Amazing Members

Reaching Platinum

By Barbara Corder, KS Immediate Past President

It was only my third year of teaching when Agnes Shipman Robertson came to my classroom door and asked if I would be interested in joining Alpha Delta Kappa. She was very convincing. I said yes and gave her my $5 pledge fee.”

That is how Platinum Sister Retabess Ling was introduced to the fraternity she has participated in for seventy years. She was nineteen when she joined the newly formed KS Eta chapter in a formal ceremony at the Hotel Kelley in Iola. After the Eta chapter disbanded, Retabess became a sustaining member.

She recalls chapter meetings as mainly social gatherings. She commented that it was great to meet and be with other teachers from all over the county. Before becoming members, city and rural teachers had no opportunity to meet one another and share ideas.

A group of Kansas sisters traveled to Iola in June and, along with former Eta chapter members and her family members, celebrated the anniversary with Retabess. The International Headquarters staff found the original forms she signed to join in an unused file cabinet. Photos of the forms, congratulatory cards and other mementos were presented to Retabess. Her platinum sister guard and a certificate were given by the KS state executive board. The ninety-year-old is the second Kansas Platinum Sister.

After graduating from high school at sixteen, Retabess began her teaching career in a one room schoolhouse in the Waverly School District in Allen County, KS. The eight hours of college credit she earned in the summer and the shortage of teachers following World War II made her eligible to teach. She had seven students. One of the boys was fourteen, just two years younger than his teacher. She was the teacher and the janitor, which included cleaning the outdoor privies and carrying in coal and drinking water. Her salary was $1,000 a year.

Retabess taught for 44 years, first in one-room schools and then in grades four through six in elementary schools. For ten years, she was an art teacher. Retabess earned her Bachelor’s and Master of Science degrees from the Emporia State Teachers College, now Emporia State University.

Retabess is a widow. She says, “I am treated like a princess by my eight grandchildren and nineteen great grandchildren.”

Diversity in the Arts, Theme of PA Conference

Pennsylvania Gamma sisters selected “Diversity in the Arts and Beyond” as the theme for the spring PA Eastern District Conference. The goal was to present a virtual program that would stimulate, engage and entertain while talking about diversity and its many forms. All sessions were planned and led by members of PA Gamma.

Keynote speaker Marilyn Rodriguez is the youth arts director for Taller Puertorriqueno, an arts and culture organization with after school programs for children and youth in Philadelphia, PA. In her presentation, Marilyn explained how she incorporates her Latino background into art activities in “Exploring Identity Through the Arts.”

Taller, now in its forty-fifth year of “using art to promote development within its community and the Latino Diaspora and to build a bridge to the Greater Philadelphia area” was chosen by Gamma as the conference’s altruistic project. Sisters purchased and donated art supplies to the program.

Inez Recupido opened the conference with “Your Name,” an activity that encouraged participants to think about the origins of their given names.

Attendees had the opportunity to participate in three other sessions. Shalon Doctor and Genina Etlen led a discussion of the book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent,” by Isabel Wilkerson. In the session led by Magna Diaz, members created a graphic design using their name, chapter or any meaningful work or shape.

The final activity, “Bach, BTS and Beyond: Diversity in Music Education,” was presented by Celina Velez. A classically trained musician, Celina described how she exposes her students to all music genres from classical to modern. She also described the challenges and importance of virtual and hybrid teaching of music.

Information for article provided by Eleanor Smith, PA Gamma, PA Past State President 2008-2010

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” 
~ Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister Audrey Mitchell, Jamaica Beta

104 Candles on Arkie’s Birthday Cake

By Betty Sherrod, VA Gamma Omicron

During the 2020 Presidential election, Arkie Neal Remley, wearing a mask and following all of the COVID-19 guidelines, made her way to the voting booth in Hot Spring County, Arkansas. At 103, she had been a registered voter in the county for 70 years. For her, it was important to vote and she was not going to break with tradition.

