The KSC community was saddened to learn that Alberta “Bea” Patch-Slegaitis ’35 passed away on July 6th. Ms Patch-Slegaitis had been living in Surf City, NC, and KSC was fortunate to have her on campus for Reunion 2010, where she, as our oldest alum, with Matt Gill ’10 (representing the youngest) and Norma Walker ’51, helped cut the ribbon for the dedication of the Alumni Center.
“She was a wonderful person and a real delight to have with us for her 75th class reunion that year,” said Patty Farmer ’92, director of Alumni and Parent Relations. “She wrote wonderful poems.”
Read her obituary in the Times Union.
Ms Patch-Slegaitis came from a different era, and it’s interesting to hear what life was like in her day. She contributed her reminisces of the early days at what was then Keene Normal School for Norma Walker’s Memory Book:
Keene Normal School was only 25 years old when I was a freshman. Now we are celebrating its 100th anniversary. I am recalling some of the milestones at the end of the first quarter century.
Lights out at 10 o’clock was the rule. When we had to burn the midnight oil to finish a term paper on time, my roommate and I draped a black shawl over the transom over the door. This worked equally well when, after study time, friends came to share a care box from home. The problem with that rule was sneaking those friends back to their own rooms without getting caught.
Also, a strict sign-out rule was in effect. At night, a girl going to the school library or attending a bowling or swim class in the College gym had to sign out at the desk in the dorm lobby and sign in on her return. In addition, attending an off-campus activity meant getting permission from the dean of women. If the trip was not with a family member, the girl had to be chaperoned. Strangely, no one ever reported a group who had developed a smoking habit and after supper surreptitiously went to a neighboring Catholic church alley to smoke. Did they realize the devastating consequences they were risking? At that time, getting caught breaking such a rule could mean being at the bottom of the list for future job recommendations. Repeated offenses and serious transgressions might result in a student being expelled.
Another school requirement was promptness. A student who was more than 10 minutes late to a meal was not admitted to the dining room. Take-home boxes and doggy bags were unknown. There were no refrigerators in the rooms and no cooking facilities. Customarily, a throng of hungry, noisy girls congregated at the top of the dining room stairs at least 10 minutes early. The boys entered through an outside door. Since seats were assigned, it was not a musical-chair rush for a place to sit, and no one left the table until all were finished.
At the Saturday night social hours, faculty women were chaperones and kept control of couples dancing too closely by catching their attention and demonstrating with stern hands a separation of at least six inches. This detracted from the romance of dancing and dimed the image of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dancing cheek to cheek:
Heaven, I’m in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek.
How times have changed. One wonders about the milestones of the next 25 years. And those of the present day.