.” The ensuing years are testimony to the fact that he and his brothers followed this philosophy. By 1952, when there were four stores operated by the six Bruno brothers, Joe Bruno decided it was time to incorporate, rent a warehouse, and use the pooled volume to buy direct.

Eighth Avenue North and Tenth Street in Birm­ingham would have fit inside a modern meat cooler. He and his brother Sam quit their jobs and moved the family into the small living quarters adjacent to the store.

The whole family participated in various capacities in operating the store, but Joe Bruno was considered the head of the family business. He immediately began to initiate some of the revolutionary marketing techniques that eventually resulted in the creation of one of the fastest-growing, most profitable, and most innovative food and drug chains in the nation.

For example, on credit, he bought stock in far larger quantities and more varieties than his competitors in the neighborhood. On handbills (distributed by his four youngest brothers after school) he advertised “brand names at low prices.” Although he established a policy of no credit-a dramatic departure from small groceries of that time-the store thrived. The public seemed attracted by the abundance and variety of goods and the low prices. Buying in volume and selling at advertised low prices for quality goods became two key factors in the growth of the Bruno stores.

As Joe Bruno has said, “You can’t stand still, and you can never stop dreaming.” The ensuing years are testimony to the fact that he and his brothers followed this philosophy. By 1952, when there were four stores operated by the six Bruno brothers, Joe Bruno decided it was time to incorporate, rent a warehouse, and use the pooled volume to buy direct.

He is a past president and executive director of the Jefferson County Unit of the American Cancer Society and past chairman of the Board of the American Red Cross. He has been a member of the boards of the National Con­ference of Christians and Jews; of the Jefferson County Mental Health Association; United Way; the Community Food Bank; the Salvation Army; and St. Vincent’s Hospital. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Southern Benedictine College and Birmingham-Southern College; and has worked with the Miles College and United Negro College Funds.

Joe Bruno has always shared his good fortune to improve the quality of life for others. His philanthropic activities include the establish­ment of: the Joseph S. Bruno Foundation to fund non-profit primary schools; the Joseph S. and Theresa R. Bruno Cancer Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital; the Nutrition Sciences Building and (along with his brothers) the Bruno Neuros­cience Intensive Care Unit at UAB medical center.

For his varied accomplishments and services, Joe Bruno has been honored by numerous local, state, and national organizations.

He has been the recipient of the Greater Bir­mingham Service Award; the Alex de Tocqueville Society Award (United Way); honorary degrees from St. Bernard College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and the Exemplary Dedication to Higher Education Award from the Alabama Association of Col­leges and Universities. A Chair of Retailing in the Free Enterprise system has been established in his honor at Birmingham-Southern College. He has been inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor.

He has also received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conferences of Christians and Jews; the Horatio Alger Award; the “Man of the Year” award from the Order of the Sons of Italy; and the Knights Officer in the Order of Merit decoration from the Republic of Italy. He has been named a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Federal Association U.S.A. (Knights of Malta).

Joe Bruno takes no credit for all he and the Bruno family have accomplished in this coun­try, where, he has said, “anyone willing to work and persevere … can make it.” Everything the Bruno family has, he continued, “comes from God …. He has blessed us all more than we deserve … and more than most … I have been the one who seems to have attracted all the atten­tion, but every one of them (the family) has contributed as much as I have.”

Source of biographical information: Joe: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Bruno Food Stores, by Pat Dunbar, (published by Joseph S. Bruno, 1983).

William McWane

• October 26th, 2021

William McWane, who retired in 975 as Chairman of the Board of McWane Cast Iron Pipe Company (now McWane, Inc.) of Birmingham, Alabama, was born in 1898 in Wytheville, Virginia. In 1904, when he was six, the family moved to Birmingham where his father became president of the Birmingham Steel and Iron Company.

This only son of James Ransom and Ella Mae McCartney McWane graduated from Powell High School in Bir­mingham and then earned a degree in engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

William McWane then followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father by enter­ing the foundry industry.

His grandfather, Charles Phillip McWane, had initiated the family’s involvement in the foundry business when he formed the C. P. McWane Foundry in Wytheville, Virginia, to produce plows and other farm equipment. (As a boy, C. P. McWane had spent many days around the blacksmith shop where his father James had worked with Cyrus McCormick in visualizing and manufacturing the world’s first successful reaper.)

After gaining experience in the foundry in Wytheville, William’s father with Henry and Authur McWane entered business for themselves in Lynchburg, Virginia, where they established the Lynchburg Foundry.

Then, in 1904, James R. McWane moved his family to the booming young city of Birmingham where he served as president of Birmingham Steel and Iron Company for four years.

A memento of that company still stands high above Birmingham on Red Mountain – the giant statue of Vulcan, which was originally cast for the St. Louis World’s Fair. Young William McWane watched as his father personally super­vised the casting of this world-renowned symbol of the Birmingham steel industry-Vulcan, the god of the forge. His father was also one of the largest contributors to the Vulcan Fund established by the Commercial Club. But, it is reported, the venture almost cost William’s father his career because he was not paid for his services in casting the statue.

William’s father James joined the American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO) in 1908. He serv­ed as president of ACIPCO from 1915 to 1921, when he resigned to establish in 1922, the McWane Cast Iron and Pipe Company. Four years later, the company expanded with the crea­tion of Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company in Provo, Utah. The companies produced pipe, fittings, valves, and fire hydrants distributed nationwide.

In 1933, when James R. McWane died sudden­ly, thirty-five-year-old William McWane in­herited the responsibility of running a company that, like many others at the time, was deeply in debt because of the Great Depression.

As President, William Mc Wane set out to en­sure that the company would survive the Depres­sion and become debt-free. His goals were achieved by the late 1930′ s and the company had begun to achieve greater prosperity by the early 1940’s.

In 1945, William McWane became Chairman of the Board of McWane Cast Iron and Pipe Company, in which capacity he served until 1975.

During these years, the company began to ex­pand. DeBardeleben Coal Company was one of the companies acquired. As Empire Coke Com­pany, it is still an operating division of Mc Wane, Inc.

In 1975, ”Mr. Bill” (as many people who work­ed at the McWane and Pacific States cast iron companies called him) relinquished his title as Chairman of the Board to his son, James R. McWane, who had served as president since 1971. William McWane then served until his death in 1978 as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the family company which had been renamed McWane, Inc.

