John and Patty Anderson recently established the John Spencer Anderson and Patricia Hogg Anderson Scholarship to benefit students in the College of Education and Professional Development.
Quarterly Donor Spotlight- John and Patty Anderson
Many students refer to their scholarships as blessings. Some refer to them as miracles. They acknowledge the donor’s generosity and understand that, without those donors, they would struggle to obtain their degrees.
Some students work part-time jobs and do not qualify for enough financial aid. In these cases, scholarships provide the difference. These students are the ones who strive to pay it back upon graduation; to help a student like someone helped them. You could say that is why John and Patty Anderson recently started a scholarship in the College of Education and Professional Development, because Patty was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship as an undergraduate student and a fellowship as a graduate student.
“I received the Presidential Scholarship as an undergraduate student,” said Patty. “Then I received a fellowship to teach at Marshall Lab School, which allowed me to obtain my Master of Education in 1965.”
John and Patty Anderson were both born in West Virginia and chose to attend Marshall. Strangers until they met at the Sigma Phi Epsilon Spring Formal in 1960, the couple has shared every dance since. In 1963, they were married at the Campus Christian Center on Marshall’s Huntington campus; one of the first weddings to be held there. That same year, both John and Patty graduated from Marshall University; John with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Patty with a Bachelor of Arts in Education.
Upon graduation, John accepted a position with INCO. He worked at the Huntington plant for three years while Patty was attending graduate school. John was then transferred to Burnaugh, Kentucky, where he served as INCO plant’s administrative manager for 10 years. John later accepted a similar position with INMETCO, a subsidiary of INCO, in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. In 1987, the Andersons returned to Huntington, where John served as Chapman Printing and Stationers manager of office furniture, briefly retiring and then returning to become the President and General Manager of Stationers.
Patty found the perfect balance of being a homemaker, mother and extraordinary civic volunteer. Both she and John were named “Citizens of the Year” in Ellwood City. Upon returning to Huntington, Patty has worked at Autism Services Center and volunteered for many years at Ebenezer Medical Outreach. In addition, the couple is active at First Presbyterian Church. Throughout their numerous volunteer efforts, the couple is particularly fond of those pertaining to the betterment of children, like the Boys and Girls Club and both Boy and Girl Scouts.
“If we do not help children and young adults reach their full potential, then we have failed the only next generation that we have,” said John, current president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington and of Riverview Manor, a 114 unit high rise for the elderly.
Inspired by all that Marshall gave them and the personal involvement of their professors, particularly those who equipped them with necessary skill sets to enter their chosen professions, the couple recently established the John Spencer Anderson and Patricia Hogg Anderson Scholarship. This renewable award will benefit education majors.
“It is our hope that the next generation reaches its full potential and in that, comes to find themselves in a position to encourage and help the generations to follow,” said Patty.
John encouraged students to work hard and stay focused. “Try to determine early on what path you want your life to take. You may need to make sacrifices along the way, but it will pay dividends in the end.”
“In our lifetime, we have seen Marshall grow from an institution with an emphasis on educating future educators to one noted far and wide for its programs in business, medicine and forensics, to name a few,” said Patty. “Marshall needs to keep exploring new programs with an attitude of ‘yes, we can do this.’”
For questions about a student’s eligibility for the John Spencer Anderson and Patricia Hogg Anderson Scholarship, please contact the College of Education and Professional Development at Marshall University.