The former voice of Hillsdale College fell silent last month.

Linda Bryant-Solomon of Osseo Township died Sunday, Aug. 11, at the age of 77.

Solomon was a wife, teacher, and — to many — the voice of Hillsdale College. After a career in teaching, including 28 years as a sixth grade teacher in Pittsford Area Schools, she worked as the switchboard operator at Hillsdale College, retiring in 2012.

College President Larry Arnn said Solomon was the college receptionist when he arrived in 2000.

“She was patient and pleasant and cheerful,” Arnn said. “She knew everything. She fielded all the calls, which made her the voice of the college. It was a very good voice. Now that work is done by dozens of people, which is necessary and good, but there is some loss involved in the change.”

Her coworkers and friends on campus remember her for the warmth and kindness with which she treated others. 

“Linda played an important role greeting everyone on the phone and welcoming staff and guests to Central Hall,” said Diane Philipp, vice president of student affairs. “She was the first person everyone met when visiting admissions and was always helpful, happy, caring, and kind.”

Every day for more than 10 years, Solomon sat at the receptionist desk on the main floor of Central Hall, answering the phone and greeting everyone who came through the doors.

“When the phone was not ringing, she was seen crocheting beautiful kitchen cloths for co-workers,” Philipp said. “I still use the piece she gave me and think of her fondly each time it is used.”

Solomon remembered the birthdays of her co-workers, according to Application Processing Manager Kathy Fowler, and was ready with a homemade gift.

“She took interest in the employees and made it her mission to know all of us,” Fowler said. “Every year on our birthday she would crochet dish cloths for us. Even all these years later if you look at her picture you can hear her laugh. She was a very special person who will be missed by so many people.”

Solomon was intelligent, kind, and generous to everyone, said Carolyn Milligan, the executive assistant to the vice president of student affairs.

“She always had a smile and a kind word” Milligan said.

Registrar Douglas McArthur works just down the stairs from Solomon’s former desk in Central Hall. 

“She had the most beautiful, calming voice and way of speaking,” McArthur said. “You could sort of palpably feel loved by her. And I saw her treat everyone the same way.”

Solomon previously taught at Pittsford High School, the local high school McArthur attended.

“A good amount of the time we spent talking was just reminiscing about good old PHS and the people we had in common,” McArthur said. “It was sort of like catching up on news every week with her about those sorts of things. She was dearly loved there in the same way there that she was dearly loved here.”

According to Margaret Braman, individual visit coordinator for admissions, Solomon knew her sister-in-law from Pittsford.

“There are no words that can describe Linda and the impact that she had on not only the college students, but also the welcoming of visitors to campus,” Braman said. “There is no one that can replace her.” 

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said Solomon always had a good story to share.

“Linda would routinely stop me and ask how my children were doing in school and what sports they were playing,” Petersen said. 

“She would always tell me how much she loved and missed teaching the children in the community and how she would keep track of them.”

Associate Vice President for Curriculum David Whalen said Solomon would always greet him and chat for a moment or two.

“No matter how busy things were, she was always composed and pleasant,” Whalen said. “I never saw her flustered.”

Professor of English Stephen Smith said he never had to use the printed directories given to him by the college while Solomon was working as switchboard operator.

“I would just call Linda,” Smith said. “I preferred to do it that way.”

Four years after Solomon retired, the contact center opened in 2016. 

The contact center opened because the college needed a better space to handle increasing phone traffic, according to Director of the Contact Center Mary Margaret Spiteri. 

“You have a group of people answering multiple lines, as opposed to just one person answering the switchboard,” Spiteri said.

The contact center now answers nine phone lines and handled almost 100,000 inbound calls in the last fiscal year, according to Spiteri. About one third of those inbound calls go to the operator line, Spiteri said, the line previously answered by Solomon.

Solomon knew everyone’s department, role, and extension, according to Spiteri — many off the top of her head.

Smith said his wife, Laura, still sometimes imitates the characteristic way Solomon would always answer the phone: “Good afternoon, Hillsdale College.”

“It’s like in Homer where they used to be able to lift boulders and now we can’t,” Smith said. “She could do the whole thing, now we have a call center. We have a whole staff. Before it was just Linda.”