William McWane represents the third of the five generations of the McWane family to assume leadership as masters of the forge and foundry. Today, his son, James Ransom (the fourth generation) is chairman of the board of McWane, Inc., which has expanded into a thriv­ing multi-division corporation with operations in seven states and Canada. William McWane’s grandson, C. Phillip McWane, continues the family tradition as Director and Vice President of McWane, Inc.

William McWane’s contributions to Birmingham and the surrounding area were many. But, being a very private man, he often did not take credit for his industrial, business, and civic activities. He seemed to eschew publicity, preferring to remain in the background.

His picture did appear in the Birmingham News in 1945 when he was elected a director of the Birmingham Trust and Savings Company, and the caption under the picture cited him as a man “prominently identified with industrial, business, and civic activities.”

And, in order to promote the creation of the Birmingham Symphony orchestra, he let it be known that he was one of its early benefactors and supporters.

He was also a sponsor and benefactor of the Speies Clinic which was dedicated to the study of nutrition; and he was one of the directors of the Eye Foundation-both projects providing many benefits to the citizens of the state.

Like his father, William Mc Wane was a devotee of the game of golf. He was involved not only in playing for the fun of playing but also as a member of the United States Golf Associa­tion and of its rules committee for a number of years.

Quietly, William McWane exerted a beneficial influence on the economic, civic, and cultural life of the city where he lived for seventy-four years.

Sources of biographical information: “The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide,” Birmingham Historical Socie­ty, 1981; Birmingham News, November 14, 1945; Leah Rawls Atkins, The Valley and the Hills: An IIustrated History of Bir­mingham and Jefferson County, sponsored by Birmingham­Jefferson County Historical Society.

William Hansell Hulsey

• October 26th, 2021

William Hansell Hulsey, the son of John Balus and Gabriella Celestia (Hansell) Hulsey, was born in Carbon Hill, Alabama, in Walker County, on May 2, 1901. After graduating from Carbon Hill High School, he moved to Birmingham where he became one of the city’s leading investment bankers and real estate developers, as well as one of the city’s most dedicated citizens, known for his civic and philanthropic activities.

Even as a youth, William Hulsey (most often called “Bill” or “Bubba”) was a budding entrepreneur. For example, he would buy raw peanuts, have his mother parch them, and then sell them on the streets of Carbon Hill.

To satisfy his insatiable curiosity and interest in the financial world and his burning desire to succeed in his own business, he left Carbon Hill the day after graduation from high school to go to Birmingham to pursue his dream. He immediately obtained a job receiving and distributing water meters for the Birmingham Water Works. His astuteness, hard work, and winning personality earned him rapid promotions as well as the attention of several businessmen whose offices were near the Water Works.

In the late 1920s, Bill Hulsey was offered and took a position with Alabama Home Building and Loan Association, a company that was suffering in the throes of the depression. Subsequently, he became vice president and chief executive officer and was able to stabilize Alabama Home and then arrange for the sale of the assets. He became part-owner of the purchasing company, Garber and Cook, which became Garber, Cook, & Hulsey, Inc. in 1937, with Bill Hulsey as sole owner.

Shortly after embarking on what would prove to be a long and successful career, Bill Hulsey put aside his business aspirations to serve as a major in the Army Air Force during World War II. After his discharge, he returned to Birmingham where his unending ambition and desire to excel led him to almost unparalleled success in the Birmingham corporate community.

Bill Hulsey served as president of Garber, Cook, & Hulsey, Inc. until 1978 when he became Chairman of the Board and his nephew, William C. Hulsey, assumed the presidency.

Garber, Cook, & Hulsey, Inc. was primarily involved in the mortgage loan business. In 1947, Realty Mortgage Company, another loan servicing business, was purchased. Under Bill Hulsey’s direction, the two companies developed one of the largest loan servicing portfolios in the Southeast, also being active in residential and commercial property development throughout Alabama and northwest Florida. The loan servicing was sold in 1969 with Realty Mortgage Company. Garber, Cook, & Hulsey, Inc. became a holding company involved in various real estate development and other financial interests in the Birmingham area.

In 1946, Bill Hulsey was elected to the Board of Directors of the Bank for Savings and Trusts, which was merged with Birmingham Trust National Bank in 1963. He continued to serve on the Board of BTNB and its successor, SouthTrust Corporation, until his retirement in 1979, at which time he was elected to Director Emeritus status.

Bill Hulsey’s executive leadership extended beyond the real estate and financial worlds. He served as chairman of the board and was active in the operation of various firms, including Ingalls Iron Works Company, Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Utopia Cleaners and Dryers, Southern Carpet, Beaver Construction Company, and Computer Services Corporation. He was also a director of Master Packaging and Equipment and Allied Products Company.

Bill Hulsey’s accomplishments in the business world were matched by his contributions to the civic and cultural activities in the community. He gave generously of his time, means, and talents in keeping with his belief that one should not always be on the receiving end of society, but should give equally.

In fulfilling his self-perceived obligations, he was an active member of the Birmingham Rotary Club, serving a year as its president and subsequently as chairman. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Chest (United Way) from 1948 to 1965, serving a term as chairman of the annual fund drive. He served as chairman of the Capital Fund Drive for the Birmingham YWCA in 1948 and continued on the YWCA Board of Trustees until 1981.

Bill Hulsey was one of the organizers of the Eye Foundation Hospital and served on the Board of Trustees for many years. He made numerous contributions to local hospitals and educational institutions for buildings and equipment. He was a lifetime trustee of Birmingham Southern College and a member of the President’s Advisory Council at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

An avid support of the arts and humanities in the Birmingham area, Bill Hulsey was active in the formation of the Birmingham Symphony Association and served on the Board of Trustees of that Association for many years.

Because of his interest in art, he built, along with his wife, Susan Mabry Hulsey, a sizeable personal art collection. He served many years on the Board of Trustees of the Birmingham Museum of Art. In 1974, he was named chairman of a fundraising drive to obtain funding for the Birmingham Museum of Art Foundation. He served as chairman of the foundation until his death. He also served as vice-president and director of the Birmingham Art Association.

For his abundant contributions to the city and community, Bill Hulsey received many honors.

He received national recognition in 1964 when he was listed in Who’s Who in America as an outstanding investment executive and art collector. In 1965, he was named King of the Beaux Arts Krewe Ball.

In 1973, he was presented the Silver Bowl Award by the Festival of Arts. In 1978, he was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 9180, he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor. In 1985, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Birmingham-Southern College.

