Vernon L. St. John, born in Morgan County, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Joseph St. John. He holds the B.S. and M.A. Degrees from the University of Alabama, with graduate study at Auburn and Columbia University. In 1973 he was awarded the LL.D. Degree from Mobile College. He is Married to the former Virginia Thomas of Bibb County.
He has been a teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent. He was Superintendent of Opp City Schools from 1945-1971. After he retired, he became Special Consultant for American Educators Life Insurance Company.
He served in the State Senate for two terms and was a member of the Education Recess Committee which recommended the Minimum Law, enacted in 1935.
While he was the Superintendent of the Opp City Schools, Mr. St. John, working with the Board of Education, provided the leadership to build, with local revenues, a modern, air-conditioned, carpeted high school building—one which has been studied by many visitors. This began a building program which provides modern educational facilities for all Opp children.
When he retired as Superintendent of Education, the Opp City School System was one of three systems in the state in which elementary, middle, and high school were all accredited.
His professional affiliations include membership in AEA, NEA, and American Association of School Administrators. He is a member of Phi Delta Kappa. He was a member of the Board of Trustees AEA from 1958-1966 and served as President of the Alabama Education Association from 1967 to 1969.
He is a member, deacon and teacher of the Men’s Bible Class, First Baptist Church. He was Chairman, Executive Committee, Alabama State Baptist Convention, 1972-1973. He is presently a member of the USS Alabama Battleship Commission and because of his work as an adult Scouter, he was awarded the Silver Beaver in 1963. He is a member of Board of Control, Teachers’ Retirement System and is Chairman NRTA/AARP Joint State Legislative Committee.
Mr. St. John is recognized as a leader in all those areas, yet he has always been a personal interest in the problems and accomplishments of his former students and faculty. He and his wife have established a scholarship at Opp High School which is awarded annually to a graduating senior.
His genial disposition, his sense of humor and ready smile, his skill as an administrator, and his equanimity in the face of difficulties, his genuine concern for his fellow beings—all these have won a host of friends who feel that he justly is chosen for Opp’s Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.
