William J. Rushton, III

• October 11th, 2021

Billy Rushton has been a part of Protective Life Insurance Company for nearly 62 years, since 1937. That’s when his father, Colonel William J. Rushton, was elected president of the company.

William J. (Billy) Rushton, III, was born April 23, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Colonel William J. Rushton and Elizabeth Perry Rushton.

“I inherited from them a good name, a desire to do my best, a sense of obligation to serve my community, and above-average opportunity to render that service,” Rushton says.

Rushton, who retired as Chief Executive Officer in 1992 and as Chairman of the Board in 1999, has made exemplary use of his “inheritance.”

In his 45 years as an employee of Protective Life Insurance Company, Rushton’s integrity, and uncompromising insistence on quality in all with which he is associated have set standards by which an entire company and its people measure themselves.

“Protective Life has his mark,” says Drayton Nabers, Jr., current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Protective Life Insurance. “In his generation of leadership, Billy gave the company its mission and values … its quality. Quality is written all over the company, its assets, its balance sheet, its service … and especially its people. This quality is a living thing, and he is its heart and soul.”

Rushton acknowledges that he was born a fortunate person, with the proverbial “silver spoon” close at hand. And he is the third Rushton to be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. His father, William J. Rushton, and his grandfather, J. Frank Rushton, have been previously honored, in 1980 and 1975 respectively. But make no mistake, Billy Rushton has paid his dues and earned his keep.

As a youth, he attended Birmingham University School, which became Altamont School, before heading off to Exeter and eventually Princeton. He is an Eagle Scout, Scouting’s highest honor. At University School he received the Citizenship Trophy for best all-around student and was awarded the Scholarship Cup for having the highest scholastic average in the school. At Phillips-Exeter Academy, where he graduated in 1947, he was a member of the varsity swimming team and varsity crew.

The next stop was Princeton University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1951.

But before he could begin his insurance career, there was a matter in Korea where Rushton served as an Artillery Forward Observer and later as a Battery Commander, rising to the rank of Captain. His service in Korea earned him the Bronze Star for meritorious service in combat.

Upon returning home from the battlefield, Rushton joined Prudential Insurance Company as an actuarial trainee, then joined the actuarial department at Protective Life. Four years later he resigned as an officer and became an insurance salesman. And in his third year, he led Protective Life’s sales force in sales and qualified for the Million Dollar Round table.

By 1963 he had worked his way up to Vice President and Director of Individual Sales, a post he held until 1968. In 1969 he was elected President and Chief Executive Officer, a role he accepted as nothing less than a personal responsibility for the future of the company.

His vision for Protective Life was to see it grow to national prominence. He assembled a highly motivated management team and set “stretch” goals. His leadership style is that of a servant, although a determined one.

Since 1969 when Protective Life was licensed in only 14 Southeastern states with revenues of $57 million, the company grew steadily through sales and acquisitions to the point that by 1992, when Rushton stepped down as chief executive officer, it was represented in all 50 states with revenues exceeding $500 million and assets of more than $3 billion.

During his 22 years at the helm, Protective Life shareholders benefited greatly. Net income per share grew at a compound rate of 13.7 percent per year and the dividend per share at a rate of 12 percent per year, ranking the company in the top 20 percent of the life insurance industry.

Rushton has always been known for having an open office. He has instilled, through example, a sense of fairness throughout the company, insisting that profit never be pursued at the cost of honor or truth or at the expense of others.

He has willingly assumed the responsibility of good citizenship and contributed his time, energy, and resources to charitable and civic endeavors. He has served as a trustee at Birmingham-Southern College and as chairman of the board of trustees; director of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce; a trustee at Children’s Hospital; as chairman of the Family and Child Services Capital Campaign in 1990; a member of the Advisory Committee, Meyer Foundation; as a board member and chairman of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham; President of the Rotary Club of Birmingham; a director at Southern Research; chairman of the Business Partnership for Alabama School Reform; and trustee of The Newcomen Society of the United States and chairman of the Alabama Chapter.

His United Way activities are legendary. He is a member of the National Mega Gifts Committee of United Way and has been a director at United Way since 1974, serving as Chairman of the United Way campaign in 1978 and as President of United Way in 1986. In 1978, the United Way Board of Directors had decided the goal for the campaign would be a 5 percent increase over the previous year. But to better meet the community needs, the Board of Directors, at Rushton’s urging, raised the target to an 11 percent increase. The campaign went on to exceed the 11 percent target and produce the largest percentage of increase in giving in Birmingham’s United Way history.

His list of honors is equally long. He is a member of the Alabama Academy of Honor, and he is a Distinguished Eagle Scout, an honor reserved for Eagle Scouts who distinguish themselves in later life. He has received the “Good Neighbor Award” from the National Conference of Christians and Jews as well as the organization’s Brotherhood Award and is an Honorary Life Member of United Way.

Rushton’s wife, La Vona, of Oklahoma City, has been an able and willing companion since 1955. They have three sons, William J. Rushton IV, Deakins Ford Rushton, and Tunstall Perry Rushton, three daughters-in-law, and seven grandchildren.

Mrs. Rushton, an accomplished pianist, and “fabulous” grandmother has served as chair of the Symphony Ball, the Museum Ball, and the Birmingham Festival of Arts. The couple spends a month in Paris each year, and Billy says, “I work very hard at golf, and though I am not very good at it I am still optimistic.”

Rushton uses an old Irish proverb to describe his feelings about his own charitable giving:

“I have drunk from wells I never dug and been warmed by fires I never built.”

True perhaps, but Billy Rushton has provided spiritual drink for many and fueled the fires of giving throughout his distinguished lifetime.

Henry C. Goodrich

• October 11th, 2021

Henry C. Goodrich has had four careers.

The first was as an engineer, beginning with the U.S. Navy in the Civil Engineering Corps. He then joined Rust Engineering Company, where he worked in design, construction, and management. Then he became chairman and CEO of Inland Container Corporation in Indiana, and then it was back to Birmingham to head up Southern Natural Gas. He was one of the founders of BE&K, which is now one of the largest engineering firms in the country. And along the way, he created Richgood, a venture capital and investment company, and the Goodrich Foundation, his charitable giving foundation oriented primarily toward needs in the Birmingham area. And through it all, Henry C. Goodrich has had a good time.