The Cathedral Church of the Advent, of which he and his wife were active supporters, named its newly refurbished education and office building “Hulsey Hall.” The University of Alabama at Birmingham named its humanities building – its construction made possible by a million dollar contribution from the Hulseys – “The William Hansell and Susan Mabry Hulsey Building for Arts and Humanities,” and the Birmingham Museum of Art auditorium is named for Susan Mabry Hulsey.

William Hansell Hulsey died on November 17, 1985, having reached his dream of success. Because he had been equally generous with his time, talent, and money, Birmingham had become a considerably better place in which to live and through his leadership and support, many spiring young businessmen had also reached a plateau of success.

Bibliographical information provided by Garber, Cook, & Hulsey, Inc.

John Snow Jemison, Jr.

• October 26th, 2021

John Snow Jemison, Jr., who founded Jemison Investment Co., Inc., in 1949, was known in Birmingham business circles as a “deal maker”- in the best sense of the term. He was admired by associates for getting to the essence of a question or problem quickly. He had the unique ability to develop a high trust and confidence level with all parties in a transaction, and no one’s trust or confidence was ever misplaced.

He was also known as a compassionate, loving, and caring person who expended much of his time and resources in improving the quality of life in the Birmingham area.

John Snow Jemison, Jr., was born in Birmingham on March 5, 1908. As the son of John and Margaret (Pockman) Jemison, he grew up in a family that had long been active in the business and civic life of the city and state.

After completing his primary and secondary education in the Birmingham public schools and the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, he earned a degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina. After his graduation in 1931, he obtained a position with the Bank of Manhattan (now Chase Manhattan Bank) in New York. At night he continued his education by taking courses in advanced accounting, securities analysis, and economics at the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration.

In 1940, he left the Bank of Manhattan (where he had become Assistant Cashier in charge of the bank’s Southeastern business) to join Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York, one of the nation’s largest underwriters of industrial securities. During World War II, he served with the Navy in the South Pacific for three years. After his discharge with the rank of Commander in 1945, he resumed his association with Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York.

John Jemison returned to his hometown in 1947 as a resident partner of Marx & Co. (investment bankers) of Birmingham and New York City. The partner­ ship was dissolved in 1955 when his partner was invited to become president of Paribas Corporation in New York. At that time, John Jemison activated Jemison Investment Co., Inc., which he had organized as a small side investment firm in 1949.

John Jemison could be described as Birmingham’s first venture capitalist. He has been called a financial wizard because he knew how to handle money, how to handle debt, and how to handle investments.

Jemison Investment Co., Inc., became a diversified holding company with interests in nested steel drums, lumber products, building material, slurry and dredge pump manufacturing, magazine publishing, and real estate. John Jemison described this privately owned firm as a “small conglomerate.” Jemison Investment Co., Inc. acquired a number of subsidiaries and became affiliated with several other companies. John Jemison became chairman of the board of each of the acquired companies, but all day-to­ day operations were handled by the management of the companies.

John Jemison served as President and Treasurer of Jemison Investment Co., Inc. from 1955 to 1983 when he became Chairman, Treasurer, and Director – positions he held until his death.

“Work hard and have fun doing it,” seems to have been his motto. He served as an officer and/or director of numerous public and private companies throughout the United States. These included: General Housewares Corp. of Stam­ ford, CT; P. M. Holding Corp. of San Diego, CA; L. Farber Company of Worcester, Mass.; American Heritage Life Insurance of Jacksonville, FL; Kershaw Manufacturing of Montgomery, AL; Birmingham Cable Communications, Inc., EBSCO Industries, Inc., Golden Enterprises, Inc., and Allied Products Company of Birmingham, to name a few.

He was also a Director of the Bank for Savings and Trusts from 1956 until its merger with the predecessor of SouthTrust Corporation in 1963. He served on the Board of Directors of SouthTrust until 1980 when he was elected a Director Emeritus.

While working as a financial executive, John Jemison was also working for the community. He was deeply involved in community affairs. He was a member of the Rotary Club and served as its president for one term. He served as a director of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Board. He served as chairman of the Trade Mart Committee.

He was a Trustee of the Birmingham Symphony Association and the Eye Foundation Hospital. He was on the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Birmingham Opera Association.

Always a supporter of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was an honorary member of the President’s Council. He was one of the major donors of the first UAB Capital Campaign, and in 1986 he endowed a Visiting Professorship of Humanities chair through his $500,000 contribution. He was also a board member of the Medical and Education Foundation and of the Health Services Foundation at UAB.

A founding member of both the advisory board and the foundation board of St. Vincent’s Hospital, he was a major contributor to the hospital’s Main and West Wings.

John Jemison’s many-faceted contributions to community life were recognized when he was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1981 and by Birmingham-Southern College in 1987. On May 16, 1988, eighty-year-old John S.

Jemison, Jr. was killed when his car struck a bridge abutment in Birmingham.

As stated in the May 18, 1988, Birmingham News, “John S. Jemison, Jr., was a builder and benefactor of Birmingham. His tragic death… leaves us a little poorer… In so many ways, Mr. Jemison was a  leading citizen. He will be mourned and missed throughout the community.”

Biographical information provided by Jemison Investment Co., Inc.

William D. Sellers, Jr.

• October 26th, 2021

The late William D. Sellers, Jr. – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baggett Transportation Company, of Birmingham – has been described as the type of citizen whose work behind the scenes makes a big difference in the quality of life in the community and/or state.

This distinguished transportation executive and benefactor of higher education was born in Anniston, Alabama, on Friday, June 13, 1913. Because his father established a medical practice in Birmingham four years later, William, Jr. grew up in Birmingham. After graduating from high school in 1931, he obtained a football scholarship at The University of Alabama. (He played on the same freshman team as Paul “Bear” Bryant and in later years was instrumental in persuading his friend and former teammate to return to the University as coach).

To help finance his education during those lean years of the Great Depression, William Sellers used his ingenuity to find or create jobs for himself. He received free room by taking care of   Gorgas Hall-stoking the furnace and checking the hot and cold water supply. He persuaded the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, a local florist, and a furniture store to hire him as a campus representative who would convince fraternity, sorority, and boarding houses to patronize their businesses.

After receiving his pre-med degree in 1934, William Sellers completed one year of medical school at the University. He continued to use his ingenuity to finance his education. For example, when the Rose Bowl Special rolled out of Tuscaloosa in December 1934, it was William Sellers who had the advertising contract to give away free Coca Colas.

In September 1935, he transferred to the medical school at Tulane. After a short time, he realized he could not work, earn a living, and go to school at the same time. He left medical school to take a job selling trucks and buses for White Motors of New Orleans. This decision set the stage for what would ultimately lead to a distinguished career as a transportation executive.

