May 2010
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Upcoming Alumni Events
Jackson Area Millsaps Physician Alumni Reception
May 6, 2010
Birmingham Area Alumni Event
May 15, 2010
New York City Area Alumni Gathering
June 5, 2010
Washington, DC Area Alumni Gathering
June 19, 2010
Atlanta, GA Area Alumni Gathering
June 26, 2010
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William Winter to Speak at Millsaps College Graduation on May 8, 2010
Former Mississippi Governor William F. Winter, known for his leadership in passing the 1982 Mississippi Education Reform Act, will deliver the commencement address at Millsaps College on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.
This year, 211 undergraduates and 56 graduate students are expected to receive degrees during the ceremony on campus in the Bowl. The ceremony will be the 116th commencement of the College.
Honorary degrees will be bestowed upon Sister Mary Dorothea Sondgeroth, president and chairman of the Board of St. Dominic Health Services, Inc.; Fred L. Banks Jr., former presiding justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court; Christy Gilliland Dunaway, a Millsaps alumnus and director of LIFE (Living Independence For Everyone of Mississippi); and Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray Jr., former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.
Former Dean of Students Remembered
John H. Christmas, a Millsaps alumnus who served as dean of students and as vice president of admissions and student affairs, died April 27 in Jackson.
Christmas was born in Laurel on November 28, 1925 to James Y. and Lucille Christmas. He was a graduate of Vicksburg Carr Central High School. He attended Louisiana State University and graduated from Millsaps College in 1948. At Millsaps, he played football and basketball and was a member of the M Club and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
He received a master's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and did advanced studies at LSU. He was a counselor and football coach at Laurel High School.
He became dean of students at Millsaps in 1961. In 1964-1965, Christmas along with Dean Frank Laney and Business Manager J.H. Wood were assigned to run the College for about six months between the terms of Dr. Homer Ellis Finger Jr. and Dr. Benjamin Graves.
Christmas was named vice president of admissions and student affairs of the College in 1985. He retired after 30 years of service to the College.
Click here to read the full story
Memorials can be sent to:
The Office of Institutional Advancement
Millsaps College
1701 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39210or by calling 601-974-1020.
Rachel Anne Tillman Laney
Rachel Anne Tillman Laney, a longtime resident of Jackson, passed away peacefully on April 27 at the home of one of her sons near Jackson. She was 90.
Mrs. Laney was born on July 24, 1919, in Meridian to James David Tillman Jr., and Anne Sigismunda Hamilton Tillman. As an infant, she lost her mother in a Meridian tornado. Then, as her mother had requested, she was sent to live in Greenwood with her aunt and uncle, Anne Tillman McLemore and Albert Hutchins McLemore, who had no children of their own.
The McLemores moved to Meridian in 1930, and Mrs. Laney graduated from Meridian High School. She then attended Mississippi State College for Women (now M.U.W.) and afterwards pursued graduate study at the University of Mississippi, receiving an M.A. in English. During 1941 she taught at Amory High School and then did secretarial work at Army Air Base Key Field in Meridian until 1944, when she enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve W.A.V.E.S. and served on active duty until 1946.
In 1947 Mrs. Laney married Frank M. Laney Jr., of Tupelo, and in 1948 they moved to Atlanta, where Dr. Laney taught history at Emory University. In 1953 they moved to Jackson, where he began his long association with Millsaps College in the history department. Dr. and Mrs. Laney celebrated 50 years of marriage in 1997, shortly before his passing in 1998.
During her many years in Jackson, Mrs. Laney engaged in homemaking, supporting her husband in every way she could, and raising her three sons. She was also very active in her church (Galloway Memorial United Methodist), the public school PTA, and the cultural and social activities surrounding Millsaps College and the wider Jackson community. Above all, she will be remembered as a person of an exceptionally generous, thoughtful, and loving nature.
Mrs. Laney’s passing was preceded by those of her husband and siblings, Sara Tillman Blissard and James David Tillman, III. She is survived by her son David Laney of Jackson; her son Frank Laney of Flora, his wife, Teresa, and their daughters, Ashley Rankin Norwood and Aimee Rankin; and her son Stephen Laney of Katy, Texas, his wife, Margaret, and their children, Brian Laney, Erica Laney, Sara Laney, and Jonathan Laney.
A memorial service will be held at Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church (305 North Congress Street, Jackson) at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 7, with prior visitation at 1 p.m. in the parlor. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Frank M. Laney Endowed Scholarship Fund, the Frank and Rachel Anne Laney Award (The Office of Institutional Advancement, Millsaps College, 1701 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39210, phone: 601-974-1020), or Hospice Ministries (450 Towne Center Blvd., Ridgeland MS 39157).
Lee Edward Coker
Lee Edward Coker died Thursday, April 15, 2010 at home in the company of his family.
Lee was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 14, 1931 to Lewis and Clara Coker. His family moved to Terry, Mississippi in 1934, where Lee attended elementary school and his father was employed by Chicago Southern Airlines, a precursor to Delta Airlines. The family later moved to Jackson, where Lee and his three sisters attended Davis Elementary, Bailey Junior High and Central High, where he graduated in 1949. He then went to Mississippi State University and obtained his degree in Civil Engineering with structural and sanitary options in 1954.
During his college years he married Frances Heidelberg, a Central High classmate and Millsaps student. After his graduation they returned to Jackson, and Lee went to work for City Steel Company. Three years later, he moved to Howell Steel Company and then to Mississippi Steel and Iron as Sales Manager, and later to Thrasher Company as lead salesman. In 1968 he returned to Howell Steel as part-owner and later became sole owner. Frances is a 1962 graduate of Millsaps College, emerita professor of sociology, and the recipient of the Jim Livesay Award in 2001.
During the fifties and sixties civil rights changes, Lee and his wife and children worked hard to bring the two communities of black and white together. The family regularly attended weekly gatherings of the two communities hosted by Dr. Ernst Borinski at Tougaloo College to support school desegregation. They were also pivotal in integrating television programming at WLBT by holding a week-long monitoring-study in their home in Briarwood. They supported Mississippians for Public Education and other organizations designed to eliminate racial barriers and to make Jackson and Mississippi a better place for all.
Lee retired in 1985 and began devoting time to a favorite hobby, oil painting. Continuing his interest in building, he soon began a second successful career with his own professional repair and remodeling business, which he continued until last year.
Lee is survived by his wife, two children, two grandchildren and three sisters. Memorials may be sent to the Mississippi Animal Rescue League, 5221 Greenway Drive, Jackson, Mississippi 39204.
2010 Alumni Directory Project
The Millsaps College Alumni Office is in the process of creating a new printed alumni directory, Millsaps Alumni Today! Over the next couple of months, our publication partner, Harris Connect, LLC will be contacting alumni like you via mail, phone, and e-mail to request that you update your information.
We understand that you might not want to provide your information to just anyone, so we want you to know that their request for your information is legitimate. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Millsaps Alumni Office at 601-974-1038 or email us at alumni@millsaps.edu.
Millsaps Magazine, Spring 2010
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