Dobyns-Bennett High School
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CLASS OF 1961 
CLASS OF 1974 Robyn Jarvis Askew was born in Kingsport, TN. Prior to entering Dobyns-Bennett, she attended schools in Church Hill, TN and Greensboro, NC, graduating from D-B in 1974. In 1976, she obtained her BA degree, magna cum laude, and in 1978, her MS degree, both from the University of Memphis. In 1981, she received her law degree from UT College of Law. While in law school, she clerked in the TVA office of General Counsel and the Public Law Institute. While at the Public Law Institute, she co-authored the Tennessee Juvenile Court Judges Benchbook.
Robyn’s legal career began as Attorney Advisor to Administrative Law Judges at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C. In 1983, she returned to Tennessee and began practicing with the Stophel Caldwell & Heggie firm in Chattanooga. In 1988, she joined Baker, Worthington, Crossley, Stansberry & Woolf, eventually being named the second female partner in that firm’s history. In 1994, Robyn joined a number of partners from the Baker firm in founding Woolf, McClane, Bright, Allen & Carpenter PLLC, and helped establish that firm’s practices in Commercial, Banking and Real Estate Law.
In 1998, Robyn pursued a long-held dream, leaving her law practice to establish Laird Development, LLC, a commercial real estate development firm. With Laird, she developed properties in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi, including the first Walgreens stores in both Kingsport and Johnson City. From 1998 until 2009, she also served as Vice President of Holrob Investments, LLC.
Robyn returned to the practice of law in 2009, and currently serves as Special Counsel to the firm of Lewis, Thomason, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C. with offices in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis.
Though out her career, Robyn has been active both professionally and in service to her community. She has chaired the Central Business Improvement District Board, the Knoxville Police Advisory Review Committee, Planned Parenthood of East Tennessee, Inc., and the Children’s Center of Knoxville, Inc. She has served on over 20 boards and advisory committees, including the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (serving as chair of the Grants Committee), Alzheimer’s Association, YWCA of Knoxville, East Tennessee Foundation, St. Mary’s Women’s Advisory Board, UT College of Law’s Dean’s Circle and Alumni Advisory Council, Leadership Knoxville, 91.9, Inc. Board, William-Henson Lutheran Home for Children, Inc., Sexual Assault Crisis Center, and the Episcopal School of Knoxville. She currently serves as Chair of the Knoxville Chamber Partnership. She is also a member of the Tennessee Bar Association committee currently charged with re-writing the Tennessee Uniform Limited Partnership Act.
Robyn has been recognized for her outstanding leadership in a variety of ways, including her election as president of Knoxville Barristers, her election to the Knoxville Bar Association, her election to the 1995 Class of Leadership Knoxville; her selection for several years among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by City View Magazine; as a finalist for the YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award; and, as the first woman elected to the Board of Directors of Cherokee Country Club.
Robyn lives in Knoxville, TN, and is a member of St. John’s Episcopal Cathederal. She is married to Dr. Jerry Askew and they have two children: Taylor and Avery. Taylor is a lawyer with the Waller Firm in Nashville, and is married to the former Addie Boston, an Assistant District Attorney in Davidson County. Avery is a recent graduate of the UT College of Social Work, and is beginning her career.
CLASS OF 1954Locke Yancey Carter was born on July 28, 1936 at Holston Valley Community Hospital in Kingsport, TN. His parents were Clara Yancey Carter and Edward H. Carter. His grandfather was Thomas Bragg Yancey, MD who was one of the first physicians in Kingsport and the first President of the Medical Staff of Holston Valley Community Hospital. Locke graduated from DBHS Class of 1954 where he served in Beta Club, as the Treasurer for Junior Classical League, Vice President of Thespians, Freshman Class President, Senior Director of Key Club, Editorial Staff of the Indian Tribune and a member of the Sophomore, Junior and Senior Plays.
He went on to attend Davidson College in North Carolina, class of 1958 and from there the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, class of 1962. After medical school he served in the United States Army Medical Corps as a Captain and then returned to Emory University Hospital for an Internal Medicine Residency and Cardiology Fellowship. During that time he married his high school sweetheart Janet Carpenter Carter and had three children Yancey Carter, Clark Carter and Angela Carter Zion. In 1968 he returned with his family to Kingsport and entered into private practice.
From 1968 until his retirement in 2002, Dr. Locke Carter served the community of Kingsport with distinction. He was involved in creating the first Coronary Care Unit at Holston Valley Community Hospital. As a cardiologist, he put in the first pacemaker in a patient at Holston Valley. He was on the committee that worked to bring the Medical School to ETSU, now the Quillen College of Medicine. He served as a member of the ETSU medical faculty for years and helped develop the residency program there. He served as the team physician for the Dobyns-Bennett football team for years. He was the President of the Medical Staff at HVCH for 6 years; he served for years as the Chairman of the Dept. of Medicine and as the Chairman of the Critical Care Units. He served on the Merger Committee for formation of the Wellmont Health System. He served twice as the Chairman of the Holston Valley Foundation and later served on the Board of Directors of Wellmont Health Systems. In 1989 he was named Physician of the Year at Holston Valley Hospital and Medical Center. In 1991 he received the Tennessee Hospital Association Meritorious Service Award. In 1997 he was named one of the region’s “Health Care Heroes” and was honored by the Staff of Skilled Nursing in 2002. In 2003, he was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
After his retirement he continued to serve on the Wellmont Board of Directors and has also served on the Wellmont Foundation Board. He and his wife Janet continue to be one of Kingsport’s finest examples of how to serve your community and are both an outstanding example of Dobyns-Bennett graduates.
