Logan County has experienced the loss of some highly respected citizens recently, including maybe the person I’ve known longest in my life, 104-year-old retired banker Ollie ‘Punkin’ Klein, and one I had placed on a pedestal, 101-year-old highly decorated veteran Merle Van Vleet, who served in three wars.
Today, we go into depth on four newsworthy people, whom we’ll classify as a Game Guy and three Pioneering Gals.
Sonny Gloyd
Sonny Gloyd was a Game Guy two-thirds of his courageous life. He officially received that designation in May 1988 from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association for his continuing to play football for the Logan County Cougars after having been diagnosed with and treated for cancer.
On Nov. 30, Sonny passed way at Vanderbilt Medical Center, receiving what his family believes was “his greatest reward by being ushered into heaven after overcoming countless trials and seemingly unsurmountable challenges throughout his life.”
He was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma at age16 and battled cancer and related illnesses multiple times over the course of nearly 40 years. By his side has been his family, including his then-high school sweetheart and now wife of 34 years, Dana, and his daughter, Carrie, a former Lady Cougar basketball player who is now a freshman at the University of Kentucky.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Sonny is survived by his mother, Dianna Gloyd of Adairville, and his three brothers, Richie Gloyd (Laurie) of Adairville, David Gloyd (Amanda) of Russellville, and Doug Gloyd (Amy) of Mayfield.
All the sons of Diana and the late Walter Gloyd were part of the early days of Cougar football. Sonny, who was coached by Steve Eans and Stumpy Baker, was born in Ohio, and his dad always reminded me of what we would call a hard-nosed Yankee, but he and the boys were gentle giants and gentlemen. Doug played college football and has been a coach and athletic director in western Kentucky. Richie and his marvelous wife Laurie have opened the Keysburg Country Store & Family Restaurant in a rural area of South Logan.
I taught Sonny at LCHS and always liked and admired him. He never used his major illness as what would have been a legitimate excuse to spend his adult years as an invalid. Instead, he was a factory worker and farmer.
Most of all he was a gentleman and a Game Guy.
Three other LCHS athletes have received honors similar to Sonny’s Game Guy Award. Frank Harris Dockins received that same award in the first decade of this century for returning to football while Dylan Penick and KJ Page were named to Tom Leach’s All-Resilient Teams in consecutive years for returning to diamond sports after suffering major injuries.
Lisa Howlett
Lisa Jo Howlett, 66, passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 6 in Nashville. She was a focused, relentless pioneer in just about everything she did.
It wasn’t mentioned in her obituary, but I remember well how hard she worked to make the first season of girls basketball in this area in over four decades a success for herself, her team and women’s sports, which was on the verge of emergence after having been suppressed for so long. Along with Hattie Sydnor (Stonecipher) and Gayla Grider (Martin), Lisa was an senior on the first Lady Panther team, coached by the late Matt Tipton in that 1974-75 season.
She was nowhere close to the natural talent level of Olmstead star Gracie Mason (Woodard), but Lisa battled her relentlessly whenever they played. She got everything she could out of her body and had great results, although Coach Gary Shelton’s undefeated Lady Rams were the dominant team throughout the first few years of girls ball in the Land of Logan.
As an adult, Lisa Howlett served in many capacities at First Christian Church in Bowling Green from Youth sponsor to Elder. She was a dedicated volunteer to the Community Grocery Store at First Christian Church as well as Hotel, Inc. These were her passions following retirement. Lisa first owned Glenview Health Care in Glasgow for 25 years.
She had grown up with her dad, Joe Howlett, running the multi-generational family leather business in Auburn. It had been sold, but she returned to Auburn and returned Auburn into a leather leader nationally and internationally. She became owner/operator of Auburn Leather Company and Old Kentucky Leather in Franklin. In 2013, Auburn Leather Company was named the Small Business Exporter of the Year and received acknowledgement of that in Washington, DC. In 2018, Lisa became the first female president of the Leather Industries of America (LIA), which later became what is now the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA).
The former girls sports pioneer in Logan County became what is believed to have been the first successful Logan international businesswoman.
