By SANDRA THAMES / Community Columnist

Support Person of the Year for Thompson High School is Anthony Lacey.

Lacey is known to be very quiet, unassuming and polite as he goes about his job in the maintenance department at the school.

John King, Lacey’s immediate supervisor, had only good things to say about Lacey.  “He is my floor man and believe me when I tell you it is an art form when it comes to the way he handles the stripping and buffing of the floors,” King said.

Lacey also handles various other maintenance duties at the school.

Born in 1958 in Calera, Lacey still lives on the original home place located off Highway 25.

Lacey is the father of three children whose ages are 26, 16 and 15 years old.

Lacey is a single father and is a person who enjoys his solitude.

“I collect old bottles and wood that is so old it looks as if it is stone,” Lacey said. “I enjoy walking in the woods and searching for these items.”

Lacey attended Calera High School and is a certified groundskeeper.

An active member of Mountain Baptist Church, Lacey is quoted as saying, “I love it when God wakes me in the morning.”

For 28 years, Lacey was custodian at Vestavia Hills High School and had plans to become a self-employed landscaper; however, he lost his daddy and sister within a two-month period and had to put those plans on hold.

After leaving Vestavia Hills High School, he worked at Birmingham-Southern College for five years before accepting his current position at Thompson High School.

Lacey has no plans to retire and says he likes life just as it is.

He says he is very content with what God has given him.