Born: April 7, 1954
Married: Lesa Brown Fletcher
Children: Amy Fletcher Welch, Justin Latimer, Rachel Fletcher Lemon, Kristen Vaughn, Leslie Morgan Fletcher
Grandchildren: Ansley, Harper and Haylee
Louis was born to Morgan and Betty Fletcher. Louis was the youngest of three children. Older sisters, Myra Anne and Lois Jean. Myra died at the age of 10 in 1961. Diane and Theresa Huddleston became a part of the family in 1964 after both parents past away. The family was raised on a farm between Beckwith and Leeville in the Western part of Wilson County.
The family farm was a general farming operation that consisted of swine, beef cattle, tobacco, hay and corn. In 1964 the Fletchers got into the poultry business with AJ Smith from Nashville. The poultry operation consisted of 11,000 layer hens. All the children helped in the operation by gathering, washing, grading and packaging the eggs
Louis attended Leeville Elementary and Mt. Juliet Middle School. He graduated from Lebanon High School in 1972. While in high school, he was a member of the Lebanon FFA Chapter and a member of the Wilson County 4-H club. Louis served as chapter president his senior year and participated in several district, regional and state contests. Louis received his State FFA Degree and State Proficiency award for poultry production. His agriculture teachers were Hugh P. Evans and Hale Moss. The FFA organization and his agriculture teachers inspired Louis to want to be an agriculture teacher.
Louis enrolled at the University of Tennessee the fall of 1972 after graduation from high school. He became a member of the Farm House Fraternity and served as the fraternity president. While in college, he worked at the plant science farm, Stafford Angus Farm in Maryville, Staggs’ cabinet shop and the Gulf Service Station at 17th Avenue and I-40 in Knoxville. In August of 1975, Louis graduated from UT with a degree in Agriculture Education and a minor in Animal Science and was employed the same month to teach agriculture education at Antioch High School in Davidson County. While teaching at Antioch, Louis took members of the chapter to the National FFA Convention where he received his American FFA Degree.
After one year in Davidson County, Louis was employed by Wilson County Schools to teach agriculture education at Mt. Juliet High School. In 1980, the first greenhouse at a high school in Wilson County was built at Mt. Juliet High School as part of their agriculture program. Louis helped build seven other greenhouses for the Wilson County Schools. In 1987, the Mt. Juliet FFA Alumni was organized and is still very active. The Alumni provides the 1st and 2nd place Regional Skills Contest trophies each year and the Danny Gleaves’ Scholarship annually.
During his 25 years at Mt. Juliet High School, he had the first female to receive to State FFA Degree and the first female State FFA officer. Seven of his former students have become agriculture teachers. Numerous students received State FFA Degrees, American Degrees and Proficiency Awards.
Louis received his Master Degree in Vocational Technical Education from Middle Tennessee State University in 1988. In 1990, he received his +45 in Supervision and Administration from MTSU.
Louis left Mt. Juliet High School after 25 year to go to the new Wilson Central High School in the fall of 2001. During that first year, a new FFA Chapter was charted, a new greenhouse was built and the new shop was organized under his supervision. He also assisted teachers and coaches with their classrooms, shops and athletic fields. The teachers selected Louis as the Outstanding Teacher of the Year for WCHS to represent them in the county wide Teacher of the Year Program.
Louis left Wilson Central after one year to be the newly appointed assistant principal at the Wilson County Career Technical Center in Lebanon. He supervised students from all of the county high schools that attended the center to take CTE courses. He also continued to work with the agriculture teachers in the county during this time. He served as an assistant principal for 10 years until the center was closed, and the teachers and programs were moved to the new Lebanon High School that was opened the fall of 2012. Louis was assigned to Lebanon High to serve as one of the four assistant principals at the new school.
Experience from teaching agriculture was very helpful to him in being an assistant principal. Louis noticed that students didn’t care what you knew until they knew that you cared. Students liked to be called by their names and not by numbers. Louis had the skill to remember students by their names. His philosophy was to treat and talk to students the way you would want your own child to be treated and talked to.
After 38 years in education, 37 years in Wilson County, Louis retired from the education system in 2013 with 369 unused sick and personal days. He now does what he loves to do, as well as, raises beef cattle and talks to people about agriculture.
