development
development
of being on the road all the time.” My response is “I don’t because I have a great time talking with people who love Coker.” Certainly one of these times was my last visit to the Atlanta area. My first visit was to see Lewis Sharp ’93, and his lovely wife, Lori. Lewis and Lori are expecting their first child soon and I had a lovely dinner in their beautiful home in Braselton, Ga. Lewis is such a great guy and played basketball at Coker. The next morning I drove out to Suwanee, Ga., to see Stephen Shulte ‘88, at his office and had lunch. Stephen has done so much to make this world a better place as an American Board Certified prosthetist. He has improved the lives of many people and I was fortunate enough to meet some of the patients he has fitted with prosthesis. It was so thrilling to see what our Coker graduate has attained. Stephen was named an Outstanding Young Alumni in 2003. On a very sad note, however, I received an e-mail the next week from Stephen telling me of the death of Michael D. Martin ’89. I am sorry to say that Michael took his own life. He was such a fine man and basketball player at Coker. Many of us knew and loved him. Let us keep his wife, children and classmates in our prayers during this difficult time. While I was there, I was scheduled to see Trent Torrence ’96, but our appointment fell through. Trent had a busy schedule and was headed off for his family’s vacation. We were able to catch up on the phone. He is doing great and those who want to see how he looks after all these years can find him on Facebook. There is a wonderful picture of his wife, Lori, and his two daughters. Trent promised that he would come to see us at Coker soon. He has always been such a great and fun guy. I am sure we will get together next time I am down his way. By the way, now that I am talking about Facebook, I invite all of you to join it to see the Coker graduates. There are over 110 Coker graduates on my Facebook account and it is great to catch up with them and see the pictures of their families. I encourage you to do that; it is a lot of fun. If you don’t know how to do it, give me a call or e-mail and I will set you up. If you want to feel old, all you have to do is stay at Coker College long enough. To my surprise and pleasure, we have a member of the men’s basketball team starting last year as a junior, Josh Poston, who is the son of Rick and Kimberly Chestnut Poston ’83. Did that take me back! I can still see Rick and Kim as students here at Coker when Rick played basketball. I had the pleasure of their company in Myrtle Beach for lunch to talk about Coker and what is going on in their lives. They are so pleased that Josh is here at Coker. They never dreamed they would have a son following in their footsteps. Josh is a fine young man and it is great to have Rick and Kim as graduates and Coker parents. Talking about a fun time, in September, I surprised a group of “Coker Nuts” having a get together at Myrtle Beach at the home of Mary Johnson Bowie ’50. Joan Snoddy Hoffmeyer ’51, Betty Lee Jordan Gandy ’51, Doris Johnson Gray ’51, and Mary Lou Nye Holley ’51 were there. Lyn W W W. C OK E R .E D U /D E VE L OPM ENT
Mahaffey, who is not a Coker graduate but who has been a close friend of this class for many, many years, joined them. What fun it was to pop in on them! I took them all a Coker t-shirt. I was very shocked that they did not ask me to stay too long because they were so ready to go shopping. Can you imagine – a group of six women who had rather go shopping than meet with me!? It was a great time. I think they have been meeting like this for many years and they love Coker College and each other. Towards the end of September, I took a quick trip up to Greenville for two days. I had a wonderful visit with Lee Watson. We sat in her living room and chatted and reminisced and talked about Coker College and even gossiped a bit. What a fine lady! She has been so inspirational to me personally and so supportive of Coker. The next morning, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Ellison Smith, a member of the Board of Trustees. Ellison is the grandson of Richard and Tuck Coker and his mother, Louise Coker Ewing, was on the Board of Trustees. We had a good breakfast and great conversation. He is very supportive of the College, very active in Greenville and is a busy man raising his children. I then went on to downtown Greenville and had lunch with Lillian (Mickey) Utsey Harder ’65. Mickey is just as fun and lively as she ever was. I don’t think she will ever change and I certainly hope she doesn’t! The last time I saw her two or three years ago, she told me she was retiring. Well, she has not. She still is actively involved with Clemson University and is the Director of