Now in its third year, Living Legends of Alexandria is an ongoing 501(c)(3) photojournalistic project to identify, honor and chronicle Alexandria’s Living Legends. The project was conceived by artist-photographer Nina Tisara to create an enduring artistic record of the people whose vision and dedication make a tangible difference to the quality of life in Alexandria. The project is funded in part by a generous donation from the Rotary Club of Alexandria.
These are two of a series of 12 profiles that will appear this year. For more information or to nominate a Legend for next year’s program, visit www.AlexandriaLegends.com .
John and Joan Renner
Joan and John Renner (Photo: Nina Tisara)
In 2008, John Renner proposed to his fellow Rotarians that they present a premiere fundraising event to raise money for local charities. The event became the annual “Taste for Giving”, led by John and Joan Renner and a team of very capable Rotarians, which raised more than $69,000 over the past two years to help children and the needy in our community. “I told the Club we could do it, and we did” said John. “It was great to see the whole Club come together and work for such a worthy cause.”
Both active Rotarians, past Treasurer and past Secretary, they have supported a number of Club efforts. They enjoyed helping foreign visitors learn about Alexandria by opening their Seminary Ridge home to guests and hosting receptions for the Group Study Exchange and Open World programs that help participants from all over the world expand their professional skills and learn about the American people and culture.
The couple received the 2008-2009 Rotarian of the Year award from the Rotary Club of Alexandria.
For a number of years, John and Joan Renner have epitomized that rare combination of community service and selfless leadership. As Chair of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce in 2004, Joan promoted the benefits of Alexandria business. As Chair of the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria in 2008-2009, she advocated to help qualified, needy T.C. Williams High School seniors have the money for higher education. She now serves on the Board of the Goodwin House Foundation where her parents live.
John is the founder and managing shareholder of Renner and Company, CPA, P.C., one of the largest CPA firms in Alexandria. With a staff of 20, the firm serves a variety of local businesses, individuals, and nonprofit organizations providing tax, audit and accounting services. As CPAs, John and Joan and their firm have provided vital support to a number of Alexandria charities. John has worked to build consensus around important community issues as a member of the Board of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, KSMET, the Police Foundation, ACVA, First Night, as well as the City of Alexandria Waterfront Committee, the City Manager’s Performance Audit Task Force and the City’s Budget and Fiscal affairs Advisory Committee, (BFAAC). They have also promoted the arts through their service on the Boards of the Alexandria Symphony, and the Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
The Renners “serve and have served in many areas in the community,” said former delegate Marian Van Landingham. “ If you look in charitable campaign literature of the Alexandria area like the Breast Cancer Walk or the Alexandria Symphony Board quite often you will find Joan, John or the Renner & Company logo. Their contacts and influence are wide spread and long standing in the community and region. They share their professional expertise as well with financial management and tax advice for various non-profit groups in Alexandria usually on a free or reduced fee basis. Their generosity in terms of time talent and treasure is vast and brings credit to them and to Renner and Company.” In 35 years in public accounting, Renner has helped countless small businesses grow and flourish. Renner and Company is known for its service to the community.
In 2008, Renner was named “Super CPA” by the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. “I appreciate being recognized by the profession and I believe in the importance of giving back to your profession and your community,” John Renner said.
“We love Alexandria and we enjoy doing our best to help our City,” Joan Renner said.
John Porter
John Porter (Photo: Nina Tisara)
When John Porter first entered an Alexandria City Public school, Eisenhower was in the White House and his first grade teacher was Miss McKinney. Last summer, more than 50 years later, he retired from
ACPS and is now the executive director of ACT for Alexandria.
Just for the record, it didn’t take Porter 50 years to graduate; he did that in 1965. He attended Maury Elementary School, Robert E. Lee Middle School, Jefferson School for eighth grade and George Washington High School.
