For this retired educator, learning is a way of life.
By June Mathews
Tommie Mowery Harrison grew up in Wilton, a tiny town about as far south in Shelby County as you can get. A family of modest means, the Mowerys never had money to spare, but Tommie’s parents, Paul and Thelma, worked hard to provide for their children, teaching them the value of education in the process. “We lived in a four-room dog trot house, never owned a car, or had an indoor bathroom,” says Tommie. “So when I finished high school in 1959, I was motivated to get ahead because of how I grew up.”
An honor student and homecoming queen at Montevallo High School, Tommie aspired to earn a college degree and become a teacher. So after graduation, she headed to Alabama College (University of Montevallo) to begin her postsecondary education. She often depended on Wilton friends employed at the college to get her there. “I would thumb a ride with them every day, and they were gracious enough to let me,” she says. “I finished two years of college by working as a carhop at a barbecue place and helping out at the Methodist church.”
Unfortunately, her earnings weren’t enough to continue paying tuition and other school-related expenses. So she left college, planning to return when she could afford it. In the fall of 1961, Tommie married her high school sweetheart, Leslie Harrison. A lovely white cotton brocade dress she received for being crowned Maid of Cotton for Shelby County the previous year served as her wedding gown. For the next five-and-a-half years, the newlyweds moved around the country, courtesy of Leslie’s employer, the U.S. Army. Military life first took them to Michigan, then to Missouri, and later to Colorado.
Money was tight for the Harrisons back then. When they moved to Missouri, they took a tiny apartment in a rough part of St. Louis. Leslie’s salary of just over $200 a month barely covered the rent. The budget was stretched even further when their apartment was burglarized. Reporting police officers strongly recommended moving to a safer neighborhood, which the Harrisons did.
That measure of safety, however, came with a price: higher rent. Tommie needed a job, preferably in an office environment, to make ends meet, but their circumstances made her job search tough. “I got real discouraged looking for an office job in St. Louis because employers would say, ‘Honey, your husband is in the military. By the time we got you trained, you’d be gone,’” she remembers. “They didn’t like to hire military wives.”
The Harrisons owned only one vehicle then, so whenever Tommie ventured out, she had to walk down the street to catch a bus. Her route to the bus stop took her past an exclusive dining/entertainment establishment. One day, she impulsively stepped inside to inquire about a job. “I applied for a secretarial job but instead was hired as a greeter and waitress, working long hours and split shifts,” Tommie says. “The pay was good, the tips were usually generous, and Leslie and I were frugal. So during that time, we were able to save a lot for college.”
Though she often nursed aching feet, Tommie’s dream of continuing her education became more real with every dollar they took to the bank. “Neither Leslie’s nor my parents had any money to help us,” she says. “So that job, no matter how tough it was, helped us secure our future.”
Within a few months, Tommie and Leslie learned they were expecting the first of their two sons. Soon after, the Army transferred the parents-to-be to Colorado. When Leslie’s military commitment ended two years later, they returned to Shelby County. But after all these years, Tommie holds fond memories of St. Louis. “About the time we moved there, construction was beginning on the Golden Arch, the Gateway to the West,” she says. “Now, when I see the Arch, I think about how that place and time gave us hope.”
Once home, Tommie returned to her studies, and the money the Harrisons had saved paid her tuition. After finishing her degree and earning a teaching certificate, Tommie encouraged Leslie, who had no college credit, to earn a degree. Their savings again paid off. “At age 30, he entered Montevallo as a freshman and got four years in while driving a school bus and working at the Western Auto for a dollar an hour,” she recalls.
After graduation, Tommie’s first job was teaching at Thompson High School, where she remained for 17 years. She then became an assistant principal at Thompson Elementary, where she worked for about six years. After that, she served as principal of Creek View Elementary for 10 more years before retiring in 2000.
Somewhere amid the demands of career, family, church, and community, Tommie managed to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in education. Leslie, who likewise became a teacher after college, became an assistant principal then principal at Thompson Elementary. “At one point, the two of us had all the elementary school kids in Alabaster at our two schools,” Tommie says.
Known as an educator who utilized creative teaching methods, Tommie often led history classes on field trips (close to home and abroad) and on more than one occasion, she helped her students compile and publish books of their written works inspired by oral history interviews.
In 1982, Tommie wrote her own history book about the people and places of Wilton, her beloved hometown. She dedicated the book to her parents, who instilled in her “the dignity of work and the importance of education.”
The Harrisons, married for 64 years, are now enjoying retirement. Tommie paints, reads, researches local history, volunteers at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital, and utilizes her knowledge and skills as a Master Gardener to help things grow. But her interests don’t—and won’t—stop there. “I’m 84 years old now. I’m teaching myself technology and do well on Facebook with over 1,000 friends,” she says. “I’m now thinking about doing a blog.”