Coming home was a little different for the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority this weekend because a woman who had been part of their home since the 1950s was missing: their beloved late adviser Sally Altman Giauque.
Instead of gathering at their house for the usual alumnae brunch before kickoff on the Saturday of homecoming weekend, Kappa women assembled in Phillips Auditorium for Giauque’s memorial service.
“We just felt that having the service was a fitting thing to do because so many of the girls and alums were unable to go to Toledo during the summer for the funeral and closure is important for people,” Kappa adviser Louis Worms said.
With the help of the alumni office, invitations were sent to all Kappa chapter alumnae, and on Saturday, over 200 people, including the active Hillsdale Kappas, filled the auditorium. Also in attendance were some of Giauque’s friends and family members, other Hillsdale alumni, College President Larry Arnn and his wife, and members of Hillsdale’s faculty.
The memorial service, which was largely organized by Worms and another adviser for the chapter, Melinda Beckwith, included prayers, Bible readings, hymns, and remarks delivered by active Hillsdale Kappas.
Junior Glynis Williams opened the remarks with an Audrey Hepburn quotation that she said described Giauque: “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”
Giauque was a dedicated student and member of the Kappa chapter during her undergraduate years. She held offices in Kappa and she was her class ambassador. Giauque graduated from Hillsdale in 1950 with a double major in home economics and human resources.
After teaching for a few years in Coldwater, she became the adviser for Kappa in 1966. Since then, Giauque rarely missed her weekly trip to Hillsdale College.
“She was here despite wind, rain, any kind of weather, she was here every week for all those years,” Worms said.
Giauque was a main force behind the Kappa houses’ renovation in 1972 and personally decorated the entire lower level of the house.
“One of Sally’s missions was to expand beauty. You can’t walk through Kappa without seeing her touch,” Worms said.
After Giauque’s husband passed away in the early 1980s, she dedicated even more time and energy to the chapter, Kappa adviser Harriet James said.
“Kappas were ‘her girls.’ She always called them that and she kept in touch with many of them after graduation,” James said. “They were like family to her.”
During her time as an adviser, Giauque was not only involved with Kappa, but she was also heavily involved with the college. She attended as many CCAs as she could, her husband was on the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees, she was a member of the President’s Club, and she was an associate for the college.
In 2003, Giauque was honored with an Alumni Recognition Award, which is today called the Tower Award, for her devotion to Hillsdale College.
Over the past half century, all Kappa women have received “little pearls of wisdom from Sally,” James said.
“Sally taught us as Kappas to always be womanly and true,” senior Natalie Clore said at the service. “She knew an etiquette rule about everything. Everything from how to dump a boyfriend, to the exact way a picnic table should be set.”
Junior Heather Lantis agreed: “She was the pinnacle of class—the way she dressed, socialized, groomed and spoke. She was a great example for all of us to follow as we launched from the KKG house into the big world. She will be missed, but she is leaving her legacy in all of us who were taught so much by her.”