the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts. What a great lady. Mickey and her husband, Byron, have two children and several grandchildren. I have to admit that we talked about our children and grandchildren more than we talked about Coker. There is no mistake that Mickey is an ardent supporter of Coker College. By the way, if you have not been to Greenville recently to some of the wonderful downtown restaurants, please go. We had a marvelous meal at Latitude and a lot of fun. Maybe you can call Mickey and ask her to join you! It would give her another excuse to come to Greenville to see her grandchildren. Always, the first weekend in October is busy at Coker College because it is Homecoming which has become a major event, especially for our younger graduates. What a fun time they had! Probably the most fun of all was joining the young alums at the Sory Boathouse for a party on Saturday night. I was amazed that I could keep up with them for at least an hour. They were a lively group. I just hope that this tradition continues and grows to 200 or more people. We had a blast! As I think I told you several issues ago, Marjorie Hooks Bethea ’46, and her husband, Tom, have moved to the Methodist Manor of the Pee Dee in Florence. As often as I can, I try to get over to see them. I had a wonderful time with them on October 8. I picked them up and we had a delightful lunch at a local Florence restaurant. It is always good to be with them. They are both remarkable people – so much energy and positive attitudes. Talk about loving Coker
– Marjorie Bethea, whose sister, Miriam (Tiggie) Benefield ’52, also went to Coker, loves Coker, and has done so much for it through the years. It is a pleasure for me to know Marjorie and Tom and to get to take them to lunch. I hope that soon I can pick them up and bring them to Hartsville so that they can see the new Library-Information Technology Center. They haven’t been able to see it yet and I know they will enjoy it. The next week I was in Myrtle Beach to have lunch with Charlotte Coker Hoffman. Charlotte is a delightful person and is the daughter of Fitz Lee Coker. Her Mother was the late Edna Coker. Charlotte and her husband have lived in Murrells Inlet for several years. It was the first time I have seen her in a long time. We had a wonderful lunch at the Sea Captain’s House in Myrtle Beach and great conversation. Charlotte attended Hartsville High School and Frankie had the pleasure of teaching her art when she was a student, but we have not kept up with her. It was so good to see her and I hope that over the next two or three years, she will consent to join us on the Board of Trustees. She is a smart woman who would have a lot of positive influence and information for us at the College. The next week in October, I went to Raleigh to take some more of Mary Coker Joslin’s book, “Growing Up in the Brown House,” to her to sign. I am telling everyone, if you ever want to see a slice of life and a great book for a Christmas present, buy this book. It is absolutely a wonderful read and you will love it. As always, Mary and Bill Joslin continue their support of the College with all the sales from the book going to Coker’s Annual Scholarship Fund. I had a wonderful lunch with Mary and Bill, but I have to say that I am glad they are like family because my car broke down and I don’t know what I would have done had I not been with them. They understood what it took for me to get my car started. It is funny now, but it was not funny at the time. They were so wonderful to put up with me and I thank them for all they do for Coker. Please get a copy of Mary’s book. You may call me, e-mail me or call the Coker College Bookstore or Lyn Blackmon in the Alumni office and we will make sure you get a signed copy. Signing off for this year, I wanted to speak a little bit about our late October Board of Trustees’ meeting. It was a good meeting, but we were especially pleased that the night before we had the pleasure of Gus Speth to give a Lois Walters Coker Lecture on the environment. We had a huge crowd, close to 400 people, in Watson Theater. Gus is the Dean of the School of Environmental Studies and Forestry at Yale University. He presented an excellent lecture – very thought provoking. Not everyone agreed with all that he said and that made it even better. I think the best thing that we can say about Gus Speth is that he is married to our wonderful Coker graduate and Trustee, Cameron Council Speth ’64. It was wonderful to be with them for a couple of days and to have them on our campus. We appreciate so much his willingness to come and share his wisdom with us at the College. Until next time…
THE QUARTERLY OF COKER COLLEGE , HARTSVILLE, S . C . - C O M M EN TA RY
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