Henry Calvin Goodrich was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, in 1920, the son of Dr. Charles Goodrich and Maude Baxter Goodrich. He attended grade school and high school in Fayetteville and studied pre-med at Erskine College. But he decided engineering was more his line and in 1939, he enrolled at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Two years later Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the ensuing war was going badly for the United States and its allies. Students were under pressure to finish their studies and join the war effort, and that’s exactly what Goodrich did. A year after Pearl Harbor he finished at UT, where he was chosen for both business and engineering honor fraternities and selected as president of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He finished his studies in 1942 and received his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1943.

After graduation, Goodrich enlisted in the Navy (he was already in the Naval Reserve) and was sent to Camp Perry, Virginia, a training area for Seabees. As a student at UT, he had met his future wife, Billie Grace, and the couple began making plans to marry. The wedding took place in Milan, Tennessee, on September 10, 1943. There was a quick one-night honeymoon and the couple headed back to Camp Perry. There was a period of training in Norfolk, Virginia, then a transfer to Monogram Field near Suffolk, Virginia. Goodrich began making plans to head overseas and Billie Grace returned to UT to finish her degree. His overseas duty was in Panama, where he served as an assistant public works officer at the naval air station.

In 1945, with the war winding down, Goodrich began looking for post-war employment and received a job offer from Daniel Construction Company in Birmingham to work as a field engineer on a new building in Gadsden, a job that would separate him from his wife and new son for long periods. But as luck would have it, while in Birmingham, he also stopped in to visit Rust Engineering, which also offered him a job. He explained the situation to Hugh Daniel, who understood the predicament. Goodrich went to work for Rust as a draftsman/ designer. In 1950 Goodrich moved from the drafting table to the sales office and began finding clients for Rust. As Goodrich began to “network” around Birmingham, business leaders began to recognize his talents and more invitations came his way to join the Birmingham Rotary Club, to become a director at Woodward Iron Company, to be on the board at Protective Life. The man from Tennessee had taken hold in Alabama.

In his first five years in sales at Rust, he brought on 64 contracts for Rust, and in 1956 he was named a vice president of the firm. In 1961 he was made a senior vice president and a member of the Rust board of directors, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company.

In 1967 Rust was sold to Litton Industries and Goodrich decided it was time to look for new challenges. He found them in the Hoosier State with Inland Container Corporation where he became executive vice president and director and moved his family to Indianapolis. One of his first moves at Inland was to build a new containerboard mill on the Tennessee River near ew Johnsonville, Tennessee, a state-of-the-art facility producing 300 tons per day of containerboard. The contract for the new plant went to Rust Engineering.

As he had in Birmingham, Goodrich sought out ways to serve Indianapolis as he had Birmingham, and he became active in several major civic activities. In 1969 he was elected president and chief executive officer of Inland. It was a busy time at Inland, but as always, Goodrich was never one to turn down an opportunity. So, when three old friends from Rust approached him to discuss starting an engineering firm, Goodrich listened. He agreed to help raise start-up money and in 1972, BE&K was born. In less than a year, the firm had landed a major contract and was on its way.

Inland continued to prosper and was on the Fortune 500 list. Goodrich was elected chairman of the board, and he began to spend more time at the family lake house on Lake Logan Martin near Birmingham and began to look for ways to make his exit from Inland. In 1978 Inland was acquired by Time, Inc. with Goodrich remaining in charge.

As Goodrich was relaxing at the Logan Martin Lakehouse, he received a call from John Shaw, president, and CEO of Southern Natural Resources, the huge Birmingham-based energy company on whose board Goodrich had served for seven years. At age 59, he was offered the job of president, and ultimately CEO, of Southern Natural Resources. Under Goodrich the company, renamed SONAT, set records for earnings, dividends increased and in 1981 Goodrich was named the top CEO in the gas pipelines industry.

In 1985 Goodrich retired from SONAT. Meanwhile, in Japan, the world’s largest enclosed semisubmersible offshore drilling rig was being constructed. And it was named the Henry Goodrich, for the chairman of SONAT Offshore (a SONAT subsidiary) and which was christened by Billie Grace Good rich.

Goodrich has held directorships in a host of companies, including SONAT, Inc., and subsidiaries; Time Incorporated, Ball Corporation, BE&K – Emeritus, Cousins Properties, Inc. – Emeritus, Temple-Inland Inc., Inland Steel, Indiana National Bank, Rust Engineering Company, and subsidiaries, Georgia-Kraft, Indiana Bell, BioCryst, Inc., Southern Research Technology, Protective Life Corporation, Woodward Iron Company, and Stokely-Van Camp.

His civic activities have included the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Birmingham, Community Chest of Indianapolis, Birmingham Council, Boy Scouts of America, Indian Springs School trustee, Salvation Army director, the University of Alabama at Birmingham President’s Council, director of Alabama Supercomputer Project, vice president and national trustee for the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is registered as a professional engineer in 12 states. He is a member of the Newcomen Society and an emeritus member of the University of Tennessee Development Council, as well as a senior director for the UAB Research Foundation.

He received the Nathan W. Doughtery Award from the University of Tennessee College of Engineering and was Industry Man of the Year in Indianapolis in 1974. The following year he was named Papermaker of the Year by Pulp and Paper Magazine and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Butler University. In 1978 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree from Marion College. Three years later, in 1981, he was chosen Best Chief Executive in Gas Industry. Two other honorary Doctor of Law degrees followed, from Birmingham-Southern College in 1985, and from UAB in 1986, the same year he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor and selected as one of 12 Outstanding Scientists and Engineers from Tennessee. He received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America in 1987 and was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1991.

Bill L. Harbert

• October 11th, 2021

Throw a dart at a map of the world and chances are you’ll hit a Bill Harbert construction project. Bill L. Harbert International Construction has been involved in projects ranging from renovating embassies in the Mideast to laying pipelines across South American rivers.

Bill LeBold Harbert, founder of Bill L. Harbert International Construction, based in Birmingham, was born in the Mississippi Delta in Indianola, Mississippi, on July 21, 1923, the son of John Murdoch Harbert and Mae Hamilton Schooling Harbert. His father was an engineer who moved his family to the Hollywood area of Birmingham in 1927, only to lose the home shortly thereafter in the Depression.

Harbert attended public schools in Birmingham, and eventually enrolled at Auburn University. World War II cut short his first trip to The Plains, however, and at age 20, in 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry, K Company. He served in Europe from 1943 until 1946 and earned a Bronze Star for heroic or meritorious service. When Harbert returned to Alabama, he re-enrolled at Auburn University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1948. A few years later, in 1966, he attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.

