Former Business Manager
President Bruce E. Whitaker, right, welcomed former Business
Manager Leon P. Spencer to his first meeting os o member of the
college's Board of Advisors.
Alumni Happenings
Class of 1959
Mildred Ferguson Sulivan of
Huntington, West Virginia receiv
ed Meritorous Honor Award by
U.S. Department of State,
Washington, D. C. in March 1980
and Superior Performance Award
by U.S. Veterans Administration
Medical Center, Huntington, West
Virginia in June 1983.
Class of 1963
John P. Upton, Jr. of Hillsboro,
NC was named Sanitarian of the
Year by North Central En
vironmental Health District which
includes 13 Piedmont Counties.
Class of 1969
Paul Davis Shirley, Jr. and Nan
cy Transou of Tarboro, NC were
married on September 24,1983. He
is employed by S & J Automobile
Sales. She is employed by Tarboro
Savings and Loan.
Class of 1971
Regina M. Richardson of Rich
mond, VA was promoted to Trust
Officer with Bank of Virginia in
Richmond.
1971 Nursing Class Information
Jennifer Forrest Ament of Po
quoson, Va., is employed by River
side Hospital.
Priscilla Renn Brewer and her
husband Douglas reside in Elm Ci
ty, NC with their two children. He
is a physician and she is eihployed
by Acosform, Inc., a computer bill
ing program for physicians.
Eleen Matthews Glover and her
husband reside in Seaboard, NC
with their two cliildren. He is self
employed with a Sow Hog Opera
tion.
Judy Boyd Holland and her hus
band, Waverly, reside in Port
Hueneme, CA. He is an electrician
with the U.S. Navy. She is
employed by Port Hueneme
Adventist Hospital as Operating
Room Charge Nurse.
Betty Sowers Long and her hus
band, E.J., reside in Winston-
Salem, NC with their two children.
He is a computer programmer for
Hames Corporation. She is an of
fice nurse for Drs. Earnhardt,
Sayers & Rogers.
Gail Melchiorre Parker and her
husband, Carey, reside in Virginia
Beach, VA with their daughter. He
is assistant Vice President of
Home Federal Savings and Loan
Association. She is an office nurse
for Virginia Beach Pediatric
Center,
Joan Annete Clark Parker of
Durham, NC is employed with
Durham Technical Institute as a
clinical and classroom instructor
and parttime nurse at John
Umstead Hospital in Butner.
Dunyia Barakey Setfanick and
her husband, Andy, reside in Sterl
ing, VA with their son. She is
employed by Loydoun Memorial
Hospital as Night Shift Charge
Nurse for labor and delivery.
Sydney Graves Zuraw and her
husband, Kenny, of ChesapeakCj
VA have two children. She is
employed by Portsmouth General
Hospital and he is employed by
Tidewater Yacht Agency, Inc.
Leon Spencer returns
for college service
as member of Advisors
After an absence of 33 years,
former Chowan College business
manager, Leon P. Spencer, of
Raleigh, is again associated with
the college, this time in a volunteer
position.
Spencer served as Chowan’s
business manager during the
crucial period from 1948-50. He has
currently accepted an appoint
ment to the Board of Advisors.
In April, 1948, Spencer was
charged with the responsibility of
directing efforts to prepare the
facilities and grounds for the re
opening of the college. Chowan had
been closed in May, 1943, during
World War II.
Spencer was a natural choice for
the job. His background included
education and business. After
graduating from Wake Forest Col
lege in 1927, he taught school at
Knightdale for two years and
Franklinton for five years. He
served as an official of Farmers
Bank of Seaboard from 1934 to
1948.
Family Ties
Spencer also had family ties to
Chowan. His wife, the former Jane
Brooks graduated in 1932. His
sister, Mrs. Gertrude Spencer
Barnes of Jackson, also is a 1932
graduate.
When the trustees acted in the
face of opposition to reopen the col
lege, chairman Dr. Raleigh Parker
of Woodland, handpicked Spencer
for the job.
“He talked me into leaving my
job with the bank and coming to
Chowan," Spencer who loves a
challenge, remembers. “Some of
the people at the bank thought I
had lost my mind."
