A look back
By Staff
Researched by Dr. Bill Stewart
Recently, Hartselle lost one of its most eminent men. No one had a greater interest in the community’s continued progress and a passion to know everything about its history than Horace Broom.
Aug. 14, 1927-Horace Wooten Broom was born in Etowah County.
Sept. 19, 1935-The M H. Broom family has moved here from Alabama City. Mr. Broom will take the place formerly occupied by Arthur Stephenson at the Citizens Bank of Hartselle.
July 18, 1941-Horace Broom is currently at Westmoreland Scout camp.
Feb. 2, 1945-Horace Broom attended a high school dramatics workshop at Montevallo today.
Dec. 25, 1946-A.P.I. student Horace Broom is spending the holidays with homefolks.
Dec. 23, 1948 – The premier sporting event of the season locally will be the third annual all-star football game between Hartselle and Falkville Thursday night at the M.C.H.S. athletic field. The Hartselle team will include Joe Butler, Bush and Bobby Gilchrist, Charles Johnson, J. P. Cain, Billy Hampton, Pete McCutcheon, Matthew Wiggins, Popeye Thompson, Joe Norwood, John D. Long, Joe Speake, Ray Howell, Coy Stephenson, Jr., John Paul Puckett, Harold McClanahan, Jr., Robert Stephenson, Harry Puckett, and Horace Broom.
June 9, 1949-Hartselle college students home for summer vacation include Nancy Roberts, Carolyn Stewart, Elizabeth Peck, Robert Stephenson, Robbie Quinn, Beth Howell, and Horace Broom.
July 13, 1950-Horace Broom is currently teaching swimming at Crystal Plunge pool in Decatur.
March 9, 1952—Mr. and Mrs. Arthur G. Howell announce the engagement of their daughter, Beth, to Horace Broom, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Broom.
Aug. 22, 1952-The Hartselle Kiwanis Club was chartered tonight as the 61st in the state with Horace Broom as president.
Sept. 10, 1959-The location in Hartselle of a garment plant to employ eventually 250 persons was made certain this week with the signing of a 15-year lease contract in the home office of Fly Manufacturing Co., Shelbyville, Tenn. Hartselle signers were W. H. Stewart, president, and Horace W. Broom, secretary-treasurer, of the Hartselle Industrial Development Board.
Aug. 14, 1962—Horace Broom, Evelyn Orr, W. P. Maxwell, Arthur Bean, Dick Stoner, Fred Sherrill, and T. B. Strickland, Jr., were selected tonight by the city council as the first members of the new city education board. They will have the responsibility of studying the financial needs of Hartselle schools and making recommendations for improvements. (There was as yet no separate Hartselle school system.)
Oct. 18, 1962—M. H. Broom is the new president of the Citizens Bank of Hartselle. Horace Broom is vice-president. John D. Sample is assistant cashier and director. (Horace Broom became bank president in 1969.)
Aug. 15, 1963—The Horace Broom family is vacationing this week at Guntersville Lake.
May 1, 1975-Horace Broom has been elected president of the Alabama Bankers Association.
May 25, 1984-Horace Broom received the Americanism Award of the Hartselle American Legion post tonight.
July 20, 1986—Marvin H. Broom died. He began his banking career in 1923 in Etowah County while attending high school. Immediately prior to coming to the Citizens Bank here in 1935, he worked full-time for the Alabama City Bank near Gadsden.
April 30, 2006-Mrs. Beth Howell Broom, beloved wife of Horace Broom, passed away today.
Jan. 5, 2009-Horace Broom died at his home in Hartselle.
Jan. 6, 2009-Funeral services were held today at Peck’s chapel for Horace Broom, one of the city’s most esteemed citizens.
