May We Know Them, May We Be Them, May We Raise Them
When you meet Allie Cummings, Judy Cox and Medana Hemontolor, a few things stand out. Three generations of strong, smart, sassy women stand before you and you best get out of their way! These ladies have work to do! Allie Lee Tarpley Cummings and her husband, Howard Houston Cummings, raised their daughter Judy Cox on the family farm in Gladeville, where the Nashville Speedway sits today.
Life wasn’t easy back then, but life was good. Their children which included Judy, and her siblings, James Cummings, Joyce Reeves, and Joe Cummings were no strangers to hard work which often included early mornings, milking cows and tending to crops. And like many back then, that also meant there was no running water or an inside toilet.
But Judy remembers those days fondly, “life was simpler then. We didn’t have all the trappings we have now but instead we had family meals around the table and evenings under the stars listening to the whip-poor-wills. And yet we were never ever bored!” Christian values and family values were everything Allie made sure to instill those values in Judy at a young age. In the mid 60‘s, the family moved to “town” where Judy started high school, settling near Cumberland University. Soon, “Pa”, as Howard Cummings came to be known, had the kids mowing yards on the street for free, so they wouldn’t be bored. This strong work ethic eventually led to all four of his children working their way through high school and college and establishing careers in and around their communities.
Judy eventually went to work for Cecil and Sue Johnson at Johnson’s Dairy (Purity Dairy now) and became the first female District Manager for several counties including Wilson. After being in sales for years, real estate seemed a natural fit for Judy as Pa always told her she could talk to a fencepost! Judy notes “real estate is not about the sale, but it’s about the relationships you make along the way. I love to meet people and get to know them. My clients become my friends and I’ll often help families buy and sell several homes over the years as their families grow and change.” And while building her career and business have always been important to Judy, her mother, Allie, (known as Granny to many) taught her that family always comes first. That meant where Judy went, there was usually a little blonde-haired girl following her. Medana Hemontolor is much like her mother and grandmother and she is very proud of that fact.
Growing up Medana followed her mom not only to work, but to church events and community events. Judy, who has always been very involved in the community, felt it was important to teach by example. Medana remembers, “my mom would take me to her Business Professional Women meetings on Monday nights and Chamber events throughout the year. I had a blast and enjoyed getting to know professional women of all walks of life. I learned by watching mom and these women show me how to be professional at anything they did and how to be strong women with Christian values. I remember watching my mom be awarded the Career Woman of the Year award and was so very proud of her!
BPW no longer exists but in 2001 a core group of women from that group, which included my mom, formed Wilson ONE which is a wonderful group that encourages and supports women.” Today, Medana is the President of Wilson ONE, an organization of Networking and Education for Women – paid & non-paid working women of all walks of life. Each year this organization gives out two to four scholarships to non-traditional students and Medana has been instrumental in growing this organization to an average of 40-45 women who meet the first Thursday of each month for a lunch and learn one-hour event. Currently, Medana also serves on the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is a Chamber Ambassador. “I love helping new businesses and business owners get involved in our community.” Medana has also served as the past President of Kiwanis Club of Lebanon and currently serves as their Secretary. She is also a past graduate of Leadership Wilson, a group she continues to support. To say, she is following in her mother’s busy footsteps is an understatement!
These days when the ladies are not participating in community events, they are working side by side in the family real estate business. Judy’s husband, Mike Cox, is a well-known builder and owner of Cox’s Construction and Judy has been a top real estate agent in and around Middle Tennessee for almost three decades. In 2005, Medana came on board to help them both. Previous to this, Medana held several professional positions including working alongside her mother-in-law, Peggy Hemontolor, at the well-known school supply business, The Teacher’s Aid. No stranger to work, Medana met her husband, Greg, while the two were employed at the Lebanon Kroger, each paying their way through college at MTSU. Greg and Medana have been married for 26 years now and for the last 20 years, Greg has been employed at ICON Clinical Research as the Global Senior Project Manager conducting drug study trials. Medana has also stayed active working while also raising their boys, Evan and Grayson.
But these days, the boys are grown and busy. Evan recently graduated from MTSU and is engaged to be married and Grayson, begins Cumberland University in the Fall. Medana notes “we couldn’t be prouder of the strong, Godly men we have raised.” As her boys came into their own, so did Medana. Real estate you can say is in her blood. Medana’s father, Ronnie Lee Hobbs, is the great-grandson of JR Hobbs who started JR Hobbs & Sons, the oldest real estate company in Lebanon, which shows the apple does not fall from the tree! Initially upon joining up with Judy and Mike, Medana worked with Mike on the construction side as the Construction Coordinator for Cox’s Construction where she learned all the ins and outs of building from Mike. And then when not on job sites, Medana was learning the real estate side from Judy. And from there, quite a dynamic Mother- Daughter Real Estate Team was born. The ladies work side by side these days at EXIT Rocky Top Realty (C&D Team), an international real estate company, which means they are often tackling to-do lists all over town for their real estate clients. “My mother can put a to-do list together for a day that looks so impossible to do; but she can do that list and then some by the end of the day. That is what I have been taught most of my life – Put your mind to it and you will do more than you thought you could in a day.” And while they have shared many, many good times, it’s in tough times, you really learn what you are made of.
In June 2016, in the midst of growing their business together, Medana was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent treatment and credits her family and church support for helping her go through this valley of her life. “I
received love and support from so many and even received cards of encouragement from people I did not even know. My aunt, Del Lackey, formed a Sherry’s Run TEAM MEDANA and the friends and family that walked with me was completely overwhelming! In 2018, I was asked to be an executive member of the Hope Joy Light Cancer Support Group at Immanuel Baptist Church. Sally Pierce, the founder, and I were on our cancer journey at the same time and were a support for each other. Our group is for cancer fighters and survivors of our community and we come together and support one another. We meet the first Wednesday of each month at 6 pm and Immanuel Baptist Church and would love to spread the word about our group so we can continue to support people like I have been supported,”
And when the ladies are not supporting their community, they are often together spending time in each other’s company. “Granny has a fun-loving spirit and loves when we come together and celebrate. You can often find us together after church on Sundays, eating around the dining room table or enjoying an afternoon of family get-togethers. I also have a brother, Jason, and sister, Deborah and am blessed to have them in my life.” Allie and Judy are both proud of the strong woman they have raised. “Medana is a loving compassionate person, she feels her friend’s and client’s joys as well as their sorrows. I am so proud of the Christian lady, wife mother, daughter and friend she is to all of us.”
