® UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI MAGAZINE
V O L . 1 7, N O . 1
CONTENTS The Vietnam War became a dominant conversation this summer, triggered by the long-awaited Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS documentary and a visit to campus by The Wall That Heals. With collaboration of the library’s McClure Archives and Museum, KMOS and Warrensburg High School, several alumni who served during the war shared their stories. When we learned that emeriti professor Dan Curtis was a photographer, who supervised 60 other photographers at a key lab complex north of Saigon, we knew his story had to be featured. Let us know how the war affected you and your family. Email us at ucmmagazine@ucmo.edu. DAN CURTIS
COVE R STORY
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THE LIVING ROOM WAR: A PHOTOGRAPHER’S VIEW OF VIETNAM It was labeled the most photographed war in American history. Alumnus and emeriti professor Dan Curtis, himself a photographer, supervised 60 other photographers and oversaw a $5 million processing lab near Saigon. From their cameras came many of the pictures that brought the uncensored brutal reality of the war directly into Americans’ homes, including the young girl burned by napalm, the My Lai massacre, the priest who set himself on fire, the commander killing a Viet Cong suspect at point blank range, and the soldiers who used their Zippo lighters to set a village on fire.
S ECT I O N S
12 CLASS NOTES 14 IN MEMORIAM
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UCMALUMNIFOUNDATION
A MILITARY MOM’S MIDLIFE MIDWIFE MOMENT Growing up in southeast Ohio the oldest of five, Casey Madore always “loved medical stuff.” In what she calls one of the best decisions of her life, she joined the U.S. Air Force and became a medical technician. For 12 years, she worked every area of health care, yet it was a moment during the birth of a baby that led her to UCM.
YO UR GE NE R OSIT Y
10 REQUIRED FOR ALL MALE FRESHMEN
When an ROTC unit was authorized on campus in 1967, it became required for all male freshmen with just a few exceptions including medical, age, service, foreign citizenship and conscientious objections.
Many of you returned the envelope in our spring issue asking you to make a gift to our Fund for Excellence, especially for scholarships. During a time when public support of a UCM degree is significantly decreasing, your generosity is much appreciated.
S EE T H E I M PAC T. B E T H E I MPACT.
P R ES I D ENT ’S M ES S AG E
MAGAZINE Vol. 17, No. 1 • Summer/Fall 2017
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Dalene Abner ’09 DESIGNER
Julie Babcock PHOTOGRAPHER
Bryan Tebbenkamp ’15 ILLUSTRATOR
David Babcock
Published by UCM Alumni Foundation. © 2017 by University of Central Missouri. All rights reserved. Find us online: ucmo.edu/ucmmagazine Contact the editor at ucmmagazine@ucmo.edu or 660-543-4545. Submit your address updates online to http://tinyurl.com/j73dgxy, by email to alumni@ucmo.edu or telephone, 660-543-8000 or toll-free, 1-866-752-7257. UCM Magazine (USPS 019-888) is published quarterly by the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093. Printed by Lane Press, 87 Meadowland Drive, South Burlington, VT. Periodicals postage paid at Warrensburg, MO, and additional offices. POSTMASTER
Send address changes to: UCM Magazine PO Box 800 University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO 64093
Student Success Always Comes First
B
eing truly focused on student success at the University of Central Missouri means working to ensure education costs remain as low as possible, offering the financial assistance needed to access a degree, and providing the tools and support that help students cross the degree finish line in a timely manner. Meeting these goals includes serving many firstgeneration students who are pioneering the education trail with little family financial backing. We are proud of the role we play in helping more students chart new educational pathways in which future generations of their family may follow. We also believe the investment that all students make in a UCM degree is not only an excellent value proposition but also an investment in the future of the state. This summer we celebrated one such milestone with the grand opening of the Missouri Innovation Campus, the most aggressive K-16 accelerated pathway leading to a college degree in the nation. This new facility in Lee’s Summit was achieved as the result of a progressive partnership between UCM and the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, which also cooperated with Metropolitan Community College and more than 40 business partners in the Kansas City metropolitan area to make the MIC academic program possible. Another significant moment this summer happened when The Wall That Heals came to campus, prompted by the PBS documentary, The Vietnam War. Among the many activities and events were interviews by several Vietnam War veterans. This issue shares many of their stories, including that of emeriti professor Dan Curtis, a military photographer during the war. As our campus, state and nation face many challenges, we know that solutions result from dialogue and conversation. Much like the stories in this issue about the Vietnam War, bringing the subject into the open moves us forward to create knowledge and understanding that lead to better futures and contribute to our students’ success at UCM. Joining you in service,
Chuck Ambrose PR ESIDEN T
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A P H O T O G R A P H E R ’S V I E W O F V I E T N A M
By Dalene Abner
WHEN DAN CURTIS WAS DRAFTED INTO VIETNAM AT AGE 27, THE FIRST-TIME FATHER AND HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE TEACHER WAS CONSIDERED OLDER. THE YEAR WAS 1968, AND HIS LIFE HAD ALREADY HELD TRAGEDY. In 1956, the 14-year-old Curtis was home, sick from school, with his legally blind mother, when a B-47 crashed into their family farm north of LaMonte, MO. The crash demolished their home, equipment, barn and livestock and killed all four airmen inside the plane. A few years later, Curtis’ father committed suicide. He and his younger brother, Gary, worked the family farm as they attended what was then Central Missouri State Teachers College. Curtis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in speech and history and a Bachelor of Science in Education in speech and social studies in 1964. That year, he also married and began a teaching career at Smith Cotton High School in Sedalia. By then, he
HEALING MILLIONS
was also registered for the Selective Service, Signal Company, part of the 1st Signal required of all men when they turned 18. Brigade. From 1969–70, he had charge of 60 When he was drafted into the Army, photographers as well as the Southeast Asia Curtis reported for basic training at Ft. Dix, Pictorial Center, a $5 million photography followed by infantry training at Ft. Benning lab 20 miles north of Saigon in Long Binh, and signal training at Ft. Gordon. He was Da Nang Province. The center processed commissioned a second lieutenant and all still and motion film for six permanent made an Army infantry platoon leader. military detachments. Next, he became an instructor at Ft. “When I went to Vietnam, I had Sill, OK, teaching nearly 50 different already been trained as a professional courses. He described one vivid moment. photographer. That’s how I worked my way “I had captains, majors and colonels on through school. When Linda and I married, the artillery field, teaching them to use a I needed an income and Guy Snyder in parabolic antenna, which I hardly knew Sedalia had a huge photography studio. anything about it. When several of them yelled, ‘hit the deck, incoming,’ I was so naïve I didn’t even know “An experience in l976 to hit the ground. This shell caused me to reconsider my came down butt first and service. I coached the birth went about five feet into of a friend’s child and, at the ground. It was live and that point, I realized I either misfired or misaimed didn’t want to be part of an but could have killed us all.” organization whose job was to At Ft. Sill, he and his wife, kill people. So, I applied and Linda, also an alumnus, was granted a Conscientious had their first child. Lance Objector Discharge.” EDDIE was three days old when OSBORNE Curtis left for Vietnam as a member of the 221st
Vietnam became front and center this summer in Warrensburg, the result of a visit by The Wall That Heals. The half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., brought to life conversations caused by a war that left many unhealed wounds, silenced for the past five decades by too many painful memories.
