Facesof Rockdale County 2012Page 7 - Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012

the NEWS

8 Faces of Rockdale County 2012 The News

Table of Contentscommunity is only as good as its peo-ple, and Rockdale,

by all measures, is a remark-able place with extraordinary people. The kind of people who go the extra mile without com-plaint, who give thanks and relish life despite the challeng-es, who strive day in, day out, with or without recognition, to do and be the very best they can. The kind of people who inspire others to reach further, dig deeper, and accomplish more than they ever thought possible.

We at The News wanted to celebrate the treasure trove of people that have built Conyers and Rockdale into the place it is today.

Welcome to the inaugural Faces of Rockdale County spe-cial section. We selected seven people we felt represented the best of what Rockdale had ot offer. With so many great choices, it was hard to narrow down the list to seven, but we hope to continue this next year with more profiles of extraor-dinary people that represent the best of Rockdale. We hope you enjoy getting to know these nominees as much as we did.

Michelle KimEditor

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09 Sidney Nation 12 Charles Walker

10 Cleveland Stroud 1311 Claire Cline 14 Deborah Armstrong

Zeste Debro

Valerie Brown-Debro

Looking down over his bench Judge Sidney Nation routinely sees an ever changing river of defendants, prosecutors, lawyers and jurors.

However, as his eyes drift fur-ther toward his desk, the Rock-dale County Chief Superior Court Judge sees something that has remained the steady through-out the years. Framed on the left side of his desk is a quote from the song “Choices” by George Jones:

“I’ve had choices since the day I was born/ there were voices that told me right from wrong/ if I had listened I wouldn’t be here today living and dying with the choices I’ve made.”

Nation, set to retire at the end of the year, has repeated the quote to defendants several times while he sat on Rockdale’s top bench for the last 25 years. It reminds them that they made the choice to get themselves where they are. The quote also says Na-tion has a choice on how best to serve not just Rockdale County, but also the individual in front of him.

Nation has displayed that in how he handles everyone who comes into his courtroom, in-cluding during sentencing. When those sentences lead to extended time served, there are times when people are angry at the decision. However, also there have been times when people have been grateful for Nation’s decision to imprison them.

“I have people come up to me all the time, up to twice a week or so saying, ‘Do you remember me from 10 years - or whatever years ago? I’ve got a job; I’m married; I have children; I own a house; I’m paying my bills. I wouldn’t have that if you hadn’t passed the sentence that you did. That time in jail really straight-ened me out.’”

That has kept the judge going throughout all his years on the bench, acting as one of Rockdale County’s longest serving supe-

rior court judges.“I think that’s where it counts,”

Nation said. “If that’s 200 people over the last 25 years, than how many people have those 200 af-fected. That’s at least what I’ve hoped has happened.”

Those 200-250 lives have been effected thanks to, as the song says, choices.

While serving for the U.S. Army in Vietnam, Nation was a captain with the ordinance corps in the logistics section when he got his first taste of law. Three of his enlisted men came up for court martial while in country, meaning they needed an officer to stand in for them. Nation was up for the task, learning how to deliberate, investigate and find the truth in legal situations.

“I was defense council at that point, and I enjoyed doing it,” Nation said. “I started to think about that, and I applied for law school while I was in Vietnam.”

The Georgia Tech undergrad enrolled at the University of Georgia after serving on his tour, leaving Athens as a lawyer and starting on the career path that would mark the rest of his life.

“Georgia Tech taught me how to think,” Nation said. “The Uni-versity of Georgia taught me how to make a living.”

He started making a living while working with the law firm of Vaughn and Barksdale when he was 30 in 1970. That’s when he started to fall in love with Conyers, and its small town feel, as he needed help on his way to take the bar exam in Atlanta.

“I stopped to speak to Mr. Vaughn, and I didn’t have any money,” Nation said. “I had 500 bucks. And it’s that kind of re-lationship in a small town that’s really important.”

As he continued to work with Vaughn and Barksdale as a law-yer, where he first met current assistant Debbie Campbell, he

developed his style.“One secretary who worked

very closely with me said she would do all the work on my desk if I just did Sidney Nation’s work,” Campbell said. “He wasn’t difficult to work for, he’s just a perfectionist.

“He would do his work over and over again until it was cor-rect. But one you finished some-thing for him you knew it was a piece of art and it was well done.”

