“At my stage in life, I look back and I think, ‘What were the key things that made a difference for me?’ And when I look at my time at Missouri Western and the Junior College, it makes my heart warm.”

That, said Millie (Marable) Maloney ’78, was the reason she recently joined the Clock

Millie Maloney ’78

Tower Society, notifying Missouri Western that she has made the University a beneficiary of her estate. “It’s important to give back.”

Millie graduated from Bishop LeBlond High School in St. Joseph and attended the St. Joseph Junior College for one year before she moved out of the area. When she returned to St. Joseph a couple of years later, divorced with a young son, she decided she wanted to finish her degree. She got a full-time job as a paraprofessional in the college library and started taking night classes. Seven years later, she earned a degree in elementary education.

“I’ve always treasured my years there, both as a full-time paraprofessional in the LRC and as a student,” she said. “Life wasn’t easy and would have been impossible without the help of my caring family and friends. I really depended on my family and my college family. I was blessed.”

She credits Dr. Solon Haynes, professor emeritus of education; Helen Wigersma, dean of the Hearnes Learning Resource Center; Dr. Leo Galloway, who taught biology; Dr. Ruth Galloway, professor emerita of English; Maj. L.B. Snyder, Julia Schneider, library director emerita; and many others for her success. Maloney noted that it was an interesting time on campus in the early 1970s, as the new campus emerged and grew. She also liked being on campus in her dual roles of student and employee.

Maloney took undergraduate library courses from Northwest Missouri State University to become a certified school librarian, and taught and worked in school libraries for several years in Missouri, Ohio and California before she went to work for Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles. The company changed ownership and was known as Raytheon when she retired after 27 years of service.

“My degree from Missouri Western held me in good stead through varied, yet related careers,” she said. “It would not have been possible without the credentials I earned.”