September 15, 2017 - The Center High School Alumni Association was pleased to announce the 2017 Hall of Honor Award to be Luke Motley III, representing the Class of 1957, and Joy Ann Weaver Harvan, representing the Class of 1967.
The CHS Alumni Association would like to congratulate the newest Hall of Honor Inductees. Their awards will be presented during the Annual CHS Alumni Association Meeting that will be held on Saturday, September 16th at the Windham Civic Center from 9am until noon.
Joy Ann Weaver Havran
Joy Ann Weaver Havran graduated as the salutatorian of the class of 1967 and is celebrating her 50th reunion with her classmates this year. She is the daughter of Martin and Joy Weaver and enjoyed her time in Center as a Roughrider and a member of First Christian Church.
Havran attended Texas Christian University where she earned a BBA in Accounting in 1971 before graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1972.
She married Bob Havran and chose to raise their family in Fort Worth while still keeping her ties to Shelby County. They have been married for 43 years and have had two sons, Barrett and Blake.
Following the loss of her son Barrett, Havran has chaired various fundraising events in his memory including in 2014 Big Brothers Big Sisters Long Star, a 22 county area, to endow its Barrett Martin Havran Little Steps Big Futures Program named by BBBS (Big Brothers Big Sisters) in memory of her late son. For that fundraising event, she received Volunteer of the Year for raising over $1,000,000 in one year by planning and orchestrating the one-time event.
Havran has a long list of impressive professional credits, but the longest and most versatile part of her resume is her work as a fund raiser. She has been involved at the highest levels of volunteer and fund raising endeavors. Another example, she was the 2006 President of the Jewel Charity benefiting Cook Children's Medical Center and raised an unprecedented 3.2 million dollars for the Center where she has been on the Board of Directors for 19 years. In fact, she has served as administrator, coordinator, or on the directing board of thirty-two organizations including the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra Association, the March of Dimes, and the Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet.
Of her philanthropic endeavors, Havran says: "My parents taught me to always give back to your community with your time, expertise and funds. I believe that no one can pay a person to work as hard as does a dedicated volunteer. 'No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.'"
This year she is the Chairwoman of a community wide fundraising project to be held on August 26, 2018, to raise over $500,000 for Fort Worth Country Day School to benefit Community Service and Athletics in memory of Barrett Havran.
Joy Ann has remained active in Shelby County for the past 50 years with her friends and by serving on the John Dean Windham Civic Center Committee to fund and design the Poultry Plaza, presenting her father’s scholarship at Center High School, co-chairing the Class of ’67 reunions and managing timber and other business interests in East Texas where she continues to have a residence.
For a complete list of her volunteering, professional credits, click here.
Luke Motley III
Luke Motley III, a member of the class of 1957 which is celebrating their 60th class reunion, is the son of Jack and Martha Motley. After graduation and playing football as a Center Roughrider, Motley attended Baylor University where he played freshman football until, according to Motley, he decided to tackle a tougher sport - marriage. In 1959, he married Silver Bell, an SFA graduate, and they began their lives together while attending college.
Luke and Silver Bell Motley have been married for 58 years and have thre children: Luke Motley IV who is an attorney in Sherman, Texas; Monica Van Slate who is a Southwest Airlines Communication Executive; and Meredith Morris who is a 7th and 8th grade math teacher at Columbus Middle School in Columbus, Texas.
Motley has been a member of the First Baptist Church in Center since the age of 12 where he has served on building committees, stewardship committees, fund raising committees, land acquisition committees, and has provided some teaching.
Motley graduated in 1961 from Baylor with a BBA in accounting, economics, and finance. After graduation, he worked at Farmer's State Bank as the number 4 teller and keeper of the storeroom.
During his years at Farmers Bank, he attended Southern Methodist University and graduated in 1974 from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking. In 1976 he graduated from Oklahoma University from the National Commercial Lending School. In 2001, Motley earned a MBA from Stephen F. Austin University.
His long service to the county has been at Farmers Bank. As of February 1, Motley has been with the bank for 56 years. Starting as a teller he moved to Assistant Cashier, Vice President, Executive Vice President, and President in 1977 and served 30 years. Now he is the Chairman of the Board and CEO. He was elected a director in 1963 taking his grandfather's board seat.
He has contributed to the county by being the Shelby County Director of the American Cancer Society, the United Way, and the Industrial Development Committee. He also served two 3-year terms on the Texas Bankers Association.
His civic activities include being the youngest elected President of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce. He was the Republican Chairman for Shelby County during Nixon's campaign. He was chosen as the Outstanding Young Man of the Year in 1972 and was at one time selected as 1 of 5 East Texas Young Businessmen to go to Australia on a group study exchange team by Rotary Clubs International Foundation. He has been Past President of the Center Noon Lions Club.
Motley was honored as a 50 year Banker by the Texas Bankers Association in February of 2011. He was past directors of the East Texas Area Council of Boy Scouts of America and the East Texas Chamber of Commerce.
Motley stated, "My next birthday, I'll be 79 and starting to look forward to slowing down and enjoying life, not that I haven't every minute so far, but maybe with more feeling."
