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Lingerfelt retires as Geraldine principal

By Jared Felkins
The Times-Journal

Published May 26, 2009

Longtime Geraldine principal Larry Lingerfelt is saying goodbye to the school he has served for nearly four decades.

“I will miss it terribly,” Lingerfelt said. “It’s the hardest thing to do is retire. You kind of have to look at the calendar and see what you want to do.”

Lingerfelt graduated from Fyffe High School in 1966. He received his associate’s degree from Northeast Alabama Community College in 1968 and bachelor’s degree from David Lipscomb University in 1970 while playing basketball for both schools.

He then served as a history teacher at Valley Head School for three years.

“Valley Head is a great school and a great community,” Lingerfelt said. “It was just too far of a drive.”

Returning closer to his hometown of Fyffe, he started teaching driver’s education at Geraldine and Crossville schools in 1974 before moving into a history teaching position at Geraldine.

He’s been the principal at Geraldine for the past 11 years.

“It’s a full time job and something I love doing,” Lingerfelt said. “I didn’t want it to become a job, because it shows in your work.

“Everything I have done here is built upon the backs of several other people. I am particularly proud of the physical improvements of the school.”

Lingerfelt said he is particularly proud of helping to build a new band room at the school. He said it took the community’s support and the final $45,000 note signed by parents to finish the building.

Lingerfelt said he is also proud of Geraldine’s art program,

“We have one of the only and longest running art programs in the county,” he said. “It’s totally community funded, and every student gets an art lesson at least once a week.

“We’ve got a lot to be proud of. We have great kids and a great community. It’s a great place to live.”

DeKalb County schools superintendent Charles Warren said Lingerfelt will be missed.

“Larry Lingerfelt is a quality person,” Warren said. “He was a master teacher when he was in the classroom and that carried over into his role as principal.

“In Lingerfelt’s tenure as principal at Geraldine, the school saw many improvements made, including facility upgrades, new construction, new classrooms, a new gym, and a new bandroom and modernizing the school’s technology program. He could always be found working at the school – weekends, holidays – times when he didn’t have to be there.”

In April, the DeKalb County Board of Education approved Lingerfelt’s retirement request. Crossville assistant principal Robert Richey was promoted to Geraldine principal by the board on Thursday.

“Robert Richey was approved by the school board to replace Lingerfelt effective July 1,” Warren said. “We believe that Robert Richey has a strong background as a teacher and administrator that made him highly qualified for this position. ”

Lingerfelt agreed.

“I have known Robert for many years,” he said. “He graduated from Geraldine, and is a hometown boy. I think he will do a good job. It should be a smooth transition.”

And even though Lingerfelt is retiring, he said he plans to be around for a while.

“I still have relatively good health, so I will be working on the house a bit and traveling some,” Lingerfelt said. “I still have an eighth grader, so I will be around. In a year or two when the new guy establishes himself, I’ll be around volunteering.”

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