Painting the Town Maroon - McMurry University
Painting the Town Maroon - McMurry University
Painting the Town Maroon - McMurry University
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
to <strong>McMurry</strong>,” said Goldie. Also, she recently donated a<br />
large gift toward <strong>the</strong> renovation of Bynum Band Hall as<br />
part of <strong>the</strong> Shaping <strong>the</strong> Future capital campaign.<br />
Goldie is proud of her longtime relationship with Lane<br />
and Tamra Boyd and Clifford and Irene Trotter. “Clifford<br />
and Irene have been very good to me,” she said. “I helped<br />
Irene when her mo<strong>the</strong>r was in <strong>the</strong> St. Anthony’s Hospital<br />
and I was a volunteer <strong>the</strong>re.” She also volunteered her<br />
time working with youth at Polk Street and still promotes<br />
<strong>McMurry</strong> by giving <strong>the</strong>ir youth director <strong>the</strong> <strong>McMurry</strong><br />
alumni magazine to display in <strong>the</strong> youth department.<br />
Demonstrating a strong belief in <strong>the</strong> importance<br />
of higher education, she has helped fifteen of her young<br />
relatives attend college. “It’s not like it was when we were<br />
growing up. Today, you need a college education.”<br />
Omar, who served for many years on <strong>the</strong> <strong>McMurry</strong><br />
Board of Trustees, died in 1996. In 1999, Goldie endowed<br />
a scholarship in his honor to help students from <strong>the</strong> Texas<br />
Panhandle come to <strong>McMurry</strong>. Goldie fondly recalls that<br />
Erin Stevens from Polk Street was <strong>the</strong> first recipient of <strong>the</strong><br />
scholarship.<br />
Erin Stevens<br />
Erin Stevens is one of <strong>the</strong> youngest<br />
links in <strong>the</strong> Polk Street–<strong>McMurry</strong><br />
connection. “Growing up attending<br />
Polk Street United Methodist Church,<br />
I would hear a lot about <strong>McMurry</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>, from current students who visited our Sunday<br />
School class on a <strong>McMurry</strong> Sunday and from o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
church members like Rev. Jim Garrett, who served on <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>McMurry</strong> Board of Trustees,” she said. “Rev. Garrett would<br />
often return after a board meeting and mention <strong>McMurry</strong><br />
in his sermon.”<br />
Clifford Trotter and Goldie Hermsmeyer were also<br />
instrumental in Erin’s selection of <strong>McMurry</strong>. While at<br />
<strong>McMurry</strong>, Erin was extremely thankful to have been<br />
awarded <strong>the</strong> Omar Hermsmeyer Endowed Scholarship,<br />
which she credits in helping pay off her college expenses.<br />
“Clifford and Irene Trotter have been a part of my<br />
life for as long as I can remember, and when I learned that<br />
Clifford went to school at <strong>McMurry</strong>, I knew I needed to<br />
look into that school.” Ano<strong>the</strong>r Polk Street connection was<br />
with <strong>the</strong> Susanna Wesley Sunday School Class. “I received<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir scholarship all four years that I was in school. I would<br />
go and visit <strong>the</strong>m any time I was home and update <strong>the</strong>m<br />
about my <strong>McMurry</strong> experience.”<br />
While at <strong>McMurry</strong>, Erin was involved in Gamma<br />
Sigma Women’s Social Club and was president her senior<br />
year. She was a senator in <strong>McMurry</strong> Student Government<br />
her sophomore and junior years and was president<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Senior Class. “I helped re-charter <strong>the</strong> Student<br />
Ambassador Board and served as president, as well as<br />
sponsor when I was employed with <strong>McMurry</strong>. I was a Tribe<br />
Guide, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Lambda<br />
Pi Eta,” Erin said. “All of my involvement at <strong>McMurry</strong><br />
played a huge part in <strong>the</strong> success of my career. Leading<br />
organizations such as Gamma Sigma and SAB truly helped<br />
prepare me for <strong>the</strong> working world.” After graduation,<br />
Erin was hired as Associate Director of Alumni Relations,<br />
where she influenced many alumni as positively as she was<br />
influenced by her Polk Street mentors.<br />
“I am forever indebted to <strong>McMurry</strong>, because without<br />
<strong>the</strong> experiences I had in my six year,s <strong>the</strong>re I would not<br />
be <strong>the</strong> person I am today,” Erin said. “<strong>McMurry</strong> took me,<br />
an average student who was just a number in high school,<br />
and turned me into a mature adult, a leader, a stronger<br />
Christian, a hard worker, a better daughter, sister, friend<br />
and soon-to-be wife.”<br />
Erin will be marrying Aaron Samson on August 7,<br />
2010 at Polk Street where Lane Boyd will be officiating.<br />
“I got to know Lane and Tamra while I was working at<br />
<strong>McMurry</strong> and I couldn’t think of a better person to marry<br />
us than fellow <strong>McMurry</strong> alum, Lane.”<br />
Erin continues to build on her <strong>McMurry</strong> connections.<br />
She currently serves on <strong>the</strong> Alumni Association Board<br />
of Directors and is a constant advocate for <strong>McMurry</strong>.<br />
She proudly shared that she was successful in getting her<br />
cousin, Kelsey Head ’13, to attend <strong>McMurry</strong>.<br />
Forever Connected<br />
Clifford and Irene Trotter, Omar and Goldie Hermsmeyer,<br />
Lane and Tamra Boyd, and Erin Stevens...lives<br />
interconnected through a church and a university, both<br />
of which positively influenced <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r and <strong>the</strong>ir shared<br />
relationships. As <strong>the</strong> Polk Street–<strong>McMurry</strong> connection<br />
expands and grows stronger, geography and generations<br />
overlap, and <strong>the</strong> people involved will remember <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
common heritage, memories and connections. •<br />
M c M u r r y U n i v e r s i t y 13