| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 34.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 30 Jan 2014.
School Days 2!
Remembrances Of A Gracious Yet Humble Teacher And Lady – Vondell Breeden
By Roger A. Butler Cosby High School Class of 1961
A teacher of supreme intellect; a teacher with a unique savvy for the specific educational needs of each student irrespective of social or academic standing; a teacher who invested the ultimate energies each day to elicit the very best from every student: statements that simply but effectively portray a long and distinguished career of one of Cosby High School’s (and Cocke County’s) premier teachers of the 20th century.
Vondell Breeden – school librarian and my grammar/English teach for my four years at Cosby High School – a teacher to whom I owe much for all that she taught me. In the four years under her tutelage, I experienced a process of learning from her that carried me successfully though my college bachelor’s program, through a master’s program and through a long successful career. Four years of rigorous work in prescriptive grammar: subject-verb conjugation; punctuation; sentence structure, diagramming, compound subjects/ compound verbs, predicate adjectives, predicate nominatives, essay writing with English Literature thrown in – she was a relentless pursuer of excellence in her students. She was a disciplinarian with high expectations for success for every student, making that known to all early and often. After four years sitting under her teaching, I left with confidence that I could successfully compete with anyone in this area of academics.
I never saw her exhibit an attitude of “..I’m too busy to help or assist you”, rather she was always remarkably kind and patient, willing to help and assist, even at her most busy times. She possessed a charm and charisma that said to each of her students, “….I believe in you, I want for you the best, to see you grow and prosper in your educational journey.”That charisma was a catalyst in the life of most students that produced a “want”, a strong “desire” to respond to this simple yet sincere message that she conveyed by not only her words, but by her actions. Simply by the way she lived her life, both in and out of the classroom, she instilled in many of her students a set of human traits and values (honesty, integrity and character) that became the bedrock for way we lived our lives. As a fellow teacher to others, she became a mentor to other younger or less experienced teachers as opportunities to do so were presented. She was a woman of character and integrity, a woman determined to instill excellence and confidence in every student whose life she was privileged to touch; a woman who, during her life was admired by many and who now, even in death, continues to be greatly admired by ever so many. She was, without a doubt, a woman for her time a bright star in the life of each of her students at Cosby High School and I, for one, shall never forget her.
In the recesses of my mind, I have a vision for a Cosby High School “Hall of Fame”, a “Hall of Fame” that inducts and honors not just athletes, neither just those who may carry the title of valedictorian or salutatorian after their name, neither just those deemed the social elite or ones having gained secular notoriety attributable to their position or financial gain but rather those whose services to others have produced lasting and meaningful influences and values to peers and students alike who then carried those influences and values to immeasurable numbers of others in his or her sphere of influence during their careers their life.
Standing very tall in this “Hall of Fame” and casting the very longest of shadows are only a few that come to my mind – Vondell Breeden, without doubt, is one of those few. She represents a bar that has been set high to which many will perhaps strive but to which precious few will attain.
I hope that many who read this will join with me in honoring the life of Vondell Breeden and the breath of the positive influence that accrued to the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of students and others in her long and distinguished career.
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Vondell E Breeden
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Civil District 5, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Marital Status: Married
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter-In-Law
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter-in-law
Birthplace: Tennessee
Birth Year (Estimated): 1915
Last Place of Residence: Same Place
District: 15-10
Family Number: 52
Sheet Number and Letter: 4A
Line Number: 4
Affiliate Publication Number: T627
Affiliate Film Number: 3881
Digital Folder Number: 005461287
Image Number: 00273
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head James Breeden M 69 Tennessee
Daughter Ida H Breeden F 37 Tennessee
Son Nias Breeden M 25 Tennessee
Daughter-in-law Vondell E Breeden F 25 Tennessee
Servant Jennie Lindsey F 33 Tennessee
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 21 Mar 2003.
Vondle Esther (Penny) Lindsey Breeden, age 88, of Newport, TN, and Camdenton, Missouri, died on March 21, 2003, in the Windsor Estates Healthcare Center of Camdenton, Missouri. She was born February 8, 1915, as the twelfth child of Lillie Florence “Sis” Valentine and Jacob Baxter Lindsey, of Caney Creek, Cosby. She was preceded in death by her husband of forty years, Nias Breeden; per parents; her eight sisters, Dora Marinda Phillips, Della Lorette Lindsey, Zelma Hattie Childers, Zora Otelle Large, Louise Emeline Shults, Jennie Pearl McMahan, Bernice Leunie Cope, and Vernie Algie Lindsey; three brothers, Francis, Otha, and Carl Lindsey; and a niece whom she regarded as a younger sister, Aileen McMahan Butler. She was a life-long member of Caton’s Grove Methodist Church, Cosby, TN.
Vondle Breeden graduated from Cocke County High School in 1934 and continued her education as Asheville Normal Teachers College, Asheville, NC, achieving her baccalaureate degree in 1938. She taught in the public schools of Cocke County for more than thirty years and retired from Cosby High School where she had taught English and served as librarian for over twenty years. Many of her students remember her for her role in coaching the school’s theatrical productions, where she shone in her ability to inspire confidence in her young charges.
Mrs. Breeden is survived by a number of nephews and nieces as well as great-nephews and great-nieces, many of whom regarded her as an extra, and special, grandmother. They will miss her greatly.
The family will receive visitors at Manes Funeral Home, Newport, on Sunday, March 23, 2003, from noon to 2 p.m. followed by the funeral service and interment in the Breeden Cemetery. Services will be conducted by Rev. Ransom Hall.
Manes Funeral Home in charge.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 99348733).
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name: Nias Breeden
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 15 Oct 1939
Event Place: Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Age:
Birth Year (Estimated):
Father's Name:
Father's Titles and Terms:
Mother's Name:
Mother's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Name: Vondle Lindsey
Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Age:
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):
Spouse's Father's Name:
Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Mother's Name:
Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms:
Reference ID: 25
GS Film number: 1928651
Digital Folder Number: 004485966
Image Number: 00051
|
Search | Advanced Search
1915 - 2003 (88 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
= Link to Google Maps