Kit Roosevelt Addington, Jr. was born in Kingsport to K. R. Addington, Sr. and Elva Cunningham Addington on March 16, 1934. He attended Kingsport schools and graduated in 1951 from Dobyns-Bennett High School. In addition to being an excellent student, he played saxophone in the band. He then studied at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration, focusing on Transportation, and he was a member of the Pride of the Southland Band. From 1955-1957 he served in the United States Army, being posted in France for part of that time. Then, he worked at Mason-Dixon Freightlines where he became Vice-President of Operations and continued throughout his career to work for various trucking companies in management positions in all parts of the United States. He served as Vice-President of Ryder/PIE from January 1973 to October 1983. He held various positions in trucking in Scranton, PA, Memphis, TN, Cincinnati, OH, Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, Rhode Island, West Palm Beach, FL and Boston, MA. He eventually completed his professional life as business trainer for United Parcel Service in Delaware in 2008. He was married to Ann Pyle of Kingsport for 58 years, and they had three children. He died in Kingsport November 24, 2016, where he and Ann had returned after his retirement.erm

Kermit was stunned to learn that there were more than 200 homeless children in Kingsport, and he set about to make a difference in those statistics. He spent long hours daily researching the needs and possibilities and visiting similar programs in other locations. He began several charitable organizations including Friends and Neighbors, Harvest of Hope Community Garden, Oasis and Open Doors. He was also a very active member of First Broad Street United Methodist Church where he and Ann served in the Furniture Ministry, and he was an usher. Kermit R. Addington Jr. Class of 1951

He served as president of Friends and Neighbors, a domestic non-profit, from 2011-2016. Friends and Neighbors now owns five houses, two of which were purchased in 2013, providing housing for ten families. A second organization he created is The Oasis of Kingsport, which was founded on October 6, 2014. Since its opening, it has served over 800 women in its small space. And today, in addition to providing various ministries and programs, it partners with over 100 other organizations around the Tri-cities serving women.

The above accomplishments are clearly examples of Kermit’s continuing the legacy of his dad, K.R. Addington, Sr.

2021 Inductees – Alumni Hall of Fame Inductees – Dobyns-Bennett High School (k12k.com)