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SAM
RABER
“ I went over with the 3rd Battalion. You stayed with three rifle platoons but you carried mortars and tripods. Each weighed about 28 pounds. You carried about 60-70 pounds of grenades, food, claymore mines and things you needed to survive. I’ve seen guys who were pretty heavy and 6-7 months later be skin and bones. They resupplied you every three days, and, a lot of time, there just wasn’t enough water to drink. You wanted to slug down your canteen but couldn’t. You carried six quarts of water, and that had to last you three days. You could only sip. You learned after awhile how to survive.” EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam’s younger brother, Joe, died in Vietnam as a
noncombat casuality, and his name appears on the Wall. For more veteran interviews, visit KMOS Voices of Missouri Veterans.
He was a tough, demanding guy and hired me as assistant sales manager.” Curtis went to work for Inter-State Studios, traveling throughout the Midwest taking thousands of school pictures. “In Vietnam I was considered one of the oldest so was put in charge,” he said. Some of the war’s worst moments came through his lab, including the My Lai massacre
RECALL LEARN SHARE
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and the mass killing of hundreds of South Vietnamese civilians by Company C soldiers, leading eventually to the conviction of their platoon leader, William Calley. “Calley was three months behind me in OCS, and many would say he never should have been commissioned a second lieutenant. The My Lai incident was a horrible catastrophe. I don’t know how we got that film but somehow it went through the lab, although it was a year later. So many young men were not well trained to have the professionalism and integrity to be kind. It was so very sad,” he added. Often embedded with press photographers, Curtis recalls many rides in helicopters “just above the tree lines. You had to stay low because the canopy was a good way to get shot. You didn’t want to be too high but you wanted to go over quickly.” Curtis still has many of the slides he took of the war. Most are noncombat, documenting the country, its people and culture. His memories are clouded, explaining, “it was a real mess knowing who the friendlies were.” He tells a story about one of the 200 Vietnamese he hired to take care of their food, cleaning and personal care, such as haircuts. One man came every week to give him a shave. He used a straight razor. While patrolling the perimeter one
morning, Curtis found the barber, caught in the wire barricade, dead, wearing black pajamas, the uniform of the Viet Cong. After being discharged, Curtis returned to Warrensburg, noting that when he joined the speech communication faculty in 1970, he was ostracized for either his politics or Vietnam veteran status. When he retired in 1998, his nearly 30 years of service included two decades as a department chair.
As people of all ages visited the wall this summer, they left memorials like this wreath. Many also shared items from the war such as a radio, shrapnel, combat fatigues, flags, photos and clippings with the McClure Archives and Museum.
IMAGES TAKEN BY COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHERS, INCLUDING THOSE SUPERVISED BY DAN CURTIS IN THE 221 ST SIGNAL COMPANY,, BROUGHT VIETNAM VIVIDLY AND TRAGICALLY TO LIFE AND DIRECTLY INTO PEOPLES’ HOMES.
JIM
PIATT
“ The media had been showing things on television that you normally would have never seen in World War I or World War II that brought Vietnam home into the living room. And that turned the public attitude quite a bit against the war. No one wants to see people slaughtered and killed. I don’t know that it would have made a bit of difference long term, whether we’d won the war if we stuck it out. I didn’t think we did a very good job finalizing that war. It was one of those that you walked away from, you didn’t win.”
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THE MY LAI MASSACRE WAS A HORRIBLE CATASTROPHE. I DON ’T KNOW HOW WE GOT A HOLD
“It wasn’t difficult for me to adapt to life in the military. I was in Boy Scouts and there was similarity, but the Marines were just a little tougher and more rigorous physically. In Vietnam, we controlled the F4 Aircraft defensively. Since there was no North Vietnamese air threat, our mission was limited to other tasks such as working with the ground control intercept to get planes off the ground and vector them for their mission. Vietnam was a difficult time for our country. The impact is hard to quantify because it’s still so emotional.”
GARY GRIGSBY
OF THE FILM, BUT IT WENT THROUGH MY LAB. Curtis is just one of several UCM alumni who served in Vietnam and shared their experiences for this article. There was Steve Jenne ’69 who emailed that he “proudly served” from 1969–71 in the U.S. Army Airborne Infantry, Company C, 1/506 Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division. Ronald Terry ’76 was with the MACV Team 25, Ban Me Thuot District, Darlac Province, II Corps Tactical Zone and Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion 17th Field Artillery “providing direct support to the 23rd ARVN Division.” Dennis McGowan ’71 says he took his dad’s advice and joined the U.S. Navy to avoid military conscription into the Army as an
infantryman. He served two tours to the Gulf of Tonkin aboard the USS Ranger, directing aircraft. Another, Thomas Gardner ’71, was drafted while a student and served in Vietnam from 1967–68 with the 35th Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. Thomas Altvater ’67, ’71 traveled to Europe after graduating, finding an order to report when he returned home. He said his test scores were impressive, resulting in the FBI investigating him, “scaring my mother and some neighbors in Roeland Park, KS.” He received training on the Pershing missile system and ended up instructing missile technicians, leading to his eventual career with nuclear power plants and radiation safety protocols. n Read more about these veterans and listen to their complete interviews at ucmfoundation.org/veterans.