Bill Harbert got his start building swimming pools in Jasper. As a veteran, he was able to buy construction equipment at cheap prices and he obtained a contract to construct a series of swimming pools and other athletic facilities. And there was an added bonus. It was in Jasper that he met his wife, Joy Patrick, who died earlier this year. They were married in 1952 after seven years of dating. The couple has three children, Anne Harbert Moulton, Elizabeth

Harbert Cornay and Billy L. Harbert, Jr.

In 1949, he and his brother, John, formed Harbert Construction Corporation and Bill managed the company’s construction operations, both foreign and domestic. He served as executive vice president until 1979 and as president and chief executive officer of Harbert International, Inc., from 1979 until July 1990. He served as Vice Chairman of the Board from 1990 until December 1991, at which time he bought a majority of the international operations of Harbert International, Inc. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of Bill Harbert International Construction, Inc.

While the focus of Bill Harbert International Construction, Inc. is overseas work, the company has expanded in the past decade and is involved in several construction projects within the United States.

The overseas work has included such high-profile projects as a retail podium and parking structure for the Kuala Lumpur City Centre in Malaysia, the world’s tallest building, a $200 million-plus project. The firm has renovated embassies or consular offices in Hong Kong, New Delhi, Tanzania, and a number of former Soviet republics. The company has also been a leader in building and expanding water supply systems and water treatment systems in such countries as the Democratic Republic of Sudan, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Panama. Harbert has also been involved in renovating and building multinational force and observer camps in the Sinai and in airbase construction in the Negev Desert. Closer to home, Bill Harbert International Construction projects include the new Hoover High School under construction off Valleydale Road in Shelby County, several military projects in the Southeast, the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence at The University of Alabama, and condominiums along the Gulf Coast. Bill Harbert has also devoted much time and resources to his industry and his community. He will take over as president of the International PipeLine Contractors Association next year, having served as director for several years and as 2nd vice president. He also has served as president and director of the PipeLine Contractors Association, U.S.A. He has been a member of the Construction Indus­ try Presidents Forum since 1992 and a trustee and co-chairman of the Laborers’

National Pension Fund since 1968.

His affiliations with community organizations include director of the Birmingham Metropolitan Development Board; Newcomen Society of North America, Director, SouthTrust Corporation from 1979 until 1996, a director of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, a board member of the Health Services Foundation, and a board member at AMI Brookwood Medical Center. He attends Canterbury United Methodist Church and is a member of Vestavia Country Club (President, 1976) and Riverchase Country Club (President, 1980). He served as director for the Birmingham Ballet and was on the board of the YMCA. He has been a member of the Birmingham Kiwanis Club since 1980 and is a member of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.

He is currently on the Supporters Board of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. He and his wife Joy recently made a $1 million gift to UAB to establish the Joy and Bill Harbert Endowed Chair in Cancer Genetics. Mrs. Harbert, who graduated from The University of Alabama, served on the UAB School of Nursing Board of Visitors. Harbert also created the Mae Schooling Harbert Fund for Residents in Training to honor his mother.

Bill Harbert has never been one to seek the limelight, but he has left his mark around the world, and he has distinguished himself in business and public service. His intelligence and compassion for others are well known from the deserts of the Mideast to the boardrooms of Birmingham.

Harbert maintains a very active role in his company and heads for the office each morning he is in Birmingham. He plays tennis every afternoon he is in town and likes to fish when the opportunity arises.

Frederic William Sington

• October 6th, 2021

The name “Fred Sington” says it all.

Name an award, he received it. Name a charity, he helped it. Name a civic organization, he was a member. Name a sport, he excelled at it. In fact, one sports columnist went so far as to describe Sington as “almost a mythic sports figure,” and “a ubiquitous civic worker.”

Somewhere along the line, he became known as “Mr. Birmingham,” and no title has ever been more fitting. At one point, Sington estimated that he had been involved with as many as 200 civic and community activities over the years, but that is probably an underestimate.

Fred Sington was born in Birmingham, February 14, 1910, the son of Max and Hallye Spiro Sington. He attended Phillips High School where he was a four-year letterman in football, basketball, baseball, and track, and was inducted into the National Honor Society. He then attended The University of Alabama, where he was a member of Alabama’s 1931 Rose Bowl team and an All-American tackle for three straight years, as well as a three-year letterman and All-American in baseball. The big tackle was generally regarded as the best lineman in the entire country. He was a member of Zeta Beta Tau social fraternity, ODK, and Phi Beta Kappa. He was vice president of the student body, and in 1931 received both the Porter Award for Best Athlete and the PanHellenic Award for Best Student. And he was just getting started.

Following his graduation in 1931, he became an assistant football coach at Duke University before embarking on a distinguished career in professional sports. For the next 10 years, he played professional baseball with the Atlanta Crackers, the Washington Senators, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Following his playing days, he was an SEC official in football for 20 years.

When World War II began, Sington, of course, was there to help. He entered the Navy and served as a lieutenant junior grade from 1942 until 1946. He even coached the Oklahoma Navy Zoomers football team.

After the war, in 1947, Sington began his business career, Fred Sington Sporting Goods, opening a store in downtown Birmingham on Fifth Avenue North. His sporting goods business eventually spread into Homewood, Huntsville, Mountain Brook, Gadsden, Athens, and Scottsboro. In 1986 he sold his sporting goods business to Hibbett Sporting Goods but remained with the firm as a sales consultant.

Sington developed a reputation as a fine public speaker, which served him well as he became involved in the civic fiber of the city. He served on the Birmingham Civic Center Planning Committee, was chairman of the Downtown Birmingham YMCA, president of the Birmingham Kiwanis, and captain of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club. He was president of the Birmingham Football Foundation. At a meeting of the Hall of Fame directors, he proposed a Hall of Fame Bowl for Birmingham. The board agreed and the first Hall of Fame Bowl was played in Birmingham in 1977. The game later become the All-American Bowl and continued for several years. In 1972 he was president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. He belonged to the “A” Club, Grand Order of the Krewe, Masons, and Shriners.

He served as a board member for the Salvation Army, Sertoma Foundation, City Federal Savings, and Loan Association, Vulcan Life Insurance Company, Junior Achievement, and the Boy Scout Council. His service reached beyond the city limits, as he served as president of the Alabama State Fair Authority; a coach for the Alabama Mentally Retarded Olympics, president of The University of Alabama National Alumni Association; a member of the President’s Council, The University of Alabama; a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Racing Committee; and as state chairman of the Alabama Heart Fund in 1978. His professional memberships included serving as president and treasurer of the National Sporting Goods Association and as chairman of the organization’s Hall of Fame Committee.

