{"id":4187,"date":"2015-11-17T16:22:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T21:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/17\/a-lifetime-of-learning\/"},"modified":"2022-11-07T15:06:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T20:06:12","slug":"a-lifetime-of-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/a-lifetime-of-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"A lifetime of learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Most parents attend their children\u2019s graduation, but few sit beside them wearing a cap and gown. But so it was in 1961 that Ann Hall n\u00e9e Loftis \u201961 sat beside her mother Irene Dill Loftis \u201961 as part of the first Furman class to graduate in McAlister Auditorium. Irene, who is now 105, still lives in South Carolina, and though age has weakened her body, her mind still fervently possesses a love of learning.<\/p>\n

When Irene graduated with her daughter, it was the second time she had attended Greenville\u2019s Women\u2019s College, which merged with Furman beginning in 1932. Irene was 18 when she entered the Women\u2019s College, but after two years she left to marry Harvey Loftis \u201929 and start a family. But her desire for an education led her return to Furman in the late 1950s to earn her diploma. After graduating with Ann, Irene went on to complete a Masters of Library Science from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She then worked as a librarian at Baker’s Chapel Elementary School in Greenville County until she retired in 1975.<\/p>\n

Ann recalls that her mother enjoyed reading encyclopedias, always on a quest for knowledge. But most of all, Irene cherished books. \u201cShe liked all kinds of books, but she loved the romantic poets.\u201d Irene even wrote her own poetry and had her work published in the The Isaqueena, <\/em>the Literary Magazine of the Women\u2019s College. More recently, at the age of 90, Irene entered a poetry competition and won an award.\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems that a love of learning runs in the Loftis family. \u201cI come from a family of educators. . . ,\u201d Ann says. Her father was a principal, her son is a teacher, and Ann worked as an elementary teacher before becoming principal of M. S. Bailey and Clinton Elementary Schools in Clinton, S.C. Ann also has two brothers who were teachers.<\/p>\n

Although her mother Irene is not always communicative, she is spirited and still loves words. \u201cI started reciting nursery rhymes to her, and her eyes would light up and she\u2019d finish the phrase,\u201d Ann says as she recalls singing \u201cJack and Jill.\u201d Since then, Irene not only completes the phrases her daughter sings, but she composes endings that communicate her memories, such as \u201cJack and Jill went up the hill to go to Tigerville,\u201d which is the town near Travelers Rest where she grew up.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has an incredible will to live; when she was 102 she was at her lowest with a bout of pneumonia, but she recovered and she\u2019s happy.\u201d Irene Loftis will be 106 on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Romantic Song\u00a0(Published in the National Poetry Awards in 1964)<\/p>\n

by Irene Loftis<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLilies for a bridal bed<\/p>\n

Roses for a matron\u2019s head<\/p>\n

Violets for a maiden dead\u201d \u2013 P.B. Shelley<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cViolets for a maiden dead,\u201d<\/p>\n

Plant them thick, and at the head<\/p>\n

Set lilies pale on grey-green stems.<\/p>\n

These shall be her requiems.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She will not know \u2013 who died so young<\/p>\n

By lover scorned \u2013 unknown, unsung.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But violets thick, with greenery laced,<\/p>\n

Will mark her grave with purple grace.<\/p>\n

And lilies pale on grey-green stems,<\/p>\n

Shall show for aye, her love for him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most parents attend their children\u2019s graduation, but few sit beside them wearing a cap and gown. But so it was in 1961 that Ann Hall n\u00e9e Loftis \u201961 sat beside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":15570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}