James Hallford, former DeKalb County superintendent, dies at 88
James Reynolds ‘Renie’ Hallford knew he was a lucky man: He loved going to work every day for the DeKalb County School District, whether he was teaching high school English, working as a principal or serving as superintendent.
“He felt he was where he should be,” said LeAnn Hallford, his wife. “He loved his occupation. And he loved being with the students.”
For their first date, the Hallfords attended a PTA meeting at Fernbank Elementary, where LeAnn was teaching, and then went to play putt-putt. Three months later, they were married in Decatur Presbyterian Church. Last December, they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.
The son of teachers Ernest Reynolds Hallford and Nell Carroll Hallford, James Reynolds Hallford died Oct. 18 in his Decatur den during the University of Georgia-Ole Miss football game. He was 88.
Reared in Demorest, across the road from Piedmont College, Hallford was born with an identical twin, Ernest “Ernie” Lamar Hallford, a “mirror” twin — who also worked as a teacher and administrator in DeKalb schools. The brothers both received undergraduate, master’s and specialist degrees from the University of Georgia. Renie Hallford also earned a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.
Stanley Pritchett worked as an administrator with Hallford, who would call up Pritchett and ask him “to go visiting schools. He loved to check on the teachers and see what they needed, and to see the students. He was very student centered,” Pritchett said.
While Hallford was superintendent, DeKalb County passed its first eSPLOST, an initiative that earned the school district almost half a billion dollars, Pritchett said. The money allowed Hallford and his team to be “very strategic about how the school system would grow. He was a mentor to me and so many others, and always supportive.”
The school board extended Hallford’s two-year contract twice, but he finally retired in 2002.
Before beginning his education career, Hallford served as lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division of the Army. While working in the school system, he was president of the Rotary Club of Tucker and vice president of the Georgia Federal Credit Union Board of Directors. He was also a member of the boards of the DeKalb Rape Crisis Center, the DeKalb Historical Society, the DeKalb Council for the Arts and Leadership DeKalb. He was a deacon in Decatur Presbyterian Church.
Away from civic and education matters, Hallford could be found on the Habersham County cattle farm that he and his brother worked together, his daughter Tryllis Hallford said. They raised Herefords and Black Baldies. Three days before he died, he spent the night at the farm, his daughter said, “and all the heifers had calved, so he was thrilled with that.”
Ernie Hallford died of melanoma in 2001, leaving a hole in his brother’s life, family members said. To cope with the loss, Hallford started attending the Twinless Twin Support International, Leann Hallford said. He later served as president.
Although he and Leann Hallford read the AJC every morning, the newspaper wasn’t his favorite publication. He loved the Market Bulletin, put out by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, where you could find everything for sale — from blueberry bushes to bush hogs to butter.
“He bought transportation trailers for the cows,” Tryllis Hallford said. “And he even bought cows” for the family cattle farm.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Hallford is survived by sisters Marcia Hallford, Patty Keller and Lisa Hallford; son Ren Hallford; two grandsons and numerous nieces and nephews.
Instead of flowers, the family requests you donate to your favorite charity or to the Decatur Presbyterian Church. A celebration of life will be held 3 p.m. Tuesday at Decatur Presbyterian, with a reception to follow.