Throughout his entire career he was recognized for the time and effort he gave on behalf of others. He was elected to the National Football Hall of Fame in 1955 and received The University of Alabama Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1967. In 1970 he was awarded the Pat Trammell Award for distinguished service to the University, and in 1972 was the Junior Achievement Man of the Year and was awarded the Erskine Ramsey Award for distinguished service to the Birmingham area. That same year he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and two years later, the Southern Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1976 The University of Alabama conferred on him the honorary degree, doctor of humane letters. In 1978 he was named Sertoma Man of the Hour.

Sington and his wife, Nancy, were married 62 years and were included in a book titled “Marriages Meant to Be,” which featured stories about 14 couples who met and married. The union produced three sons, Fred Jr., David, and Leonard, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Fred Sington is remembered and recognized by many for his athletic and civic accomplishments, for his sense of humor, and for his love for his community. His memory is particularly cherished by the winners of the Sington Soaring Spirit Award, presented by The Lakeshore Foundation, which serves people with disabilities. The organization’s newsletter published a special tribute to Sington. The Sington Soaring Spirit Dinner, named in his honor, is held annually to help benefit children and adults with physical disabilities.

No doubt the Sington saga will be told and retold many times in the years to come.

Fred Sington is said to have had a slogan: “If you don’t swing, you can’t hit.” When it came to helping people, Fred Sington was Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Hank Aaron rolled into one.

General. Edward M. Friend

• October 6th, 2021

No man has been more aptly named than Edward M. Friend, Jr. General Friend, as he was proud to be called, was a friend to, and a friend of, everyone. His civic and philanthropic endeavors on the part of Birmingham and Alabama are legendary. And his military service was an inspiration to a grateful nation.

General Friend was born in Birmingham on May 1, 1912, the son of Edward M. and May Gusfield Friend. He attended South Highland Grammar School in Birmingham and graduated from Phillips High School. He attended The University of Alabama where he graduated in 1933, receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the infantry reserve. He earned his law degree at Alabama in 1935 and returned to Birmingham to practice law. Three years later, he married Hermione Curjel, a union that would last for 58 years, and produce two children, Edward M. Friend III, and Ellen Friend Elsas.

In 1941, he went on active military duty, launching what would become an exemplary military career. He expected to complete a one-year tour of duty and return to his law practice. Those expectations ended with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. His military outfit moved to California where he attended desert training and general staff school. In 1943 he was ordered to North Africa to participate in the invasion of Sicily with the Second Army commanded by General Omar Bradley. General Friend returned to the United States later that year but left shortly thereafter on the Queen Mary for England to prepare for the Normandy invasion.

General Friend landed at Utah Beach on June 7, and his unit, the Seventh Corps, participated in the capture of Cherbourg, the breakthrough at St. Lo, the Battle of the Bulge, and finally, the invasion of Germany where his unit met the Russians near Leipzig.

General Friend earned several military decorations during the war. He received the Legion of Merit with Cluster, the Croix de Guerre with Palm, the European Campaign Ribbon with seven battle stars and the bronze arrowhead for the landing in Normandy, and the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.

He eventually was reassigned to the Pentagon and released from active duty as a full colonel. He was on active duty for five years, and served another 26 years in the Army Reserve, attaining the rank of Brigadier General. In his final days, he was named a Major General in the Alabama National Guard and was honored with a proclamation of General Edward Friend Day throughout the state.

Following his World War II service, General Friend resumed his law practice. In 1945 he joined Morris Sirote, Jimmy Permutt, and Karl Friedman to found the law firm now known as Sirote and Permutt, one of the largest law firms in the state with more than 100 attorneys.

He took the role of the firm’s “rainmaker,” a lawyer who through his ability and personality attracts substantial and diverse clients to his firm. The four founders of the firm remained close friends throughout their lives.

While General Friend had many interests, he had a true passion for the law. He was one of the country’s great lawyers and specialized in the field of tax law and corporate and estate planning.

General Friend’s effective advocacy and keen intellect earned him a well-deserved reputation as a leader in the Bar. His strong interest in legal education and in the improvement of his profession earned him several honors. He was named Outstanding Alumnus at the School of Law at The University of Alabama, which, along with Birmingham-Southern College, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. He was named Lawyer of the Year, served as president of the Birmingham Bar Association, and as president of the University of Alabama Law School Foundation. He founded the Legal Aid Society in Birmingham, which provides legal help to those unable to afford a lawyer. He also was heavily involved in helping young lawyers develop their legal skills and impressed upon them the need to provide their clients with their best efforts.

General Friend derived immense satisfaction from community service. He served as president of the Birmingham Jewish Foundation, the Family Counseling Association, the Birmingham Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America (which presented him the Silver Beaver Award, its most prestigious honor), the Downtown Rotary Club, and the Metropolitan Arts Council. He was chairman of the 1982 United Way campaign at a time of high unemployment and the closing of U.S. Steel, formerly the campaign’s largest contributing unit. He led the campaign to what many said was an unbelievable success that resulted in Birmingham being highlighted nationally as one of ten cities in the “Winner’s Circle.”

He chaired the Alabama Bar Association’s Committee for the Study of Correctional Institutes and Procedures and was co-chairman of the Human Rights Committee appointed by the federal courts to deal with Alabama’s prison system.

He served as chairman of the President’s Cabinet of The University of Alabama and served on the boards of the Children’s Hospital, the Greater Birmingham Foundation, the Red Cross, the Birmingham Metropolitan Area Chamber of Commerce, the Lakeshore Foundation, Jewish Family Services, and many other organizations.

He was honored as Birmingham’s Man of the Year in 1983, named Outstanding Civic Leader by the Fund-Raising Executives, inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, and received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Throughout his life, General Friend worked to improve race relations in his city, his state, and his country.

Upon his death in 1995, several resolutions were adopted recognizing his many contributions to his community. A resolution adopted by the City Council of Birmingham recognized his outstanding generosity. A resolution by The Executive Committee and Advisory Board of the Birmingham Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America recognized his heroism, saying that General Friend” constantly reflected the values that make heroes – courage, optimism, intelligence, tolerance, and stamina.”

General Friend was a collector of quotes, and one of his favorites was this one from Leo Rosten, the writer: “The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make some difference that you lived at all. Happiness, in the ancient, noble verse, means self-fulfillment and is given to those who use to their fullest whatever talents God, or luck, or fate bestowed upon them.”

Edward M. Friend, Jr., by all accounts, more than fulfilled his purpose in life, for he indeed mattered greatly.

James A. Head, Sr.