The sales job with White Motors took him back to his hometown and home state for a two-year stint. When he was to be transferred to Houston, he chose to stay in Alabama. He signed on with Pan American Petroleum, a division of Standard Oil of Indiana. He called on cities, counties, education boards, and companies throughout the state, selling a host of petroleum products.

In 1941, William Sellers called on one of his customers, Baggett Transportation Company. This sales call changed his life because he was offered a job and part interest in the company. On December 1, 1941, William Sellers’ name was added to the payroll.

Five years later, William Sellers bought full control of the company, which under his leadership became one of the most successful transportation companies in the nation.

In 1941, Baggett Transportation Company had only about 19 trailers and 15 or 20 power units – doing business only in Alabama. Under William Sellers’ leadership, Baggett became one of the major motor freight carriers of ammunition for the Department of Defense and for commercial manufacturers. Operating in 48 states, the company also became a major hauler, of general commodities, using more than 900 trailers with an equivalent number of power units.

“It takes good supervision and good teamwork to get the job done,” William Sellers once said. But he provided even more incentives to excellence. He not only made sure that everyone was

well trained but also encouraged safety in every phase of the business through bonuses for safe operations. He provided profit-sharing programs and good retirement programs for employees. Because the employees respected “Mr. William” (as they called him) and his goals, they rarely left Baggett; and under his leadership, Baggett Transportation Company established an enviable nationwide record in sales and service.

While leading Baggett Transportation Company to new heights, William Sellers also found time to encourage the development of the transportation industry through active participation in the Alabama Trucking Association. He served three terms as the association’s president and also as a director. He also served as a chairman and director of the Alabama Motorists Association. This “pretty good trucker,” as he once described himself, was also what he called “a part-time banker”-that is, he was a member of the board of directors of First Alabama Bank of Birmingham (now First Alabama Bancshares) and served as chairman of the board from 1977 to 1986.

He was also on the board of directors of Multimedia (parent company of the Montgomery Advertiser-Alabama Journal Newspapers) and of American Heritage Life Insurance Company of Jacksonville, Florida, and he served as a director of Alabama State Docks.

This busy, but well-organized, executive also gave his time and financial support to enhance the quality of higher education in Alabama, particularly at his alma mater, The University of Alabama. He was one of the founders of the Chair of Transportation in the College of Commerce and Business Administration. He served as a member of the C&BA Board of Visitors and as chairman of the Commerce Executives Society-both groups dedicated to providing private support for the enrichment of the College’s programs and services to students. Also a member of the University’s President’s Cabinet, he led the University’s successful sesquicentennial campaign for capital funding. With a goal of $38.4 million, the campaign pledges reached $61.8 million from alumni and friends of the University. William Sellers said the success was due to the staff and alumni scattered throughout0the country. But both Drs. Roger Sayers, President of the University, and John L. Blackburn, former Vice President of Development, have attributed much of the success to William Sellers, a great friend of the University who worked every day to inspire others to support the enrichment of education at the Capstone.

In his hometown, William Sellers lent his time, talent, and financial support to help provide needed services to citizens. As a president and trustee of the Crippled Children’s Clinic and Foundation and the Eye Foundation Hospital, he was instrumental in raising funds for needed treatment centers. He helped establish the Charley Boswell Golf Classic to benefit the handicapped. He was also a member of the Birmingham Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. For his contributions to the business community and by efforts on behalf of higher education and the community service, William Sellers, Jr. received the following recognitions:

In 1974, the H. Chester Webb Award for distinguished service from the Alabama Trucking Association; in 1981, an honorary doctor of laws degree from The University of Alabama; in 1984, the Outstanding Civic Leader Award from the Alabama Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives; The University of Alabama National Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award; and a certificate of appreciation from the State of Alabama for outstanding and dedicated service in the area of education; in 1985 induction into the Alabama Academy of Honor for accomplishments and service benefitting or reflecting great credit on the state.

William Sellers was a man who always strove for excellence and who always enjoyed what he was doing-whether at work or play. (An avid golfer, he was proud that he had achieved six holes in-one-the last hole-in-one being made in 1985.)

While still doing the work he loved to do, William Sellers, Jr. died following a heart attack in his office, on Friday, July 27, 1990.

Born on a Friday in 1913, he left this world on a Friday in 1990, leaving behind a legacy of good work, good service, and goodwill. He will be missed.

William Sellers, Jr. is survived by his wife, Virginia Forsyth Sellers (whom he married in 1937) and two daughters: Forsyth (Mrs. Joseph M. Donald, Jr.) and Mary (Mrs. Henry Crommelin) of Birmingham.

Hugh Franklin Culverhouse, Sr.

• October 26th, 2021

Hugh Franklin Culverhouse, Sr. could serve as a role model for future businessmen and women. The record of his accomplishments reveals that he is a person who does his best in whatever job he undertakes. He has been dedicated to excellence and has worked diligently to achieve it. At the same time, he has relished the joy of working with and helping others.

Hugh F. Culverhouse, Sr. grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was born on February 20, 1919. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at The University of Alabama and was awarded a B.S. degree in 1941-that memorable year when the United States entered World War II.

From 1941 to 1946, the young graduate served in the United States Army Air Force. After discharge, he returned to the University where he completed his law degree in 1947.

While in law school, Hugh Culverhouse taught accounting classes in the College of Commerce and Business Administration. He continued to teach accounting while he served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alabama from 1947 to 1949. Hugh Culverhouse evidently enjoyed teaching, for he has since said that he would like to teach again someday because teaching is something special – that is, one cannot measure success in teaching with dollars and cents.

From October 1949 to May 1956 (except for the two years he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War) Hugh Culverhouse served as Special Attorney and Assistant Regional Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service.

In May 1956, “Colonel” Culverhouse (the rank he held at the time of release from active duty) established a private law practice in Jacksonville, Florida. His firm became known for its expertise in the field of taxation, perhaps because (as Hugh Culverhouse has said) he enjoys planning for taxes and economic growth. But, perhaps most significantly, he enjoys working with people and helping them solve their problems.

Hugh Culverhouse is today the senior member of the law firm of Culverhouse & Botts in Tampa, Florida. He holds membership in the Jacksonville, Hillsborough County, and American Bar Association, as well as the Florida Bar and the Alabama State Bar.

