Surely these three were saints who walked among us | Sam Venable
There’s a liturgical waiver that pops up every Nov. 1.
It’s the fine print attached to All Saints’ Day, a time when we of this orb are charged with reflecting upon the lives of saints who have died the previous 12 months.
All saints, it specifies, “known and unknown.”
Those words never fail to bring a smile to my lips and peace to my heart. Also a few questions to my brain.
Unknown to whom? How wide does the audience have to be? Can a single vote count? Is there a Top 100 list of candidates? I’m happy to leave those decisions to higher authorities.
But if any three folks made positive, enduring impacts on this region, they were Joe Johnson, Loyal Jones and David Etnier.
Not surprisingly, all were educators who spent their decades-long careers teaching far beyond the confines of academia.
Johnson, who died Sept. 29 at age 90, was a former president of the University of Tennessee System. Which is like describing Peyton Manning as a former Vol.
“Dr. Joe” was, in my mind, the modern version of Dr. Andrew “Andy” Holt. Both were affable, natural-born leaders who expertly manned the helm during periods of unprecedented growth at the university.
It would take an entire newspaper page to list their professional achievements, the committees, boards and non-profits they steered, and the honors they received and so richly deserved.
But perhaps Dr. Joe’s finest hour was when he came out of retirement to serve as interim president, 2003-2004. This was during what archivists politely call UT’s “rocky period” after abrupt resignations by Wade Gilley and John Shumaker.
I’ll be polite as well and simply speak for many UT graduates: “Thank you, Dr. Joe, for restoring the faith.”
Loyal Jones was 95 when he died Oct. 7. Scholars often described him as “the beloved interpreter of Appalachian life and culture.” Simply put, he made us proud of who we are.
Jones served as longtime director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College. A teacher, historian, public speaker and bestselling author, he covered all facets of life in our region, serious to silly. He could passionately address the inaccuracies, misconceptions and prejudices of cornpone nonsense like “The Beverly Hillbillies,” yet still laugh at the show’s comedic theme and dialogue.
Revered UT professor David “Ets” Etnier, 84, died May 7. He was such a brilliant aquatic biologist, I often wondered if he breathed through gills.Ets was the complete naturalist, consummate scientist and dedicated researcher, yet down to earth as dirt itself.
Dr. Joe, Loyal and Ets: sure ’nuff saints who left this world a better place.
Sam Venable’s column appears every Sunday. Contact him at sam.venable@outlook.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Sam Venable: Surely these three were saints who walked among us
