Pi Beta Phi - University of Minnesota

4 Pi Beta P hi MY FAMILY HISTORY IS ALSO MINNESOTA ALPHA HISTORY By Andrea Bonney Hefty Lindquist, Iowa Gamma '94 M y family history is intertwined not only with the Minnesota Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi, but the state of Minnesota. It started with my great-great-grandfather and namesake, Andrew Bonney Robbins. Andrew founded the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale in 1893. He married Adelaide Walker, the sister of T.B. Walker, best known as the founder of the Walker Art Center, and together they had five living daughters. All five daughters attended the University of Minnesota, and all five were members of Pi Beta Phi. It started with Edith Robbins Daniels 1891, the oldest and first Pi Phi initiate. Edith graduated with both bachelor's and master's degrees from the university, and she was instrumental in continuing her father's legacy with real estate development after his death in 1910. Her sister, Amy Robbins Ware 1906, followed in her footsteps. Amy also obtained bachelor's and master's degrees and served in WWI as part of the Radio Department at Women's Naval Service, as well as a Red Cross volunteer at the front in France. Before she could be initiated in 1896, the chapter closed and was dormant for the next 10 years. When the chapter was recolonized in 1906, Amy was initiated and listed as a charter member as a courtesy, considering she had been a member for 10 years! Initiation was conducted by Grand President Elizabeth Gamble, Colorado Alpha 1891, and was held at the home of Amy's uncle, T.B. Walker, on September 8, 1906. After the initial 23 members were initiated, recruitment was held, and nine more members were initiated on October 27, 1906. Out of those nine, four were my relatives. Edith and Amy's three younger sisters also initiated: Adelaide Robbins Gillette 1906, Ruth Robbins Rodda 1906, and my great- grandmother, Esther Robbins Scott 1906. Also in that class of initiates was Edna Lampert Walling 1906, the daughter of the founder of Lampert Lumber. Esther and Edna became friends and eventually introduced their children. Esther had a daughter: my grandmother, Andrea Bonney Scott '42 (the first namesake of A.B. Robbins). Edna had a daughter and son, who was my grandfather, Lampert Walling. Bonney and Lampert began dating in high school and then went away to the East Coast for school. They returned to the University of Minnesota from Wellesley and Princeton, where Lampert was a Chi Psi, at the outbreak of WWII. Lampert joined the Army and Bonney enrolled at the University of Minnesota where she initiated into Pi Beta Phi in 1942. They married in 1943 and then welcomed my mother, Andrea Bonney Walling '65 (the second namesake of A.B. Robbins), in 1944. After the war, Lampert finished his degree in architecture, and they would welcome three more children over the next eight years. In 1964, my mother transferred from Wheaton College in Massachusetts to the University of Minnesota and was initiated into Pi Beta Phi her junior year. At the time of her initiation, four of the five Robbins girls and the original family Pi Phis had died. However, her ceremony was attended by my grandmother and Ruth Robbins Rodda 1906, by then a 58-year member of the Fraternity. In 1971, just a week after Aunt Ruth's death, my mother's youngest sister and my aunt, Phoebe Rodda Walling, Ohio Eta '71, was initiated into Pi Beta Phi at Denison University. The last of the first generation of Pi Phis, my great-grandmother Edna, passed away in 1976; she was the only one I met. Our Pi Phi family history comes full circle with me, Andrea Bonney Hefty Lindquist, Iowa Gamma '94. After two years on the East Coast attending Mount Holyoke College, I decided to transfer to Iowa State University and go through recruitment. In 1994 (also as a junior), I was initiated into Pi Beta Phi, the fourth generation in our family and 103 years after the first. This year, I reached 25 years of membership. My mother is now a Golden Arrow, and my aunt will join her in two years. I have proudly served my chapter as President, and even more importantly I served the family chapter, Minnesota Alpha, as Alumnae Advisory Committee Chairman. There is a possibility of a fifth generation; we have two girls in the family who could be Pi Phis in 10 years' time. We will hold out hope that the family legacy continues. A legacy that is now 128 years in the making. Thank you to Andrea for sharing her Minnesota Alpha and family history with us. You can connect with her at ahefty@gmail.com. This photo has five relatives in it. Front row, left end is Ruth Robbins Rodda 1906. Front row, right end is Edna Lampert Walling 1906. Second row, left end is Adelaide Robbins Gillette 1906. Second row, third from left is Esther Robbins Scott 1906. Third row, fifth from left is Amy Robbins Ware 1906. Pi Phi and their moms in 1941. Andrea Bonney Scott '41, seated in the front row, 6th from left and her mother, Esther Robbins Scott 1906, directly behind her. Minnesota Alpha seniors in 1965. Andrea Bonney Walling '65, third from right back row. Andrea's aunt, Phoebe Rodda Walling, Ohio Eta '71; Andrea's mother, Andrea Bonney Walling '65; and Andrea Bonney Hefty Lindquist, Iowa Gamma '94, on Founders' Day in 2015.

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