Friends mourn passing of Dortch Oldham

Dortch Oldham, who helped turn Nashville's Southwestern Co. into a sales dynamo that influenced the lives of thousands of young people who worked for it during college, passed away Thursday after a long illness. He was 89.

Visitation will take place at Westminster Presbyterian from 4 to 6 p.m. today and again at 1 p.m. tomorrow, followed by a memorial service at 2 p.m.

Born into humble circumstances in the farming community of Pleasant Shade, Tenn., Oldham hitchhiked to Nashville at the age of 16 with a few dollars in his pocket and a notion to go to work selling bibles door-to-door for Southwestern, one of the city's oldest companies.

Thirty years later, as chairman, CEO and majority owner of Southwestern, he and fellow shareholders sold it to the Times Mirror Co. for a reported $17 million.

Oldham came home from the Second World War to work as a sales manager at Southwestern. He and a fellow manager, Fred Landers, helped engineer dramatic growth in the business, which branched out from bibles to sales of a variety of educational books. Its collegiate sales force numbered as high as 5,000 in some summers.

He bought a controlling interest in the company in 1959, remained as president after its sale in 1966, and left in 1972 to prepare a run for governor of Tennessee.

Oldham lost his bid for the Republican nomination in 1974 but went on to serve as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party later in the 1970s. He was active in national GOP fundraising as well.

"Tennesseans will greatly miss Dortch Oldham’s energy, initiative, and generous good works," said Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). "He helped build the Southwestern Company, the Republican Party, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. Honey and I, and many others, have lost a good friend."

Alexander defeated Oldham in the 1974 Republican gubernatorial primary, but the two remained friends. During Alexander's administration as governor, President Ronald Reagan named Oldham to Commissioner General of the U.S. Government for the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville.

"I count my time working for Dortch Oldham as one of the most important formative experiences of my life," commented Texas Governor Rick Perry, who sold books for Southwestern while a student at Texas A&M University in the early 1970s.

"There is nothing that tests your commitment to a goal like getting a few doors closed in your face" Perry said. "Mr. Oldham taught legions of young people to communicate quickly, clearly and with passion, a lesson that has served me well in my life since then. Mr. Oldham will be missed."

Former Governor Winfield Dunn said Oldham was instrumental in his winning the state's top office in 1970. Oldham served as Davidson County finance chairman for Dunn, who was from Memphis and faced a challenge winning over Middle Tennesseans. "He used the same enthusiasm and sales skills he had throughout his career to help me become governor," Dunn recalled. "He was an absolutely magnetic human being."

Surviving Oldham are his wife of more than 60 years, Lenore "Sis" Huebner Oldham, as well as five sons: Dortch (Carol); Greg (Anne) of Portland, Ore; Peter (Kim); Danny (Laurie) and Mark (Sharon). Also among his survivors are 13 grandchildren and a great-grandchild, born just this week.

The family has stated that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3900 West End Avenue, 37205; The Nashville Rotary Service Trust, P O Box 110102, Nashville, 37222; the YMCA Foundation, 900 Church Street, 37203; or the charity of one's choice.

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