{"id":2400,"date":"2024-07-24T23:52:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T23:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/?p=2400"},"modified":"2024-07-24T23:52:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T23:52:00","slug":"from-college-sweethearts-to-blue-gold-legacies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/2024\/07\/24\/from-college-sweethearts-to-blue-gold-legacies\/","title":{"rendered":"From College Sweethearts to Blue & Gold Legacies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mary Jo and Terry Lemon<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In a cozy corner of the Library on EOU\u2019s campus, longtime alumni Mary Jo Lemon, \u201966, and her husband Terry Lemon, \u201969, reminisced about their memories as adults, students, and children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember my mother bringing my sister and me to her office and just playing in the halls of Inlow,\u201d Mary Jo said smiling. \u201cShe worked for seven of EOU\u2019s presidents throughout her career; I remember helping her fold letters and babysitting for all of the professors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Jo, part of a five-generation Mountaineer legacy, and her husband Terry, also a Mountie, talked about the importance of EOU in shaping lives. \u201cIt was here I realized the importance of education in our lives. EOU molded me into the person I am today and I am eternally grateful for that,\u201d Terry chimed. \u201cI look back at my days at Eastern as an educational experience and character building. I was in the military for six months before starting college, which was a real growing up experience. But college was a maturing experience. I look back on it as one of the best times of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur time at Eastern was so much fun!\u201d Mary Jo expressed. \u201cI sang with the Blue & Gold Singers; Terry played music; there were dances in Hoke every Friday. Our classes were small and we knew our professors. Everybody knew everybody, and it was just such a fun time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Mary Jo and Terry, Eastern is much more than fond memories. Their dedication to their alma mater goes beyond nostalgia and personal history. It\u2019s rooted in the belief that education is a gateway to a better future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEducation can change lives. Scholarships can change even more,\u201d Terry said. \u201cWe have the opportunity to help and support these students, and they\u2019re so appreciative of the support. We know the students appreciate every scholarship they get. We need to do all we can do to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Jo and Terry have committed to giving back to EOU to reflect their desire to nurture the next generation of Mountaineers. \u201cTerry and I decided we always want to give back to Eastern because it\u2019s important as alumni. You think back about your time here, or maybe about your kids or grandkids coming here. There\u2019s something that drew us here. It starts at Eastern and carries you wherever you go. The mentoring, the family you get here is so strong. Hopefully the students we are helping to support will also want to give back when they graduate and carry on the tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s made us feel good watching the campus grow over the years. To be here watching the developments, knowing the affection we have for the campus feels good to be a part of the growth. It helps the quality of education for the students,\u201d Terry said. \u201cIt makes our hearts swell. EOU was great when we were students. You think everything was wonderful at the time, and it was. Now, there is so much more. And we are able to be a part of that momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Lemons continue their tradition of supporting EOU, in a variety of forms, from service with the Alumni Board to ongoing gifts, to attending events on campus. \u201cMy mother served on the Foundation and I was part of the founders of the Alumni Board,\u201d Mary Jo recalls of being involved. \u201cEveryone had their heart in it, all of the alumni association. It\u2019s been great to be involved, watching the campus and EOU community grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, our blood runs blue and gold,\u201d Mary Jo chuckled. \u201cWe do what we can to support the students and we always will.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time you\u2019re at a football game, make sure to give a \u201cGo Mounties\u201d wave to Terry and Mary Jo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a cozy corner of the Library on EOU\u2019s campus, longtime alumni Mary Jo Lemon, \u201966, and her husband Terry Lemon, \u201969, reminisced about their memories as adults, students, and children.  \u201cI remember my mother bringing my sister and me to her office and just playing in the halls of Inlow,\u201d Mary Jo said smiling. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":491,"featured_media":2401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foundation-profiles","category-magazine-profiles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/491"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400\/revisions\/2402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/foundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}