After ACPS, Porter attended North Carolina Wesleyan, where he studied education. “I didn’t really plan to come back to Alexandria to teach but there’s a draw to the City, especially if you have grown up here,” he said. “I was offered a teaching contract in North Carolina but took a chance and came home without a job.”
Porter’s goal was, “to get a job that paid the bills and the only teaching position that was open at that time in ACPS was at Parker-Gray teaching social studies.
During that first year, one of his students was Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne. “I know, it’s surprising I didn’t quit,” Porter quipped. “Dana spent even more time in my class my third year when I
was in charge of the crisis room where teachers sent kids who were being disruptive in class.”
After 40 years, Porter and Lawhorne are still friends. “He was such a nice guy that I misbehaved in class just so I could spend time with him,” Lawhorne said. “Then, in 1986, when I became a detective
with the Alexandria Police Department, I worked with John at T. C. Williams High School. We worked together for the next 19 years on some very difficult issues during very difficult times in Alexandria.
Of his time at Parker-Gray, Porter said, “I learned more in the first month of teaching than I did in undergraduate school. I really enjoyed the time I spent at Parker-Gray.
While he was teaching at Parker-Gray, he got his master’s degree at the Alexandria campus of Virginia Tech. Then he became the assistant principal at Francis C. Hammond High School, a position he had for two years. After Hammond, Porter went to William Ramsay Elementary School as the principal. He was there for three years.
“I really enjoyed working with elementary school children because they are still willing to hug you and show that they really enjoy seeing you,” Porter said.
After Ramsay, Porter went to John Adams Middle School. In 1979, Porter became the associate principal at T.C. Williams High School under Principal Tony Hanley. “I was the detail person who was responsible for the master schedule and coordinating all of the logistics of running a large high school,” Porter said. When Hanley retired in 1984, Porter became the principal at T.C., where he remained until 2006. In 22 years, there were highs and lows, laughter and tears.
“The most difficult time I had at T.C. was September 11, 2001. I remember walking outside near the Career and Technical Education wing with the ROTC major. We heard a loud noise and saw smoke coming from the Pentagon. The major’s brother was at the Pentagon so he ran to find out what was going on.
“Dana Lawhorne came by and told us that there was another plane that might be headed for Washington and we put the campus in total lockdown,” Porter said.
The following fall, the school faced lockdown once again when a sniper terrorized the Metropolitan region. “We had a string of tragedies with September 11, the sniper, a hurricane and the deaths of
some of our students,” Porter said. “The times that were the most difficult were when you really couldn’t control the situation.”
Porter had a reputation for knowing every student’s name at T.C. and for remembering something about the student even after graduation. He knew two of his students particularly well: his sons Bryan and Scott.
“He gave me the choice of going to private school but I said no because all of my friends were going to T.C. and that’s where I wanted to go,” said Bryan Porter, an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Alexandria. “I never thought of my time at T.C. as any harder than any other student’s. I guess that some teachers might have been harder on my brother and me because our dad was the principal.
“I do remember one of my teachers going to Dad’s office one day to ask where I was. I was skipping. Also, there was the time that he picked up the phone at our house to hear one of his own recorded messages about “˜your son or daughter missing one or more classes’. He made it clear that I probably shouldn’t skip classes,” Bryan said.
Porter has been involved with ACT since its inception. “In 2002, Gene Steuerle came to me and some others in the community to talk about a way to help Alexandria using the money that he got as a result of his wife, Norma, dying on the plane that terrorists flew into the Pentagon on Sept. 11,” Porter said.
As the successful chairman for Alexandria’s United Way campaign, Porter has some experience raising money and, “he can work a room better than anyone I know. Now, he’s going to get paid for shaking hands with people and being friendly. It sounds like the perfect job for him,” Bryan said.
While leaving ACPS was sad, “it was the right time and the right job,” Porter said. “In many ways, leaving T.C. was harder. I enjoyed my three years in Central Office but it was not the same as being involved with the kids every day.
At ACT for Alexandria, Porter is finding new ways to contribute to the city he loves.