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THE THAT
WALL HEALS
Vietnam has never been an easy conversation. There is no one truth nor viewpoint. Even award-winning documentarians Ken Burns and Lynn Novick called it their most difficult project. Yet the culmination and airing of their 10-year PBS series triggered several events this year in Warrensburg, the result of a collaboration between KMOS, the university’s public television station, and the McClure Archives and Museum. Most visible was the traveling exhibit of The Wall That Heals, escorted to campus by 125 Patriot Guard Riders, their motorcycles roaring down U.S. 50 and Highway 13 to the James C. Kirkpatrick Library where the memorial was assembled. Replicating the style of Burns in his realistic documentaries, Warrensburg High School and UCM students got the direct experience of interviewing many area Vietnam veterans, their powerful and emotional recollections bringing the reality of war to these teenagers. Their ethnographies became part of the archives and museum’s interactive exhibit, Commemoration, featuring memorabilia donated by local veterans, as well as activities such as a veterans’ pinning ceremony, memorial service and a free assistance evening. Through it all was archive director Amber Clifford-Napoleone, instrumental in obtaining the museum’s designation by the U.S. Department of Defense as a Vietnam Commemorative Partner. As such, they continue to gather and share veterans’ stories preparing for the nation’s 50th anniversary observation in 2025 of the war’s end in 1975. If you have a story to share, contact her at clifford@ucmo.edu.
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A Military Mom’s
MIDLIFE MIDWIFE MOMENT Growing up in southeast Ohio the oldest of five, Casey Madore always “loved medical stuff.” She knew college scholarships were out of the question because of her grades. And like her father and great-uncles, she wanted to serve her country. “I wanted to travel, earn a respectable living and earn the GI Bill for college.” In what she calls one of the best decisions of her life, she joined the U.S. Air Force and became a medical technician. For 12 years, she worked every area of health care, yet it was a moment during the birth of a baby that led her to the University of Central Missouri.
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“ I run on coffee and chaos. Some days the dishes go undone and clothes unfolded but my kids and husband are fed and happy and my schoolwork gets done.”
C
asey Madore encountered many difficult and memorable missions as a medical technician in the military, but the one that stands out the most happened at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska. “The day started like any other. We had plenty of staffing and not a lot of laboring mothers, so we sent a few people home. At around 11 p.m., a mother in labor with her third child arrived. Her water had broken, and she was dilated eight centimeters. Her amniotic fluid was stained with meconium, which is not a good sign. I hooked her up to the monitors. Her baby was having heart rate decelerations down into the 90s-100s, which is a sign of fetal distress. “The charge nurse called the on-call pediatrician that we needed him ASAP. There was no OB provider in house to deliver the baby and, per protocol, we needed a pediatrician since there was confirmed meconium in the amniotic fluid. The mother told the nurses she felt the urge to push. “The OB was 20 minutes out so the nurse would have to deliver the baby. Since there was no one else to do it, we summoned the emergency room doctor to attend, but he didn’t know what to do, so that left my skilled and knowledgeable nurses and me to do the delivery. Three minutes after the ER doctor
“
arrived, the baby was born. He looked pale and limp and didn’t respond to the normal stimulation of rubbing and drying, so I took him to the warmer where I gave him a blow by oxygen and suctioned his nose and mouth to clear his airway. He still was not breathing so I alerted the second nurse in the room. “I took his heart rate and it was 60. My heart was in my throat. I knew that an infant heart rate below 80 requires chest compressions. I wrapped my hands around his tiny chest with my thumbs over his heart and started chest compressions. After 55 seconds of resuscitation, which felt like an hour, he began to breathe on his own and his heart rate increased to the normal 140s. “I was so incredibly relieved. It was like I had been holding my breath for five minutes straight and could finally take a deep breath. “After the intense resuscitation, my nurse asked me, ‘When are you going to become a nurse?’ I knew then I was a lot more knowledgeable and capable than I had thought. That is one of the defining moments that helped me realize I should become a nurse.” n
Casey Madore and her husband, Matt, posed for the Veteran Vision Project, a national project depicting the dual lives of veterans from perception to reality. See the Veteran Vision Project at veteranvisionproject.com. A BOV E :
SCHOLARSHIP KEEPS FAMILY AFLOAT “ It’s been a huge help for us,” says Casey Madore of the Beverly Wilson Nursing Scholarship. Her monthly expenses sound familiar – mortgage, car payments, home and auto insurance, cell phones, utilities, Netflix, groceries, daycare for her two youngest children – adding up to about $1,500 a month. “I am incredibly grateful for any help financially,” she says, “and this scholarship has been tremendous. It’s tough because we don’t get to buy things that we want that often but I would not change a thing. I love my children so much; they are precious gifts and I am blessed to have this opportunity to be in the UCM nursing program. I know that someday we will be able to afford everything we want plus I will be doing something I love.”
SPLIT-SECOND ACTION THAT SAVED HER SON After 12 years’ active duty, Casey Madore knew she wanted to become a nurse, perhaps a midwife or specialize in pediatrics. But moments such as the one with her 9-year-old son reinforced her dream. “We were at a restaurant waiting to be seated, when he jumped off a bench, hit his head on a metal grate, and split his forehead. It instantly gushed blood. Without even thinking, I put my hand on it and applied pressure. We made it to the hospital and he received five stitches and a nice little scar. Without my training, I might have hesitated or not known what to do.”
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C E N TR A L Y E S T E R DAY
YEARS OF
ROTC
REQUIRED FOR ALL MALE FRESHMEN AS THE VIETNAM WAR ESCALATED, UCM BECAME ONE OF 262 UNIVERSITIES IN THE NATION TO SPONSOR ROTC, REQUIRING IT FOR ALL MALE FRESHMEN.
IN 1967 The Student newspaper not only reported then President Warren Lovinger’s announcement of the longawaited approval authorizing an ROTC unit on campus by the Department of Defense but also carried a debate about whether college students had civil rights or fell within what the courts had been upholding as a university’s “in loco parentis” authority.
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W
hile the first ROTC class would enroll in 1968, then UCM President Warren Lovinger announced in December 1967 that he had received the long-awaited Department of Defense approval authorizing the unit on campus. All male freshmen were required to take it with a few exceptions including medical, age, service, citizenship, and conscientious objections. In announcing the new program, Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor wrote, “The Central Missouri State College, by participating, will be making a lasting and valuable contribution to the security and wellbeing of our nation by producing future military as well as future civilian leaders.” He said its
purpose was three-fold: to aid the individual, the institution and the country. The first commander was Lt. Col. William F. Warlick, a regular army officer who had graduated from Lenoir Ryhne College, a Christian-affiliated school in North Carolina, and the Command and General Staff College. The 1968 ROTC regulations manual, found in the McClure Archives and Museum, described all the requirements for scholarships, the uniform, instructional materials, absences, courtesy, discipline, merits and demerits, commissions, deferments and promotions. The uniform section noted, “Pride in personal appearance is something every man owes himself. One of the outward indications of a disciplined, well-schooled soldier or cadet is the appearance of his uniform… Once learned and practiced, neatness and cleanliness of person and dress will prove beneficial in all walks of life.”
