2009 Hornet Heritage award family to be honored Saturday

A family tracing its roots back 144 years to the very first class in 1865 of the Kansas State Normal School (now Emporia State University) is this year’s Hornet Heritage family.

Claiming the 2009 award, the Spencer-Smith-Brown-Hopper-LeClear family branches out across three centuries of the university’s existence.

Three sisters – Martha, Margaret, and Elmira Spencer – were present on Feb. 15, 1865, the first day of class at Kansas State Normal School, under the direction of Lyman B. Kellogg, the college’s first president.

The Hornet Heritage award, sponsored by the ESU Alumni Association, annually recognizes a multigenerational family of Hornet alumni and former students. The family will be honored on Family Day at ESU, at halftime of the football game versus the University of Central Missouri. The game begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12.

Two of Margaret Spencer’s great-grandchildren carried on the ESU lineage in the 20th century. Wayne Smith (BSE 1951, BA 1951) had a son and daughter-in-law who attended ESU. Nadine (Brown) Hopper attended the Newman School of Nursing, which later became part of ESU. Four of her children and two of her grandchildren have earned ESU degrees, while a third grandchild, Jami LeClear, is a current student at ESU, working part-time in the Sauder Alumni Center.

For more information on the family’s lengthy background, contact the alumni relations office at (620) 341-5440 or visit the Hornet Heritage website at http://www.emporia.edu/saf/awards/hornetheritage.htm.

Last Updated September 11, 2009>