As Westminster College's alumni weekend approached, college first lady Jane Forsythe had one worry on her mind.
"My biggest concern is that I'm just going to fall apart," Forsythe said.
The college honored Forsythe with the Remley Award during its alumni weekend. She was worried about crying upon receiving the award, but she went to the award presentation prepared with tissues in hand.
"It just brings the tenderness of having to leave this wonderful college and community, it just makes it too real," Forsythe said of receiving the award.
Jane Forsythe and her husband Barney Forsythe will move to South Carolina in June after her husband retires from his position as president of Westminster.
As Jane Forsythe's husband retires, she too is retiring from a variety of roles both at the college and in the Fulton community. At the college, she taught as an adjunct teacher for some time. Jane Forsythe was previously the director of the preschool at West Point. After discovering she enjoyed early childhood teaching, she went back to school to get her masters in it. While in Fulton, she has also supervised student teachers at Westminster in their classrooms within the community since about 2006.
"Its been a real joy to stay involved in the early childhood profession and the education profession at least in a small way," Jane Forsythe said.
Regarding community involvement, Jane Forsythe said she and Barney Forsythe both felt the relationship between the college and the community in which it resides was vital.
"We really felt that the closer the association was, the better," Jane Forsythe said. "If you're going to encourage your students to be out in the community, then it's really good to be leading the way. And of course the organizations were so worthy and are so important to the community."
During the decade in which Jane Forsythe has called Fulton her home, she has volunteered at Fulton Preschool, taught adjunct at Westminster and served on the historic preservation commission, the Fulton State Hospital Foundation Board and Friends of the National Churchill Museum. She has also served as the church warden and treasure for St. Alban's Episcopal Church.
Jane Forsythe noted some highlights from her decade working with those organizations. One highlight, she said, was watching the Churchill memorial be dedicated and to see the national support the museum has received.
"To see the national support that has been generated there, it has been very gratifying to be part of the Friends who work behind the scenes to try to help in those capacities as the museum staff keeps working to bring the importance of the museum more and more into the national consciousness," Jane Forsythe said.
While on the preservation commission, She worked with someone else from the college to install historic trail signs along Stinson Creek. That process, she said, brought lots of organizations together as sponsors. Furthermore, Jane Forsythe said she appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the historic places along that trail.
"It was really informative for me to be doing this historic background on the creek and all of the sites along the creek because not being a native Callawegian, I had a lot to learn," Jane Forsythe said.
Regarding her time on the FSH Foundation, Jane Forsythe said the biggest highlight for her was watching the support and thoughtfulness that those involved give to the hospital.
"Just such a tremendous amount of love and support that goes into serving the people in that facility, it was inspiring," Forsythe said. "It was a heartwarming experience to be involved in the hospital foundation."
Her many involvements at the college and in the community led to her nomination for the Remley Women's Award, which celebrates a woman who "champions and cares for the women of Westminster College," according to the college's website.
Jane Forsythe received the award during the college's alumni weekend Saturday. Jane Forsythe said she was surprised to learn she would be the recipient of this year's award.
"I'm surprised by all this attention," Jane Forsythe said.
Audrey Remley, for whom the award is named, said that after speaking with Jane Forsythe and with others about Jane Forsythe's work in the community, it is clear she has had an impact on both the Fulton and Westminster communities.
"She has been adaptable and exhibited genuine interest in people," Remley said during the award presentation Saturday.
Megan Favignano can be reached at (573) 826-2418 or [email protected].