To alumni who faithfully read "Austin Peay," the face of Fessey Wyatt ('75) is as familiar as family.

Throughout the years, if there were a need for someone to chair a committee or decorate for an event, she's always first in line to help, regardless of how menial the task. Few alumni have given as much time and effort to the alumni association as she. Why?

She laughs and says, "Doug Barber ('71) (former alumni director) got me involved with the alumni association initially, and LaRae (Davenport, '99) keeps me going. They always made the work so much fun.

"There have been days when my time at Emerald Hill was the only sane part of my life. When things were stressful, coming here was an escape. Being with people I enjoy..."

Even excluding all the work she does for APSU, Wyatt's life is busy by anyone's standards. She has taught physical education, currently at Hazelwood Elementary School, for 15 years. In the middle of her teaching career, she took off 10 years during which she built a successful career in insurance sales. In 1990, she was named Insurance Woman of the Year by the Clarksville chapter, in addition to receiving many awards for insurance sales. But she returned to teaching in 1994.

Throughout her life, she's been involved in her community and church. Among her activities, she was president of Insurors of Clarksville during 1988-90 and active for years in the Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce, serving as membership chair in 1994-95. She was a committed member of the Downtown Civitan Club during 1987-94.

Wyatt was elected president of the APSU National Alumni Association in 1998 and agreed to serve a two-year term ending in Summer 2000. Previously, the APSUNAA president served a one-year term. According to Wyatt, by the time the president learned the job, it was time for him or her to step aside. A two-year term enables the president to establish goals and be around to ensure and enjoy follow-through.

Wyatt was president of the Montgomery County Chapter of the National Alumni Association during 1993-95, and she has chaired almost every alumni committee, including a stint in 1996 as overall Homecoming chair.

According to her, her tendency to get involved in volunteer work is a reflection of her grandmother. With obvious pride, she says, "Daddy's mother, Mary Jim Marshall, was active in everything in the area. She was the state district chair for District II of Farm Bureau. Remember, during those days Farm Bureau was considered mainly an organization for men. Sometimes she took me along to meetings. She made me see how important volunteer work is."

On top of her job and community activities, Wyatt is the mother of three grown children: Johnny, a coach and teacher in Clarksville; Elizabeth, a military wife in Germany; and Lauren, a freshman at APSU. Wyatt's husband, John ('60), has two grown children, Merri Scott Ekel, who currently attends APSU, and Andy ('90). She is grandmother of six and step-grandmother of four. Among the 10 grandchildren are two sets of twins.

"Christmas at our house is a hoot. There's 'his' and 'mine.' But they all get along so well. 'Our' baby is Festus," she says, with a slow smile. "A Doberman--a big baby."

Since she has been involved with APSU for so many years, Wyatt has a unique insider/outsider perspective of the University. She says, "We've made a lot of progress since I was a student. The University is getting some nice, new buildings; enrollment and private support have increased. As Austin Peay continues to move forward, I don't want its leaders to forget the importance of the University's history."

Wyatt defines herself, to a large degree, by history--the history of her ancestors. It's her treasured legacy. Ask about "the mill" and her face lights up and, without realizing it, her Southern accent gets slower, thicker. Sweet molasses on buttermilk biscuits.

Although Ringgold Mill was built in the mid-1800s, Wyatt's great-grandfather, Samuel Dawson Durrett, and R.D. Fort bought it in 1907. At the time, there were many mills operating along the swiftly running forks of Red River. Ursula Smith Beach, county historian, recalls, "Out of the Durrett and Fort ownership, there came a special brand of excellent flour bearing their initials 'D&F Flour.'"

In 1919, Ringgold Mill became the sole property of the Durrett family where it remained for three generations until it closed in 1974.

Wyatt and her parents lived with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Dawson Winfield Durrett, in the brick house at the mill until Wyatt was four at which time her grandparents moved to another house. Wyatt and her parents continued to live in the home near the mill until she was in the 6th grade--so she grew up loving Ringgold Mill and the swimming hole created by its dam where she learned to swim. As the granddaughter of the owner of "the mill," she was special--the child-princess of an imaginary kingdom of lush green trees that were perfect to hide behind, barefoot-trodden paths winding away to wherever a child's imagination wanted to go--and, always, always, the cool, mill-stream water in which to splash or just glide beneath the surface like some exotic fish.

Even before that, the two-story log house built by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Winfield Durrett, was a thing of wonder to her. In 1930 Winfield Durrett chose a site on a sloping hill near Highway 41 in Montgomery County. It was on this hillside he planned to build his home. He bought chestnut trees, cut them down and let them dry for a year before he moved them to the hillside. He confiscated stones from an old family home, chose red oak for the flooring and white oak for the ceiling beams.

In 1932 construction began on the large log house. It had 12 rooms standing two stories high, plus a basement and an attic. On the first floor was a den, living room, dining room, breakfast room, kitchen, bath and utility room. On the second floor were four bedrooms, including the master bedroom with a fireplace, two bathrooms and a screened porch running the length of the downstairs front porch.

The interior exposed logs, which created the walls of the home, were hand-sanded and chinked with cement. The ceiling beams were hand-hewn white oak. Seasoned red oak was used for the floors. The living room fireplace was built by a stone mason willing to work for food. It was the Great Depression and times were hard.

The family moved into the home in 1933, living there for nine years before the log home and the land around it were taken by the federal government for the construction of Camp Campbell. Thus, in 1942 the family moved back to the Durrett family home adjacent to Ringgold Mill.

Although the beloved log house was lost to the family, Wyatt takes pride in the fact it still stands, now serving as a home to various generals assigned to Fort Campbell.

Speaking of her grandparents, Wyatt says, "They were awesome...always there for me. They had character. I never heard Pappa say anything bad about anyone. He was good to people. Everyone in the community respected him.

"My grandmother, Mary Fessey Durrett, played the organ. They made sure I was in church every Sunday."

Her faith in God, birthed at tiny, historic Bethel Methodist Church near Gate 3 of Fort Campbell, has helped support her through various difficult times. In Summer 1998, shortly after she had undergone major surgery, her husband, John, was diagnosed with advanced non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which is cancer of the body's lymphatic system that often spreads to the body's organs.

She says, "We get through it together. We decided to stay 'up' for each other. I'll be honest--at first we were scared, but when we met John's doctor and then when we went for his first chemo and saw all the people sitting together--laughing and talking--we knew we were going to lick this thing."

During this battle that resulted in the inevitable re-evaluating of what's really important in life, they rediscovered the joy Wyatt knew when, as a little girl, she splashed and swam in the cool waters of the old swimming hole at Ringgold Mill.

The couple bought a houseboat, "Sharecropper," the nickname of her husband who farms "on the side." The beautiful, sleek houseboat is docked at Paris Landing Marina on Kentucky Lake. Most weekends they load up the car and head to the lake where they link up with family and friends.

She says, "Usually, we take the boat out with friends on other houseboats. We all tie-up together in some cove for the weekend. It's so peaceful, so relaxing. We just have fun."

A carefree childhood filled with memories of swimming in the cool water of Ringgold Mill pond...happy hours now floating and swimming in Kentucky Lake.

Throughout history, immersion in water has represented rebirth, renewal.

For Wyatt, it still does.