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Staff photo.
Terry Oden served as Mountain Brook’s mayor for 20 years, but before that he had a long career in the Secret Service. Oden is seen in his office at Mountain Brook City Hall in January 2016.
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Photo courtesy of Janet Forbes.
Former Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden and his wife Sandra.
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Staff photo.
Mayor Stewart Welch shakes hands with former Mayor Terry Oden at the dedication ceremony for the new Mountain Brook police and fire training facility in October 2017.
City Manager Sam Gaston remembers Terry Oden as a councilman and mayor who had a fondness for police and fire, even in retirement.
“One of his hobbies was buying and collecting, [along with some friends] old fire trucks and restoring them,” Gaston said. “When you saw one in the parade, usually it was one of theirs or one of their group’s. For several years, he would ride the fire truck in our homecoming parade, especially our Christmas parade.”
City Council President Virginia Smith admits that she and Terry Oden didn’t always see eye to eye. Usually, but not always.
“We did not always agree,” Smith said. “But we talked candidly with each other. Whatever position he took, he always stood by it very firmly, and there was no budging.”
Smith admits that Oden’s stern stance could be frustrating.
“But I respected that, and he always respected my positions as well,” she said. “We had a good working relationship. Most of the time, he and I were always on the same page. I admired him very much, and I think he admired me, too.”
Oden passed away on Jan. 10 at the age of 85. At his memorial, an honor guard of firefighters led the family into the service at Canterbury United Methodist Church.
Rev. Bill Morgan admitted feeling a bit tested to deliver a eulogy that captured the various parts of Oden’s lifetime.
“He lived a pretty diverse and wide life,” the minister said. “To try to put that in 15 or 20 minutes, it’s kind of a challenge. You want to do justice to their lives.”
According to his obituary, Oden was a graduate of Birmingham’s Woodlawn High School and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn University. His service as jailer and dispatcher on the Auburn Police Department foretold his service with the U.S. Army Security Agency, where he served for three years in the Far East and was a member of the Special Forces Club in London.
Oden was commissioned into the Secret Service in April 1964 and retired in 1988. During his career, he served as one of the first sky marshals; served as a special agent in Atlanta, New York, Birmingham, LBJ Ranch, Washington field office and the Presidential Protective Division; was assistant special agent in charge (ASAIC) of Kansas City; ASAIC and special agent in charge (SAIC) of San Francisco; SAIC of the Paris office; and SAIC of the Birmingham office.
He also was the security coordinator of the 1984 Democratic Convention, detail leader of President Reagan’s winning campaign, a member of the first foreign dignitary detail and a member of the first Kennedy detail in New York City.
Upon retirement from the Secret Service, Oden became the corporate security director for a large regional bank. After retiring from the bank, he opened his own security company.
Gaston, the city manager, served in Mountain Brook city government for nearly a quarter century alongside Oden, who was on the city council before his 20-year stint as mayor.
“He was extremely proud of this community and he loved his community,” Gaston said. “Although he was not a native, [Mountain Brook] became his adopted home.”
Gaston added that Oden’s spirit of public service likely came from his father, a longtime employee in the Birmingham Fire Department.
“He was very involved with a lot of things, especially with our public safety departments,” Gaston said of Oden. “That was one of his liaisons as mayor, to be the public safety liaison, and also with our municipal judges, municipal court. He loved our employees, and our employees knew that he really cared about them, too.”
Gaston said Oden had several accomplishments in his time in public office. Among those of which he was most proud was his help in saving the Birmingham Zoo.
“Many, many years ago when the city [of Birmingham] was not doing well and it was looking at [the zoo] being privatized, he helped make sure, along with Homewood and Jefferson County, that the old Shades Valley High School property was not developed commercially,” Gaston said. “Some of that was given to the zoo for expansion. That’s one of the major things he was very proud of, saving that property from being commercialized, giving some to the zoo, getting the zoo back on financial footing, although it was in Birmingham.
“But that’s something that has a lot of impact on Mountain Brook and Homewood,” he continued. “He was very proud of that accomplishment and, of course, [commercial development there] would have had a major negative impact on Mountain Brook Village and our commercial area there, too.”
He was extremely proud of this community. Although he was not a native, [Mountain Brook] became his adopted home.
SAM GASTON
David Haigler is president of Oden’s Sunday school class at Canterbury United Methodist. He remembered Oden not being at a loss for words at a dinner party when he and his wife, Sandra Oden, attended social events.
“And any other setting, too, probably,” Haigler said. “He had tons of experiences that most people in this world and this country don’t ever have. He was careful not to divulge things that were private information to people that he had worked with in the past in sensitive and private situations.
“But he had a lot of stories to tell about places they lived and the people he interacted with in the Secret Service,” the Sunday school class president continued. “He always was easy to talk to and I think he enjoyed being with people. I think he liked people and liked to serve people. That’s what his whole life was devoted to, really.”
Haigler said Oden was not looking to impress anyone or to further his own image when he served in public office.
“He just liked people and liked to serve people,” Haigler said. “That was his motive and it wasn’t a political gain-type issue. He just wanted to serve in a capacity that was helpful to his community and to the people around him. We were lucky to have him serve us. I know the country was lucky to have him serve in all the capacities he did. He was a good, solid citizen and somebody I think we’re all proud to know.”
Rev. Morgan, who delivered the eulogy, said one thing Oden didn’t keep secret was his love for his family.
“No question about that,” he said. “He apparently was just a great husband and great parent, great father, great grandfather. He loved his dogs. The people I talked to who worked with him, everyone in their own way said he was a real people person. He loved people.”
Smith said Oden’s true passion in the city government, and one of his areas of complete expertise, was in the fire and police departments.
“Security was his background, so he really helped us a lot in that,” she said. “You could tell from the [memorial] service how much they respected that because I believe it was the fire department that reached out to Mrs. Oden and said, ‘We’d like to be there as a color guard.’ That's what I’ve heard, and that shows the respect that they gave him.”
