Vera Vaughn

Born to George Omar and Jessie Sargent Roper of Hayden, Alabama (Blount County), on April 28, 1927, Vera Nell Roper Vaughn served both Blount County and the wider community as a teacher, an educational administrator, a community leader, and a missionary.

Vaughn began working on her bachelor of science in education at Snead State where she cleaned toilets to work her way through school. She transferred to Samford University (then Howard College) and eventually received her bachelor and master of science in education, while working fulltime as a fifth grade teacher at Hayden Elementary. She also took additional classes in administration at the University of Alabama – Birmingham. Vera spent her entire career as an educator at Hayden Elementary, where she taught fifth grade, administered a special reading program, and finally served as its first principal when Hayden Elementary became an independent school. She was the first woman to serve as a principal in the Blount County school system.

When she retired, the legislature of the State of Alabama requested that the park beside Hayden Elementary be named the Vera Vaughn Park to recognize her service to the school and community.

After retiring, Vera was a Baptist Mission Service Corps volunteer, from 1993 to 1998 as head of the Baptist Academy of American Samoa. When she left Samoa, the Samoan council of chiefs recognized her accomplishments by making her an honorary chief.

From 1998 to 2000, Vera was coordinator for Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary’s satellite program for African American clergy in San Diego, California.

After returning to Hayden, Vera built a house in the Standholton subdivision near Hayden.

A member of Hayden Baptist Church for most of her life, Vera served in a number of capacities there, including Sunday School teacher, director of music, chair of the committee to establish a kindergarten, and wrote a history of the church. She also established a program for teaching computer skills to senior citizens. After moving to Galleria Woods retirement community, Vera became an associate member of Shades Crest Baptist Church.

Vera served in leadership positions in many organizations, including president of the Blount County Education Association and the Delta Kappa Gamma professional sorority. A life-long Democrat, she was also head of the Blount County Democrats.

In 1947 Vera married Henry Clay Vaughn of Hayden, who preceded her in death in 1984. They had one son, James Barry, whom they adopted in 1955.

Vera is survived by her son Barry of Las Vegas, Nevada; her nieces – Elizabeth Ann Roper of Fort Worth, Texas, and Vicky Lynn Roper of Dallas, Texas; and three nephews - Clay Reece of Pinson; and Doug and Gordon Rickles of Birmingham. She is also survived by the colleagues with whom she taught; and the hundreds of children she taught or who attended Hayden Elementary while she was principal.

Vera’s life will be celebrated in a service at Shades Crest Baptist Church on August 8, at 11 am. Then, her body will be taken to First Baptist Church, Hayden, Alabama, where her friends are warmly invited to gather and pay their respects from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. Her burial will take place at Hayden Cemetery at 2:45 pm on Saturday, August 8.

In lieu of flowers, Vera would much rather have you contribute to the Vera Vaughn Scholarship Fund. You may send donations to Hayden High School, 125 Atwood Rd., Hayden, AL 35079. Tel.: 205.647.0397.