After he felt a point in his career as a lawyer where he thought he had accomplished enough, Nation moved on to be-come a judge. In his first run at the bench, he wasn’t elected. But being the type of person he is, he made the choice to run again. This time he won, and has sat on the bench until January 2013 when he will retire.

While on the bench, his con-servative style has become syn-onymous with the county.

One anecdote relayed to Na-tion is the time a man who was drinking got into a wreck. The first thing the suspect did as the police officer approached was ask if he was in DeKalb or Rock-dale County, because he knew he’d face severe consequences if he was in Rockdale County. Another instance is when a re-cording device was left on as a suspect sat in the backseat of a patrol car. The recording was lat-er played during the man’s trial. As the officer walked toward the scene, leaving him alone in the car he started talking to himself.

Nation, who heard the tape, said “He says to himself, ‘Good Lord, what have I done. Judge Nation is going to kick my ass.’

“So that has an effect and that’s part of what you do as a judge, you try to deter other people from doing what folks do.”

Nation has strived to do that throughout his years, hoping that that is his mark in Rockdale County.

“I’m not saying that our judi-cial system is perfect but I think we’re trustworthy,” Nation said. “We’re fair. We beat out justice and we take everything into con-sideration when we take a case. I think over the years, maybe this court has made a difference in the lives of individual people, not just the community.”

The years on the bench are now coming to an end for Na-tion, who has decided not to run for re-election. Nation said he will continue fishing, maybe travel, maybe practice law a bit and maybe even serve as a se-nior judge throughout the state of Georgia.

“I don’t know what I’m go-ing to do yet,” Nation said. “My wife will probably end up telling me what I’m going to do.”

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10 Faces of Rockdale County 2012 The News

ClevelandStroud

Old timers in Rockdale re-call vividly—and newcomers are often educated about — the time in 1987 when Cleveland Stroud coached a local boys’ basketball team to a state cham-pionship victory.

Yet, in a dramatic twist, the Georgia High School Associa-tion stripped Rockdale High of the title, following a surprise revelation that an ineligible athlete had played in a single qualifying game leading up to the big win.

Stroud, the first to learn of the discrepancy, has never questioned his decision to tell the truth—even if it meant for-feiting a hard-earned accom-plishment.

That simple act of integrity swirled into a behemoth story that portrayed not only Stroud but also Rockdale County as a place of courage and righteous-ness amid a culture that pro-moted winning, no matter the cost.

The recognition netted Stroud a slew of state, national and in-ternational honors. Most nota-bly is his International Olympic Committee award, displayed in his home office. It’s nestled atop a modest bookshelf, next to a championship trophy gifted to him by a sympathetic band of Georgia coaches.

There were countless articles written about him in publica-tions such as the New York Times and Sports Illustrated. A Google search reveals Coach Stroud’s honesty also has been a source for sermons and even included in best selling books.

Some 25 years later, Stroud has grown a tad weary of the

frequent references to his integ-rity related to the 1987 champi-onship misfortune.

While peering into the gym-nasium trophy case at Rockdale High recently, Stroud quipped: “I am more than basketball.”

Clearly.“If a kid can’t get anything

out of a coach other than a win—that coach is a failure,” Stroud says emphatically. “He doesn’t deserve to be a coach, because coaching is so much more than that.”

Stroud’s long-time friend Charlie Bryant concurs.

Bryant, head coach of the 1984 girls’ championship bas-ketball team, was Stroud’s as-sistant in 1987.

“He’s had such a positive in-fluence on the young people—counseling them, sharing his wisdom with them and getting up in their face and just telling them, in plain street talk, you know you’re messing up and you need to do this, this and this,” Bryant says.

“I personally see that as a greater picture (of Stroud) than a championship.”

At 14, native Rockdalian Ja-son Hill was on Stroud’s cham-pionship team as one of the younger players. Today, the two maintain a close relationship.

“The way he coached, he treated us all like his kids,” Hill says.

“All of us needed something a little different, and he would tell us what we needed to hear, not always what we wanted to hear. But he was the first to pat

us on the back and tell us we did a good job.”

Rod Cole, a star athlete on the 1987 team who went on to play professionally in an in-ternational league, has similar recollections.

