John Hargreaves Tandy was born on this day in 1921, in New Jersey.
In high school, Tandy played football, basketball and track. He attended UNC where he starred for four years as an end on the football team.
He served with the Navy during World War II, and gained coaching experience when he worked with a service football team.
Tandy came to Winston-Salem in 1948 and was the director of athletics and football coach for R. J. Reynolds High School. The school had not been a contender in football for several years, but under Tandy’s leadership, the team improved and began to win games. In 1952, Reynolds won the state championship.
Tandy received many honors as a young coach. He was named “Championship Father of the Year” by the Retail Merchants Association in 1952. He was called “a builder of character and a source of inspiration to the young people of Winston-Salem.”
In 1956, Tandy decided to devote full-time to being assistant principal at Reynolds. Then, in 1959, he became principal at Hanes High School.
Tandy returned to Reynolds High School in 1962 as the school’s third principal, following the retirement of C. R. Joyner. One of his priorities as principal was to improve Reynolds’ physical plant, which had begun to decay. The PTA stepped in and a complete renovation was made in 1965.
Tandy resigned as principal of Reynolds High School in 1966, and entered the executive training program at Hanes Corporation. He held several executive positions at Hanes, as well as working as president of Goodwill Industries, and as chairman of the local United Fund campaign.
Tandy served on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners from 1972 to 1976.
He retired from Hanes in 1976 and moved to Holden Beach, where he served three terms as mayor.
Tandy was married to Elizabeth Watson. They moved to Chapel Hill in 1991.
Tandy passed away in 1998.
The photo shown above was published in the 1950 Reynolds High School yearbook. The 1950 seniors dedicated their Black and Gold to John Tandy, “for his friendly, helpful service to the school, for his counsel and coaching in the game of football as well as in the game of life.”
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
Very nice article!