Charlie Hemphill Inducted Into RV/MH Hall of Fame

Charlie Hemphill, a Clayton team member for 46 years, has been inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame. The ceremony, held on August 17, 2024, took place at the RV/MH (recreational vehicle/manufactured housing) Hall of Fame’s headquarters in Elkhart, Indiana.

The RV/MH Heritage Foundation, which operates the Hall of Fame, seeks to honor “the pioneers who have made significant contributions to the good of the two industries.”¹ Charlie Hemphill most certainly fits that description.

Ronny Robertson, vice president of operations for Clayton Home Building Group and a longtime colleague and friend of Hemphill, says, “I highly respect Charlie. He’s worked so hard and done so much for this industry and this company.”

After serving in the Marine Corps, Hemphill worked as a manufactured homes roofer and sider in Florida. Ready to come home to Knoxville, he took a job in 1974 at Clayton’s Halls, Tennessee location, which was at that time the company’s only homebuilding facility. Working at the facility proved to be ideal for a man whose strength was understanding, as he describes it, “how to put stuff together.”

The wide variety of home construction skills Hemphill mastered while at Halls—in flooring, electrical, plumbing, quality control and more—led to leadership positions as general foreman and then production manager. During that time, he also assisted setting up new Clayton facilities in Maynardville and Rutledge, Tennessee and then helped launch the still-under-construction Clayton Oxford (NC) facility in 1987 as its first general manager.

Then came Norris and the start of what Hemphill calls “an amazing journey.” Known today as Clayton Bean Station, Hemphill was named general manager of the Norris (TN) facility in 1989 and remained in that position for over 30 years, until his December 2020 retirement.

Known as a thoughtful and humble leader, Clayton Bean Station became under Hemphill’s watch, as he says, “a family that cared about each other,” noting that several team members at the facility served alongside him for the entire 30 years.

“I can’t say enough about the folks I worked with, the people on the line and the management all around me,” says Hemphill. “I sure couldn’t have done it on my own. People can say they’re blessed, but I truly was. I’ve always said I’m not the smartest guy in the room, but I had plenty of people around me who made up for that.”

As that quote demonstrates, perhaps the most remarkable thing about Charlie Hemphill isn’t his loyalty or deep industry knowledge but rather his heart for service to others. He embodies Clayton’s value to Do good. As Robertson said, “He’s always been the guy to care about people. He’s always been the guy to give back. That’s why he was such a natural fit for Clayton.”

During his Clayton career, Hemphill and Clayton Bean Station supported the Kingswood Home for Children, a private, residential home in Bean Station for children who need shelter and safety. When Clayton Bean Station hosted a 16-year-old cancer survivor who aspired to a career in computer animation, Hemphill helped him design a custom home blueprint, “The Jake,” that was printed, signed by team members and framed for him to take home.

Post-retirement, Hemphill worked with Clayton Bean Station, Clayton Homes of Strawberry Plains and the Clayton foundation to donate a fully furnished modern manufactured home to Isaiah 117 House, a nonprofit that serves foster children and their families. He worked with his grandson to install roll-in showers for veterans. He served for many years, more than 15 as chairman, on the board of the nonprofit United Way of Granger County.

Hemphill’s brief RV/MH Hall of Fame acceptance award captures his humility. He told the audience, “I asked for a job. What they gave me was a future. I spent so many years with Clayton, and the one thing always there was people who cared about me. They cared about what I could do; they cared about what we could do. I spent the last 30 years of my career with a team in Bean Station, and it is the honor of my life to be able to lead a team like what we had. Those people up there, they care about what they do, they care about each other, and they cared about me. And I’m so appreciative. Thank you for this honor.”

Thank you, Charlie Hemphill, and congratulations on the well-deserved honor of being inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame.

¹ https://www.rvmhhalloffame.org/about-us/