Spring Break
A stone's throw
Alums make Hillsdale their home
Nick Tabor
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Features
Plenty of Hillsdale College students decide to stay in town for a few months after graduating, but sometimes those few months turn into 20 or 30 years.
Such was the case with the Taylors, the Lagassees and the Worms. Each couple represents a different generation of Hillsdale college student, and each decided to stay in town after all of their classmates and many of their professors were long gone.
Duane and Beverly Taylor
Duane and Beverly never dated during college, although they did know each other, they said.
"I dated her sorority sister, and she dated my fraternity brother," Duane said, chuckling.
Beverly '55 found a teaching job in Detroit, and Duane '56 joined the military for a few years before moving to Detroit himself.
"I didn't have anything to do in the evenings, so I'd give her a call," he said. "It was just like seeing a very good friend again. We had always enjoyed each other's company. It just evolved."
They were married a year later.
The Taylors moved several times as Duane's job transferred him throughout the state. When they transferred him to Jackson, the Taylors started building a house there. They rented a house in Hillsdale in the meantime.
But when the house was finished, they decided to sell it and buy a home in Hillsdale.
"I didn't really want to leave the community," Beverly said. "To me it was like coming back home."
They've lived in the same house - a farmhouse on State Road built in 1853 - ever since.
Beverly said the house lends itself to antiquing, which has become one of her favorite hobbies.
"She belongs to a million clubs," Duane said, smiling. The list includes a book club, a gardening club and two bridge clubs.
"As far as I'm concerned, there are a plethora of things to do in a small community," Beverly said. "It's just like a small college - you get to know a lot of people."
Beverly also serves on Hillsdale College's board of Women Commissioners, and they both belong to the Hillsdale College President's Club.
They said the college appears more academics-focused than it was in their time.
"Most people in our classes say, 'Well, we probably couldn't get in today,'" Duane said. "And that's both good and bad, in my view."
Mike and Joan Lagassee
Duane Taylor joined the military through selective service, but Mike Lagassee wasn't quite as lucky: He was drafted into the Army during his junior year at Hillsdale.
He and Joan got married four and a half days before his departure.
She finished school in 1965 and started teaching at an elementary school in Pontiac, Mich., then she and Mike rendezvoused in Maryland in 1969. She worked as a teacher there while he finished his military service.
After about a year in Maryland, they found themselves stuck in a traffic jam one day.
"I said, 'There's gotta be more to life than a traffic jam. Let's go back to Hillsdale,'" Mike said.
After Mike finished his degree, they moved into a house on Baw Beese Lake and never left. That was 39 years ago.
"The quality of life for us was right," Mike said.
Joan found another teaching job, and Mike got a supervisor position at Fairway Products.
Before long Joan gave birth to two daughters, Kate and Karen.
While they appreciated the security and the activities Hillsdale offered their daughters, they often traveled to cities like New York and San Francisco.
"I said, 'Even though they're gonna be raised in a small town... it's our responsibility to educate them and have them travel and give them that kind of exposure,'" Joan said.
Now both daughters are married, and Mike and Joan have retired in the past several years.
Mike volunteers at the King's Cupboard, a surplus food distributor, and Joan volunteers at Hillsdale Academy. Like Beverly Taylor, she serves on the board of Women Commissioners.
Mike and Joan agreed the college appears more academically rigorous these days.
"It was a party school," Joan said of Hillsdale when she was a student. "Everything was social. The academics weren't as high."
No matter how much it's changed, though, they said they're still proud to be alumni.
"It'll serve you well in your endeavors," Mike said. "It's really been a fun ride, coming from there."
Steve and Louise Worms
Steve and Louise Worms first made eye contact during a Hillsdale economics exam. Louise was stumped by a tough question, and Steve tried to help her cheat.
She got the answer wrong.
As an ex-Marine and a tough-as-nails hockey player, however, Steve didn't give up. He took Louise on a date after a hockey game, and they continued dating after Louise graduated in 1971. They married in 1974.
Thirty-four years later, they still live on Fayette Street, just a few blocks from campus.
"We didn't think we'd land here," Louise said. "We didn't know what we'd end up doing."
Since Steve served in the Marines before starting college, he was 30 when he graduated in 1975.
"I had a job, and we were a little bit afraid to give up that job and move some place with neither of us having a job," Louise said.
She taught at a local elementary school. Steve found a counseling job with Hillsdale County's public school system, and a year later he became a probation officer for the Hillsdale County Court. He's worked there ever since, although he now serves as a court administrator.
As a college alumnus, long-time resident and court employee, Steve sees many different facets of Hillsdale County. He said a little exposure can be healthy for everyone.
"If [Hillsdale College students] ever took the time to get involved with the community, the townspeople would realize that they aren't all stuck-up little rich kids," he said. "And the kids would find out that not everybody owns a pickup truck, has one tooth and spits a lot."
Still, he said the current students seem more uptight than the students from his generation.
"The kids actually enjoyed college for something other than just getting an education. Now it's like work. It's like a job," he said. "When I was there, education was 50-50 with our social lives."
Louise said the town has changed since then, too: The storefronts downtown used to be full, for instance. But she said she doesn't mind the changes.
