Chatham Hall Honors Bill Simpson with Alice Overbey Award on Lee-Yardley Day

This award is presented each year to a member of the Chatham community who has done the most for the school, contributing in such a way to promote and help Chatham Hall’s mission.

Lee-Yardley Day is so named to recognize two former Rectors of the School, Dr. Edmund J. Lee and Dr. William Yardley, whose combined years of leadership lasted 43 years and transformed Chatham Hall. The back-to-back tenures of these two distinguished Rectors built the school to a position of national prominence in independent education that continues today under the leadership of Rector Rachel A. Connell. Dr. Edmund J. Lee served as chaplain and headmaster from 1928 to 1949.  The Lee Library at Chatham Hall is named for Dr. Lee and his wife, Lucy. Dr. William Yardley, for whom the school building containing the dining hall is named, was chaplain and headmaster from 1949 to 1971.

Lee-Yardley Day is an enduring opportunity to recognize stewardship and celebrate those who have contributed to the continued success of Chatham Hall. The Alice Overbey Award is named in honor of Chatham resident Mrs. Alice Overbey who served Chatham Hall as the Assistant Bursar, Business Manager, and Assistant to the Director of Development.  For twenty-six years, Alice Overbey was a good steward of the school’s finances and a steadfast champion of its employees. This annual award recognizes those whose contributions to the Chatham Hall community echo her legacy.

This year’s award was presented to Mr. William Simpson. Bill Simpson has spent his life as a successful businessman and craftsman in the funeral services industry. His artistry is so highly valued that he was commissioned to craft the caskets of several United States Presidents and First Ladies. He has also spent his life in Chatham, loving Chatham and giving back to Chatham. Rector Rachel A. Connell highlighted Simpson’s love of community and tradition, and noted his enduring generosity to Chatham Hall and the greater Chatham community. When accepting the Alice Overbey Award, Simpson emphasized the kindnesses of his mentor, Kenneth Scott. He then charged the students of Chatham Hall to find and cherish mentors throughout their lives and, when the time comes, “to consider the ways they themselves would give back to their individual communities and to Chatham Hall.”

For more details and photos, please contact Megan Gould, Chief Communications Officer, 434.432.5505 or mgould@chathamhall.org