Two sisters have launched a campaign to name part of a forthcoming technical college after their father.
“I wanted to tell the people about the land and how long it’s been in my family and tell them about my father,” said Mildred Chapman, whose father, Thomas W. Christian, once owned a dairy farm at the intersection of Dietz and Cloud Springs roads where a Georgia Northwestern Technical College campus will be built.
In addition to running the dairy, Mr. Christian served for 12 years as the county’s first sole commissioner. He is credited with improving the roads and helping get Tri-County Hospital — now Hutcheson Medical Center — up and running.
When she learned a college would be built on the land, Mrs. Chapman, 94, sent letters to college officials and Catoosa County commissioners, informing them about the family’s history at the site. The family previously had sold the land to the county, but it changed hands to Fort Oglethorpe and back to the county when the school zeroed in on the site.
Naming part of the college after Mr. Christian, whether it’s a building, street or the whole campus, is a fitting tribute to him, according to his other daughter, Audrey Brown. She said he sacrificed plenty of time and money to get both girls to school.