"You have everything here that you need; you know almost everyone in town," she said. "[Hillsdale] has its shortcomings, but it's also peaceful."
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
Such was the case with the Taylors, the Lagassees and the Worms. Each couple represents a different generation of Hillsdale college student, and each decided to stay in town after all of their classmates and many of their professors were long gone.
Duane and Beverly Taylor
Duane and Beverly never dated during college, although they did know each other, they said.
"I dated her sorority sister, and she dated my fraternity brother," Duane said, chuckling.
Beverly '55 found a teaching job in Detroit, and Duane '56 joined the military for a few years before moving to Detroit himself.
"I didn't have anything to do in the evenings, so I'd give her a call," he said. "It was just like seeing a very good friend again. We had always enjoyed each other's company. It just evolved."
They were married a year later.
The Taylors moved several times as Duane's job transferred him throughout the state. When they transferred him to Jackson, the Taylors started building a house there. They rented a house in Hillsdale in the meantime.
But when the house was finished, they decided to sell it and buy a home in Hillsdale.
"I didn't really want to leave the community," Beverly said. "To me it was like coming back home."
They've lived in the same house - a farmhouse on State Road built in 1853 - ever since.
Beverly said the house lends itself to antiquing, which has become one of her favorite hobbies.
"She belongs to a million clubs," Duane said, smiling. The list includes a book club, a gardening club and two bridge clubs.
"As far as I'm concerned, there are a plethora of things to do in a small community," Beverly said. "It's just like a small college - you get to know a lot of people."
Beverly also serves on Hillsdale College's board of Women Commissioners, and they both belong to the Hillsdale College President's Club.
They said the college appears more academics-focused than it was in their time.
"Most people in our classes say, 'Well, we probably couldn't get in today,'" Duane said. "And that's both good and bad, in my view."
Mike and Joan Lagassee
Duane Taylor joined the military through selective service, but Mike Lagassee wasn't quite as lucky: He was drafted into the Army during his junior year at Hillsdale.
He and Joan got married four and a half days before his departure.
She finished school in 1965 and started teaching at an elementary school in Pontiac, Mich., then she and Mike rendezvoused in Maryland in 1969. She worked as a teacher there while he finished his military service.
After about a year in Maryland, they found themselves stuck in a traffic jam one day.
"I said, 'There's gotta be more to life than a traffic jam. Let's go back to Hillsdale,'" Mike said.
After Mike finished his degree, they moved into a house on Baw Beese Lake and never left. That was 39 years ago.
"The quality of life for us was right," Mike said.
Joan found another teaching job, and Mike got a supervisor position at Fairway Products.
Before long Joan gave birth to two daughters, Kate and Karen.
While they appreciated the security and the activities Hillsdale offered their daughters, they often traveled to cities like New York and San Francisco.
"I said, 'Even though they're gonna be raised in a small town... it's our responsibility to educate them and have them travel and give them that kind of exposure,'" Joan said.
Now both daughters are married, and Mike and Joan have retired in the past several years.
Mike volunteers at the King's Cupboard, a surplus food distributor, and Joan volunteers at Hillsdale Academy. Like Beverly Taylor, she serves on the board of Women Commissioners.
Mike and Joan agreed the college appears more academically rigorous these days.
"It was a party school," Joan said of Hillsdale when she was a student. "Everything was social. The academics weren't as high."
No matter how much it's changed, though, they said they're still proud to be alumni.
"It'll serve you well in your endeavors," Mike said. "It's really been a fun ride, coming from there."
Steve and Louise Worms
Steve and Louise Worms first made eye contact during a Hillsdale economics exam. Louise was stumped by a tough question, and Steve tried to help her cheat.
She got the answer wrong.
As an ex-Marine and a tough-as-nails hockey player, however, Steve didn't give up. He took Louise on a date after a hockey game, and they continued dating after Louise graduated in 1971. They married in 1974.
Thirty-four years later, they still live on Fayette Street, just a few blocks from campus.
"We didn't think we'd land here," Louise said. "We didn't know what we'd end up doing."
Since Steve served in the Marines before starting college, he was 30 when he graduated in 1975.
"I had a job, and we were a little bit afraid to give up that job and move some place with neither of us having a job," Louise said.
She taught at a local elementary school. Steve found a counseling job with Hillsdale County's public school system, and a year later he became a probation officer for the Hillsdale County Court. He's worked there ever since, although he now serves as a court administrator.
As a college alumnus, long-time resident and court employee, Steve sees many different facets of Hillsdale County. He said a little exposure can be healthy for everyone.
"If [Hillsdale College students] ever took the time to get involved with the community, the townspeople would realize that they aren't all stuck-up little rich kids," he said. "And the kids would find out that not everybody owns a pickup truck, has one tooth and spits a lot."
Still, he said the current students seem more uptight than the students from his generation.
"The kids actually enjoyed college for something other than just getting an education. Now it's like work. It's like a job," he said. "When I was there, education was 50-50 with our social lives."
Louise said the town has changed since then, too: The storefronts downtown used to be full, for instance. But she said she doesn't mind the changes.
"You have everything here that you need; you know almost everyone in town," she said. "[Hillsdale] has its shortcomings, but it's also peaceful."
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
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