Last Revised: March 08, 2007

Frank Oglesby celebrated his 89th birthday operating a front-end loader during the Round Bald A.T. relocation project in 2000.  (Photo by Steve Perri)

Frank L. Oglesby, Sr.

By Joe DeLoach, Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club

On August II, 2004, the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club (TEHC) lost its founder, patriarch, and great friend, Frank Oglesby.

TEHC exists because of Frank's initiative and enthusiasm.  Because of Frank's vision and dedication, along with that of our other great visionaries such as Stan Murray and Ray Hunt, we have an active hiking program and one of the most scenic sections of the A.T., through the Roan Highlands.

Born in Glade Spring, Virginia, Frank was a graduate of Emory and Henry College and attended the University of Pittsburgh.  He was employed with Tennessee Eastman for 41 years where he started and headed the industrial hygiene department until his retirement.

In the aftermath of World War Il, Frank convinced the Eastman Recreation Club to start the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club.  On April 28, 1946, Frank led the club's first hike to Buckeye Falls - by some accounts the highest waterfall in the eastern United States.  (Frank also led that same hike on the club's 50th anniversary in 1996!)  In the early years, Frank led many hikes, scouting the routes of some in his small plane.

By 1947, the club was maintaining a section of the A.T. from Spivey Gap to Damascus, Virginia, and Frank was elected to the ATC Board of Managers, a position he held until 1955.

Frank continued his strong service to the club and ATC and received numerous awards for his 58 years of service, including: TEHC Hiker of the Year Award in 1980, the Stan Murray Award in 1992, American Hiking Society Tennessee State Volunteer of the Year in 1997; inclusion on the honor roll of ATC volunteers in 2000, the Appalachian Trail Park Office Golden Service Award for 50 years of volunteer service in 2001.  Earlier this year, he was named to the Appalachian Trail Park Office Presidential Ranger Corps.

In 2000, he celebrated his 89th birthday while operating a front-end loader at a Trailhead, working with club colleagues and ATC's Konnarock Crew on an extensive Round Bald relocation project.  Frank became the "most experienced" volunteer ever to earn a Konnarock T-shirt by working 10 days on that project.

Frank amazed us by continuing to cross-country ski and do Trail maintenance into his 90's.  He amused us with his youthful smile and his jokes, my favorite being when, after eight miles of cutting blowdowns in the snow, he said, "If I had known I would have been doing this, I never would have started this club!"

Frank impressed us by continuing to be active in the club right up until his death.  He set a standard for volunteers that few will ever match.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, of Kingsport, daughter Johnnye Wyke of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, and son Frank, Jr., of Kingsport.