ASHEBORO (December 14, 2006) –Tommie Cato is a storyteller. He tells stories with his scalpel, just one of the tools he uses to create the illusion of a hound dog treeing a raccoon, a large snapping turtle peering through a clump of reeds, or a coyote howling at the moon. And for nearly 18 years, Cato has taught others how to tell those stories through the preservation of animals in Taxidermy classes at Randolph Community College. He retired this week.

Although his hair is gray and his aging body has slowed him down — an old war wound will no longer allow him to hold a scalpel for long periods before his hand goes numb — the 67-year-old has lost none of his enthusiasm for life and for telling a good story.

Cato tells one story of when he was a U.S. Marine stationed at Keflavík, Iceland. As a brig warden, he wasn’t exactly busy. One day at a restaurant for lunch, he spotted a pretty girl walk by the window. Struck by her beauty, he ran outside but she was gone. So he told the owner he wanted to reserve that table by the window for “as long as it took” and was willing to pay for the privilege. “I sat there from lunch until closing for two weeks,” he recalls. It was snowing heavily when he finally saw her walk by with a girlfriend; he rushed out the door and started trailing her down the street asking her for a date. “No English, no English,” was her only response as he followed her to the intersection, where a policeman was directing traffic. At that point, he jumped into the street in front of her, knelt in the deep snow and begged her for a date. “Get up fool, you’re embarrassing me,” was her response…in English.

“I met her that morning and asked her to marry me that night,” says Cato, of his wife Rose. But per Icelandic tradition, he had to court her properly. “I never kissed her or held her hand for six months,” he laughs. She was with him when he returned to the U.S.

Cato grew up in the Atlanta area and became involved in the ROTC in school there. After 13 years in the Marine Corps, he worked in law enforcement, first with the Atlanta Police Department, then with the Lexington, N.C., Police Department. After a few years, he wound up working for the state of North Carolina in probation and parole. He was also with the Denton Police Department for several years.

As for taxidermy, Cato had learned a lot about the trade from his father and grandfather. His grandfather was a tanner who made and repaired saddles and cowboy boots. Cato’s father took the trade in a slightly different direction, specializing in handmade shoes. In 1986, Cato had opened his own taxidermy shop, Uwharrie Taxidermy, near his home in Denton after obtaining his Taxidermy certificate from Montgomery Community College.

In February 1989, Wayne Eller, then dean of continuing education at RCC, asked Cato if he would consider teaching a taxidermy class at the Randolph Correctional Center. Eller said that with Cato’s background in law enforcement “it seemed like a really nice fit.” The unique class would teach the prisoners a trade they could pursue once they completed their sentences. “I gave it 30 days,” says Cato. “I thought it wouldn’t last.” But those 30 days turned into a full-time job; he taught the class at the correctional center for four years, averaging 22 students a day, before the state cut funding for the program.

Eller also asked Cato to help set up a classroom and teach at the newly opened Archdale Campus. For nearly three years, Cato taught at the prison during the day and an evening Taxidermy class three times a week at Archdale. When a Taxidermy classroom became available at the Asheboro Campus, he trained one of his students, Steve Davis, to take over as the Archdale instructor, and Cato began teaching classes here.

Although he said when he left law enforcement he didn’t want anything more to do with prisoners, Cato found teaching the inmates his beloved taxidermy skills to be very rewarding. “After all these years, I still get visits from inmates who are out. I get wedding invitations, letters and Christmas cards,” he notes. “He is an excellent teacher,” said Eller about Cato. “He is very concerned about the well-being of his students.”

Cato was recognized for his outstanding taxidermy work many times over his years at RCC. His unique class at the prison won a Best in Curriculum Award from the North Carolina Department of Corrections in 1990 and he was appointed to the Department’s Educational Committee. He won the blue ribbon at the North Carolina State Fair in 1991 for a 22-pound snapping turtle. He won first place for a novelty lamp made from a zebra leg in the open competition at the 1994 Taxidermy Mini-Course Competition at Piedmont Community College, receiving 100 out of 100 possible points. These are just a few of his many awards.

In retirement, Cato plans to concentrate on his business and his ministry. He was ordained in 2000 and fills in preaching for other ministers. He also sings and performs what he calls “gospel comedy.” In addition, he will have more time to spend with his wife of 43 years, their three children and six grandchildren. As for the Taxidermy class at RCC, Cato has approved his replacement — one of his former students, Ben Pugh will take over the Asheboro class.