L Kennedy ’66 & P Pfundstein Miller ’85

Two loyal Gilmour Academy alumni were feted at the school’s annual Christmas at the Academy holiday party. During a special presentation, Larry Kennedy ’66 and Patti Pfundstein Miller ’85 were awarded the 2016 Alumni Man and Woman of the Year Awards.

 

Kennedy and his wife, Maryann, recently established an endowed-in-process scholarship at Gilmour, the Lawrence ’66 and Maryann Kennedy Scholarship Fund, which begins in 2017. In his remarks after receiving the award, Kennedy described the impact of a $400 scholarship Maryann received when she was young that set her on her career path, where she eventually met Larry. Maryann is a registered pharmacist who worked with Roche Labs for 35 years and retired as a national director in 2013. Larry enjoyed a 30-year pharmaceutical sales career. He began in 1976 at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. In 1979, following a merger, Searle Labs became his work home for the next 27 years.

 

Avid believers in the power of education and the importance of philanthropy, the couple has established scholarships at Maryann’s alma mater, The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, and Larry’s alma mater, Trine University’s Ketner School of Business, in addition to the one at Gilmour.

 

Miller was recognized for the incredible service she has given the school in various leadership roles since her oldest son, David ’15, transferred to Gilmour in 2013. She became involved in the Women’s Club from the onset, served as vice president during the 2015-2016 school year and just completed her term as president for the 2016-2017 school year. In that time, the Women’s Club has raised more than $100,000 for student programming. In her introductory remarks, Gilmour’s Head of School, Kathy Kenny, described Miller as having “a special sense of leadership that is collaborative and has brought so many more into the fold.”

 

After receiving the award, Miller recalled spending time on Gilmour’s campus as a younger girl and discovering that it was an all-boys school. She told her parents she would be the first girl to graduate from Gilmour. After starting her freshman year at another high school, Miller saw in the newspaper that Gilmour was merging with Glen Oak School and would be accepting female students. She showed the clipping to her parents, and did make the switch, becoming one of the first females to graduate from Gilmour!

 

Both recipients shared their gratitude for their families and friends as well as for Gilmour and the impact it has had on their lives.