CCHS to induct Mayberry, Peterson to Hall of Fame
Published Oct. 1, 2004

By W. Alan Beckelheimer
Chronicle Staffwriter
W.E. (Bill) Mayberry Jr. and Kate Peterson have been selected to receive the honor of being the 2004 inductees into the Cumberland County High School Hall of Fame.

Mayberry was selected for his lifelong service to his community and nation. He was a 1940 graduate of CCHS where he played in the band, played football and basketball. Mayberry also served his country during World War II.

After graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1947, Bill Mayberry returned home to work in the family business, W.E. Mayberry & Son.

It is difficult to enumerate the accomplishments and contributions to the community made by Mayberry but those accomplishments pale in comparison to the difference he made in the lives of those around him.

Mayberry served as the mayor of Crossville in 1950 at the age of 28. He played an instrumental role in the formation of the United Fund. Mayberry was also the chairman of the UT Alumni Association, the UT Development Board, Uplands Retirement Home, Uplands Cumberland Medical Center, District Council of Ministries and the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

Mayberry was a Christian gentleman and devoted much of his life to serving Christ and promoting His word in the community, having been a member of the First United Methodist Church for 65 years. Mayberry was an asset to the community and believed firmly in education. It is with great honor that CCHS inducts W.E. (Bill) Mayberry Jr. into its Hall of Fame in 2004.

Kate Peterson will also be inducted into the CCHS Hall of Fame this year. Those submitting the application on Peterson's behalf cited her extensive contribution to the community in the field of education. Peterson graduated from CCHS in 1927 as salutatorian and subsequently devoted 44 years of her life to teaching. Peterson taught at CCHS and one and two room schools in the Mill Creek, Lantana, Ozone, Woody, Creston, Centers and Westel communities.

Peterson was adored by her more than 4,500 students and not just because she was an excellent teacher of academic subjects. Peterson loved her students as children and was more than capable of rendering much needed advice concerning life whenever one of her students were in need.

Peterson was a graduate of the University of Tennessee and George Peabody, which would become known as Vanderbilt University.

After her teaching career was finished in 1975, Peterson began to travel the world that she had only taught about for so many years. Peterson has visited every state in the U.S. and every Canadian province. She's also visited Mexico, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, China, the Fiji Islands, Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand.
Peterson has a charitable heart and readily gives of herself to organizations that support children such as the Grandfather Home for Children, the Holston Methodist Home for Children, Feed the Children and the Humane Society of the United States.

She is a member of the United Methodist Church in Johnson City.

Since 1989, Peterson has lived in the Appalachian Christian Village in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she has served on and been president of the Residents' Council. These days she is an avid consumer of newspapers and keeps up with the doings of families and friends. Although Peterson has been confined to a wheelchair these past years, her mind, her spirit and her boundless curiosity are as free as the birds she adores.

Both Mayberry's and Peterson's pictures will be added to the Cumberland County High School's Hall of Fame to honor their memory and their commitment to their community.