Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Celebrating Milestone Birthdays

Josephine (Hume) Graf (’61), of St. Charles, Mo., celebrated her 105th birthday this year and was featured in the summer 2009 issue of Street Scape Magazine. A Missouri native, Graf was born June 30, 1904, and grew up on a farm near Kahoka, Mo. She and her first husband, Edwin Plenge, have three children, Anna Lynn, Jean and Robert. After Edwin died, Josephine earned a bachelor of science in education at the age of 49 and became a teacher. She taught in the Hazelwood (Mo.) School District, and after marrying Chris Graf in 1963, she moved to Chicago.
	Josephine (Hume) Graf ('61)
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Thelma Jo (Lyons) Christy ('43) of Macon, Mo., celebrated her 101st birthday on Aug. 12, 2009. She began her teaching career in Rose Hill near New Cambria at the age of 16. She went on to receive a bachelor of science in education in August 1943 and was among the graduates who received the summer commencement address that year from Harry S Truman. This address was given less than two years before Truman became president of the United States following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Christy's teaching career spanned 43 years and included positions in Bevier, Callao and Macon prior to her retirement in 1971.
	Thelma Jo (Lyons) Christy ('43)