• October 6th, 2021

James A Head, Sr. has two secrets to his longevity and his success in business: walking and working. As a young man, the founder, and owner of Head’s Office Products, a long-time and highly respected Birmingham business, he walked the streets of Birmingham delivering newspapers, cutting lawns, and later selling business machines and office supplies, which was the genesis of his business. And he never stopped working until he reached 92.

Head was born in Tiffin, Ohio, where his father, George Washington Head, a native of Kentucky, was in the insurance business. His mother, Mary Elizabeth Horton Head, was a native of Pleasant Ridge, Alabama. The family moved to Indianapolis where his father started his own insurance company. His father died in 1913, following an appendectomy, and his mother decided to take the family back to the South, to Birmingham. Following a 20-hour train ride from Indianapolis to Birmingham, the family settled into a new home in the Norwood section of town, where Head attended Barker Elementary School, and later Paul Hayne School, dropping out of high school after one year.

World War I brought difficult times and Head realized he needed to help put food on the family table. As a teenager, he mowed lawns and delivered newspapers around a large section of Birmingham. As the recession worsened, Head got a job with a wholesale drug company filling and delivering orders, working from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. for seven dollars a week. A year later he was offered another job as a foundry timekeeper, but the business soon closed. He then took another job as a timekeeper at Birmingham Stove and Range Company. A year and a half later, the opportunity came along that defined his lifetime career – he became a salesman of office systems, specifically reinforced tab folders, for Library Bureau.

For nearly 120 years the Library Bureau has been primarily engaged in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and installing wood shelving, library furniture, office furniture, and systems. The company was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey in Boston Massachusetts… “for the definite purpose of furnishing libraries with equipment and supplies of unvarying correctness and reliability.”

Head’s first big sale was to Alabama Power, an order for 40,000 file folders and 40 steel, four-drawer file cabinets. After little more than a year with the company, he became the Birmingham manager for the company and proceeded to win the company’s national sales contest for three straight years.

In 1925, at the age of 21, Head was called to New Orleans by the Library Bureau to replace his former boss who had resigned. But it was a short stint in the Crescent City. His former boss offered to back him financially if he would return to Birmingham with his family and open his own business. So in November of 1926, Head opened an office in downtown Birmingham. He walked the streets and met the owners of the city’s businesses, introduced them to new ideas in office furnishings, suggested ways to save space, found ways to be more efficient, save time, and access accounts more quickly. And he showed them how all of this could save money.

In 1927 he married Eugenia Evans. The couple had four children: James A. Head Jr., Alan E. Head, Eugene E. Head, and Virginia Head Gross. Mrs. Head passed away in 1981.

Things developed quickly. The office became too small, more employees were needed, and product lines were added, including a new, more comfortable, adjustable office chair that provided back support to the many female employees who sat most of the day at a desk or table. From there, the company progressed to selling methods of record protection, and then to dictation machines, copiers, and other equipment, with Head always bringing new ideas in offices supplies to his customers.

Banks, insurance companies, libraries, government offices – all were equipped by Head’s Office Products.

When World War II came along, Head was 41 years old and had three children, and was not accepted for duty. But he used his sales and marketing savvy to support the war effort in dozens of ways: Chairing the Victory Bond drives (he offered nylon hose to those who bought the bonds), arranging other war memorials, and thank-you tributes to returning servicemen after the war.

Head Office Products continued to grow and flourish, adding new products and offering new ideas. Head’s company equipped the University of Alabama Law School Library, the state Supreme Court Library, the Amelia Gorgas Library, and the Auburn University Library, among many others. In fact, Head estimates that his company has equipped 80 percent of the libraries in Alabama. The Alabama Library Association has recognized him for his work in helping communities around the state garner local support for constructing community libraries, especially in the 1970s as libraries began to be considered essential to the community.

Always on the lookout for new products and new ways to help his customers, Head discovered in Wisconsin a device called a “stack mover” that could be used to move large numbers of books at one time, keeping them in order so that carpets and floors could be cleaned or replaced, and libraries could be rearranged, or construction work could be done. The device has saved Alabama libraries thousands of dollars in manpower and time. In 1996, “at the tender middle age of 92,” as Head puts it, he decided to retire. Head sold his company to Scholar Craft Products, Inc., a Birmingham business.

Throughout his busy life, Head has made time to serve the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama in a variety of positions and roles. He was one of the original 100 people who each gave $1,000 to buy the property that has become The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He has served as president of the Birmingham Rotary Club, president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, general chairman of the United Appeal and Red Cross, as a member of the Alabama Advisory Committee to the Civil Rights Committee, and as a member of the Samford University Board of Trustees. He served on the Jefferson County Personnel Board and headed the 1968 fundraising campaign for the Alabama Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

He has been recognized for his work with a variety of awards, including his selection as Birmingham’s “Man of the Year” in 1949. In 1988, he was honored with a dinner given by Friends of the Birmingham Public Library.

But he lists his service on the state chapter of the National Association of Christians and Jews and the battle against intolerance as “the most important thing I have ever done.” He served the association for 60 years, 20 of those as chairman emeritus.

Head remains active with his friends from the Birmingham Rotary Club and enjoys the company of his four children, 11 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren, three of who have just graduated from college.

So, the next time you seek sanctuary in one of the state’s many libraries, say a word of thanks to Jim Head. Augustine Birrell, the English politician, and man of letters wrote that “Libraries are not made; they grow.” Because of Jim Head, the libraries in Alabama are flourishing.

M. Miller Gorrie

• October 5th, 2021

The “Can-Do” motto of the Sea bees best summarizes the philosophy of Miller Gorrie, who served for three years in the Civil Engineering Corps of the U.S. Navy after graduating from Auburn. Gorrie never forgot the positive Seabees attitude and made it one of the cornerstones of his life and his business.

Gorrie was born in Birmingham on October 20, 1935, to Magnus James “M.J.” and Margaret Miller Gorrie. His father’s family emigrated from Scotland to Montgomery soon after the Civil War. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Walter Taylor Miller, a DeKalb County physician. Miller Gorrie and his father, an electrical engineer, often spent time together, and when Gorrie was about 14, they decided to build a small cabin on the family farm near Trussville. This project ignited Miller’s interest in construction as a career.

Gorrie grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham until 1943 when IBM transferred his father to New York. After returning to Birmingham three years later, he attended Lakeview Grammar School and Ramsay High School and was graduated from Shades Valley High School in 1953. Starting with a paper route and later summer construction jobs, Gorrie began working and saving money, investing it all in IBM stock. Over the years this stock multiplied in value and became the nest egg that financed his business a decade later.

