March 29, 2005

Hunter Flack, Tennessee's oldest living letterman, celebrated his 100th birthday March 29. Honored by the T-Club at the 2004 Notre Dame game, Flack was born in Obion County, lived much of his life in Montgomery, Ala., and has been in Highlands, N.C., near the Georgia state line, since 1978.

A track star in his days on campus back in the early to mid-1920s who never lost in the mile run, Flack and his wife, Eleanor, have a breathtaking view of mountains and valleys off their back porch and are part of the social fabric of Highlands.

The day of his arrival at the Flack household a century ago, when Teddy Roosevelt was president, Russia and Japan were heading precipitously toward war ("Russia Is For Peace, But Prepares For War," read the headline in the Knoxville News). Other events of interest included an empty passenger train exploding in a subway tunnel in New York City and the L&N Railroad announcing through service from Knoxville to Louisville.

A legal notice that day foreshadowed good things for the University of Tennessee. The Knoxville City Bank, through president William M. Shields, announced capital of $300,000, a surplus of $225,000 and deposits of $2,225,000. (In 1915, Shields promised to pay the outstanding debt on the field near the Tennessee River if the University could raise the funds to prepare and equip it. In 1921, Shields-Watkins Field/Neyland Stadium opened for business.)

Flack made his fortune in the lumber business, owning mills in Summerville, S.C. ("the largest saw mill east of the Mississippi River" at one point) and in Columbus and Bainbridge, Ga.

"Hunter is a dreamer," Eleanor said, "who, when he went into the mills, was using the railroad to ship wood out before other people did. He had great ambition and was ahead of the curve in a number of ways. His strength was knowing people. He had the ability to hire good people who could do the job."

Not buffaloed in the least by the passage of time, Flack won the senior division of the Highlands Country Club golf tournament in 1996. He has a newspaper clipping from Dec. 3, 1995, in which he won another tournament by shooting less than his age. He was 90 and posted an 86.

With his 100th birthday in the books, Flack allowed that he would like to build a vacation condominium in Destin. A runner before running was popular, Flack knows one speed. With him, it's always full speed ahead. Even, perhaps especially, on his 100th birthday.