Bethel College - McKenzie, Tennessee

This is a small college about 100 miles north of Memphis which was established by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1846. Virginia's maternal grandfather, Professor N. J. Finney had been President of this school from 1909 to 1921, and president emeritus until 1931. He taught lessons in Greek and Latin there until his death at age 84, and died while preparing his lessons for the next day.

The school had honored him by erecting a flagpole in the middle of the campus with his name engraved in the pedestal and the dates of his tenure there. A large portrait of him now hangs in Heritage Hall on campus along with pictures of all the other past presidents of the college.

We had been invited to a Homecoming Celebration in October 2006, and we drove there to participate. There was a nice outdoor reception area where we met a Dr. Prosser, the current President and his wife and several other alumni. That evening there was a reunion dinner with approximately 500 in attendance. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting with many of the people and they were all extremely cordial. Some of the oldest persons there remembered Professor Finney.

After making a contribution in his memory, we rode around the attractive small town of McKenzie, spent the night, and returned home the next day.