The early days of ROTC involved forms, uniforms, academics in the classroom, drilling in West Field, marching band on the Quad and an annual military formal. ROTC fulfilled one credit hour of the general education requirement. L E FT:
C ENT R AL Y ES T ER D AY
THE DAILY DRILL PROVIDED MILITARY ORGANIZATION, DISCIPLINE AND LEADERSHIP TO THE MORE THAN 1,000 STUDENTS IN ROTC. THEIR SHEER NUMBERS MADE IT QUITE A SIGHT!
ROTC TODAY The UCM Battalion is consistently recognized, locally and nationally, as one of the best.
Since the first commissioning class in 1969, the Fighting Mules Battalion has commissioned 897 officers, including seven who went on to earn the rank of general or senior executive service. The battalion has performed exceptionally well in the ROTC competitive events over the past few years. The 2017 Male Ranger Buddy team placed first in the nation, while the 2016 Female Ranger Challenge team earned runner-up accolades within the task force against teams that included Iowa State, Kansas State, University of Nebraska, University of Iowa, and more. The program currently numbers 141 cadets, the largest enrollment in the past decade.
Among the alumni in that first class was Dale Carder, who would later command the unit from 1991 to 1993. “Vietnam was going very strong, and there was a lot of antimilitary sentiment around the U.S., although it wasn’t very prevalent on our campus. If I remember right, there were about 1,100 to 1,200 cadets in the program.” Carder added that the program’s mandatory nature meant many cadets of the late 1960s had no desire to become military officers. “Out of about 1,200 cadets, around 1,000 didn’t want to be there,” he said. “You were supposed to look neat and crisp in uniform. If you remember the hair and
clothing styles of those days, not everyone looked neat and crisp.” Some things from that time are no longer part of campus including a chapter of the National Society of Scabbard and Blade, the Raider Company, the ROTC Men’s Chorus, the Pershing Rifle group, and a pistol and rifle range inside the Humphreys Building. Next year, the Fighting Mules Battalion is preparing for its 50th anniversary, celebrating such moments as the year they welcomed their first female cadet. To learn more or become part of the celebration, email LTC Jason Christenson at christenson@ucmo.edu. n
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C L AS S NO T E S
1960–1969 Les Carnine ’65 and his wife, Linda, have started an endowed scholarship in education leadership at the University of Arkansas. His 43-year education career spans Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. He was an executive in residence at the UA College of Education and Health Professors before serving in the Arkansas legislature. He was honored in 2011 as the first recipient of the college’s alumni award for exceptional professional and personal achievement and extraordinary distinction in the education profession. Larry Haase ’65, ’66 and his wife, Karen ’67, ’88 celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 6. They met as students at then CMSU and are both now retired from a combined 75 years of service as UCM teachers.
1970–1979 Don Schreimann ’74, ’78 has been named new head coach of the Tiger women’s wrestling program at Central Christian College in McPherson, KS. Schreimann says he fell in love with women’s wrestling about 10 years ago when he was the freestyle and Greco coach for the UCM club program. His work at UCM garnered him the attention of Missouri USA Wrestling, who asked him to become their women’s coach. Mark Hewett ’75 has retired after 18 years leading the parks and recreation area in Sedalia, MO. His successor is Amy Epple, who previously was the department’s recreation superintendent and supervisor. She has worked in the field for 12 years and holds the designation as a certified professional from the National Recreation and Park Association.
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Ron Tabb ’77 has moved from Oregon to Florida to coach the Fort Myers high school cross country team. The former Mule is considered one of the nation’s top marathon runners. He is the only American to win major marathons on five continents and who has run 20-plus marathons in under two hours, 20 minutes. He starred at CMSU from 1972 through 1977 and went on to train under legendary University of Oregon coach Bill Dellinger. A winner of 10 marathons in a career that ended in 1992, Tabb posted top-10 finishes in the Boston and New York marathons while winning the Paris and Beijing marathons. Joel Shults ’78, ’80, ’83 operates Street Smart Training and is the founder of the National Center for Police Advocacy. During his 30-year career in uniformed law enforcement and criminal justice education, he has been an academy instructor, police chaplain, deputy coroner, investigator, community relations officer, college professor and police chief. In addition to service with the U.S. Army military police and Criminal Investigation Command, he has done observational studies with more than 50 police agencies throughout the United States. Mark Register ’79, ’93 has been named administrator and principal of Sacred Heart School in Jefferson City, MO. He began his teaching career at Sacred Heart School in 1985, leaving in 1992 to serve as principal of St. Peter and Paul School in Boonville. In 1993, he rejoined SHS as administrator, a position he had until 2014. Prior to his return, he served as administration and intake manager for the Center of Human Services.
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Plan to return Saturday,
October 14 for our
biggest party of the year!
1980–1989 Phyllis Balagna ’80 has retired as owner of Steppin’ Out the Studio in Lee’s Summit and turned the business over to her daughter, Jennifer. Balagna opened her business in 1989. She’s on the Lee’s Summit Board of Education and is a longtime participant in Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, Lee’s Summit Cares and other organizations. Among her career highlights are being choreographer for Kansas City’s 150th founding celebration at Arrowhead Stadium and being featured on the television show, Good Morning America, in 2006. Jennifer started out dancing in her mom’s studio and moved to New York as a young adult to study at Fordham University. She carved out a career in Broadway shows with luminaries like Dolly Parton and Anthony Blankenbuehler, who won a 2016 Tony for his choreography of Hamilton. She ran dance conventions across the nation, was a dance assistant at the New York City Dance Alliance, and taught classes at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. She returned to Lee’s Summit 21/2 years ago. Cynthia Mercer ’88 has been named president of the Mercy Health Foundation in addition to her role as chief administrative officer. Prior to joining Mercy in 2011, she served as an
executive for Ameristar Casinos, Cheesecake Factory restaurants and Oakwood Worldwide. Mercer serves on the UCM Alumni Foundation Board, on the advisory board of Western Governors University Missouri and on the executive advisory board for the University of Phoenix Center for Healthcare Research. She was named one of St. Louis’ “Most Influential Business Women” in 2014. Leslie Lee ’89, together with Steve Gretz, are hymn writers and musicians who have performed their arrangements of folk, gospel and bluegrass for more than a decade in churches, coffee houses and festivals throughout the nation. They live in New York.
