Kansas University and Lawrence lost one of their warmest and most admired ambassadors with the death of Mildred Clodfelter this week. A local high school and KU graduate, she devoted 47 years to KU, 42 of them with the alumni association in many of its most formative and productive years.

Millie’s love and devotion to KU and this community cannot be topped. In her pivotal role as the grand dame of university sociability, she knew names, where people came from or had gone, and if she didn’t have all that on the tip of her tongue, she was able to find out in incredibly short time. She worked at the alumni association under the likes of Fred Ellsworth and Dick Wintermote and was always a direct extension of their great allegiance and dedication to the school they loved so much.

Kevin Corbett, the latest alumni director, was able to benefit from her expertise and has a great appreciation for what Clodfelter brought to KU’s outreach table so well and for so long. She seemed to be everywhere as far as university functions were concerned and, diplomat that she was, she often was able to defuse problems with her kind words and deep perception of given situations. Everyone, it seemed, knew Clodfelter and often turned to her for a renewal of their devotion to KU.

She formally retired from the alumni association in 1986 but continued to provide guidance, leadership and charm as a guide and counselor for the agency and its people, not to mention the thousands of KU faithful with whom she kept in such close touch. How appropriate that KU has the Mildred Clodfelter Award, for alumni who provide sustained volunteer service as she did. Any recipient should feel proud and dignified because of the name of the award.

Over the years, KU and Lawrence have been able to achieve greatness in many fields because of the quality and caliber of outstanding people who have functioned in their service and on their behalf. Few have ever contributed more to the community and the people who appreciate it than did Mildred Clodfelter.

She set many standards that people who follow should strive to match, knowing that if they do, they will make KU and Lawrence a better place.