Roy E. Mullins, 86, passed away on June 3, 2025, leaving a lasting legacy in his beloved Corryton community and throughout Knox County. Roy served Knox County Schools in whatever role he was assigned including two stints as interim superintendent. It was the county’s loss that he never had the necessary school board support to get the job for real.

When Roy was principal of Halls High School in the 1970s, I was writing stories for the Halls Shopper. One day I dropped in and the secretary said, “Mr. Mullins wants to see you.”

I felt like a kid who had been called to the principal’s office.

“You know that story you wrote last week?” he said. “My mother asked me to get a second copy.” He looked sort of embarrassed.

Worth and Mildred Mullins were country farmers and their boys, Bill and Roy, set out to do something else. Bill went into the military and then into real estate. He was Fountain City manager for Volunteer Realty for years. Roy went to Carson-Newman College and then got a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee. But he never quit farming, taking over for his parents and never stopping.

He taught math at Gibbs High School before Superintendent Mildred Doyle sent him to Halls High as principal. After a year’s stint as president of the Tennessee Education Association, he came back to Halls briefly before moving to the system’s central office. He could handle any job there and did most. Halls grads now turning gray remember when Mr. Mullins coached them as student activists to lobby for a cafeteria.

In retirement from KCS, he still supported the local schools in East Knox County. He was a founder of the Gibbs High School Foundation that advocated for traffic control and pedestrian safety on Tazewell Pike between the Gibbs schools.

Roy Mullins did his job well and then he did more. He leaves so many friends. And he earned so much respect.

Family and friends are invited to celebrate Roy’s life during visitation on Tuesday, June 10, from 4-7 p.m. at Clear Springs Baptist Church, 7350 Tazewell Pike, Corryton. The funeral service will follow immediately and burial will be Wednesday at Greenwood Cemetery.

A well-written, comprehensive obituary is here.