1990–1999 Rick Carpenter ’92, ’95 has become dean of instruction at Labette Community College in Parsons, KS. Previously he was executive director of program development at Des Moines Area Community College. His career includes 26 years in higher education, including teaching public speaking, interpersonal and small group communication, English as a Second Language and freshman seminar courses. Carolyn Campbell ’93 has been named chief financial officer of Novation Companies. She previously served as the
CLAS S NOT ES
internal audit manager and was responsible for overseeing corporate audit processes and developing and implementing risk-based audit plans and internal controls over financial recordkeeping and reporting. Her career also includes stints as an internal auditor for Butler Manufacturing and as a tax analyst for Houlihan’s Restaurant Group. Jennifer English ’93 is the new executive director of the United Way in Johnson County, MO. Her career began in actuarial science then branched into bookkeeping and computer programming. She took a hiatus as a new mom then returned to UCM for a master’s degree followed by teaching high school math in Crest Ridge and Knob Noster. Brad Plackemeier ’96, ’00 is the new principal at Harbor Springs Middle School in Michigan. Previously he was high school principal in McPherson, KS. His career also includes serving as middle school principal in Ava, MO, as well as teaching in Colorado and other Missouri schools. Scott Nance ’97 has been appointed statewide safety and training coordinator for the Iowa Department of Transportation Safety Service Patrol and Incident Response Team. Kelly Melies ’98, ’02 has joined the Marshall Democrat-News as an agriculture reporter. He has been an adjunct instructor for State Fair Community College’s Boonville campus, a reporter at the Warrensburg Daily Star Journal and a news anchor at KMZU in Carrolton. Julie Parrick ’99 joined the faculty of Oklahoma Baptist University College of Humanities and Social Sciences as assistant professor of anthropology. Currently pursuing a doctorate of higher education leadership
from Texas A&M University, she most recently served as the director of community and industry education services at Tarrant County College Northeast in Hurst, TX.
2000–2009 Doug Brown ’01, ’04 has been named assistant principal at Knob Noster Middle School. Brown served as middle school assistant principal in the Clinton School District for the past year, following 12 years of service as an American history teacher at Warrensburg Middle School. He also coached middle school and high school wrestling with his twin brother for 15 years. Anissa Kincaid ’02, ’03 married Derek Christeson in March 2015. They had a daughter, Karissa, in November 2016. Terry Adair ’05 is head athletic trainer for Aquinas Catholic and David City high schools in Nebraska. Their athletes in grades seventh, ninth and eleventh or are new enrollees are participating in baseline concussion testing by Lincoln Bryan Health and Lincoln Orthopaedic Center. Last year, Adair performed nearly 250 baseline concussion tests at both high schools. Tim Noland ’08, ’11 has been named a creative director at Callis Integrated Marketing in Sedalia, MO. He joined Callis in 2013 as an account executive and has also served agency clients as content marketing director.
2010–2019 Kenny Beck ’10, ’12 recently joined the law firm of Douglas, Haun, Heidemann as an associate attorney. In 2015, he received his juris doctor degree from the University of Missouri Columbia and was admitted to the Missouri
Bar. He was admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the eastern and western districts of Missouri.
Elementary in University City; Jeremy is a senior accountant with Clifton Larson Allen in St. Louis.
Parry Hough ’12 was married to Benjamin Kappel June 17, 2017, at Archer’s Poudre River Resort in Bellvue, CO. Hough teaches music at St. Christa McAuliffe STEM Academy in Greeley, and Benjamin is an ASIC verification engineer at Seagate Technologies in Longmont.
Chad Culpepper ’15 is the new principal of Harrisonville (MO) Christian School after having formerly taught at Harrison Middle School. He will mainly serve fifth through eighth grades at the west campus.
Lindsay Lettow ’12 competed at the USA Track and Field Championships this June. Lettow was a 16-time All-American and a four-time national champion during her four years at UCM. She has been inducted into the athletic halls of fame of both the MIAA and UCM. This was her seventh appearance at the US championships. Louise Beasley ’13 has been hired as manager of the Great Southern Bank center, managing daily operations and providing financial services to customers in Columbia, MO. She previously served as development officer at KMOS-TV, the university’s public television station. Nicole Cooke ’13 has been promoted from the news staff to editor of the Sedalia (MO) Democrat. Kelsey Vance ’14 presented “Mind Over Body” to the Northeast Missouri C.H.A.R.T. Partnership. Building on her UCM degree in community health, she earned a personal training certificate through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is a certified Barre instructor and has training in Les Mills GRIT, yoga and aquatic boot camp. She teaches fitness classes at the YMCA in Hannibal, MO. Keale Walker ’14 married Jeremy Seibert April 29, 2017, at St. Michael the Archangel in Shrewsbury, MO. She teaches third grade at Flynn Park
Katie Mutzebaugh ’15 has joined the Texas County Food Pantry in Houston, MO, as its new executive director. She grew up in Doniphan and graduated from high school there and attended Missouri State University before coming to UCM. Previously she was a juvenile officer in Johnson County. Her husband, Nathan ’13, is a commercial pilot for Envoy Air, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines. Heavin Warner ’15 competed in the 2017 USA Track and Field Championship in the hammer throw. It was her second straight trip to the nationals after finishing fifth last year at the Olympic Trials. The 10-time All-American won three straight NCAA-II hammer throw national titles at UCM. Andrew Foss ’16 graduated with the 104th Recruit Class and has been assigned to Zone 1, serving Atchison and Holt counties, as a member of the Missouri Highway Patrol. Lindsay Grainger ’16 took a gap year from finishing her criminal justice degree to self-publish her first novel, a psychological thriller entitled Tetrahedron. Jessica Rhodes ’16 has joined West Central Independent Living Solutions in Warrensburg as marketing and communications director. Previously, she worked on campus as a THRIVE program case manager and as executive director of Warrensburg Main Street.