As Hugh Culverhouse acquired status in the legal profession, he also began to acquire status as a real estate developer. For example, one of his projects was the successful development of the Palmer Ranch in Sarasota, which included building the golf course for the Chrysler Cup, a stop on the seniors’ golf tour. His holdings also include citrus groves in Okeechobee and Arcadia, Florida, and Ivanhoe Land Development of Miami.

In December 1974, Hugh Culverhouse was awarded the franchise for the National Football League expansion team in Tampa which began play in the fall of 1976 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Very active in league affairs, as well as in the management of his team, he is the past chairman of both the Executive Committee of the NFL Management Council and the NFL Finance Committee. He is considered one of the most influential owners in the NFL.

Hugh Culverhouse serves on numerous corporate boards of directors including Time Warner, Inc., New York City; the Penn Central Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Chiquita Brands International, Cincinnati, Ohio. His service also includes membership on the PGA Policy Board and the National Legal Center for Public Interest.

This busy tax lawyer, real estate developer, and professional football team owner has still found time through the years to be a part of civic, educational, and cultural projects in the Southeast and elsewhere.

For example, he was one of the original organizers and first president of the Family Consultation Service in Jacksonville, Florida. He extended his involvement and contributions to family and children’s welfare by supporting, among others, the Center for Swallowing Disorders and the Eye Institute at the University of South Florida; the Child Abuse Council; the Children’s Home; the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York; and the Foundation for Children with Learning Disorders.

In addition to his concerns for health care, he has endeavored to enrich the lives of individuals through the support of the Sarasota Opera and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

He has also dedicated his time to economic progress in his adopted state by serving as a member of a variety of state and local organizations-from a member of the Florida Council of 100 and its chairman of the Committee on Sports and Tourism; to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports and the Sunshine Games Foundation; to the Florida Council on Economic Education; to the Greater Tampa Area Chamber of Commerce.

His support of excellence in higher education in both Florida and his native state of Alabama is legendary.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, and of the Board of Overseers of Stetson University’s College of Law. He has endowed chairs at Stetson University College of Law, Jacksonville University, the University of Florida College of Law, the University of South Florida in Tampa.

At his alma mater, The University of Alabama, Hugh Culverhouse has been a long-time member of the University’s National Alumni Association. For many years, he has been a member of both the Commerce Executives Society and the College of Commerce and Business Administration’s Board of Visitors-those groups dedicated to providing necessary guidance and financial support in addition to state support to ensure that the university can provide quality programs and service. In March 1984, Hugh Culverhouse’s gift to the University’s Capital Campaign enabled the creation of an endowed chair-the Hugh F. Culverhouse Chair of Accountancy. Then, in April 1988, he made a $2 million contribution to C&BA’s School of Accountancy. This largest individual financial contribution in the history of the University, at that time, was perhaps Hugh Culverhouse’s way of showing appreciation for the education he received at the University. He once said that the education he received at The University of Alabama was his platform to life and it has immeasurably contributed to his happiness.

In appreciation of Hugh Culverhouse’s generosity in providing needed funds to ensure continuing excellence in the accounting program, the University’s School of Accountancy was named the Culverhouse School of Accountancy. For his many-faceted contributions to society,

Hugh Culverhouse has received well-deserved recognition.

In 1976, he was President Gerald Ford’s representative, with the title of U. S. Ambassador, at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

In 1979, he was the recipient of The Champions of Higher Education in Florida (CHIEF) Award. In 1984, he was the first to receive the Florida Enterprise Medal sponsored by the Merchants Association of Greater Tampa. He has received honorary doctorates from Jacksonville University and Stetson University College of Law. In 1990, he received the Outstanding Business Leader Award from the Northwood Institute of West Palm Beach, Florida, and was inducted into the Jacksonville, Florida, Sports Hall of Fame, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

At his alma mater, he has been named as Honorary Professor of Accountancy and an Honorary Member of the University Law School’s Order of the Coif. He has been awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by The University of Alabama and a C&BA Distinguished Alumni Award.

Through the years, this versatile, energetic man has had the support of his wife (the former Joy McCann of Montgomery, Alabama, whom he met as a student at the University, and whom he married in 1942) and their two children (Dr. Gay Culverhouse and Attorney Hugh F. Culverhouse, Jr. of Miami, Florida).

Hall W. Thompson

• October 26th, 2021

Although Hall W. Thompson is a native of Tennessee, he has become a distinguished business leader in Alabama during the last thirty-five years. He is the retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., which he founded in 1957, and is currently President of Thompson Realty Co., which he established. in 1959.

One of four children of the late DeWitt C., Jr. and Mary (Gibson) Thompson, Hall W. Thompson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 28, 1923. After graduating from Duncan Preparatory School in Nashville in 1941, he attended Vanderbilt University until called to serve his country in World War II. From March 1943 until January 1946, he served with the United States Army Air Corps in the Pacific.

Returning to Nashville in 1946, he again entered Vanderbilt, while at the same time assuming responsibilities at General Truck Sales, a company founded by his father. During his 12 years with General Truck Sales, the nation’s largest privately-owned GMC truck outlet, he served in all facets of the company and left the Tennessee business while serving as its Executive Vice President and General Manager.

In 1957, he acquired the North Alabama dealership for Caterpillar, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of earth-moving and construction equipment, and a major supplier of diesel and natural gas engines and gas turbines. Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., became an Alabama corpora­tion and established its headquarters in Birmingham.

Under Hall Thompson’s leadership, the firm would become one of the most successful Caterpillar dealerships in the nation. Building on the philosophy that customers consistently do business with firms dedicated to customer service, Thompson recruited an outstanding team of people, at one time totaling nearly 600, and set standards by which most Caterpillar franchises were then and are today measured.

Of particular significance in his career, according to Hall Thompson, was his part in convincing local and state banks that firms engaged in highway construction and in mining the coalfields in Alabama deserve significant support.

When Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. was established, Alabama was just beginning to use funds provided by the Highway Defense Act of 1956 (an Eisenhower program that authorized over $50 billion for construction of the nation’s highways). He found that banks at that time had shown no interest in investigating what was happening in two of the major markets that Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. would serve.

Thus, in 1958, he invited all the CEOs of Birmingham area banks to “spend a day with him in the highway industry.” The day began with breakfast at the old Tutwiler Hotel and ended with a dinner party at the Birmingham Country Club.

