Pat Campbell

is honored with a Brick from Shirley and Don Beggs

President Don Beggs and First Lady Shirley Beggs asked if they could honor me with a brick in the Plaza of Heroines for my March, 2008, birthday. I am truly grateful and honored but not surprised by their thoughtfulness.

On the day it was announced that peace negotiations would begin for ending the Korean War Patricia Lynn Brungardt was anticipating her birth in a small hospital in the northwestern town of Oakley, Kansas. After much deliberation on the part of the infant she was born to parents, Alfred M. Brungardt and Ethel (Rumback) Brungardt on the afternoon of March 31, 1953. .

As the eighth of nine children I shared the day of my birth with a niece who was born on the same day, 3 hours earlier. My older sister and mother gave birth on the same day in the same hospital and shared the same room. As you might imagine, my niece Cynthia and I grew up together and were nearly inseparable. .

My parents moved to Garden City, Kansas, in 1967, where I attended school my freshman and sophomore years of high school before moving a bit west of there to the small town of Deerfield, Kansas, from where I graduated. .

Garden City is where I met my husband, Mickey Larhay Campbell. Our children, Stephanie Lynn Campbell Headley and Gabriel M. Campbell were born there and we still, to this day, have many ties to that community. My husband farmed for many years and I worked for an Edwards Jones Investment firm and sold real estate before moving to Wichita where we have planted our feet for the last 19 years. .

I began working at Wichita State University in March of 1989, in the Computer Science Department as the department secretary. Many thanks to Dr. John Hutchinson and Dr. Barbara Mason for giving me the beginning to many years of employment in a setting that I have enjoyed very much. In March of 1993, I applied for and was given a position at the WSU Alumni Association where I worked with Chapters and Societies. This position allowed me to grow personally and professionally. The work was fun and it was so exciting to meet people from all over the United States and world. In June of 2000, I moved to the President’s Office where I worked for the First Lady, Shirley Beggs and Dr. James J. Rhatigan. Upon Dr. Rhatigan’s retirement I was assigned to Vice President and General Counsel, Ted D. Ayres and continue to help Mrs. Beggs. My stints at WSU have all been so very rewarding. .

I love to read and spend at least some time each day filling my head with the written words of others. I also enjoy volunteering for organizations that I feel I can contribute to in some way. I especially enjoyed being a children’s fellowship leader when my children were young, and more recently my stints as legislative correspondent and “First Connection” volunteer with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have been very rewarding. WSU student organizations are also great fun to work with. .

My pride and joy are my three grandchildren: Jenna Larhay Headley who at this writing is 10 years old and our twins, Zoie Lynn Headley and Baylee Mae Headley who are 6. They have brought to me, a beyond amazing, new perspective on love and giving. How they fill ones heart! .

February, 2008