The Tyler Junior College Alumni Association honored its 2024 class of award recipients in a glittering event held recently in Rogers Student Center on the TJC central campus.
Beverly Burns Dillon ’69
Apache Spirit Award
The Apache Spirit Award recognizes a person or group who has shown spirit and motivation through the contribution of time and energy to a program or activity, which measurably benefited the College.
Beverly Burns Dillon grew up in Tyler and has spent most of her life in and around the TJC community. Her father was best friends with Coach Floyd Wagstaff, so she grew up attending most football and basketball games that TJC played in the 1950s and 1960s. Her love of dance began when she was just 4 years old and, in 1967, she became an internationally famous Tyler Junior College Apache Belle under the direction of Eva Saunders and Al Gilliam.
After her time at TJC, Dillon went to The University of Texas at Austin, where she finished her secondary teaching degree, got married and began a career as an English teacher and as the director of a 400-member girls’ drill team at Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio. This drill team, which consisted of 50 dancers, 120 marchers, a 200-member pep squad and 10 cheerleaders, was part of the very first high school to play and perform in the newly opened Texas Stadium.
Dillon found her way back to East Texas where she continued her teaching career and was selected as Caldwell Elementary’s first “Teacher of the Year.” She also got to reconnect with the Apache Belles program and, in 2011, began volunteering her time by helping with Belle Camp and other events as well as recruiting new Apache Belles.
Today, she serves as a member of TJC’s Belle Gold Advisory and Activities Council where she remains involved with the current and former Belles on a daily basis.
Jim and Diane Lestor
Black and Gold Award
The Black and Gold Award recognizes outstanding devotion to TJC by an individual who is not a former student but who has volunteered time, effort and resources to promote the mission and goals of the College.
Diane and Jim Lestor are prominent citizens of East Texas and have been married for 53 years. Jim grew up in the ever-changing climate of Minnesota, while Diane is from hot and humid Houston. Diane grew up visiting Tyler for family vacations and loved the East Texas community. After graduating from college, Diane became a flight attendant for American Airlines and worked with the company for 35 years. Jim worked for State Farm Insurance for 37 years. They were both were recognized within their respective industries with performance awards. Shortly after their careers began, Jim and Diane met and were soon married.
The Lestors have a passion for traveling and have explored diverse destinations around the globe, from Belgium and Africa to Singapore. Jim’s favorite location is Antarctica, while Diane prefers the more historic destinations.
Besides traveling, the Lestors also love to minister to people through various means. Education has been a central focus for Diane and Jim, who have been deeply involved with the TJC Promise Program since its inception. Jim now serves on the Board for the Tyler Junior College Foundation. He refers to the TJC Promise Program as “an amazing thing that affects the lives of so many area students and guarantees them a rewarding future through education.”
When Diane and Jim aren’t serving on boards, ministering to shut-ins, or engaging in various philanthropic activities, they enjoy water skiing, gardening, and reminiscing about their years of raising horses.
Jim said, “We are living every day to the fullest that we can. Our days are never the same. We are best friends, moving forward every day, together; just as we have for more than 50 years.”
Patrick D. Willis ’95
Special Recognition Award
The Special Recognition Award recognizes an individual for their outstanding professional achievements, contributions to society and/or service to their community and bringing honor to the College.
Patrick D. Willis is the executive director of the Byers Family Foundation, a role he assumed in March 2023, following the Foundation’s inaugural board meeting. In addition to his executive leadership position, Willis serves as the vice president of the Board of Directors at the Foundation.
Concurrently, Willis operates Patrick Willis Strategic Consulting, a firm he founded in 2017. With a career exceeding 27 years in non-profit management and philanthropic counsel, he is also well regarded for his expertise in public relations campaigns, corporate-giving strategies, political consulting and government relations advocacy.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Willis contributes to the community as a Lifetime Member of the R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center Advisory Board and is a member of the UT System Chancellor’s Council. He is also a board member for the Tyler Rose Museum and has dedicated nearly 30 years as a volunteer with the Texas Rose Festival and over 20 years with the Order of the Rose. Willis previously served on the Boards of Directors for numerous organizations in East Texas.
In 2014, Willis was honored with the W.C. Windsor Award, recognizing him as Tyler’s most outstanding citizen under the age of 40.
Willis is a devoted father to Vivian, 18; Jackson, 16; and Mary Caroline, 11. The Willis family is actively involved in Christ Episcopal Church.
Dr. Jon-Michael Cline
Valuable Young Alumnus Award
The valuable young alumni award recognizes an individual of integrity and stature for distinguished achievement in business, profession or life work, or for their outstanding service to Tyler Junior College. This award is presented to an alumnus who is 45 years of age or younger.
Dr. Jon-Michael Cline was born in Nacogdoches and raised in Palestine. After graduating from Elkhart High School, he attended TJC, where he was a Presidential Scholarship award recipient and completed an associate degree in biology. He also participated as a member of both the tennis and baseball teams while at TJC.
Dr. Cline then completed his Bachelor of Science in biology at Texas A&M University, where he pitched for the Aggie baseball team. He subsequently spent two years pitching for the Minnesota Twins in their minor league system. Though a shoulder injury and ensuing surgery ended his professional baseball career, he went on to pursue his passion for medicine by attending medical school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center/TCOM in Fort Worth.
He met his wife, Dr. Amby Cline, during medical school, and they both went on to complete their Family Medicine residency training at the Waco Family Medicine Residency Program.
Dr. Cline then completed a Sports Medicine Fellowship with Southwest Sports Medicine and Baylor University in Waco.
The Clines co-founded ClineMed, a direct primary care practice, in 2021, and he currently practices sports medicine at Azalea Orthopedics in Tyler. They reside in Tyler their three children.
Dr. Julie V. Philley ’96
Distinguished Alumna Award
This award recognizes an individual for their distinguished professional achievement and contributions to society, which have brought honor to the College.
Dr. Julie V. Philley was raised in Overton. She is the second of five children, all of whom have returned to live and work in East Texas. She attended Tyler Junior College prior to completing a bachelor’s degree from Texas Woman’s University.
She continued her education by obtaining her MD at UT Health Houston’s McGovern Medical School, completing an internal medicine residency program at Johns Hopkins University/Sinai Hospital and a fellowship at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas.
A Professor of Medicine and board certified in internal, pulmonary and critical care medicine, she served as UT Tyler’s executive vice president for health affairs following the 2021 merger of UT Tyler and the UT Health Science Center at Tyler, which created a single, integrated university.
On June 1, 2024, Dr. Philley became the sixth president of The University of Texas at Tyler. She also serves as board chair of UT Health East Texas.