As a senior in high school, Gorrie was awarded an N.R.O.T.C. scholarship and he chose Auburn, enrolling in 1953 as a civil engineering student. He became a member and later president of the Sigma Nu fraternity. At Auburn, he met Frances Greene of Troy, and they were married following his graduation in 1957. Gorrie has often said that the best decision he ever made was to marry Frances.

After Gorrie was discharged from the navy in 1960, he returned home and began working with Daniel Construction Company as a quantity surveyor and entry-level estimator. Two years later, he joined Rust Engineering but was not challenged by taking preliminary drawings and making cost estimates for the design department. After a year, he accepted a job at J. F. Holley, a much smaller company but one where he would have broader responsibilities, including project management.

In 1964, Gorrie purchased the construction assets of Thomas C. Brasfield, who began a small construction company in Birmingham in 1921. For three years, Gorrie operated the company under the name of Thomas C. Brasfield, but in 1967 he decided to change the name. By this time Gorrie was so identified with the company that he could have dropped the Brasfield name, but Mr. Brasfield was still alive, and Gorrie believed the name meant something to him and his family, although Tom Brasfield was never directly associated with the company. The new name became Brasfield & Gorrie.

The company grew steadily through the 1960s, constructing small office buildings, schools, churches, industrial plants, and hospitals. In early 1970, Gorrie ventured into building apartments, a move that proved disastrous and almost broke the company. Through hard work and the dedicated loyalty of his associates, he was able to prevent a total collapse and used the lessons learned to strengthen his company. In 1977, Gorrie moved his company into wastewater and water treatment work. The first years were not successful or profitable, but he persevered, and this work is now very important to the company.

In the early 1980s, fueled by reconstruction needs after Hurricane Frederick, Brasfield & Gorrie became heavily involved in the construction boom that came to the Alabama Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle, completing over 40 projects. Condominium construction pushed Brasfield & Gorrie to another level. The volume of work allowed the company to expand and develop a large number of experienced superintendents and foremen.

As work on the Gulf Coast dried up, Gorrie expanded the company into new geographical markets. He established offices in Orlando and Atlanta and guided the company through a restructuring process that decentralized the company into divisions and assigned sales and marketing responsibilities to division managers. Rapid growth resulted. The Orlando office gained local recognition when it built the Orlando City Hall. The Atlanta presence was strengthened by the completion of the concrete frame for the Georgia Dome, which involved pouring 50,000 cubic yards of elevated, formed concrete in less than eleven months.

Brasfield & Gorrie’s retail presence grew substantially after landing the Parisian account. The Parisian Galleria store was the first of 26 Brasfield & Gorrie built across the South and Midwest. In 1997, the company expanded by opening offices in Raleigh and Nashville and organized an industrial division to concentrate on that construction discipline. This year B&G was recognized for its role in reconstructing a bridge in downtown Birmingham at the 1-65, 1-20/59 interchange, completing it in 37 days after the bridge was damaged by fire.

From annual revenues of $800,000 in 1964, Gorrie led Brasfield & Gorrie to become a company in 2001 with annual revenues approaching one billion dollars and 2000 employees servicing clients in 15 states. B&G has been consistently recognized by Engineering News Record as one of the nation’s top domestic general building contractors, currently ranking 24th in the U.S. Between 1998 and 2002 Modern Healthcare magazine named Brasfield & Gorrie as the largest general contractor in healthcare in the country for three years and the second largest for the other two years.

Miller Gorrie is known as a man of few, words, a quiet, humble man who never draws, attention to himself. But when he does speak, his words are powerful and respected. Because he is so soft-spoken and one must concentrate to hear his voice, he was once called “Silent Thunder.” Miller and Frances Gorrie have three children: Ellen Gorrie Byrd, Magnus James Gorrie II (married to Alison), and John Miller Gorrie, and five grandchildren, Frances Ellen, Ginny, and William Byrd, and Magnus Miller II (Mills) and Alie B. Gorrie.

Gorrie currently is on the board of directors of Colonial Properties Trust and ACIPCO and formerly served on the boards of AmSouth Bank and Winsloew Furniture. Professionally, Gorrie was on the board and was president of the Associated General Contractors. He has also served on the boards of the Business Council of Alabama, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Development Board, and the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.

An active supporter of many charitable civic and educational institutions, Gorrie has served on boards of the United Way and Alabama Symphony, as well as the Medical Center East, Baptist Medical Centers, and McWane Center foundations. He served on the Auburn Building Science Advisory board, the UAB Civil Engineering Board of Visitors, the UAB President’s Council, and the Samford University Board of Overseers. He and France founded a school in Atlanta to serve children with learning disabilities, and Gorrie serves as chairman of the board.

Gorrie was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1997 and was awarded the Cornerstone Award by the Association of Builders and Contractors for Lifetime Achievement in the Construction Industry in 1998. He has recently been honored by the naming of the M. Miller Gorrie Construction Center to be built on the Auburn University campus being made possible by a lead gift from Brasfield & Gorrie employees.

Lee J. Styslinger, Jr.

• October 5th, 2021

When Lee Joseph Styslinger, Jr. left The University of Alabama at age 19 to take over the management of his father’s truck equipment company, no one could have predicted he would tum the company into a worldwide leader in its industry.

Styslinger was born in Birmingham in 1933 to Lee J. Styslinger, Sr., and Margaret McFarland Styslinger, where his father had moved at age 33 because it resembled his hometown of Pittsburgh. There, at the start of the Depression, Lee Styslinger, Sr. founded Alabama Truck Equipment Co. with 20 employees in a building that had originally been a furniture manufacturing plant. The company manufactured flatbed trailers for Fruehauf and customized trucks for industrial use, making a name for itself as one of the first to use non-rusting aluminum truck parts and hanging on through the Depression and the years of World War II when both men

Lee Styslinger Jr. always intended to follow in his father’s footsteps. He attended St. Paul’s elementary school and graduated from St. Bernard Preparatory School in Cullman. He then attended The University of Alabama with plans to graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering. Instead, his father’s death in 1952 left him responsible for the management of Alabama Truck Equipment Co. sooner than he had anticipated and steel was in short supply.

When he took over as general manager of the company, it employed 12 people, and its sales were approximately $100,000 a year. The business was owned by his mother and operated as a proprietorship. The company manufactured utility bodies for Alabama Power Co., a line of bottler bodies for CocaCola and Buffalo Rock, a line of dairy bodies, dump bodies, bakery bodies for McGough Bakeries, van bodies for Baggett, and Jack Cole Motor Freight, and a special type bod a business needed.

