IT’S JUNE 1954. POODLE SKIRTS AND CAT-EYE GLASSES are all the rage, and Elvis Presley is about to begin his singing career with Sun Records. It’s the early years of the atomic age and Cold War, and the country is experiencing a cultural upheaval. In its midst, and standing on the precipice of her future, is Jeanne Erickson Armstrong, a freshly minted Oregon State College (OSC) graduate in home economics who was too busy finishing her courses and caring for a family to pay much mind to the zeitgeist. During her college years, Jeanne had four children and formed enduring friendships. Her college boyfriend, who was drafted into WW II, became her husband of 74 years because as a sophomore she had the pluck to ask him to marry her. She lived in Waldo Hall, met a lifelong mentor, was part of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and worked as hard as she studied. Jeanne anticipated graduating in 1949, but the war, and life, intervened. It’s now 2024, WW II and Elvis live only in the annals of history, and Jeanne is nearly 98 years old, back on campus revisiting memories and familiar places, such as the OSU Child Development Center, with impeccable recall. HARD WORK AND DETERMINATION WERE KEY Attending Oregon State “was a high-level experience for me,” she says with a bright smile. And how did she feel upon returning to her alma mater? “Like the OSC Grad of the 20th Century.” Jeanne first was introduced to Oregon State through 4-H, where she spent a few summers on campus as part of 4-H Summer Camp. It was also through 4-H that she met her future husband, first in Portland and then as OSC undergraduates. After graduating from high school, Jeanne wasn’t sure she could afford to attend college, but her friend Katie convinced her she could do it and that they would live in Waldo Hall, a dormitory for women. Gathering her courage, she thought, “I’ll just jump in,” she says. She did, and the two lived in Waldo for two terms before moving into the Kappa Kappa Gamma house. The summer before graduating from high school, in 1943, Jeanne worked at the Shipyard Ferry in Portland selling tickets, cigarettes and sandwiches to workers to pay for college. “I did two shifts, early morning and swing, riding my bike about five miles each way twice a day, sleeping at home between shifts,” she says. The IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE, BUILT BY A HARDWORKING BEAVER HOME EC ALUM VISITS CAMPUS 70 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION BY KATHRYN STROPPEL Jeanne Erickson Armstrong, ’54 4 ▴ College of Health
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