“Coach Stroud took me un-der his wings…I was always around (him),” Cole says.

Perhaps it’s his own upbring-ing that inspired Stroud to ex-tend such compassion to oth-ers.

A dedicated father of three and grandfather, Stroud grew up without a dad. He recalls telling classmates his daddy was dead.

“He wasn’t, but he was to me,” Stroud says resolutely.

His father had left him, his brother and mother when Stroud was a baby.

In stark contrast, Stroud softens when talking about his mother, who worked as a do-mestic before becoming a flo-rist.

“My mama was a strong woman,” he says, his voice cracking from emotion.

“She instilled whatever val-ues I have and she did it alone. She always let us know, if you don’t work, you don’t get any-thing.”

So, even today, at age 75, the retired Rockdale school teacher and coach, continues to work as a tax preparer and ‘coach to player’ operator for the At-lanta Falcons. Moreover, he’s a city of Conyers Councilman, in

Coach and City Councilman leads with integrity, even when it means making tough sacrificesBy Kysa Anderson Danielsnews@rockdalenews.com

Submitted photo/The News

Solid foundation: Cleveland Stroud, right, and his wife of 55 years Helen

See Stroud page 16

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Enter Claire Cline’s lair on a ran-dom Friday in January and the first thing your eye is drawn to is an enormous bouquet of roses rising prominently above the controlled chaos. When asked, she reveals they were from her ex-husband of 22 years. He sends them every year on her son’s birthday. Re-ally, what more does one need to know about her? Actually, there’s plenty.

Cline’s gift is cultivating people to make the community stronger. “My basic philosophy is if you come to the table tell me what you bring, not what you want to take away,” she said, “This com-munity basically operates that way…we care about each other.”

So one needn’t be taken aback when asked to “step up to the plate” – another signature line.

The South Georgia native and UGA graduate’s primary passion in life is education. She spent 23 years of her career with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension system before moving to Rockdale in 1995. While director of Continu-ing Education at Georgia College in Milledgeville, a compelling job offer summoned her.

The job was director of The Rock-dale Center, a collaborative between

Clayton State, DeKalb College (now Georgia Pe-

rimeter College), DeKalb Tech (now Georgia Piedmont) and the Rockdale County Public School System. Cline was intrigued with the concept of a four-year, two- year and technical college and a public school system

“working together to support higher education.” She said the “out-of-the box thinking and seamless education concept” sold her on Rockdale.

When she arrived at The Rockdale Center, the eight-month old facility had an enrollment of 300. When she left five years later, it had grown to 1,000 students offering 100 classes per quarter. Many who had dropped out of school could get their GED and start basic college courses.

The Conyers-Rockdale Chamber

of Commerce’s Leadership Rock-dale (LR) program is another di-mension of Cline’s passion for com-munity and education. She was a member of the 1996 class, and along with her Co-Chair Tim Baker (LR Class of ’97) has facilitated classes for the last 13 years.

“It’s hard to believe how many people I’ve come in contact with…it’s well over 300,” she said, “I feel like ev-ery one of them is my child.” She delights in seeing them “get their feet wet in differ-ent leadership endeavors” within their respective fields, becoming elected officials or getting involved with their homeowner’s association.

Literacy is another passion project she pursues in her “spare” time. First Baptist of Conyers Dr. Jeff Meyers (LR class of ’09) reminded her of

a study linking third grade reading levels with prison populations. Basi-cally, a learning gap begins for chil-dren not reading at grade level by third grade, and they have “a higher likelihood of entering a life of crime, drugs and bad behavior.”

Cline started a program her sec-ond year in Rockdale to address this threat. Kid’s College, a program funded through grants and gifts, pro-vides 100 second through fifth-­grad-ers needing a boost the opportunity

of an eight-week Saturday session manned by 20 school system em-ployees. Cline drills the mantra “You take care of self, each other and place” to get across they’re respon-sible for their education, a privilege, not a right. “I always tell Sheriff Jeff Wigington (LR Class of ’96) it’s my job to put you out of business.”

During her time at United Way, she’s helped build partnerships with the school system, hospital and other industries to address UW’s mission of “driving sustainable change in ed-ucation, income, health and home-lessness, while continuing to address urgent and basic human care.”

