October 28, 2015
MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER (10/24/15) - Nell Wilkerson is East Texas Baptist University's oldest living alumni at 99 years old and she feels she has lived this long in order to receive a prestigious award from her alma mater.
Nell was one of three university alumni to be named a Golden Lightkeeper by the university's alumni association on Friday.
"I often wondered why I was hanging around this world for so long," Nell said Friday. "I think this might have had something to do with it."
ETBU alumni of 50 years or more are eligible to receive the Golden Lightkeeper award.
For those alumni who qualify, the school they attended was either called East Texas Baptist College or the College of Marshall at the time. The institution's name changed to East Texas Baptist University in 1984.
"I graduated in 1936 from the College of Marshall," Nell said. "I worked for 10 years as the secretary for Dr. Groner (Former College of Marshall President Frank Groner) and got fired when I got pregnant with my son."
Back then, Nell said society was such that Groner worried about students seeing a pregnant woman working for him at the college.
Nell later went on to move to Houston with her husband, Will Wilkerson, and have two more children. She worked at her church's library, sang in the choir and loved playing the piano.
Nell also served her country in the Red Cross during World War II and the Vietnam War.
Nell, whose husband died in 1998, said she is looking forward to her 100th birthday.
"I'm the eighth member of my family to live into the 90s. I never thought I'd last this long," Nell said. "I still go to church and it was wonderful being here. I am really looking forward to my 100th birthday on Jan. 26."
Also receiving the Golden Lightkeeper award on Friday was alumnus Dr. George Bennett, who formerly served as the campus physician for 10 years and the chief of staff at Marshall Hospital.
The former Army Air Corps navigator flew in the last mission of World War II and delivered 718 babies during his time as a family practitioner in Marshall.
Bennett graduated from the College of Marshall in 1942 and currently teaches a men's Sunday school at First United Methodist Church of Marshall.
Frank Brooks, 1955 graduate of East Texas Baptist College, was the third and final Golden Lightkeeper recipient on Friday.
Brooks was referred to as the "pastor's pastor" according to ETBU Director of Alumni Services Paul Tapp.
"As with many pastors, Frank also mentors pastors, young couples and church members by sharing his love for Christ and his commitment to service," Tapp said.
Brooks also served as a trustee of the college from 1976 to 2003.
Also on Friday, ETBU held its annual Alumni Awards Chapel and Golden Blazer Ceremony. Honorees included Jean Surratt Humphreys (1978), J. Wesley Smith Achievement Award; Hollie Atkinson (1959), "Unsung Hero" Award; Bert West (1973), Alumni Achievement Award; Shane Moore (2006), and Joey Sutton (2003), Young Alumnus Award; and Lance Fenton, W.T. Tardy Service Award.
The 2015 Golden Blazer recipients are James Best (1955), Robert Duvall (1963), Bonnie Hester (1949), Joe Jones (1952), and Ben Raimer (1969).
(Used by permission www.marshallnewsmessenger.com. Story by Bridgett Ortigo, reporter)