Read More News
Outstanding Former Students Recognized at 2010 Homecoming
Posted On: Wednesday June 23, 2010
Two former Tallulah Falls School students were recognized at this year's Alumni Homecoming held May 1 on campus. Myrtle Mae Baker Chandler Phillips (Class of 1937) and Ann Holemes Hulett (Class of 1970) were recognized for their outstanding contributions to their communities. Below are two short biographies on these accomplished women.
Myrtle Mae Baker Chandler Phillips
The Class of 1937
At ninety years young, Myrtle Mae Baker Chandler Phillips still has time for others. She’s a volunteer at heart whose career has focused on Methodist church ministry to children and senior citizens.
Born on June 10, 1919, in Warren County, Georgia, Myrtle began first grade at Tallulah Falls School in 1925. Her classes met at the Episcopal Church that was located across the street from the Tallulah Falls Baptist Church. At the time her family lived next door to James Turpen’s (fellow alumnus and former TFS faculty member) family and Myrtle vividly remembers the day he was born.
At nine years of age she began working in the childrens' Sunday School classes at Tallulah Falls Methodist Church, a task she grew to love and eventually performed for twelve years. By the time she graduated in 1937, she was the first TFS graduate to have attended for eleven years before graduating.
In 1937, Myrtle met and married Johnny Chandler (TFS Class of 1928), and the couple lived in Tallulah Falls until 1943 when they relocated to Cornelia due to Johnny’s job with the Tallulah Falls Railroad. Myrtle and Johnny had two daughters.
In Cornelia, Myrtle began to work in the childrens' Sunday School classes at Cornelia United Methodist Church. She focused her ministry on 1st and 2nd grade children for 25 years. She was well known for creating flannel board pictures that she used to teach Bible stories. Because of her dedication to the church she was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Leadership and Faithful Service. Myrtle also worked for Belk's Department Store in Cornelia for 21 years.
After Johnny died, Myrtle married Allen Phillips, a retired Methodist minister, in 1984. Myrtle and Allen had been acquainted for many years. In fact, Allen performed the marriage ceremony for Myrtle and Johnny back in 1937. After their marriage, they moved into St. John Towers in Augusta.
At St. John Towers, Myrtle began her ministry to senior citizens. She was President and Chairperson of Religious Life where she planned five services per week, a job she performed for 10 years. Myrtle entertained residents with skits and a rhythm band. She decorated monthly bulletin boards for 20 years and was Volunteer of the Year twice. She starred in TV commercials for St. John Towers and October 13, 2005, was proclaimed as Myrtle Phillips Day at St. John Towers.
She moved back to north Georgia in 2007 where she resides at The Wilkerson Center at Stephens County Hospital. She is the official "welcome lady" for new residents and continues to be active there. Her family has attended Camp Meetings every summer for the last 25 years at Poplar Springs in Royston, GA. She plans on being there once again this July. We have no doubts that she will be there.
Congratulations Myrtle!
Ann Holmes Hulett
Class of 1970
Ann Holmes Hulett was born and raised in Macon, Georgia, and entered Tallulah Falls School in the summer of 1968 in the 10th grade. Ann spent three years at TFS before graduating in 1970. She has a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren, and now lives in Stockbridge, Georgia. She worked with the Department of Defense for thirty years before retiring in 2008. She loves helping out with her grandchildren, gardening, and knitting, but her passion in life evolved from her personal experience with heart disease.
Ann suffered a heart attack in November 2004. This led to a heart catheterization which revealed six blockages. Two weeks after heart surgery she was released from the hospital and learned about WomenHeart - a national organization that trains women living with heart disease to conduct heart disease education and outreach in their communities. The group has more than 400 WomenHeart Champions, all heart disease survivors, who have graduated from the WomenHeart’s Science and Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic. Ann participates as a WomenHeart Champion in health fairs and other health seminars. Her story was featured in a St. Jude Medical Center publication about the benefits of receiving an ICD, an implantable cardioverter defibulator, which has greatly improved her quality of life. She has been interviewed by WMAZ in Macon, and has been featured on the Cheerio's website. Ann also serves as a Heart Truth Champion which is part of the Red Dress Campaign of the National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute. This campaign's goal is to give women a personal and urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease and the red dress is the national symbol for women and heart disease. In 2008, Ann was the featured speaker at the World of Coke in Atlanta when Diet Coke kicked off its partnership with Heart Truth.
Congratulations to Ann for her dedication to women's heart health!
|