Through UW’s Gifts in Kind pro-gram, businesses send in surplus items, and they are distributed to non-­profits. Just before Christmas, another LR crony, David Cooper (Class of ’08) with Premier Plat-forms sent three trucks laden with Christmas trees, storage containers, charcoal, food items, clothing, etc.

“Whether it’s through kids or adults, it’s all around education, the more you learn the more you see the value of investing your time.” Her formula is working for Rockdale County.

Claire Cline United Way regional director and non-profit advocate Claire Cline demonstrates the power of community relationships

Meet Claire Cline Family: Son J. Cline, 33 Hobbies: Restoring a 100-year old farmhouse; managing a family farm in south Georgia; gardening Latest read: “The Art of Racing in the Rain” Favorite food: fresh raspberries, dark chocolate and real whipped cream Favorite quote: “Find something each day to laugh about and be

Faces of Rockdale County 2012 11The News

Michelle Kim/The News

Building Bridges: Claire Cline now serves as United Way Regional Director for the metro Southern Crescent (Rockdale, Henry, Clayton, Butts, Fayette and Coweta Counties)

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Serving for 20 years and bring-ing the world’s eyes to Conyers, Charles Walker may be one of the most influential mayors in the city’s history.However, that influence may

have never happened if not for one of the most surprising elec-tions in Conyers’ history.

In the late 1970s Walker was serving as president of the Cony-ers Historical Society when the

current city administration was trying to turn the Depot into a parking lot. The historical soci-ety countered then Mayor George Owens by running one of its own - Walker.“They didn’t feel like the coun-

cil or mayor were listening to them,” Walker said. “So the his-torical society talked me into run-ning for mayor.”Walker agreed to run but didn’t

think he would have to worry about actually serving.“I said, ‘If you want to waste

your time I’ll do it;; just to make a

statement,’” Walker said.It turned out to be more than

a statement when he won by 25 votes. “I was flabbergasted,” Walker

said.With not an ounce of experience

and very little idea of what need-ed to be done as Mayor, Walker stepped in 1978. While in office Walker helped

turn the fire department over to the county as well as make the sewer system a county function.

The change in the sewer sys-tem was the high-water mark for Walker’s administration to that point. With the county’s rapidly expanding population, water lines would have had to have been stretched exponentially. The addi-tional pipes would have increased fees exorbitantly.“We sold that to the county

and that was a big accomplish-ment,” Walker said. “It solved a long-term problem. There was disagreement and friction all over the county”

As Walker’s administration con-tinued so did his achievements. The biggest which came thanks to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Atlanta had won the bid to host the centennial Olympic Games and needed a place to host, among

other events, the equestrian com-petitions. Walker and the city of Conyers swooped on the oppor-tunity.

The area now known as the Georgia International Horse Park was originally purchased for ef-fluent from the waste water plant. But Walker and his administration brought in a consultant firm to see what could be done with the prop-erty. The firm looked into using it

for a conference center, but it was deemed to remote of an area. Then the consultant firm brought the idea of the Olympics to the city of Conyers.

“One day they came and said, ‘Eureka! We have come up with a thought. Atlanta is going to pur-sue the 1996 Olympic Games, and there will be an equestrian venue, and perhaps that property might make a suitable plot for the equestrian venue,” Walker said.

From there Conyers went to work to entice the Atlanta Olym-pic committee.

“We were visited by people from all over the world,” Walker said. “Even Princess Anne came several times.”Bringing the Olympic Games

was the highlight of Walker’s mayoral career, but it was meet-

ing with foreign dignitaries that was his original goal. While in college, first at Presbyterian Col-lege and then the University of Georgia, Walker wanted to go into foreign services, particularly in Russia. However, when he took the foreign service examination he didn’t pass, due to his language skills.He then went into the insurance

industry, before owning his own company called WalCo Packag-ing off of Commerce Drive and Parker Road.When President Bill Clinton

enacted the NAFTA Bill, his com-pany went under.

“It kind of sank my boat,” Walk-er said. “I then worked for the city of Conyers as a handy man in the office, and after that (I went to the Chamber of Commerce)”Throughout it all, Walker re-

mained in Conyers, the city where he and his mother were born in the same house. Walker’s Cony-ers roots stretch as far back as just after the Civil War, when his grandfather settled in the Smyrna area in 1865.