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1930–1939 Frances Thomas Meinershagen ’39, ’65
1940–1949 Bob Edmondson ’43 Edna Wylie Nelson ’43 Ruth Pace Chadwick ’44 Charlotte Bonner ’45 Kenneth Frederickson ’47 Susan Duvall Lewis ’47 Ollie “Louise” Schott Foster ’48 Thelma “Terry” Heller Ford ’49
1950–1959 Betty Hunt Gray ’50 George Guthrie ’50 Vernon King ’50 Martha “Marti” Irwin Price ’50 Everett “LeRoy” Brown ’51 Leslie Hall ’51 John Crump ’52 Albert Taber ’53 Betty Oetting Wolfe ’53 Mackey Wilcoxon ’54, ’59 Lucille Calvert Branson ’55 Jack Colbern ’57, ’70 Marjorie Nichols Thornhill ’57 Doris Chaney Katemann ’58 Vaudene Moores Emanuel ’59 Billy Hunt ’59 John Staley ’59
1960–1969 Richard Bullock ’60 Merlin Johnson ’60 Max Marsh ’60 Doug Hensley ’61 Judith Parrott Milberger ’61 Ruby Mires ’61 Virginia “Ginny” Smith ’62 Ruby Ann Wilson Brown ’63 Billie Diem ’63 Joan Alumbaugh Dyer ’63 Ila Ruthie Davis Wornall ’63, ’71, ’76
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Stanley “Ron” Darnell ’64 Jane Schuber Hampy ’64 Marlys Perkins ’64, ’71 Sayde Patterson Fisher ’65 Helen Hill ’65 Elnora Schaefer Buhlig ’66 Roberta Shubert Harrison ’66 Larry Tittle ’66 Joe Anway ’67 Janet Adamick Choun ’68 Joe Daniels ’68, ’71 Jean Garner Hawkins ’68 Robert Lee Hillyard ’69 Jackie Williams Hunter ’69
1970–1979 Margaret “Ellen” Coulter Buie ’70 Frank “Duke” Covella ’70 Marlene Smith Scantlin ’70 Jean Magill Van Der Kamp ’70 Jim Wells ’70 Lynn Fuller ’71 Mila Sawyer Gibbs ’71 Linda Wissman ’71 Carol Wilt Copenhaver ’72 Susan Swihart Garrard ’72 Larry Slusher ’72 Jim Jakes ’73 Victoria Hernandez Jensen ’73 Edwin Vance ’73, ’74 James Duncan ’74 Carter Beavers ’75 Thomas Marx ’76 Joan Melbourn Miller ’77 LaVerne Brunkhorst Gieselman ’78 Mildred Shields Jones ’78 David Morwood ’78 Larry Boehmer ’79
1980–1989 Joseph Maple ’80 Robert Moreno ’80 Carol Jahn Blakely ’82 Susie Strode ’83, ’84 Mary Armstrong Adair ’84, ’86 David Felling ’84
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Jeretta Hellwege Hardison ’85 Steven Street ’85 Billy Williams ’86 Peggy Makings Clodfelter ’89 Susan Martens Wright ’89
1990–1999 Michael Cash ’90 Stacey Gibson Steffens ’91 Ilene Knudson Sheets ’92, ’94 Bette Williams Smith ’93 Michael Gwin ’96 David Mason ’96 Lori Winningham Archer ’97, ’03
2000–2009 Andrea Strong Hancock-Maple ’05
Former Students Peter Aughnay Louis Carpenter Velora Eckelberry Elizabeth “Beth” Harrison Love Elda Ross Sanford Shirley Scrivner Wenger
College High William Turnbow Joyce Iseminger Speas ’46 Richard Ring ’49 Ruby Ann Wilson Brown ’ 59 Sylvia Borchers Taylor ’65
Friends Walter Borgstadt William Cason Sanford “Frank” Conley Carol Griffith Gerardy Ken Kammeyer Lowell “Bud” Love Elsie Bell Wittman
Eloise Allen
Eloise E. Trout Allen, 89, of North Little Rock, AR, whose gifts helped to fund a scholarship for University of Central Missouri students pursuing education careers, died Wednesday, June 14, 2017. Memorials are suggested to the Christina Cox Whitley Scholarship in Education named for her granddaughter, a 1996 UCM graduate who had just begun her teaching career at Fort Osage Middle School in Independence, MO, when she died in a car accident. The scholarship benefits students who graduated from Fort Osage High School and come to UCM to pursue a degree in teacher education. Gifts may be mailed to the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or made online at ucmfoundation.org/give.
Joseph Anway Jr.
Joseph H. Anway, Jr., a former instructor at the University of Central Missouri, died Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Mesa, AZ. He was born in 1926 in Independence, MO, and lived in the Kansas City area for 90 years. He was a veteran of the 20th Armored Division in World War II and participated in the Battle of Munich. He graduated from Graceland College and earned a business degree from UCM in 1967. He was a businessman and instructor at CMSU before becoming a teacher at Longview Community College.
Linda Bigby
Linda M. Bigby, 67, University of Central Missouri professor emeritus of education administrator, died Friday, June 30, 2017. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Missouri Valley College, a master’s in special education with an emphasis on learning disabilities from the University of Missouri Columbia, and a doctorate degree in special education administration from the University of Kansas. Her career focused on special education. She helped intellectually challenged students in the Carrollton R-VII School District, taught learning disabilities in the Montgomery County R-II School District, coordinated special education programs for the Grain Valley R-V School District, and served as director of special education for the Pleasant Hill R-III School District.
I N M EM OR I AM
She served as director of special services in the Lee’s Summit School District, and after retiring in 2000, joined the UCM faculty as an assistant professor, becoming a professor in 2008. She also served as an adjunct professor with the UCM cooperative doctorate of educational leadership program with the University of Missouri. She retired from UCM in 2011. Honored by many professional organizations, she was a former recipient of UCM’s Educational Leadership and Human Development Departmental Teaching Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Missouri Council of Administrators of Special Education. Memorials are suggested to the CoonleyGuth Scholarship Endowment named for Patrick Coonley, one of UCM’s first special education graduates who taught special education here for 25 years and chaired the department, and for Betty Guth, who retired in 1996 after serving 17 years as the special education program coordinator. Gifts may be mailed to the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or made online at ucmfoundation.org/ give, and remember to indicate the gift is in memory of Linda Bigby.
Peggy Bonham
Sarah A. “Peggy” Bonham, 88, of Liberty, MO, whose gifts helped fund a scholarship in honor of her late husband, Ovid, died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016. She was born in southern Mississippi and attended nursing college in New Orleans, where she and Ovid met and were married in 1949. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, private pilot and semitruck driver team member with her husband. Memorials are suggested to the Ovid C. Bonham Aviation Scholarship Endowment through the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or online at ucmfoundation.org/give.
