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Marilyn Eckert Church waved to a Homecoming crowd from a convertible in 1957 as the event's queen. On Saturday, she did it again as the Grand Marshall.
Church, a retired kindergarten teacher from Geneva, said she graduated in spring 1958 with a teaching degree nearly five months after she was crowned Homecoming queen the previous fall. She said Saturday was the first time in 10 years she had been on campus.
After the parade, Church, along with her husband Wynn Church, met with the Daily Egyptian and talked about 50 years of change at SIUC.
DE: It's been 50 years since you graduated, and naturally over that time period things change. Old Main is gone and some others have been razed. Is this still a homecoming for you?
MEC: Oh, of course. Some of our friends that we haven't seen in a long time are here, and it just happens that our Herrin (High School) homecoming is this weekend.
DE: Is it odd to walk through the quad?
MEC: We did that yesterday. My (former) roommate was with us, and we thought everything was so far away then. But really, we lived in Woody Hall. I was just across the street from the library, and now things are so far off.
DE: It's interesting that you are talking about living in Woody Hall when that building is now administrative offices.
MEC: I can't believe they turned every one of those into an office. (When we moved in,) we thought we had died and gone to heaven because it was a beautiful dorm.
DE: Has the atmosphere of southern Illinois changed?
MEC: It's beautiful down here with the change of colors. We just noticed how pretty and forested it is. It seems like a real spirited campus. I love it when the band plays, "Go Southern, Go!"
DE: Is there something about the 2008 SIU you wish the 1958 SIU had?
MEC: The Student Union. We just had a little makeshift, almost like a quonset hut. This is beautiful. In fact, I don't ever remember a concession stand. I just kind of remember people going there and playing bridge, sort of hanging out until the next class.
DE: You were the queen in 1957. What was it like to ride in the car down Illinois Avenue 50 years later?
MEC: Well, the whole Carbondale has changed. I hardly recognize any of the stores. (University Drugs) was the place everybody hung out. I don't even know where U.D. is now. People ate there, they hung out there - it was just the place to go.
DE: We have a statue of Delyte Morris in the middle of campus, and he would have been here when you were students. Did you get to know him?
MEC: When we came back right after Old Main burned (1968) and it was still smoldering, he and his wife were walking on the sidewalk. We just happened to be in Herrin that weekend and decided to come over, and he remembered our names. We had been gone for 10 years. He was very gracious, and she was too. We always remembered the Morris' with fond affection.
DE: Are there other faculty that you were fond of?
MEC: I remember Dr. Faner, who was one of my English teachers ... I also remember Dr. Mott, who was my supervising teacher. She was a tough one.
Daily Egyptian reporter Barton Lorimor can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 263 or barton.lorimor@siude.com.