He even met his wife here in 1954 when he was a lifeguard at a swimming pool and she came from Atlanta to cool off.“We’ve stuck it out ever since.”

12 Faces of Rockdale County 2012 The News

CharlesWalker Longtime Mayor Charles Walker helped put the small city of Conyers onto the world stage

By Bryan Faziobfazio@rockdalenews.com

Michelle Kim/The News

Unexpected mayor: Charles Walker served as Mayor of Conyers from 1978 to 1998

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Faces of Rockdale County 2012 13The News

Valerie Brown-DebroZeste Debro

Zeste Debro and Valerie Brown Debro share a passion for service and communi-ty that brought them together in 2005 and keep them serving as Commander of the American Legion Post 77 and President of the Post 77 Legion Auxiliary.

Valerie, currently in her second year as Auxiliary President, never had prior ex-posure to the Legion before she joined in 2008 but was put to work right away on

various board and committees. “I’ve always served in the community.

Air Force USO, Habitat for Humanity. It’s naturally in me, as far as serving,” said the Los Angeles native and real es-tate broker.

Zeste Debro, who retired after 21 years in the army, 82nd Airborne Division in logistics with the First Special Operations Command and Joint Task Force through-out South America, and then retired again after seven years as a police officer in Ten-nessee, is completing his first year as Post

Commander. He also wears multiple hats as the Son of American Legion advisor and Detachment of Georgia Junior Vice Commander. Although he was a Legion member, he was inactive until joining the Post 77 Color Guard around 2005.

The couple, who married in 2008, met when Valerie, an LA native, moved to Georgia from California in 2005 follow-ing other family members. Zeste, a Knox-ville, Tenn. native, was the basketball coach for her twin sons, now seniors in Rockdale County High School. The two helped form a rec basketball league and team, the Rockdale Rockets.

It was this organizing that brought them closer together and brought them to the American Legion. Then Post Commander Jack Murphy offered the Post 77 facilities as a place for league organizers to hold their meetings.

Valerie also supported Zeste as he qui-etly battled multiple myeloma, a blood and bone cancer.

“No one knew it until afterwards,” said Valerie. “‘I don’t want no one feeling sor-ry for me.’ We went through it. It made him fight even more. We just stayed ac-tive, busy, kept him off of his pain.”

Being husband and wife does help, but the two organizations operate separately, said Valerie.

“It’s easier if you have that communi-cation, husband and wife or not. Open communication is the key.”

The Legion and Auxiliary are trying to spread awareness of the services and

programs they offer veterans and their families, especially as more military per-sonnel are discharged coming back from Afghanistan.

“Veterans are a funny breed,” Zeste said. “A soldier would not look for help out of a civilian. Just something funny about us. The military is more team ori-ented.”

The four pillars of the Legion are Vet-erans Affairs and Rehabilitation, Nation-al Security, Americanism, Children and Youth. But there’s a niche for everyone, he said.

“Everybody thinks the Legion is about baseball, bar and bingo. And the Legion is not about that,” said Zeste. “The Le-gion is about supporting the veterans,” he said.

Currently the Post 77 Legion counts 660 members. The Auxiliary has 75 members auxiliary and conducts about 18 programs, ranging from scholarships to visiting veterans and children’s hospitals to educational programs in schools. They are not the first husband and

wife team to helm the local Legion and Auxiliary, but they are they first African American Commander and President in the post’s 83 year history. When they be-came active, they were the only African Americans in Post.

“We’re just here to serve,” said Valerie. “When I used to go to the airports for the USO and see their families. To see their faces, that smile. It’s just an awesome feeling.”

By Michelle Kim

Michelle Kim/The News

United in service: Valerie Brown-Debro, left, President of the Post 77 American Legion Auxiliary, and Zeste Debro, right, Commander of American Legion Post77

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Deborah Armstrong’s initial career plans didn’t include her current position as Chief Executive Officer of Rockdale Medical Center, one of the region’s largest employers. Her professional od-yssey began 27 years ago in physical therapy. “I didn’t aspire to this position. I’m a comfortable introvert,” she said, laughing, “and a CEO needs to be a bit of an extrovert.”

The ever elusive work/life balance was another reason the top job wasn’t on her radar. “My family always have and will be my top priority,” she said. So it was perfect timing when the job opening coincided with empty nest syndrome last year. Though no success story is ever that simple, it belies Arm-strong’s incredible passion and dedica-tion to the hospital.