LeRoy Brown
E. LeRoy Brown, 87, the first principal of Truman High School in Independence, MO, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. He was born Aug. 18, 1929, to Lloyd and Sula Potter Brown. A 1947 graduate of Green Ridge High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree from UCM in 1951 after which he was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps. He obtained the rank of staff sergeant before being honorably discharged in 1953. He taught at Santa Fe High School nearby Waverly and in the Independence school district before earning a degree in school
administration from the University of Missouri Kansas City. When Truman High School opened in 1964, he was hired as principal, helping to establish the Patriot as its mascot, selecting the school’s colors and naming the school newspaper and yearbook. He served as principal for 27 years, retiring in 1991.
Glenn Chambers
Glenn D. Chambers, 81, honored in 2012 as UCM Distinguished Alumnus, died Sunday, July 30, 2017. As a scholarship student who came to UCM from Lee’s Summit High School, he was majoring in industrial arts until he met biology professors Oscar “Oz” Hawksley and Laura Nahm, whose influence changed the direction of his life. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from UCM in 1958, followed two years later by a master’s degree in wildlife management from the University of Missouri. In 2001, UCM conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. His lifelong work with the Missouri Department of Conservation earned him national acclaim as a wildlife artist, biologist, filmmaker and photographer. He garnered a long list of television and motion picture honors, including four television Emmy Awards. His still photographs won many awards and were published regularly in Audubon Magazine, Ducks Unlimited Magazine, Missouri Conservationist and Missouri Wildlife. His photos were exhibited in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian and the Department of Interior. A skilled cinematographer, he specialized in documenting an animal’s journey from birth through life. A renowned nature artist, he worked for Ducks Unlimited, and in 1984 his painting was selected as the official duck stamp for the state of Missouri. In 1995, National Geographic Television contracted with Glenn’s corporation, Paddlefoot Productions, Inc. to produce a feature-length film for television about the otter story. The film, Otter Chaos, is still being shown today. He received the Conservation Federation of Missouri’s lifetime achievement award and the highest recognition, master conservationist, from the Missouri Department of Conservation. Upon “retirement,” he entered into a contractual agreement with MDC to present live river otter programs to schools and other
audiences throughout Missouri. For the next 13 years, he and his wife, Jeannie, together with their otter wranglers traveled more than 800,000 miles, reaching more than one million people, mostly school-age children. Memorials are suggested to the UCM biology department through the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or online at ucmfoundation.org/give.
Sherralyn Craven
Sherralyn D. (Denning) Craven, professor emerita and University of Central Missouri alumna, died Sunday, July 23, 2017. She was one of the most generous alumni and influential professors in UCM history, starting the actuarial science program, establishing several scholarships and funding the renovation of the mathematics lab as well as impacting the careers and lives of thousands of students. She earned degrees from UCM in 1954, when she earned the Charno Award as the top female graduating senior, followed by a master’s degree in 1957. She earned a doctorate degree from the University of Kansas in 1968. After teaching high school in Richmond, MO, and working as an actuary, she became a full-time teacher at then CMSU. She was instrumental in developing UCM’s actuarial science program in 1988. It is the first and only such program among Missouri public colleges and universities. She retired in 1991 after teaching 34 years. Her academic career included several international collaborations to places such as South Africa, China and Hungary. She made more than 60 professional presentations at state, regional, national and international conferences and earned several grants, including one from the National Science Foundation to research problem solving. She was recognized as UCM’s top professor, receiving the Byler Distinguished Faculty Award in 1990, and was presented the UCM Distinguished Service Award in 2005. In 2016, she was named to the Richmond (MO) R-XVI Wall of Honor, which brought her back to her hometown where she graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1950. She was a longtime adviser to the UCM Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and received their Distinguished Citizen Award in 1993. She was also awarded the Crescent of
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Epsilon Pi, one of the highest awards given by Alpha Gamma Delta International Council, for her more than 16 years of international service. She was a 35-year member of Phi Delta Kappa International. She volunteered at St. Luke’s Hospital for 26 years and was recognized in 2011 as Volunteer of the Year. As a member of Kiwanis, she accompanied her husband, Harold, to district and international conferences, becoming known as the “Pie Lady.” He preceded her in death. Her life reflected a deep passion for education. Diagnosed in 1940 with polio, she spent almost a year at Children’s Mercy Hospital, leading later to her philanthropic support of the Richmond R-XVI Educational Foundation and the establishment of a research fund with Children’s Mercy Foundation to encourage women to advance pediatric medicine research. She was an avid fan of UCM athletics, especially of the Jennies. In her 30 years of giving to UCM, she established several scholarships, including one named for her parents, Willis and Minerva Ritchie Denning. In 2013, the university dedicated the Dr. Sherralyn Craven Mathematics Common in the W.C. Morris Science Building in appreciation for the gift that she and her husband made to fund the lab’s renovation and long-term maintenance. Memorials are suggested to the Harold and Sherralyn Craven Scholarship in Actuarial Science Endowment, through the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or online at ucmfoundation.org/give.
William Dey
William “Bill” E. Dey, 75, former UCM faculty member, died Monday, April 17, 2017. He was born June 29, 1941, in Sedalia, MO. He graduated from Waialua High School in Oahu, HI, in 1959 and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri Rolla and a master’s degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis. He married Josephine Burzynski in 1967, who survives. The couple owned several businesses in Sedalia before he began teaching at UCM. He later became director of business affairs at State Fair Community College and retired in 2006.
Ida Dixon
Ida “Dixie” W. Dixon, a University of Central Missouri alumna who started a lab at what was then the Warrensburg Clinic, died Wednesday, May 31, 2017.
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She was born Jan. 13, 1912, in Sweet Springs, MO, to Dr. and Mrs. Otho Hardin Witcher. She earned a biology degree from UCM in 1933, followed later by academic degrees from the University of Missouri. She married Charles Dixon in 1937; he preceded her in death. She became a licensed medical technician and started a laboratory at the Warrensburg Clinic, now the Johnson County (MO) Hospital, in the days when she counted blood cells under a microscope, made her own reagents, sharpened needles and autoclaved syringes.
