Horace McWhorter Everett, Jr… teacher, husband, father, brother… peacefully and painlessly left this plane of worldly existence on December 23, 2020. H M was born at home in the Chavies, Community on May 13, 1938. He was the son of late Dr. Horace McWhorter Everett, Sr. and Lucille Sutterlin Everett. He is survived by his wife of 59 years Ann Maxie Everett, his brother Ben Dale Everett (Terry), his two children Alan Dale Everett (Julia) and Kimberly Jo Everett (Kip Cole) and two nieces Tara Hylton and Anna Pohl (Andy).
Dad was lover of knowledge. He loved reading… books were always staked around his chair. He instilled the love of books in his children by reading to reading to them. Favorites included Beowulf, Jungle Book and The Adventures Tom Sawyer… with double emphasize on the two chapters ‘The Pinch Bug and His Prey’ and ‘The Cat and the Pain Killer.’ Laugher would flow with Dad narrating the dog and the cat’s antics. There were, also, stories from his imagination that were told on long car rides, ‘The Whoogie Bear’ and ‘The Little Old Lady on Lookout Mountain’ are two favorites.
Dad was a dedicated husband. My parents met at Lincoln Memorial University in 1958 and were together for six decades. The picture is from one of their first dates, the Fall Harvest Festival given by his fraternity. They look like two movie stars together… I remember finding mother’s student ID from that that time and Dad became quite… put the ID in his wallet saying, “That’s the Ann I fell in love with.”
He was a devoted son; caring for his parents, helping them plant their garden every year, tending to their farm animals… He never lived more than a mile from them. He loved animals; he always had pets. In these later years he was known to ‘adopt’ the neighbor’s dogs, saving scraps of meat to secretly treat them with later. As a child he raised a pet crow that would fly through his bedroom window, there were Shetland ponies, two Boston terrier bulldogs (Bingo and Tag) and many, many cats. He stole watermelons from a neighbor’s garden and cooled them in a creek for him and Dale to eat in the summertime. In the mornings before school he would milk the family cow and iconicly shoot the milk in their cat’s mouth.
He traveled the world; countries he had visited include Russia, Ireland, England, Scotland, Italy, Greece, Germany and others. His last trip was a cruise on a working ship with his best friend from high school, Don Stout, they toured the fjords of Norway where he saw the Northern lights. For their 50th anniversary Mom and he took a Mediterranean cruise; he favorite picture from that was of him at 6’2” riding a very sad looking burrow up to one of the ancient sites.
My Dad and his brother, Dale, shared a lifelong close relationship and bond. They attended Fort Payne High School, Lincoln Memorial University and the University of Auburn together. They often went camping together. I do not know of brothers that could have been closer and loved each other more.
H M attended Fort Payne High School in the middle 1950’s. He graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy in 1956, and he held degrees from the University of Auburn (BS, 1968) and Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Master of Education, 1972). He was honorably discharged from the US Air Force in 1962. He taught Algebra, Physics and Chemistry at Collinsville High School (middle 1960’s) and Plainview High School (1968-1988?). He, also, was principal at Plainview during the 1980’s.
My father was graced to live a life of love, humor, grace and dignity. And, he passed these traits on to all that met him…
Graveside services will be Sunday, December 27th, at Mountain View Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorial contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association.