CLASS OF 1954Lois grew up in Kingsport and graduated from Dobyns-Bennett in 1954. She attended Emory and Henry College, Medical College of Virginia and ETSU. She graduated with a B.S. and M.T.
Lois began her career in health care in 1958 when she joined Holston Valley Hospital as a Medical Technologist. She held various supervisory positions including Chemistry Section Supervisor and Administrative Director of Lab and Blood Bank. She was instrumental in assisting with the development of several educational programs including the BS Medical Technology Program associated with several area colleges, the Health Occupation Program at Dobyns-Bennett and other on the job training programs at Holston Valley Hospital. She was also a Clinical Instructor at the Quillen Dishner College of Medicine at ETSU. She was a consultant and worked to establish Medex, the first out-patient Reference Laboratory in the Upper East Tennessee area.
Lois was one of the early females in hospital administration and was the recipient of an Honorarium for Women in Industry Award in 1993 given by Gov. Ned McWherter and the Tennessee State House of Representatives. She was also honored by being included in the Who’s Who in American Women in 1991 and Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care in 1996. During her tenure as Administrator she was responsible for direction of several hospital departments including Laboratory Medicine, Blood Bank, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Hearing, Outpatient Rehabilitation and Home Health.
She was Holston Valley’s liaison for several hospitals and businesses in Southwest Virginia. She worked with Westmoreland Coal Company to set up on-site rehab services. She also provided the leadership for the establishment of the first outpatient therapy center in Kingsport, The Sullivan Center. She selected and worked with HealthSouth to be the partner for the 50 bed HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital located on the Holston Valley Campus. She was employed at HVCH 35 years and ended her career as Assistant Executive Director.
She was the first woman to be invited to be a member of the Kingsport Lions’ Club in 1987. She subsequently served in all of the offices becoming the first female President of the Kingsport Lions’ Club in 1992. Lois was a Melvin Jones Fellow in Lions’ International. She has continued being an active member of the Lions Club after 28 years of service assisting those in the area with vision needs.
Listed below are other appointments and civic activities which Lois has achieved:
She is a member of First Broad Street United Methodist Church and has been privileged to serve in several leadership roles there. She continues as an active member in United Methodist Women.
Lois is married to James Wiley Dobyns who is retired from the U.S. Army and was owner/operator of the Kingsport Livestock Market. She and her late husband, David Young, had two daughters, Leigh Anne Young-Simpson and Suzanne Young, both of whom graduated from Dobyns-Bennett and currently serve in health care. She has two grandsons, James and David Simpson.
Her interest in music allowed her to be involved with bringing the first Suzuki Music training program to Kingsport. Both daughters were in the first Suzuki class and continued their music training in the city schools and the Kingsport and Johnson City Symphony Orchestras.
CLASS OF 1979Anne was not born in Kingsport, but she “got there as quick as she could,” moving to the city with her family when she was four years old. Her father, Joseph, son of a Hungarian immigrant coal miner, was a periodontist in Kingsport and longtime “Sunshine Chairman” for the Downtown Rotary Club. Her mother, Leslie, born and raised in Johnson City, TN, was Director and President of Parks-Belk Co., the local department store chain started by her grandfather in 1928.
Along with her brother and sister, Anne grew up talking business around the kitchen table. She can remember playing in the family store’s large piece goods bin as a child and making bows at Christmas time at the original downtown store. Her second “paying job” (her first was a paper route) was working in several different departments, including housewares, and men’s shoes at the Parks-Belk store when it moved to its current location at the Kingsport Mall.
Throughout her school years, Anne played pretty much every sport offered, but Anne focused primarily on tennis at Dobyns-Bennett. She is most proud of teaming with Margie Brown to win two state doubles titles, helping Dobyns-Bennett win back-to-back state tennis championships in 1978 and 1979.
Anne went on to play tennis at Vanderbilt University and, because as her mother often said, “Anne could argue a fence post out of the ground,” it was no surprise when she went on to law school, graduating from Samford University Cumberland School of Law in 1986. She clerked for a federal judge and practiced law in Washington, D.C. before returning to Kingsport and the family business as CFO and later as CEO/President until the business was sold in 1995.
Anne then turned towards public service, when Governor Don Sundquist appointed her as head of the TN Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, and later as Commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Insurance. In 2003, Anne was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the 10th Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal agency with a $540 million annual budget tasked with encouraging growth within the 13 state Appalachian region. Anne also served as VP of STEM Education for the Oak Ridge National Lab and currently is Executive Director of the TN Arts Commission, an agency dedicated to cultivating the arts and which over the past 5 years has invested over $30 million in TN communities.
No matter where she may be, Anne feels most at home with the Northeast TN mountains. Anne and her son Will currently live in Nashville.
CLASS OF 1963Fred was born in Kingsport, the second of three boys (Albert and John). The son of W. J. (Bill) and Katherine S.. Walton.
Some of his Kingsport City Schools and College highlights:
Fred's professional highlights:
Fred still lives in Kingsport with his wife Dianne. They have three children Jason (Deceased), Lindsay and Shannon. Two grandchildren and four great grand children.
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