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She has happy memories of “the big, beautiful Victorian houses on the old campus, with all their nooks and crannies.” Although they may have been drafty in the winter, those buildings provided dorm life that Til says was always decidedly warm and friendly. Classmates were housed together for all four years at Skidmore. “This arrangement caused us to become very close, like sisters, and those friendships, as well as the love and fun we shared, continue to this day.”

At Skidmore, Til also discovered “a wonderfully diverse” curriculum that expanded her horizons far beyond her home economics major. She engaged with classmates who were involved in very different majors, interests, and endeavors from her own. “All of us learned to ac-cept and appreciate people studying in other disciplines and were exposed to the content and challenges of their varied coursework.” This strong foundation in the liberal arts would later serve her well both personally and professionally. After staying home to raise her fve children, Til forged a successful career as a regional manager at Business Counselors Inc., a Boston advertising frm. “I worked with small businesses of every type and had no problem relating to each client and their particular area of interest because of my experience at Skidmore.”

As she built her career, Til’s dedication to Skidmore never wavered. A class agent since graduation, she signed on as a lead volunteer for her 30th reunion, returning to serve on the Planning Committee for her 35th. For her 40th reunion in 1993, she stepped up to serve as fund chair, rallying her classmates to make a record-breaking class gift. That year, she says, was also one of her most successful in terms of bringing classmates into the volunteer fold. Using her considerable powers of persuasion, Til enlisted close friend Kathryn Wiecking

’53 “against her will” to serve as class Friends of the Presidents chair. “I wanted to run my ideas by Kathy,” she recalls. Kathryn, who had not been previously involved in fundraising, was inspired by the experience. She later established a scholarship fund for Skidmore students hailing from her home state of Minnesota. Til refects, “It was very satisfying to see the enjoyment that Kathy’s involvement with the College brought her.” When Kathryn died in 2000, she left Skidmore what was then one of the largest bequests in its history. Today, Wiecking Hall stands as testament to her generosity. In 2003, Til served as chair of her 50th reunion, galvanizing classmates to return to campus in unprecedented numbers. She is currently class president, a position she has held and loved since 2008. She enjoys helping classmates stay connected. “When alumni stay in touch with one another everyone benefts; class friends stay close, and all of us enjoy the feeling of being part of a community.”

That community is never far from Til’s thoughts. Over the years, in addition to her volunteer duties, she has remained involved with the College as a participant in numerous Skidmore regional events near her home in Connecticut, as well as on campus, where she attended the College’s Summer Exploration program with one of her daughters in the 1990s. She says the week of academic, cultural, and recreational offerings, which included lectures and a concert by the Philadelphia Philharmonic at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, “gave us our cultural and educational enrichment for the year.” Til is extremely proud of her Skidmore legacy family, which includes not only her mother but also a sister, Constance Jone Peck ’54 , and granddaughter