Little wonder. Spencer faced a
monumental task. “Weeds had
grown up everywhere. The Col
umns building was badly in need of
repairs. The entire physical plant
was in a run-down condition. And
on top of that, new buildings were
needed.”
When Spencer was hired, the col
lege didn’t have a president. The
overall responsibility for prepar
ing the campus and facilities for a
new day in the life*Df the college
rested solely with Spencer.
The friendly, energetic Spencer
plunged headfirst into his work. He
directed the plumbing, electrical
and carpentry work. The grounds
were cleared. The Columns’ roof
was repaired.
The progress encouraged the
trustees and other supporters to
double their efforts to raise the
funds for the renovation and
prepare the college for its reopen
ing. The tireless Spencer was a
man in perpetual motion. He work
ed far into theliight many times.
He tackled the task of preparing
the antiquated heating plant for
the students. Construction of the
new president’s home and four cot
tages to house men students was
begun.
Spencer is generous in his praise
of area residents who assisted.
“We couldn’t have made it without
their help,” he insists. He said
those who helped included Ed and
Dorothy Brown, Oscar Creech and
Lonnie Sasser, all now deceased,
and Elwood Parker, who remains
a close friend of Spencer. Spencer
visited with Parker following the
recent joint meeting of the trustees
and advisors.
The campus transformation
amazed even the critics who had
called the reopening plans a folly
and argued that the college proper
ty should be sold.
Yearbook Dedicated
Chowan opened on schedule in
September, 1949, to a class of 130
students. At the end of the school
year, the students dedicated their
comptroller-business manager.
Spencer served until reaching the
mandatory retirement age of 68 in
1973.
But he had no intent of resting
back and enjoying life from the
vantage point of a rocking chair.
He accepted his present position of
treasurer of the Baptist
Employees Credit Union. At the
age of 78, he continues to report to
work each day in his office in the
new Baptist Building in Cary.
Spencer has other interests that
keep him busy. He is active in
Hayes Barton Baptist Church in
Raleigh where he has served a
number of terms as a deacon and is
assistant treasurer and chairman
of the budget committee.
He is also continuing his ac
tivities on behalf of the Lions Club.
He was a charter member of the
Seaboard Lions Club and helped to
organize the Murfreesboro Lions
Club when he served at Chowan.
"He came when the weeds had thickly
covered the campus and dust had settled
upon the interior. He met the problems
and absorbed the worries ..."
—Quotation from 1949 CHOW ANOKA
yearbook to Spencer. They praised
him for his leadership and devo
tion. They wrote, “He came when
the weeds had thickly covered the
campus and the dust had settled
upon the interior. As the sickle met
the weeds and the cloth absorbed
the dust, so he met the problems
and absorbed the worries in a
warm and friendly manner
magnanimously giving his
valuable services toward Christian
Education.”
Spencer was lured from Chowan
in 1950 by another challenge when
he accepted the position of county
accountant and tax supervisor in
his native Northampton County.
Under his leadership, a tax re-
evaluation he called “long over
due”, was accomplished.
In 1953, Spencer accepted an in
vitation from Dr. M. A. Huggins,
executive secretary-treasurer, to
serve as comptroller of the Baptist
State Convention. Spencer said his
background and experiences, to in
clude his days as Chowan’s
business manager, helped prepare
him for the position.
Retired as Comptroller
The title was later changed to
Spencer annually attends the na
tional and international Lions con
ventions with his wife. A member
of the Raleigh Host Lions Gub, he
has served as district governor and
is president of the N.C. Lions
Association for the Blind. He has
received many honors and awards
from the Lions including the prized
presidential citation from the in
ternational president. Two years
ago, he was made the first life
member of the Raleigh Host Lions
Club since its founding in 1922.
Spencer also enjoys visits from
his two children, Nancy Bartlete, a
hospital counselor in Action,
Mass., and Dr. Leon Spencer, Jr.,
professor of African studies at
Talladega (Ala.) College, and his
four grandchildren.
Spencer attended his first ad
visor meeting recently when they
met jointly with the trustees. He
said he’s looking forward to help
ing the college as an advisor.
President Bruce E. Whitaker said
“the college is fortunate to have
the services of Spencer, wlrose
name is so closely associated with
the college for his outstanding ser
vice connected to Chowan’s
reopening.”
k
i-
The Chowanian, December, 1983—PAGE 11