Styslinger, at only 19, wanted to appear grown-up as possible so one of the first things did as manager was buy a hat and wire-rimmed glasses. Four years later, he was named president of the company. Styslinger convinced his family to form a corporation and allow him to buy 51 percent of the stock. The company was incorporated for $ 6,000, not including the land, which still belonged to Styslinger’s mother, and the name changed to Altec, Inc.

Styslinger, who had been studying accounting in night school at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, decided the company could no longer afford to be in the manufacturing business. When the company incorporated, it switched to distributing equipment made by other manufacturers. Altec also decided to narrow its focus to products for the utility industry.

By 196 3, Altec’s sales volume had increased 35 times over 1952 figures, and the company had more than 100 associates. With more money to work with, Styslinger returned again to manufacturing. Styslinger formed Altec Manufacturing Co., a separate entity, to manufacture the bodies that were part of the total utility equipment package. Altec, Inc. continued as a distributor of digger derricks and aerial platforms. By 1967, Altec had increased its sales 50 times over those of 1952 and had 175 employees.

From the mid-‘ 60s through the early 70s, Altec began to stretch its wings. A Northern Division was established in Indianapolis to provide sales and assembly services to the booming Indiana and Illinois markets, and a service center was opened in Atlanta. Despite an energy crisis, by 1973 sales were at $20 million, and Altec employed 400 associates.

In that year, Altec made the risky decision to go into competition with its own suppliers and constructed a factory in St. Joseph, Mo., where the company began designing its own products. The decision was a good one. By 1979 the company’s Midwest Division was a full-scale manufacturer of digger derricks and aerial platforms for electric and telephone utilities.

Today, Altec Inc. is the holding company for Altec Industries, Altec Worldwide, Global Rental, Altec Capital Services, NUECO, Altec Hiline, and Altec Ventures. Altec has more than 2,300 associates working in sales, service, and manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. The company’s total revenue is just south of a billion dollars. Altec sells and services equipment in more than 87 countries around the world and offers an extensive product line for the electric utility, telecommunication, tree care, and other related industries.

Altec has continued its growth under the Styslinger family’s leadership. Styslinger has three sons with his wife of 42 years, the former Catherine Smith, and all three, Lee Joseph III, Jon Cecil, and Mark Joseph are employed by Altec. Lee J. Styslinger III is now president and CEO of Altec, and Jon and Mark are both senior vice presidents. Lee III and Mark are located in Birmingham, and Jon is in Kansas City, Missouri

Lee Styslinger, Jr. has proven his commitment not only to his business but also to doing his civic duty. He has held positions n the Board of Trustees for Highlands Day School and the Birmingham Symphony Association and has served on the Board of Directors of such organizations as the American National Red Cross, Children Harbor, Junior Achievement of Greater Birmingham, and St. Vincent’s Hospital. He is a past member of the Birmingham Music Club, the Birmingham Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Metropolitan Development Board. Since 1998 he has served as finance chairman for the Birmingham Museum of Art. Styslinger and his, wife attend St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

Styslinger is also active in the business community. He currently serves on the board of directors for Advanced Labelworx, Inc., Electronic Healthcare Systems, Jemison Investment Company, Inc., and MeadWestvaco Corporation. In the past, he has served on the boards of a number of companies including Complete Health, Health Services Foundation, Regions Financial Corporation, Saunders System, and Southern Research Institute. He has served on the Board of Governors and Executive Board of both the United States and Birmingham Area chambers of commerce. He is a past member of the National Alliance of Businessmen, the Equipment Manufacturers Institute, and the National Association of Manufacturers. Styslinger has been named to the Alabama Academy of Honor and was an honoree for Re-Entry Ministries’ Builders of Birmingham.

Styslinger attributes most of the success of his company to the Altec associates and to his father. Altec’s philosophy about its associates is “Work should be to an adult what play is to a child – enjoyable.”

In a speech he gave to the Rotary Club of Birmingham on Altec’s 60^th anniversary, Styslinger said of his father, “My hope is that I am able to inspire in others at least a fraction of the strength he left for me.” Styslinger’s hope has already become fact; he has passed a legacy of strength on to his sons and a strong, growing corporation on to the world.

Frank Bromberg, Jr.

• October 5th, 2021

Frank H. Bromberg Jr.’s great-grandfather Frederick Bromberg, a Prussian immigrant, set sail from Germany in 1832. He was bound for the New World, and four years later he would Bromberg and Company in Mobile.

The name “Bromberg” would become synonymous with fine jewelry and become one of the oldest and most successful businesses in Alabama’s history, as well as the largest supplier of fine crystal, china, and sterling flatware in the Southeast. Bromberg’s ranks 45^th on a list of the 102 oldest U.S. companies and is the second oldest retailer in the nation. Bromberg’s is even older than Birmingham, the city the company now calls home.

Born in Birmingham on November 15, 1931, the only child of Frank Bromberg, Sr. and Annie Maud Wilkinson, Frank Hardy Bromberg, Jr. was destined to one day head Bromberg and Co. But before he could take his place as head of the jewelling giant, Bromberg would have to make his own place in the family business by proving his worth to his father’s generation.

As a child, Bromberg spent many winters in Florida with his grandparents because of his health. The climate of the area was better for his breathing problem, a minor aliment Bromberg would outgrow by his mid-teens.

After graduating summa cum laude from the Capstone in the College of Commerce and Business Administration in 1954, Bromberg and his wife Leila Clayton Bromberg, moved to Bew York so that he could enter the master’s program in retailing at New York University. It was there that the couple’s first child, one of four children, was born.

Upon completion of NYU’s master’s program, Bromberg returned home to Birmingham, ready to work and get his career going. But less than a month later he was back in New York. Duty called, and Bromberg was shipped overseas so he could run the Post Exchange at Dreux Air Force Base in post-WWII recovering France. His family went with him. Two years later, they were back in Birmingham, this time to stay.

Finally back home, Bromberg began his ascent up the Bromberg and Co. chain. He began in sales in 1957 and took on the role of assistant treasurer a year later. It was also during this period that Bromberg and Co. was facing financial problems, in that it wasn’t making enough money for all three Bromberg families to make a good living. Bromberg pushed the family to open branch stores, the first in Mountain Brook in 1959. There are now five stores in the Birmingham area and Montgomery.

In 1960, Bromberg became the company’s vice-president, a position he occupied for nearly 25 years. In 1984, Bromberg became president of the company.

He has also served as president of several professional organizations, such as the Jewelers of America, the American Gem Society, the Retail Jewelers Research Group, and the Alabama Jewelers Association, and has served as director of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee.