The main event of the day was a scenic tour through rural areas to several interstate highway projects in Blount and Cullman counties to let bankers see first-hand what ultramodern machinery would accomplish in completing Alabama’s portion of the highway program. He gave bankers a first-hand view of exactly what lay ahead for construction companies and what these companies would need in capital to accomplish these large projects if Alabama businesses and Alabama jobs were to be created. In effect, Hall Thompson set the stage that would lead to major bank participation and ultimately solve the problems that faced the contractors. He made similar efforts in the mining industry-an “iffy” opportunity for bankers when coal prices were very low, but an entirely different picture as the mid-70’s oil embargo sent coal prices soaring.

Unusual growth in construction, mining, and other industries throughout the state brought a change in the 37 counties in North Alabama. Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. facilities were built in Anniston, Decatur, and Tuscaloosa, and additional people were hired to meet rapidly expanding needs. Hall Thompson says that he was fortunate, as are most successful leaders, to have had his timing right and to be on the scene when rapid growth in all industries was taking place.

Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. today markets earth-moving equipment through its tractor division; provides complete product and product support offerings of Caterpillar and Crown through Thompson Lift Co.; and provides CAT diesel engines and power systems for prime and standby power for any application through Thompson Power Systems.

Under the leadership of Hall Thompson’s son, Michael, who became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1986, Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. has continued the tradition of excellence and service fostered by its founder.

In 1987, the company became the authorized Caterpillar Dealer for South Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. The firm has also added to its “full-service” and “mini-service” branches.

The corporate headquarters and main operations are still in Birmingham. “Full-service” branches are located in six Alabama cities and one in Florida. The company has three “mini­branches” in Alabama and one in Florida.

A dedicated golfer, Hall Thompson fulfilled a longtime goal by finding the perfect property on which to construct a superior golf course. A combination of his extensive background in golf, a magnificent piece of property, and the expert assistance of Jack Nicklaus developed the course now known as Shoal Creek. The course has gained national and international recognition in the world of golf and has hosted three national championships. In 1985, “Golf Digest” ranked Shoal Creek as the 14th finest golf course in America while elevating it to #3 in the quality of turfgrass found on courses throughout the country.

Hall Thompson is pleased that Shoal Creek has become an example to other clubs in the community to provide their membership with superior facilities. The support of the golf tournaments at Shoal Creek also did much to encourage entrepreneurs to build quality courses on which the daily fee golfer can play. The number of jobs created in the construction and maintenance of these facilities has been significant.

Taking a leaf out of his father’s book, Hall Thompson became very active in community affairs when he moved to Birmingham. An early membership in the Monday Morning Quarter­ back Club led to substantial involvement in many facets of community life.

He has served on a number of corporate boards, including AmSouth Bank, South Central Bell, BellSouth Telecommunications, Protective Life Corporation, and Alabama By Products Corp. He is a past director of both the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and the State Chamber of Commerce as well as the Associated Industries of Alabama. He is currently a member of Vanderbilt University’s Board of Trustees.

He became active in politics at the county, state, and national levels because he believed then, and still believes, that business people should have a voice in shaping the future of the nation. He became a Republican when, he has said, “it wasn’t all that popular to be so identified.” While never a candidate for office, he has served several candidates as a major fundraiser, and in one instance, as a state-wide campaign manager.

Hall Thompson has received well-deserved recognition for his leadership in business and community affairs. In 1978, he received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In August 1982, he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Samford University. He has also received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award from Judson College and was honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as Alabama’s first Distinguished Sportsman.

He and his wife-the former Lucille (Lucy) Ryals of Rhine, Georgia-have three sons, two daughters, and eight grandchildren.

Angelo J. Bruno

• October 26th, 2021

The late Angelo Bruno, who was Chairman of the Board of Bruno’s, Inc., has been described as a quiet, shy man who enjoyed life, loved his family, and was proud of his family’s achievements. For years he worked with his brothers building a supermarket empire that is today by far the largest chain in Alabama.

One of the eight children of Vincent and Maria Theresa Costa Bruno, Angelo J. Bruno was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 29, 1924. His parents had come to America from Sicily in 1909 to pursue their dreams of a better life.

When Angelo Bruno was seven years old, his oldest brother Joe (then 19 years old) used the family savings – $600 – to purchase a grocery store on the corner of Eighth Avenue North and Tenth Street in Birmingham. (The 20′ by 40′ store would fit inside a modern meat cooler.) Joe and Sam (the two oldest of the brothers) quit their jobs and moved the family into the small living quarters next to the store.

Though Joe Bruno was considered “head of the family,” the whole family participated in various capacities in operating the store. Angelo, as one of the four youngest of the six brothers, dis­ tributed handbills after school. The store offered no credit, as did most small grocery stores at the time. But because Bruno’s bought in volume, it offered an abundance and variety of quality goods at low prices. Buying in volume and selling at advertised low prices for quality goods became two factors in the growth of the Bruno stores.

Angelo Bruno continued to work in the family business throughout his school years. In effect, he learned the grocery business from the ground up.

During World War II, Angelo Bruno served in the Armed Forces in the Pacific until 1946 when he returned home and joined the rapidly expanding family business. Angelo Bruno has been called a quieter version of his oldest brother Joe Bruno (who remains Chairman Emeritus of Bruno’s, Inc., and the Big B drug store chain). Angelo Bruno certainly shared Joe Bruno’s philosophy that “You can’t stand still, and you can never stop dreaming,” and that success comes only from “a lot of hard work.”

When Bruno’s incorporated in 1959, Angelo Bruno was named Executive Vice President. In 1977, he became President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). By 1985, he had been elected Chairman of the Board and CEO. In 1990, he remained Chairman of the Board and his son Ronald assumed the position of CEO.

When Angelo Bruno became CEO in 1977, the company’s sales were $230 million. By 1989, sales had exceeded $2 billion. By 1991, sales were approaching $3 billion.

In 1971, when Angelo Bruno was Vice President, the company went public with its first stock offering. Since that time, there have been six two-for-one stock splits. One share of Bruno’s stock purchased in 1971 for under $15 was worth 64 shares ($900) by 1990 when Angelo Bruno became Chairman of the Board.

During his tenure as CEO, the company expanded to over 230 stores in the Southeastern states. The company continued to anticipate and meet the changing needs of customers through diverse divisions of the company.

By 1991, when Angelo Bruno was Chairman of the Board, the company store formats included Food World, Bruno’s Food and Pharmacy, Food Max, Piggly Wiggly Stores in Southern Georgia, Food Fare, and Vincent’s Market.

Angelo Bruno had a genuine concern for others and a deep religious faith. (He was an active member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.) During his lifetime, he shared his good fortune to improve the quality of life for others. For example, he (with his brothers) made possible the establishment of the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at UAB Medical Center in Birmingham.