After five years as a physical therapist, the Oak Ridge, Tn. native decided to pur-sue the management track enrolling in

M e r -cer University’s Master’s in Health Ad-ministration program. Along the way, she married and had two children while working full-time at Georgia Baptist Hospital (now At-lanta Medical Cen-ter).

Armstrong cred-its her “extremely supportive” family, particularly husband Breck, for help-ing to pull off this feat. “When I was in school, which seemed forever, he took on all the after-school and evening responsibilities with very small chil-dren,” she said, “We have always shared in whatever there was to do.” Breck’s job as a process engineer for Solo Cup

landed the family in Rockdale 20 years ago. It would be almost another decade before they both would enjoy a seven-mile commute.

While at Geor-gia Baptist, Arm-strong connected with mentor Carol Danielson, now Gwinnet Health System’s Chief Nursing Officer. “She put me in po-sitions where I was constantly learn-ing new things and expanding my ho-rizons.” Benefit-ting from several mentors who ex-posed her to dif-ferent challenges, Armstrong is keen on developing em-

ployee talents so they’re positioned to rise in the ranks.

“We try to do that here ...find people who want new experiences,” she said, “If they have the right aptitude and knowledge, but their resume doesn’t have certain credentials, we give them opportunities for growth.” Her RMC trajectory bears it out. After working at several larger Atlanta hospitals, she came to RMC as director of rehabilita-tive services and to be closer to home. She took on more responsibilities and spent five years as the Chief Operating Officer.

During her 11-year tenure, Armstrong witnessed a significant phase of RMC’s history – the transition from a commu-nity-owned not-for-profit to an inves-tor-owned hospital. Though there was the expected turmoil inherent with a big change, she understood “people’s per-spectives and roots and where their pas-sions were coming from” as part of the community.

She’s confident at least 90 percent

14 Faces of Rockdale County 2012 The News

DeborahArmstrong Rockdale Medical Center's CEO Deborah Armstrong helped guide the community hospital during a time of transition

Meet Deborah Armstrong Family: Husband, Breck; children Katie and Trevor Hobbies: Sleeping, reading, walking and taking in the occasional performance of her husband’s band Favorite Food: Home-grown tomato sandwiches Favorite Quote: “Be true to your word, your work, and your friend.” Henry David Thoreau Favorite Book: currently reading “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver

By Jessica Smithnews@rockdalenews.com

See RMC Page 16

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ablation & sterilization• Minimally invasive

& single-incision surgery• daVinci-assisted (robotic) pelvic surgery

Ph:678-413-7900 • Fax: 678-413-7901www.rockdaleorthopedics.com

1301 Sigman Road NE, Suite 125Conyers, GA 30012

OFFICE HOURS: M-F 8:30 - 5:00pm

TIMOTHY J. HENDERSON,MD/FAAOS

Orthopedic SurgeonFellowship Trained

In Sports

HARVINDER BHATTI, MDOrthopedic SurgeonFellowship Trained

Spine Surgery

VINEET P. SHAH, DO, MPHOrthopedic SurgeonFellowship Trained

In Total Joints

Experience excellence with our commitment to the highest quality of treatment for you:

• Sports Medicine and Arthroscopic Surgery• Total Joint Replacement

• Knee & shoulder Surgery• Carpal Tunnel

• Spine and Pain Procedures• Spinal Disc Replacement

Now offering Anterior Approach Hip Replacement

The News Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 • 15

man, in addition to maintaining membership at Macedonia Baptist Church and in the service-oriented Rockdale Citizens Progressive Club, among other community commitments.

Stroud has been married to the former Helen Flanigan more than 55 years.

“I’m not the real hero here, my wife is; she did without everything,” Stroud says, referring to earlier in their marriage when he worked mul-tiple jobs and pursued his education at Morehouse College—simultane-ously.

He initially enrolled at Morehouse on an academic and basketball scholarship upon graduating high school. Soon after, he married and his wife became pregnant with their first child, so Stroud dropped out of college to take care of his family.

At one point, he worked, at the same time, as a janitor and bus driv-er for Rockdale Schools. Eventual-ly, he dropped the janitorial job, but picked up work at Lithonia Light-ing. It was while watching the mo-notonous flow of the assembly line that Stroud says he decided to finish what he had started as a teenager.