Born in 1917, she remembers not having electricity until 1935. The electric bill was $1.00 and was paid through extra work milking cows and separating the cream. She was not able to begin college right away since the Great Depression had immense financial implications for families such as hers across America. In 1936, she began taking college courses and, after earning 45 credit hours, came home and taught for one year. Her salary was $50 per month. During the summer break, she took classes and eventually earned her teaching degree from Henderson State University. She taught in rural areas of Arkansas for several years before moving to Malvern, AK to begin teaching at North Malvern Elementary, later named the Fields School. Prior to integration in 1964, Arkie said, “Don’t choose teaching if you don’t plan on caring for your students.”

Through A∆K CONNECT, Arkie’s birthday was announced and sisters were asked to “shower her with cards.” Responses to the thread on the International website poured in as sisters from all over recognized and honored this amazing member.

At 104, Arkie, who is most likely the oldest member of A∆K, became a Diamond Sister in 2020, having joined AR Theta in 1960. She has seen wars, major advancements in technology, progress in civil rights and numerous breakthroughs in science and medicine. Alpha Delta Kappa sisters and former students shared some memories as well as some life lessons they learned from Arkie.

When Claudine James, who is African American, entered Arkie’s Fields School first grade classroom in 1974 after transferring from another school, she was greeted by another child who said, “I know Claudine. Her grandfather cleans my dad’s business.” Mrs. Remley’s response was, “Isn’t she so precious?” Claudine went on to experience stellar academic success and reflected upon that incident in first grade. “What if Mrs. Remley would have reacted differently and not ignored those remarks? Would I have even graduated? Was she even aware of how her actions had aided my intellectual and emotional growth?”

Brenda Keisler, AR Theta, recounted that although Arkie was not her fifth grade teacher, she spent lots of time in her class.

“I remember when she came into our class to read a 1965 newspaper article about a white man who stopped to help change a tire for two black women. It was pouring rain. A few weeks later, he received a television but told the delivery man that he had not ordered it. The delivery man handed him a letter from Nat King Cole thanking him for helping his mother and sister get to the airport in time to travel to visit him in the hospital. The following year was our first year of desegregation. By sharing the article, I think she was preparing us for what was to come.” Cindy White, AR Theta, said, “Arkie Neal -- that’s what she goes by -- is a phenomenal woman and has done everything.” Gardening, both vegetable and flowers, has been a passion of hers for many years. Her AR Theta sisters stay involved and take her to her favorite restaurant, Olive “Always do the best you can; Garden, each year. don’t do anything halfway.” In a recent phone conversation, in between chuckling and laughing out loud, Arkie’s daughter Daria shared some wonderful insights about her mother. While teaching in Stuttgart, AR, she met her husband, Ed, and they moved to Malvern, AR. She taught most of her 35-year career there, beginning with the first grade. Later, she taught fifth grade before returning to the youngest students, her beloved first graders, where she taught until her retirement in 1975. When her husband retired, he asked her to retire too. All three Remley children became teachers. Daria taught typing and computers to eighth and ninth graders. Her sister June, who is 14 months older to the very day, taught art and elementary school, and their brother became a band teacher. Daria remembers how her mother would rise early, milk the cows, dress for work, get the children on the bus and go to work. “That’s what she knew; she knew how to work.” When she was 99, “she was on her knees in the garden mulching the green beans.” In 2000, Daria and her husband remodeled Arkie’s home and the three of them enjoy living there now. When Arkie turned 100, she was still canning beans and helping in the garden. At 103, Arkie began to slow down a little but still wanted to help in any way she could. “I told Mom that she didn’t have to do anything,” Daria shared. Ingrained in her memory is the way her mother embraced teaching every child. Desegregation gave Arkie the opportunity to reach out to all of her students, letting them know that they were capable, valued and loved. Inspiring students was her passion, telling them, “Always do the best you can; don’t do anything halfway.”