A major reason for the longevity and success of Bromberg and Co. are the rules within the family that govern how and when a family member may enter the family business and rules that provide for how the business should be run. If a person wants into the family’s business, he/she must have a college degree, and each of the three Bromberg families is allowed only three spots to fill when the next generation comes of age.

This system, Bromberg believes, encourages hard work and prepares upcoming generations to manage the family business.

Frank Bromberg, Jr. was instrumental in the family business’s bold move to branch out and open more stores in the late 1950s. His foresight has proven invaluable to the company.

With as much as Bromberg has on his plate, he still finds time to remain involved with several civic and community organizations. He served as president of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham from 1969-70, during which time the Birmingham club was chosen as the outstanding large club in the world by Kiwanis International.

Bromberg is also past president of the Sales and Marketing Executives of Birmingham, and like the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham during the years of his presidency, Sales and Marketing Executives International chose the Birmingham club as the outstanding club of any size worldwide, 1966-67.

Bromberg was elected vice-president of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce in 1974, an organization he has been a member of since he stepped back onto American soil from France in 1957.

Bromberg’s ties to The University of Alabama are many. Three generations of Brombergs have graduated from the school, and his wife’s great-grandfather served as president from 1886-1889. Bromberg is and has served as a member of countless university organizations.

Among the more notable, Bromberg has served as president of the National Alumni Organization, 1975-76, chairman of the President’s Cabinet, 1973-75, chairman and founder of the Culverhouse Executives Society, 1976-present, a member of the Culverhouse Board of Visitors, and a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, 1983-2000.

Bromberg’s ability to anticipate the financial benefits of adding more stores is part o the reason his family’s business is around today. Bromberg’s has remained in the family for over 167 years, and it appears that is the way it will remain.

Garry Drummond, Sr.

• October 5th, 2021

In 1943, Heman Drummond obtained a bank loan of $300 to buy new equipment for his Walker County coal mine. He secured the loan with three mules, one of which was named “Tobe.” “Tobe” still lives, but he lives today in the form of a dragline with a boom longer than a football field and a bucket that holds 115 cubic yards of material.

That parallels the story of Drummond Company, Inc.

If you look at a map of the nation’s coal reserves, you will see a large coalfield that extends from northern Pennsylvania down through Kentucky and Tennessee into northwest Alabama, down into the Jasper area. That’s where Heman Drummond founded the H.E. Drummond Coal Company in 1935, in an area between Empire and Sumiton. Garry Neil Drummond, Sr., one of five sons, is now chairman and chief executive officer of Drummond Company, Inc., which in almost 68 years of operation has become one of the leading coal-producing companies in the nation.

Drummond Company employs more than 3,300 people around the world and has annual revenues of more than $800 million, placing the company in the top 500 of the Forbes list of largest private companies.

The company’s holdings include large coal mines in Alabama, Wyoming, and Columbia, South America; a worldwide coal sales organization, ABC Coke, the largest merchant foundry coke producer in the United States, and a real estate division with major community developments in Alabama, Florida, and California. The company headquarters is located in Jasper, with some executive and staff offices in Birmingham.

Garry Neil Drummond has been actively involved in the company since his graduation from The University of Alabama in 1961, where he earned a civil engineering degree He and his brothers have built the company into a major economic force. The 1960s were a period of growth for the Drummond Company, which leased new reserves, developed new mines, and acquired larger and most efficient equipment. By the late 1960s, the company had coal sales approaching $8 million.

Coal industry observers say the company’s big break came in 1969 and 1970 when Garry Neil Drummond, who had then been with the company eight years, negotiated a contract with, Ataka & Company of Tokyo, a Japanese company, to deliver $100 million in coal over the next 10 years. The Japanese company needed metallurgical quality coal that was found in the eastern half of the Warrior Basin, Drummond Company’s backyard. That was the firm’s first export sale, but it opened the way for what became a major part of the business, and Drummond, after becoming CEO in 1973, has negotiated many more ventures with the Japanese steel industry.

The company expanded rapidly during the 1970s to meet the Japanese demand and to compete for additional business worldwide. A major step in the growth of the company has been the merger of Alabama By-Products Corporation, which was incorporated in 1920. The ABC coke plant at Tarrant is the largest single producer of foundry coke in the United States. Drummond Company acquired majority control of ABC’s voting stock in 1977, and eight years later completed the acquisition of all ABC stock through a tender offer. By the end of 1985, ABC was merged with Drummond and continues to operate as a division of Drummond while maintaining its nationally recognized name.

It was also in 1985 that Drummond ventured into real estate development with Oakbridge, a $500 million residential, commercial, professional office, and business park community in Lakeland, Florida. Rancho La Quinta is located in La Quinta, California, near Palm Springs. The project, a 700-acre golf-oriented residential development, was acquired in 1992. Development activities restarted in 1993 and include residential communities and a country club with two 18-hole courses. Liberty Park is a 3,300-acre mixed-use development in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. Development started in 1991 and includes residential communities, corporate offices, retail space, and Old Overton Golf Course, ranked by Golf Digest in 1994 as “America’s Best New Private Course.”

Garry Neil Drummond has been the chief executive officer of Drummond Company, Inc. since 1973. The four other brothers also have been involved continuously in company operations. E. A. “Larry” Drummond is president of the company, Segal E. Drummond is executive vice-president and assistant to the chief executive officer, Donald D. Drummond is president of the Drummond Coal Division, and John H. Drummond is vice-president management.

Among his many honors, Garry Neil Drummond was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from The University of Alabama and was the UA College of Engineering Distinguished Lecturer for 1987-8 and outstanding Fellow in 1987. He received the Keith-Woodman Award in 19 87 and was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.

He served on the University of Alabama Board of Trustees from 1983 through 2001. during which time he served three years a President Pro Tempore. He and the Alabama Coal Industry established the Garry Neil Drummond Endowment at The University of Alabama in 1985.

He is actively involved in state, national and international organizations within the coal industry and has served on the board of numerous local and state organizations dedicated to charitable causes and economic development. He serves on the board of the National Mining Association, Business Council of Alabama, SouthTrust Corporation, the Center for Energy and Economic Development, and is a past chairman of the board of Economic Partnership of Alabama. He is a member of the Birmingham Rotary Club and was elected to the Alabama Academy of Honor in 1989. He al o has been active in the Boy Scouts of America and in several conservation organizations including Ducks Unlimited.

Drummond is the father of four sons and one daughter. He lives in the Birmingham area with his wife, the former Peggy Snoddy. Ir. Drummond’s father was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in 1990.