Mr. Robert Evan Lee, Mr. John William Lee, and Mrs. Virginia H. Stokely
This scholarship was established in memory of Ruth Stokely and John H. Stokely, Jr. Ruth Stokely was the mother of Robert and John Lee, and John Stokely, Jr. was Ruth's brother who served as principal of Maury High School in Dandridge during the 1950's. The Stokely family has a long and illustrious history in Cocke County and can count among its members the founders of Stokely Canning Factory in Newport, author and social activist Wilma Dykeman, and operatic soprano Grace Moore.
John volunteered for service in the United States Navy upon his graduation from Cocke County High School in Newport, Tennessee. He saw active duty in the western Pacific during the summer of 1945. After being discharged from the Navy, John attended Carson-Newman College. He taught math and English before becoming principal of Maury High School in Dandridge. After completing his Masters Degree from Peabody College and post-graduate work from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Stokely became a leader in the field of education.
Ruth also graduated from Cocke Count High School in Newport and attended college at Asheville Normal and Teachers College in Asheville, North Carolina. Ruth held several teaching positions until the outbreak of World War II. Ruth then worked at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, before accepting a position in the defense plants in Detroit, Michigan. She eventually resumed her career as an elementary school teacher in Nough, which is in the mountains south of Del Rio. She was a devoted mother who placed the welfare and education of her three sons above all else.
Scholarships associated with Mr. Robert Evan Lee, Mr. John William Lee, and Mrs. Virginia H. Stokely