And in 1991, Angelo, his wife Ann, and their 5 children gave $4 million dollars to The University of Alabama to help fund a new business library and computer center on the campus at Tuscaloosa. The gift was at that time the largest gift that the University had ever received from a living donor and was the lead gift in a $40 million campaign for the improvement of the College of Commerce and Business Administration and its facilities at the Capstone.

UA’s President, Dr. Roger Sayers said about the generous contribution, “It is fitting that one of the most successful, ‘home-grown’ business enterprises in the state … and the state’s oldest and most comprehensive business school … should join in addressing the needs of Alabama’s business leaders of tomorrow.”

Angelo Bruno’s statement about the generous gift is indicative of the type of person he was. He said simply, “We are very glad to have the opportunity to make a gift to the University in appreciation for the fine quality education our family has received.”

On December 11, 1991, Angelo Bruno’s life ended unexpectedly and tragically when the corporate jet crashed in Georgia, killing all on board, including the corporate pilots. Angelo Bruno; his brother (Vice Chairman of the Board and Senior Vice President) and other executives were making the traditional holiday visits to Bruno stores throughout the Southeast.

As stated in Bruno’s, Inc.’s memorial for those lost in the crash:

“This is a sad occasion for our company, our city, and our state.

“We have lost some wonderful people who have made a tremendous difference in our lives personally and professionally by the way they lived their lives.

“Lee and Angelo Bruno were among the founders of our company. Their success in business was matched by their generosity to their community.”

The memory of Angelo Bruno, a man of quiet dignity known for his spirit of sharing and helping others, will remain in the hearts of many. At the Capstone, the building which will house the Bruno Business Library and a computer center will be a “living” monument in recognition of Angelo Bruno’s lifetime achievements and contributions to his fellow man.

Angelo Bruno is survived by his wife Ann Marie Messina Bruno; four sons – Ronald, Ken, David, and Alan – and one daughter, Suzanne Bowness.

In the tradition of the Bruno family, Angelo Bruno’s son, Ronald G. Bruno, now Chairman and CEO of Bruno’s, Inc., is still looking to the future. The company is constantly anticipating the needs and concerns of the consumer by adding new stores and by participating in the support of environmental and educational programs.

Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr.

• October 26th, 2021

The career of Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr., is indicative of what a person with business acumen can accomplish under the free enterprise system. He started as a route salesman and rose through the ranks to the position of Chairman of the Board of the parent company of the Southeast’s largest snack food manufacturer.

Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr., was born in Troy, Alabama, on November 2, 1919 – the son of Cora (Young) and Leo E. Bashinsky. He received his primary and secondary education at Avondale Elementary School and Ramsey High School; McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Lawrenceville Prep School in New Jersey. He then entered Princeton University. In 1940, he left college to join the United States Air Force. He served as a radar navigator until his discharge in 1945.

In 1946, he went to Birmingham, Alabama, as a route salesman for Golden Flake Snack Foods, Inc. (then known as Magic City Foods Products Company, Inc.). Within ten years (in 1956), he had become president – a position he held until 1972. He reassumed the presidency between 1984 and 1985. In 1972, he became Chairman of the Board. Between 1976 and 1991, he also served as Chief Executive Officer.

Today, Sloan Bashinsky is Chairman of the Board and major stockholder of Golden Enterprises, Inc. – a holding company that owns all outstanding shares of Golden Flake Snack Foods, Inc.; Steel City Bolt and Screw, Inc. (a Birmingham-based manufacturer and distributor of bolts and special fasteners); and Nall and Associates, Inc. (a distributor of bolts and special fasteners).

He is also a director of Steel City Bolt and Screw, Inc. and Nall and Associates, Inc.

The history of the Company reflects Sloan Bashinsky’s leadership. In 1958, the company changed its name from Magic City Foods Pro­ ducts Company, Inc. to Golden Flake, Inc. Five years later, the company purchased Don’s Food’s Inc., a Nashville, Tennessee-based Manufacturer of snack food products. Don’s Foods was operated until 1966 when Golden Flake was reorganized as a Delaware Corporation and combined Don’s operations with those of Golden Flake.

The company acquired Steel City Bolt and Screw, Nall and Associates, and a real estate subsidiary in 1971.

In 1977, Golden Enterprises, Inc. was formed as a holding company with its operating division, Golden Flake Snack Foods, as a wholly-owned subsidiary. In September of that same year, the assets of the real estate and insurance subsidiary were sold, leaving Golden Flake and the Steel City group as subsidiaries.

Golden Flake manufactures and distributes a full line of snack foods. The main office and production plant are located in Birmingham. There are also plants in Nashville, Tennessee, and in Ocala, Florida. Golden Flake has approximately 1,500 employees and its annual sales exceed $100 million.

Through the years, Sloan Bashinsky has shared what he has called his “good fortune” to improve the quality of life for others.

For example, while serving on the Board of Directors of the Eye Foundation Hospital and St. Vincent’s Foundation, he was instrumental in raising funds for needed centers. He has also been an active supporter of such worthy institutions and charitable organizations as the Crippled Children’s Clinic and Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Big Oak Ranch, and United Way.

His desire to enhance higher education can be seen in the time and financial support that he has given to educational institutions throughout the state of Alabama.

He is currently a trustee of Samford University, where he also serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Committee. In honor of his father, he donated the Leo Bashinsky Field House. Samford also received financing for the Bashinsky Press Tower. For his many contributions to Samford University’s growth, he was the recipient of the Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1990.

He also contributes to all Alabama independent colleges and universities. And he established the Bashinsky Foundation to fund the Golden Enterprises Scholarship Awards presented each year to dependent children of the employees of Golden Enterprises and its subsidiaries. The scholarships are given on the basis of scholastic achievement, demonstrated leadership, and participation in school and community affairs. In 1992, Sloan Bashinsky again shared some of his good fortunes with the people of Alabama who, he has said, have been so good to him. He made a $3 million gift to The University of Alabama which is being used for the construction of a new computer center for the College of Commerce and Business Administration. The computer center will be known as the Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr. Computer Center. It and a new business library (named in honor of Angelo Bruno, Chairman of the Board of Bruno’s, Inc. until his death in December 1991) will share a $9 million building.

According to Dr. Roger Sayers, University President, the Bashinsky Computer Center, and the Bruno Business Library will be one of the most modern of such facilities in the nation and a centerpiece for the business school complex. Dr. Barry Mason, Dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration, has said that thousands of students each year for generations to come will benefit from Sloan Bashinsky’s investment in the future.

