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Weekly 150: James and Dereck Stewart

The Reverend and the Colonel

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In the early stages of this series, I did a feature on Webb School. Through the Rosenwald Fund and the foresight of Professor J.L. Seets, Webb School became the foremost school for the local African American community. Over 50 years after its closure through desegregation/integration, the school still has a lasting effect not only in McKenzie but throughout the nation.
James Herman Stewart and Ollie Fay Williams were products of McKenzie’s Webb School. James played basketball and football and graduated in 1958. Remembering his time at Webb School in a 1984 interview he remarked, “Football taught me a lot. It teaches a young man that he has to depend on a team’s effort. That’s important because it’s going to be that way the rest of his life — you can’t do very much alone.”
Two weeks after graduating high school, James enlisted in the Air Force. “My mother, Elizabeth, worked at Bethel College, leaving at 5 and getting home after 2. I wanted to get her out of the kitchen, and a year later I was able to,” James added.
In the Air Force, he worked in refrigeration and air conditioning as an electrician. During his four-year stint, he married Faye. When he left the service he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where other family members had moved.
Long cold winters influenced his return to McKenzie. James soon found work at Wilker Brothers and then at Milan Arsenal. “I went to work at Republic Builders when it first opened. I was the first employee,” James said. He started in the maintenance department and was promoted to maintenance foreman.
In 1965, he became a minister. “I had always been a churchgoer — I had always gone to church and Sunday School.” He continued while in the military.
“I just had to do something about it. I talked to my pastor, started working with the youth and taking extension classes at Jackson and at Bethel College. My mother had always encouraged me to do something with my life, not to throat it away. When I told her I was going into the ministry, she cried. My first church was at Cottage Grove, then I went to the First Baptist Church in Trenton.” He later pastored Greater Enon Missionary Baptist Church.
“The best thing about being a minister is that I can help people — see the needs of people, speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves. I can try to make people better.”
James and Ollie both commended the work of Webb School saying things may have been better for the African American students who attended Webb before integration. “They had all black teachers in a tight black community. The teachers understood the needs and problems of black students. They had more patience and understanding and the back-up of a black community to enforce discipline. If a child misbehaved at school — skipped classes, didn’t get his lessons, whatever, the community entered into the discipline, first the teachers, then the parents. Everyone was my mother.”
Reverend Stewart was appointed Moderator of the Obion River District Association, a 52-member church group; the position is similar to that of a bishop. He also served in the Lions Club and was a member of the Water Board of the City of McKenzie.
James provided an important insight into life and faith with two simple thoughts, “The important thing in life is to love one another. Don’t judge another. Just try to put on his shoes. What is God like; The feeling of a cool drink of water when you’re thirsty, a shady tree on a hot day, relief from pain or agony. That’s the image.”

In July 2011, James died and was buried alongside Ollie at Greenwood Cemetery in Henry County...
The legacy of James and Ollie transcended with their three children; David, Dereck and Danita.
The most noted of the Stewart children is Dereck. He is a graduate of McKenzie High School and served as director/colonel of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Colonel Dereck Stewart began his career with the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 1987 as a road Trooper in Montgomery County, where he spent seven and a half years before transferring to the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy to teach basic training to police and sheriff recruits. From there he went on to join the THP Training Academy Staff in 1995, where he was promoted to sergeant, and later to lieutenant serving as assistant director of training. He was promoted to captain in 2004 and led the Internal Affairs Unit until transferring to the director’s position in the Research, Planning and Development Division for the department.
In September 2010, he was promoted to major and executive officer for Colonel Tracy Trott until August 2011, when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel over the Administrative Support Bureau. For the latter portion of his time as lieutenant colonel, he was commander of the Field Operations Bureau where he was responsible for day-to-day operations of all field personnel for the THP. He was promoted to colonel of the Tennessee Highway Patrol in May 2018; he is the first African-American colonel in the history of the THP.
Colonel Stewart is a certified police instructor. He is a graduate of the Tennessee Government Executive Institute, LEAD Tennessee, and the Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy and Session 39 of the FBI National Executive Institute.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam named Stewart as Trott’s replacement effective July 1, 2018. On December 15, 2020, Colonel Stewart retired after 33 years of distinguished service.
“Serving the Tennessee Highway Patrol as the 14th Colonel is one of the greatest honors of my career,” said Colonel Dereck Stewart. “I joined this organization, as so many others before me, in hopes of making a positive difference. I love this organization, all that it represents and stands for.”
Much like his father, Colonel Stewart is proud of his heritage and appreciated those who came before him “no matter what race or creed you are, all lives do matter, and we need to learn from the past. We cannot have passion without compassion first. I have a picture on my wall in my office of the Buffalo Soldiers that my mother gave me. I look at it every day. It keeps me focused on where I, we, all come from.
“We have to have the endurance to fight and not let anyone stop us, but helping others with compassion on the way. Everyone was against the Buffalo Soldiers, the Indians and the slave owners. Did that deter them? No, they continued to fight. They fought for what was right. White people treated them worse than the Indians. Did they give up? No, they continued to show passion and compassion”.
He is married to Cynthia and they have two children, Jada and Dereck II.