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- [S237] Chattanooga Central High School, Class of 1963, (http://63pounders.com/faculty-index.php).
Jul 2, 1904 - Dec 4, 1983
Joseph Pope Dyer was born July 2 1904 in Dunlap, TN to store merchant James Edgar and Pearl Lasater Dyer. J. Pope was the fourth of six children and was educated in the Sequatchie County schools, entering into Middle Tennessee Teachers College around 1921 and graduating in 1925. That fall he began an 8 year job as principal of Signal Mountain Grammar School and in 1927 married one of the teachers there - Anna Adams, a 1926 Central graduate. J Pope also attended the Chattanooga Law School, graduating in 1929. J Pope moved to Central in fall 1933 as a history and social science teacher beginning a 40 year career, ending with his retirement in 1973. During that time he won 28 Freedoms Foundation Awards, earned an MA from UT, served two terms as a Signal Mountain commissioner and three terms on the Tennessee Constitution Committee. Dyer also was Social Science Dept Head at Central for over 30 years. After retirement he served as a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. After Anna passed away in 1969, he remarried to Willie Mae Lamb Barker in 1970.
Dyer belonged to numerous educational and civic groups and authored at least three books on Tennessee history. He also taught extension courses for MTSU for 22 years and was recognized as Distinguished Alumnus by MTSU. He passed away on December 4, 1983, preceded in death by his first wife, Anna, and daughter, Sarah Jean Saunders. He was survived by his second wife, Willie Mae, and two sons, Joseph P. Jr (Central '47) and John ('54). He and Anna are buried in Chattanooga Memorial Park.
- [S84] Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1780 - 2002, (www.ancestry.com).
Name: Anna Adams
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Birth Date: abt 1908
Marriage Date: 6 Nov 1926
Marriage Place: Rhea, Tennessee, USA
Spouse: J P Dyer
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