October 12, 2006

Ruby Lauzon, Friend of UM, Remembered

The photo tells the story -- UM Trustee Ruby Lauzon sits, smiling, as two recipients of scholarships stand behind her, smiles on their faces. Wherever you saw Mrs. Lauzon, there were smiles.

The 86-year-old longtime supporter of UM, who died Oct. 4, 2006, established scholarship funds for UM students, served as a member of the Mobile College Auxiliary and UM Honorary Fellows, and was a friend and supporter of many civic and community organizations including the Mobile Opera, Mobile Symphony, Mobile Preservation Society, Mobile Museum of Art and Mobile Area Jewish Christian Dialog. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Mobile where she taught a Sunday school class for 64 years. She had served as personnel director of the Mobile office of International Paper Co. prior to her retirement.

Just days before her death, UM President Dr. Mark Foley announced at the UM Scholarship Banquet the commitment of “a very significant gift” from Mrs. Lauzon that will “vastly expand student scholarships through the Edgar and Ruby Lauzon Scholarship Fund” and establish the Ruby Lauzon Faculty Development Fund, which will produce an annual yield that will support the professional development of faculty.

An article written a decade ago cited her interest in the lives of UM students: “Ruby Lauzon has enthusiastically ‘adopted’ UM students as her own and is truly dedicated to helping these students become future leaders.”