Summer 2001 - Wayne State College

With more than 30 years at WSC, Lucille Peterson isMuch More than the President’s SecretaryShe’s been an integral part of Wayne State College for morethan 30 years. And although she celebrated her 75th birthday onApril 27, WSC presidential secretary Lucille Peterson plans to bepart of it for a long time to come.“I’ve told my children that I’m leaving cleaning my basementfor when I retire,” Lucille said. “And I really don’t like to think ofdoing that for quite a while!”Lucille has served as the secretary to the president of WayneState College since June 15, 1971. “Dr. Brandenburg called to tellme his secretary was retiring and asked me if I’d be interested inthe job,” she said. “His secretary had been there for eight years,which seemed like a very long time to me, so I thought I’d bettertake advantage of the opportunity because it might not come againfor some time. As things turned out, there must have been someDivine intervention in that decision!”This wasn’t Lucille’s first job on campus, however. She andher husband, the late Walter ‘Pete’ Peterson and their twodaughters, Winona, two-and-one-half, and Christine, sevenmonths, came to Wayne State College in 1955 because of thenpresident,the late Dr. John D. Rice. “Dr. Rice and Pete were bothfrom Kearney,” Lucille recalled. “Pete had a music teacher atKearney who recommended him to Dr. Rice. Pete taughtelementary education courses when we first came here, and Iworked part-time for four or five years in the placement bureauand registrar’s office.”The family moved to Vermillion, S.D. where her husbandcompleted his doctorate. They returned to Wayne State in January,1965; Dr. Peterson became the interim dean and then Dean ofEducation, a position he held until his death on August 15, 1971.Since she first accepted her present position, Lucille hasworked for six WSC presidents: Drs. William Brandenburg, LyleSeymour, Ed Elliott, Thomas Coffey, Don Mash, and the current10Lucille Petersonpresident, Sheila Stearns. She also was secretary for three interimpresidents: Drs. Don Whisenhunt, Joe Fleck and Ken Halsey.“All of them have been good to work for, and have been kindto me,” Lucille said. “Each one of them has had his or her ownstrengths and areas of interest.” She described her duties as beingresponsible for scheduling appointments and calendars, sendingemployee contracts and letters, “keeping track of the president,”greeting visitors, handling correspondence, and answeringquestions.At 75, Lucille puts in long days, arriving early and oftenstaying late, always with a warm smile. “It has been wonderfulhaving Janice (Gardner-Manganaro--an assistant to the president)in the office,” she said. “She’s been here since 1982. I have reallyappreciated having her here.”Thinking back to the early days on the job, Lucille reflectedon the many changes that have taken place. “I’ve probably typed30 to 40 doctoral dissertations on an old manual Royal typewriter--one original and four carbon copies of each,” she said. “Whenthe electric typewriter came along, I thought that it was wonderful.Then we went to the word processor and now the computer. Thecomputer has made life so much easier, but we’re expected to domore.”Life on campus has changed, as well. “When we first came,everybody on campus went to the student center in Connell Hallfor coffee every morning,” she said. “I think that added to thecamaraderie on campus. We lost something with the coming ofoffice coffeemakers.”Something else Lucille misses is the college yearbook. “I feelbad that we don’t have one anymore,” she said. “The last WayneState yearbook was in 1971. I hope that someday we’ll get backto that; I wonder if the next one might be a CD. We need to find away to record the story of the college each year.”Lucille said that when she retires, she wants to return tocampus part-time to help with the archives. “We have lots ofthings to organize; I would really enjoy helping with that,” shesaid.In the meantime, don’t look for Lucille to slow down. Shebelongs to three bridge clubs, one of which was started by WSCfaculty wives in 1955. “We still get together two or three times ayear,” she said. “Another one I joined when we came back fromVermillion in 1965, and the last one we just started about ten yearsago.” Lucille is also active in her church, Our Savior LutheranChurch in Wayne.She also enjoys her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.Daughter Chris Fletcher, who first came to WayneState when she was seven months old, is the WSC resource anddata management officer. She and her husband, Bill, live in ruralWayne. They have two children and four grandchildren. Winona,a teacher, is married to John Schneider, a professor at CalvinCollege in Grand Rapids, Mich. They are parents of two children.“Education has always been part of all of our lives,” Lucillesaid. “Six in our family have attended or worked at Wayne StateCollege. It has been a real pleasure to be at the College and see allof the changes throughout the years.”The pleasure’s all ours, Lucille.WSC Magazine Summer 011010/2/01, 2:48 PM