Issue: Summer 2015 | Posted: June 8, 2015

Old School

Arnold, Conger win local Man, Woman of the Year awards

Bobby Arnold (’76)

Bobby Arnold (’76) and Virginia Conger (’52), two Union University alumni, were recently honored as Jackson’s Man of the Year and Woman of the Year, respectively.

Arnold, president and CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare, was selected by the Jackson Exchange Club for its yearly honor and presented with the award at a Feb. 24 ceremony.

“Mr. Arnold has been involved in our community for many years and had a long career at Jackson-General Hospital,” said Jackson Exchange Club President Scott Beard in a Jackson Sun story. “He’s been involved in many boards and many committees that give back to the community and helped our community grow.

“Basically he’s just been a great service to our community. Everything going on in the community, Bobby Arnold is there and real supportive of it.”

Arnold said he was deeply humbled by the award.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside some amazing men and women who work so very hard,” Arnold said. “One of the great things about Jackson is that the people of this community are willing to band together and take care of each other and work.

“I would just say that any success I may have had or this recognition tonight, some of it is certainly attributable to the folks that I’ve had the opportunity to work with on different boards and projects.”

Virginia Conger (’52)

Three weeks later, Conger was named Altrusa’s 63rd Woman of the Year at a March 16 dinner. The group selects a Jackson or Madison County resident each year who is typically active in the community and serves in leadership roles.

“She taught in the Jackson-Madison County School system for 27 years,” Altrusa President Jennifer Flanagan said of Conger, as reported by the Jackson Sun. “She was married to a mayor of Jackson, and they raised four children.”

“I believe God put us here to help people, and that’s what we’re supposed to do,” Conger said. “I appreciate the friends I have in the room and I appreciate all of you being here.”

According to the Sun story, Conger works with children at the Department of Children’s Services as a surrogate parent, mentors high school seniors for Madison Achieves, bakes desserts for the homeless and sews for the Threads of Love program, among other service projects. She also teaches Sunday school at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson.