Sigma Kappa - University of Kansas

Page 3 H H H Sigma kappa K risten Gable Tierney '74 was the first person from her high school to attend the University of Kansas in nine years, as most students decided to go to Kansas State University. She went to Midwestern Music Camp for several years and fell in love with the university's beautiful campus. Coming from a small town, Kristen knew she wanted to go through the sorority recruitment process to find her home away from home. After visiting with the sisters of Sigma Kappa, she knew she had found the right fit. "They seemed very normal to me," Kristen said. "I felt like I fit in since it was a smaller house at the time." As an active member of Xi Chapter, Kristen was one of several sisters who were also members of the Marching Jayhawks; 1972 was the first year that women were allowed to join the band at KU, so Kristen was ecstatic to be part of a longstanding Jayhawk tradition. "Football game days were always so much fun," Kristen said. "Doing parades together and marching down the Hill was something I will never forget." During her time as a Marching Jayhawk, the football team made it to both the Liberty Bowl and the Sun Bowl. Kristen was also one of the many sisters pursuing a profession in healthcare. "I think it helped having sisters in the same classes together," Kristen said. "We had several music therapy, microbiology, pre-med, and nursing majors, so we always helped each other out." Kristen graduated from KU with her BSN and went on to the University of Texas at Houston where she became an acute care nurse practitioner and received her master's degree in 1999. The majority of her career was spent overseas in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Kuwait, and Nigeria. Kristen's BSN allowed her to work in four of the five countries. Prior to her retirement in 1999, Kristen lived in the Kansas City area for a few years and served on Xi Chapter's Corporation Board. As a member of the Corporation Board, Kristen saw a real need for improvements to the chapter house. "It's important that we keep the house up to date to stay competitive with the other sororities on campus," Kristen said. "There is a lot to running a house, but we are lucky to have such a great location next to the fountain." The board completed several projects during this time, including adding an extension to the house, adding Remaining Dedicated to the Sisterhood Kristen Gable Tierney '74 Continues Her Support of Xi Chapter and Sigma Kappa IN MEMORIAM Zelina Higginbottom Hickox '47 of Fort Collins, Colo., passed away on July 19. Although she grew up during the Great Depression, she never lacked materially as her loving parents provided for her by working odd jobs, taking in roomers, and carefully managing money. During her high school years, she worked at the Lawrence Public Library on Saturday evenings. After graduating from Liberty Memorial High School in Lawrence in 1946, she went on to obtain a bachelor of arts in math and secondary education from KU in 1950. She married her high school sweetheart, Max, in the beautiful Danforth Chapel. She worked at Watkin's Library while at KU and while Max was deployed in Korea by the U.S. Army. They lived in Lawrence until 1956 when Max took a job in Denver, where they raised three children: Keith, Miriam, and Laurie. Once her children started school, Zelina became a substitute kindergarten teacher in Thornton, Colo. She found teaching to be enjoyable, and she gained full-time employment as a kindergarten teacher, until her retirement in 1988. While doing a marvelous job of raising a family and working full time, she went back to college for evening classes and summer coursework to complete her master of arts degree in elementary education at Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) in 1967. Zelina loved to invest her time in her church, various sororities, alumni groups and associations, often serving on committees and holding officer positions. Zelina was a pianist, a supporter of the arts, and enthusiastic about attending symphony and choir concerts. After Max passed away in 2007, Zelina moved to Fort Collins to be near her children, grandchildren, and their extended families. ALUMNAE NEWS This summer, we asked our alumnae three questions and here are some of their answers. We will run more fun answers we received in our next issue of the Sigma Star. What are three words that come to mind when you think about Sigma Kappa? • Sisters, friendship, and support. ~ Robyn Chaney Orchard '69 • Sisters, friendship, and love. ~ Deborah Kouloukis Jarrett '70 • Friendship, fun, and support. ~ Debby Phillips Corder '71 • Bonds and fun. ~ Kendra Gooch Schoeman '82 • Home, friends, and fun. ~ Cindy Pfeifer '87 • Memories, sisterhood, and friendship. ~ Kari Torkelson Anderson '90 • Friends, fun, and growth. ~ Blair Schipper '02 • Sisterhood, belonging, and home away from home. ~ Erin May Valdez '02 • Loyalty, friendship, and family. ~ Hannah Duke '15 What are your favorite memories from living at 1325 West Campus Road? • Sisterhood, KU basketball games, and other fond memories. ~ Loneta Wilson Schmollinger '64 • My friends. ~ Jeanine Ninemires Morton '66 • The Big Blue room with the deck. ~ Judy Fantus '69 • Recruitment, song practice, and the four girls room. ~ Deborah Kouloukis Jarrett '70 • Being part of the four-woman Sigma Kappa bowling team that was in the fraternity bowling league. ~ Debby Phillips Corder '71 • Sitting on the fire escape during nice days, living in the house all three years, and many other fun memories. ~ Kendra Gooch Schoeman '82 • The great location near campus. ~ Cindy Pfeifer '87 alumnae update (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 4) Kristen Tierney '74 and Mike at Iguazú Falls on a trip with the Flying Jayhawks. The water- falls are located on the Iguazú River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. Together, they make up the largest waterfall in the world. Kristen Tierney '74 with her sons, David and Brian, and her husband, Mike.

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