Rosalie Elwell
Rosalie Faye Elwell, 88, librarian emerita of the University of Central Missouri, died Saturday, July 29, 2017. She was born June 13, 1929, in Harrison County, MO, the daughter of Ray and Helen Ross Snipes. Two husbands, Gene Schell and Harold “Bud” Elwell, preceded her in death. Her education career began in a one-room schoolhouse in Washington Center, MO. After completing a master’s degree in library science from Emporia State University, she came to UCM as a librarian. Her 20-year career included several leadership roles, including interim director. She retired in 1990.
Flower Hund
Ruth “Flower” Lester Hund, University of Central Missouri emerita business librarian, died Friday, April 21, 2017. She was born April 19, 1928, in Kansas City, MO, to Ruth Flower and Robert Ridenour Lester. She attended Sunset Hill School for Girls where she was the class valedictorian. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College, a master’s degree in library science from Emporia State University and a certificate of advanced studies in librarianship from the University of Denver. She was assistant librarian at Pembroke Country Day School of Kansas City in the 1970s. She became head librarian at Cincinnati (OH) Country Day School until 1981, when she moved to Warrensburg to head the university’s business library. She retired in 1998.
Ronald McReynolds
Ronald W. McReynolds, renowned poet and professor emeritus of English, died Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. He was born Jan. 26, 1934, in Cincinnati, OH, to Weldon and Eva Rue McReynolds. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s in English from Miami
University in Ohio. He taught high school one year in Bellville, MI, where he married Laura Bainbridge, who survives. The couple made their first home in Austin, TX, where he earned a doctorate from the University of Texas. They moved to Warrensburg in 1959, and he joined the faculty at Central Missouri State College as a professor of English where he continued for 47 years. He was honored to receive the Byler Award, the highest award given to faculty, as well as the Distinguished Faculty Lecture Award. In 1966, the family spent a sabbatical year in Cambridge, England, as he pursued Wordsworthian philosophy, research funded by a Fulbright teaching grant. His poetry appeared in many magazines. One volume, A Time Between and Other Poems, was published in 1967. Much of his work is available on campus in the special collections of the James C. Kirkpatrick Library.
Carolyn Mends
Carolyn Ann Mends, 66, a long-time University of Central Missouri academic and student adviser, died Thursday, July 13, 2017. She was born Jan. 3, 1951, in Hobbs, NM, the daughter of Bernice and Johnnie H. Coffield, Jr. She married Albion Mends, Jr. in 1973. He currently is an instructor of religious studies at UCM. The couple moved to Warrensburg in 1974, and she began a 22-year career with UCM as a student organization adviser or co-adviser with her husband. She advised many groups, including the Association of Black Collegians, Harambee and Sisters of Ujima, which she helped to establish. She served on many committees and assisted with several university initiatives, winning numerous accolades, awards and honors for her work in student affairs and engagement. An accomplished artist whose work was displayed, sold and distributed worldwide, she received both a bachelor’s degree in art and a master’s degree in secondary education from Eastern New Mexico University. In addition, she worked as a counselor and art teacher with the Eastern New Mexico University Upward Bound Project and served as a summer missionary to Bronx, New York, sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention.
William “Bill” Peter
William G. “Bill” Peter, 86, professor emeritus of education and founder of the Missouri Association of Rural Educators, died Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017. He was born June 22, 1931, to Dowis and Jessie Peter. After graduating in 1949 from Pawnee (OK) High School, he enrolled at Oklahoma State University where he completed his first year prior to his U.S. Army National Guard unit being activated during the Korean War. Returning home in 1952, he married his high school sweetheart, Neva Jean Moss, who survives. He returned to Oklahoma State, completing a bachelor in music education in 1952 and a master of science in secondary education and school administration in 1955. He spent the next 19 years as a teacher and administrator before receiving his doctorate of education from the University of Arkansas. His teaching career lasted five decades, starting at Prague High School and returning to Pawnee. In 1971, he came to Central Missouri State, joining the faculty in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He taught music students at the university lab school before working exclusively with teacher education students. His contributions to UCM were significant. Grants that he obtained from Apple equipped a computer center in the then-new Lovinger Building, vaulting the program to the forefront of teacher education institutions in technology. In the early 1980s when many rural and small K-12 schools lacked quality professional staff development, he helped create the Center for Small Schools, later known as the School Service Center, before serving as its director for 12 years. He also initiated the state’s first interactive educational network, now called the WeMET Consortium. He built extensive collaborations of educators across Missouri, leading to the founding of the Missouri Rural Education Association, which continues today to work with teachers, administrators, board members, parents and others in rural areas. Memorials are suggested to College of Education Scholarships, through the UCM Alumni Foundation, Smiser Alumni Center, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or online at ucmfoundation.org/give.
L U M N I F O U N D AT I O N B E Q U E ST S UCM A
e
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way Voncile Huffman died in 2002 but her teaching legacy survives. Through a will bequest she made to the UCM Alumni Foundation, she found a way to continue her love of teaching through an endowed scholarship that has helped hundreds of students follow in her footsteps.
Now is an excellent time to create or review your will.
Have you considered including a charitable bequest that will create a lasting legacy and directly benefit UCM students? Contact Joy Mistele at 660-543-8000 or mistele@ucmo.edu to discuss this and other estate giving options that can benefit both you and UCM.
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Stay connected with us through your favorite social media platform at ucmo.edu/social
Q&A with
Emma Meloy RECIPIENT OF THE RUDOLPH & FLORENTINE GROTHER A N D B E U L A H M C FA R L A N D T E A C H E R E D U C AT I O N S C H O L A R S H I P S
“I’m so thankful for scholarships because they are helping me to continue my education at UCM, making it possible to reach my goals and dreams.” — EMMA MELOY
What is your passion in life?
What do you love most about UCM?
All children deserve to learn and have the best chance to succeed. As a teacher, I can give them a better future by being a good influence and giving them a good foundation for learning.
I have loved every minute of my experiences in the elementary education department. In Sigma Kappa sorority, I found a nationwide family of sisters, and with the Mulekickers Dance Team, I have found a real challenge. Last year we placed ninth in the nation!
How have scholarships helped you?
I am financing my education through scholarships, by splitting the costs with my parents and by working part time in Warrensburg. I’m so thankful for scholarships because they are helping me to continue my education at UCM, making it possible to reach my goals and dreams.
What are your plans for the future?
As an elementary education major, I am preparing to enter my senior level classes this fall. I am very excited to be able to pursue the career I have always wanted to do. Being able to help children and watch them grow is the most rewarding thing I can think of.
SE E T HE IM PAC T. B E T H E I M PACT. Make a gift toward scholarships at ucmfoundation.org