Pell City educator honored by library
Story by Carol Pappas
Submitted Photos
When Deanna Lawley was a child, a less-than-harmonious trip to the dentist one day with her mother ended abruptly when Lawley bit the dentist.
Her mother was “horrified” with the actions of her 6-year-old, she recalled, “and she turned me over to my daddy.”
But her father had a deal to dangle in front of the precocious, albeit challenging, child that just might make the next visit a bit less dramatic.
He coerced her into behaving at the dentist’s office with the promise that he would buy her that book she had been wanting – Black Beauty – “the one with the shiny cover.” The father-daughter ‘deal’ was struck, and it not only became the key to a smooth office visit that day, it unlocked a lifetime of love for reading. “24 hours later I had my book,” she said.
And she’s been reading ever since.
As a career path, she naturally chose teaching English and for decades, she shared her passion for the written word with countless Pell City High School students. In retirement, she paints books through travel.
Forming a group called Friends Bound for New Horizons, Lawley guides trips across the globe. They have become learning adventures that have raised nearly $100,000 for the Pell City Library.
The first trips generated funds for Pell City Schools Educational Foundation and later grew successful enough to support the library and after that, Museum of Pell City, a nonprofit she co-founded.
Among her early travelers were Library Director Danny Stewart and Carolyn Hall, a longtime library supporter. One day Hall wryly told her, “There’s no reason why you can’t give money to the library,” which led to years of travel – and funding – for the library.
Guild members sought to honor her in a special way, and they named a room in the library for her.
Actually, there were two rooms that needed naming – arts and crafts and teens – and Lawley chose arts and crafts. She picked arts and crafts, not only for the creativity and imagination found inside, but she joked she had years of teaching teens, and “most” were not too entertained. “Arts and crafts are fun for any age – my PCHS teens, not so much. They were getting ready with research and Shakespeare for college.”
“She wanted to see the happy, fun part,” said Stewart.
“There was a desire to have something to pay her back for all the money she has raised over the years,” Stewart said. “We thought it was only fitting to name a room after her.” She shares the honor with husband Barnett, who not only has helped her with the trips over the years, he has given back to the community as a public servant, a conservationist and a volunteer in many different arenas.
“How deserving,” Stewart said. “They are a great couple in philanthropic endeavors.”
A reception in her honor featured a meet and greet hour on a beautifully decorated patio at the Municipal Complex followed by dinner in the banquet room. “The ladies of the Guild were extremely good hostesses. It was so much more than we anticipated. It was such a lovely event, and the patio was a perfect venue for such an occasion.”
Making it even more special was when she learned her good friends, John Wandrisco of United Distributors and St. Clair Commissioner Bob Mize supported the event, making it “such a fine affair.”
Lawley sees her fundraising work on the library’s behalf as a labor of love. “I’ve always loved to read. I am very pleased to be connected to the library,” she said, recounting childhood memories in Newnan, Georgia, where the library was housed in a historic Carnegie building on the courthouse square. It was “holy ground to me. It was a major influence on me as a child.”
And now, she gets to give that gift back in her own way, helping new generations learn to treasure the riches of the library just like she discovered so long ago.
