Delta Delta Delta - Kansas State University

T Thank You, Loyal Alumnae The kindness and generosity of our alumnae allow for updates to the Chapter House, which contribute to both the safety and the beauty of our home on Laramie. We greatly appreciate your loyal support of the chapter. Below is a list of spring 2015 contributors, listed by initiation year. If we have mistakenly omitted your gift, we sincerely apologize. If corrections to your giving records are needed, please contact Marilee Horner Whelan '68 at (785) 565-0788 or Janet Whitehair Cooper '68 at (785) 537-1324. Thank you, again, for your loyal support. Marian Towle Sue Wyant Scholer '55 Carol Morford Exline '56 Judith Peebles Youngdoff '56 Marlene Lindell Cowan '59 Suzanne Smalley Snyder '65 Chrystal Hantla Dlabal '66 Pamela Pierpoint Tweed '66 Jennifer Inskeep Larson '70 Kerry McCaig '70 Barbara Showalter Watkins '70 Deborra Case Darrow '73 Sally Reed Glazier '73 Jana Blythe Elkins '75 Ann Jorns Melvin '77 Paige Howard '79 Debra Pugh McInerney '82 Wendy Mills Dowling '83 Susannah Basore McGinn '91 The Golden Crescent House Corporation Members Ruth Haller Bates: Founder of Eta Beta Pi R Records indicate that Ruth Haller Bates (1892- 1911) was the founder of Eta Beta Pi, the local sorority organized in 1907 in Manhattan, later becoming the Theta Iota Chapter of Tri Delta. Eta Beta Pi met at the Bates' home during the early years, and Ruth's name is always listed first in the list of founders. Sadly, Ruth died of complications from appendicitis, after two failed surgeries; thus she was never to see Eta Beta Pi become Tri Delta. The Bates family did figure in the history of early Theta Iota. Ruth's older brothers, Harold and Vernon (Pete) Bates, both WWI veterans, married sisters Grace and Margaret Ratliff. (For more, see the story on Anne Ratliff Rosser '20 below.) Grace, the first of the sisters to join Tri Delta, would have likely known her future husband's sister, as the families were well acquainted. Therefore Ruth's connection with the chapter continued after her death through her brothers' wives and their Ratliff relation. Ruth's name is listed among the members. We can only guess which one of the photographs is of her. However, we can identify four members out of the 22 pictures. We can eliminate a few more through comparison with the 1912 composite. No known photographs of Vernon or Harold Bates exist but the 1904 yearbook shows Frank Bates, Ruth's eldest brother, as a graduate that year. The resemblance between Frank and one of the photographs of the remaining Eta Beta Pi members is striking. Could this be Ruth? Theta Iota Descendant, Mike Rosser, Preserves Ties to Theta Iota W With a mother, an aunt, and two cousins all Theta Iota alumnae, E. Michael Rosser is Tri Delta loyal. His mother, Anne Ratliff Rosser '20, a Manhattan resident, served the chapter in various capacities while at K-State, including that of national convention delegate in 1921. When Anne moved to Denver with her husband, she continued her interest in Tri Delta through alumnae groups there. Of all Tri Delta traditions, it is the Pansy Breakfast that means the most to her son Mike. In 1985, Anne was unable to ambulate and living in a nursing home. Mike later learned that Tri Delta Denver alumnae chapter members visited her, helping her dress up and get into a wheelchair for the Pansy Breakfast. Anne enjoyed that last Pansy Breakfast. "I'll never forget what you [Tri Delta] did for her," Mike said. Because of the connection with the Pansy Breakfast, it was appropriate that Mike remembered Theta Iota at the recent 100th anniversary with a tablescape for the chapter featuring pansies among other flowers. Anne's family, the William Ratliff family, possessed strong roots in the Manhattan community. "They were friends to the Eisenhowers and Warehams," Mike said. Anne's sister, Grace Ratliff Bates '18, and her sister Margaret, a Theta Iota pledge who left school before being initiated, married brothers Harold and Vernon (Pete) Bates respectively. Both were Sigma Alpha Epsilon charter members at K-State, and friends of Milton Eisenhower and the Wareham brothers, all SAEs. With his Aunt Margaret and Uncle Pete Bates living at 614 Fairchild Terrace, Mike recalled spending happy days in Manhattan as a youth, visiting his Ratliff and Bates' relatives, scampering around the Tri Delta Chapter House at 1834 Laramie. Mike's grandfather, William Finley Ratliff, co-signed the Tri Delta mortgage for the house in 1931. William's granddaughters, Dorothy Ratliff Bryan '40 and Marybelle Ratliff Tussey '43, daughters of his son, William, complete the family relationship with Theta Iota. An expert on mortgages, Mike is currently authoring a book on the mortgage industry in the U.S. He has served on the Mortgage Bankers' Association board of governors and as chairman of the Society of Certified Mortgage Bankers, receiving numerous accolades; he has been called "a legend and institution in this industry" by E.J. Burke, MBA president. A graduate of Colorado State, Mike was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He occasionally returns to Manhattan and promises a return trip soon to visit Tri Delta and Harry's restaurant in the Wareham. Anne Ratliff Rosser '20 President Laura Anderson Pestinger '76 lmpestinger@hotmail.com Vice President Ann Bossler Carnahan '76 acar@wamego.net Recording Secretary Kelly Higgason Dominguez '79 kellyhdominguez@gmail.com Corresponding Secretary Janet Whitehair Cooper '68 sjmpl@aol.com Treasurer Gwen McMillan Brustad '75 gmbrustad@gmail.com Member-At-Large Anne Schlaegel Otte '70 anneotte1951@gmail.com Member-At-Large Amy Weidenheimer Moore '72 mordarj@tctelco.net Member-At-Large LuAnne Maloney Montgomery '73 rsm721@aol.com Member-At-Large Del Hoge Smith '73 dels@kcmidas.com Member-At-Large Toni Wiggins Haddock '79 (785) 776-0680 Member-At-Large MargE Barr Shelley '79 mshelley@jccc.edu

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