Among her survivors is her sister, Pam Howlett Leach, who was also a local women’s sports pioneer as a starter on Russellville’s first girls tennis teams in 1969 and ’70. Her husband, highly respected Franklin lawyer Buddy Leach, also played tennis for the Panthers at a time we were getting started on some very good years of RHS tennis.
November was a tough month for the Leaches. Buddy’s older brother, David Leach of Logan County, died just 10 days after Pam’s sister did.
Helen Todd
Although I don’t recall her playing a sport, Helen Todd (Elliot) was a pioneer in what is now considered a sport. She not only was a cheerleader, but she held the distinction of being the first African American cheerleader at Russellville High School. Her daughter, Kenyatta Todd, was a rugged post player for Lady Panther basketball.
No formal announcement of her death has been made by Gamble Funeral Home, but her niece, Morgan Todd, and RHS Alumni spokesperson Greg Owens have written about it on Facebook. I’ve talked with her Hall of Fame brother, Coach Phil Todd, about Helen’s death, too.
Not only was she the first black cheerleader in Pantherland, but she also was the first African American Homecoming Queen at RHS.
Much credit goes to the late RHS faculty member Peggy Reeder for making this happen when it did. She convinced the administration that although students of color were a significant part of the student body, they didn’t have the numbers to get someone from their midst elected to positions like this.
Peggy worked out a system that would guarantee an African American student would be a cheerleader and part of the Homecoming court. Helen won them both on her first try, paving the way for many others who have filled those roles over the half century which followed. Mrs. Reeder’s system was not needed long after Helen set the example.
Helen, who was a member of the Class of 1973, didn’t fit the stereotype of cheerleaders and homecoming queens in those days in more ways than race, She was tall and tough, and sometimes she would get in trouble with teachers or administrators. I can’t imagine her wearing a frilly dress.
But she was also fun and would laugh about herself or just about anything else. You had no choice but to like her.
Helen was one of our Turner Valley Produce’s loyal customers, but it was usually only once or twice a year when she wanted turnip greens. She would save her Senior Vouchers to spend the entire amount on greens.
When other customers would ask when turnip greens would be available, I would always say, “Just as soon as Helen gets all she wants. I don’t want her mad at me.” And, they would laugh, completely understanding.
The last time I ever saw Helen was near the end of October. She came to the Farmers’ Market, and I assured her I had greens ready for her. But she didn’t want them, and it was obvious that she didn’t feel well enough to do much cooking or eating. Instead, she used her vouchers to pay for greens and other produce family and friends wanted.
As I am sure I had before, I told our daughter Lindsay, “Helen was Russellville’s first black cheerleader and homecoming queen.”
Helen looked at us and said, “And I still have a gun in my back pocket.” And then she flashed that mischievous grin that I will always remember her by.
Jean Hankins
I’ve tried to come up with an excuse to talk about Jean Hankins in a sports column, but it’s a stretch. About the best I can do is note that her son-in-law—daughter Debbie’s husband Rick Matar—and his brother Ron were dependable Panther football players. Maybe her son, Johnny Hankins, played sports, too.
Her pacesetting, history-making role in public service fits in so well with that of Lisa Howlett and Helen Todd that she belongs here, though.
Jean died in late October at the end of 88 productive years. She was a hairdresser for several years and was half-owner with Sue Holloway of Jean and Sue’s Beauty Shop in downtown Russellville. She served on the Russellville City Council for 19 years and was recognized as one of the longest-serving women in Kentucky filling a role like that. She also served on the BRADD Board and the Electric Plant Board of Directors
Jean wasn’t the first woman Russellville Councilmember, but she was the first to be elected repeatedly, in fact for nine terms. She was always kind but could be firm when she believed strongly in an issue.
I remember well how supportive she and fellow councilwoman Marie Sweatt were to our Lindsay when she was elected to lead the first Russellville Mayor’s Youth Council, which they helped Mayor Shirlee Yassney establish.
Current Councilwoman Pat Bell, who served with Jean late in her tenure, may have more years of council service now than Jean did, and Sandra Kinser and Diane Walker are building long records, too, but Jean Hankins was a pacesetter whose legacy lives on.