The building is scheduled for completion by the end of October, with final details and moving planned for November and December. It should be “open for business” by January 1, 1994. The computer center will include a wall of memorabilia from Sloan Bashinsky.

Sloan Bashinsky is a very active member of the Mountain Brook Baptist Church where he has served as Chairman of the Endowment Trust. He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, the Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club, Shoal Creek, Birmingham Country Club, and the Downtown Club.

He is married to the former Joann Fulghum of Nashville, Tennessee. They have four children – Sloan, Jr.; Major; Elizabeth (Krebs); and Suzanne (Ash) – and nine grandchildren.

Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr. has reaped the rewards of hard work and business success. But he has returned some of the abundant harvests to his native state for the generation of growth in future years

William Houston Blount

• October 26th, 2021

William Houston Blount has had a long and remarkable record of achievement and leadership in the corporate world and in many facets of community life. He was born in Union Springs in Bullock County, Alabama, on January 3, 1922, one of the sons of Winton M. Blount, Sr., and Clara Belle Chalker Blount. He attended Union Springs High School and Staunton Military Academy before entering the business school at The University of Alabama in 1940 where he completed his sophomore year before enlisting in the United States Navy Air Corps after the onset of World War II. Within one year, he had received his wings. (In that same year – 1943 – he married Frances Dean of Birmingham, Alabama. They are the parents of three daughters and two sons: Barbara (Viar); Beverly (McNeil); Frances (Kansteiner); William Houston, Jr.; and David.) Houston Blount later (in 1959) continued his education at Harvard in the Advanced Management Program.

After discharge from the service, he began his corporate career as a partner in Blount Brothers Corporation based in Montgomery, Alabama (now Blount, Inc., of which he is still a director). Between 1946 and 1957, he was President and Director of Southeastern Sand & Gravel Company of Tallassee, Alabama, and Vice President of Southern Cen-Vi-Ro Pipe Corporation of Birmingham.

In 1957, he began his thirty-five-year association with Vulcan Materials Company, as the President of the Concrete Pipe Division. His astute business and leadership skills led to a rapid rise up the corporate ladder. Within two years he had been named Corporate Vice President, Marketing, and a Director and then to Executive Vice President, Construction Materials Group, a member of the Executive Committee, and a Director.

By 1977, he had become President and Chief Executive Officer of Vulcan Materials Company, as well as a member of the Executive and Finance Committees and a Director. By 1983, he had become Chairman of the Board, retaining his positions as CEO, member of the Executive and Finance Committee, and Director. In 1992, he became Chairman of the Board Emeritus.

Throughout his rise up the corporate ladder, Houston Blount fostered growth in Vulcan Materials Company. The company today is the largest producer of construction aggregates in the United States (crushed stone and a diversified line of aggregates and construction materials necessary for highways, public works projects, housing offices, and stores). The company is also recognized as one of the nation’s leading producers of basic industrial chemicals.

Vulcan’s customers are now served by 129 stone quarries, three chemical plants, and approximately 127 other production and distribution facilities. The construction materials and chemical “Segments also operate advanced research and development laboratories in Birmingham, Alabama, and in Wichita, Kansas. After Houston Blount became Chairman of the Board Emeritus in 1992, the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vulcan Materials stated in the company’s annual report that Houston Blount’s “contributions to the Board during the years he served as a member and his leadership as Chairman have had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on the company. He was instrumental in attracting to the Board highly competent and respected leaders from industry, academia, and the public sector.”

Houston Blount has also fostered the development of the community and state by his contributions of time, support, and expertise to many of the facets vital to the welfare of citizens.

For example, he still serves on the Board of Directors of the: Alabama School of Arts Foundation; Birmingham Area Council, the Boy Scouts of America; Birmingham Football Foundation; Eye Foundation Hospital; University of Alabama Health Services Foundation; and the Friends of Psychiatry, the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Birmingham Museum of Art, and he is a member and past Chairman of the Board of Birmingham-Southern College. He is co-chairman of the Birmingham Plan, a corporate and civic project to increase participation by women and minorities in the city’s economic development.

He is also chairman of the Management Improvement Program initiated by Alabama’s governor. In 1987, he was appointed Chairman of the Alabama State Docks Advisory Committee and, in 1989, a member of the Advisory Committee for Mental Health and Mental Retardation. In 1991, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Heritage Trust Fund.

In addition to serving on boards of organizations vital to the well-being of a well­ rounded community, Houston Blount has been active in fund-raising efforts for these essential components.

For example, he has been a catalyst in fund­ raising for the American Cancer Society; the Baptist Medical Center; the Arthritis Foundation; the Children’s Hospital; the Heart Hospital; the March of Dimes; and the United Way.

He has also helped raise funds for the Alabama Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Birmingham-Southern College; and the University of the South. He has been active in fund drives for the Birmingham Area Alliance of Business (TOPS Program); for Junior Achievement; Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs; Boy Scouts of America; Cahaba Scout Council; YMCA; and the National Council of Christians and Jews. He received the Silver Beaver and the Silver Antelope awards from the Boy Scouts of America.

He is a member of Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook and serves on its Administrative Board. He formerly served on Canterbury’s Board of Stewards and Finance Committee. He is a member of the Rotary Club and former chairman of its Membership Committee. He is a member and past chairman of the board of the Ethics Resource Center, Washington, D. C.

He serves on the Distribution Committee of the Greater Birmingham Foundation and on the Allocation Committee of the Hugh Kaul Foundation. He is also a member of the Finance Committee for the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association; and he and Mrs. Blount co-chair the Planning Committee for Stratford Hall, the ancestral home of the Lees of Virginia. He also serves on the board of the VF Corporation.

For his multi-faceted contributions, Houston Blount has been recognized by State and local groups. In 1981, he was elected to the Alabama Academy of Honor. He has been awarded two honorary Doctor of Laws degrees – by Birmingham-Southern College in 1983 and by the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1987.

In 1984, he was the recipient of the Greater Birmingham Community Service award.

In 1986, he was the recipient of two honors. The Alabama Chapter of the National Society of Fund-raising Executives named him co­ recipient of the 1986 Outstanding Philanthropist Award. And the Oxmoor Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association chose him as Employer of the Year.

In April 1993, he received the Entrepreneurial Award at the third College of Commerce and Business Administration Alumni Reunion and Awards Banquet at the Capstone, his alma mater. He was cited for the use of his expertise in the development of a thriving business.

Houston Blount has retired from his corporate life but not from his active participation in the many facets of community life. He continues to serve.