WHEN HARRY MET: Diane Matthews, who spent a half-century with Attalla City Schools

The following names play a vital role in the story that follows: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Plus, Billy J. Rains, Jim Crocker, Danny Golden, Ray Landers, David Bowman and Jeff Colegrove.

Can you guess why?

Diane “Di” Matthews was the baby of three born into a Glencoe family and raised in that town. She was educated in the town’s schools.

As a student at Glencoe High School, she was an active participant in her studies and several clubs. Cheerleading was something she enjoyed, along with playing on GHS’s softball and volleyball teams. She was chosen as homecoming queen her senior year, and after graduating in 1969 received a scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Montevallo.

“But I didn’t go,” she said with a laugh, “I was a ‘home girl’ and didn’t want to go away from home.”

Instead, Matthews enrolled at Gadsden State (then) Junior College to major in physical education, but soon changed to a business course and set about learning how to become a secretary. Little did she know how those skills learned would guide her life for the next 50 years.

Matthews excelled in her business courses and dreamed of finding a good-paying job after graduating. Then, a miracle occurred. A request for her to come to the school’s office resulted in her being given a rare opportunity to apply for a secretarial job at an Attalla school.

“I met with Superintendent Billy J. Rains, who sent me to meet with Fred Rogers for an interview,” Matthews said. “He hired me to work at Alma Hinson Junior. High School, to start immediately; I was thrilled to get that opportunity.”

In 1972, during a vacation trip to Panama City, Florida. she met Lloyd Matthews — who, in later years would spend his working years at Gadsden’s Goodyear plant (known there as “Mophead”) and serve eight years as a Rainbow City Council member. “I asked her for a date and she agreed but stood me up,” he recalled with a laugh. “We went out the next night, though, and we’ve been together ever since.”

The couple married a year later.

By the way, Lloyd is battling a life-threatening lung disease. “They said the life span was four to five years, but I’m in my sixth year now and feeling good,” he said. His illness keeps him homebound, which has been an even greater priority during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new bride had a job, returning to Gadsden State for night classes and eventually earning an associate degree in business.

Matthews’ abilities began to attract attention and she began to move — to Etowah High School, to the middle school and eventually to the Board of Education office.

There, she’s worked during the terms of six different superintendents, beginning with Rains, and the terms of 10 U.S. presidents. (Those are the names mentioned in the first paragraph.)

She said that although each superintendent had his own way of doing things, her work as the “super’s secretary” has been rewarding.

But after 50 years of service in Attalla — in roles from receptionist to secretary and bookkeeper — Mathews closed her computer and retired on July 1.

Before leaving, I need to tell you that Matthews took her cheerleading talents to a high level during her young married life. She became the cheerleader sponsor for Rainbow City’s Golden Hawks, a youth football team (ages 7-12) that her husband coached, beginning in 1976 and continuing for several years.

“Oh, she was so precious, she was like a mother to us.” recalled Susan Bailey Young, a sixth-grader at that time and one of about 12 to 15 other girls who were cheerleaders for the team. “One special remembrance I’ve always had was in 1977, when Elvis died. Diane took that news hard; she was so devastated by his death. As a child, I didn’t understand that. Mny years later, as an adult, I came to understand her feelings of that time.”

After three years of cheerleading for the Golden Hawks, Young kept on cheerleading as a student at Southside High School, graduating in 1983.

A final note regarding Matthews — she served as president of the Alabama Association of School Office Personnel and served for 10 years on the district coordinator’s board.

Oops! There’s neither time nor space to tell you about the time she survived being bitten by a venomous snake, but I’ve got to tell you about “Loretta,” a nickname given Matthews by the Rev. Randy Gunter of Meadowbrook Baptist Church — she and her husband are longtime members — for her “country” style of singing. She and pianist Charlotte McMurtrey, for the past 10 years, have been regular performers at local nursing homes.

Harry D. Butler, a former broadcaster, is a motivational speaker and author of “Alabama’s First Radio Stations, 1920-1960.” Butler periodically sits down with someone of note, then brings the conversation to readers. 

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Diane Matthews looks back at 50 years with Attalla City Schools