So, at age 31, while sandwiched between two jobs, he re-enrolled at Morehouse. Stroud averaged three to four hours of sleep nightly, before finally graduating at age 34.

He contends his wife’s support

made it possible. “When you reflect back on this

stuff, she didn’t get any new clothes, we didn’t go out for years and years; so without her cooperation, there would be no Cleveland Stroud.” he says with tear-­filled eyes.

It’s this type compassion and integrity that has guided Stroud throughout life.

Not surprisingly, even before that fateful game 25 years ago, he of-ten was quoted as saying: “People will forget the score of a basketball game, but they’ll never forget what you’re made of.”

True enough, when each of two game players and two coaches—in-cluding Stroud—were asked to cite the final score of that 1987 cham-pionship game, none could answer with certainty.

employees, patients and physicians would agree Life-Point’s acquisition brought “stability, resources, health-care intelligence…it’s hard to run a community-owned, stand alone hospital in a very complicated industry chang-ing every minute of every day.”

One would be hard-pressed to argue with the progress. Among many capital and tech-nological improvements is a neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) - which will double in size this year; a state-of-the-art women’s center with the latest breast imaging technol-ogy; and a da Vinci Surgical System – the only hospital east of the perimeter to have a robotic system for minimally invasive procedures.

Physician recruitment is another area Armstrong is fo-cused on this year. Topping her list is both a dedicated breast surgeon - general sur-geons now handle the proce-dures performed daily – and a thoracic surgeon for lung work.

Also on the horizon is es-tablishing a physician-level residency program as another piece of RMC’s educational initiative. Currently, pro-grams are in place in nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy. The hospital was recently rec-ognized as the Conyers-Rock-dale Chamber of Commerce’s

Education Partner of the Year for hosting eight healthcare apprenticeships with Rock-dale Career Academy.

Delivering the best health-care services possible, locally or otherwise, is Armstrong’s top priority. “If people choose to leave the community to re-ceive services for whatever reason, it does have an im-pact.” The hospital employs over 1,200 people and paid more than $3 million in city, county and state taxes last year alone. “It’s all intertwined,” she said, “The health of the community is much bigger than the health we provide at RMC, but we’re part of it.”

Armstrong’s influence reaches beyond the RMC campus. Her role as a found-ing board member of Mercy Heart, a charitable clinic pro-viding preventative health and dental care for Rockdale’s low-income and uninsured cit-izens, addresses a passion for preventative care of chronic diseases.

In this phase of life, she revels in the workload. “Work is life now, and that’s okay because I know we’re doing great things for our commu-nity,” Armstrong said, “It’s not like work and no life when you’re fulfilled.”

In his spare time, her hus-band plays guitar and is con-tent if she makes it home with a “few non-sleeping hours to spare.” She divulges one last secret to a good marriage. “I don’t make him go to too many events because they sometimes conflict with his gigs.”

16 Faces of Rockdale County 2012 The News

Leadership Rockdale salutes our“Mama Bear” Claire Cline!

1301 Sigman Road, NE • Suite 130 Conyers, GA 30013Phone: 678-609-4927 • Fax: 678-609-4928

No need to drive downtown!!Rockdale Vascular offers treatments for varicose and spider veins.

*Venous closure * Sclerotherapy

Both procedures can be done in office and take less than two hours to complete

and most are covered by insurance.www.rockdalevascular.com Erikaa Mann, PA-CRobert C. Davies, MD

FACS, FAPW-CA

• Specializing in vasular and endovascular surgery• Minimally invasive techniques for peripheral vascular disease

• Office-based varicose and spider vein treatment• Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

• Pacemaker placement• Carotoid artery intervention for stroke prevention

• Dialysis access• In-office, non-invasion vascular lab/diagnosis

• Close cooperation with Rockdale’s Wound Care Center

STROUDFrom page 10

RMCFrom page 14

We Aim To Please!• handguns• rifles• shotguns• assault weapons

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770.483.1649Buy • Sell • Trade

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• Sportsmanship • Personal Defense

Largest selection of New& Used Firearms &

Accessories in Rockdale,Newton, Morgan &

Jasper County

The News Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 • 17

18 • Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 The News