Centre remembers retired administrator Tom McKune

RELEASED: November 1, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—Centre College lost a friend and colleague on Monday, Oct. 29, with the passing of Tom McKune, a former Centre administrator. McKune, who was 65, passed away at his residence on First Street in Danville.

During his 23 years at Centre, McKune was director of admissions, underclass advising and international programs. He also served as coordinator of new student orientation and was minority student advisor. He was assistant to the dean of the College and director of advising from 1998 until his retirement on Aug. 31, 2004.

McKune also served on the Danville Board of Education from 1994 to 2002.

"Tom McKune was one of those people whose cup was always half full," says Centre President John Roush. "He had the gift of making other people of all ages and all stations feel important and good. He was a citizen of the first order. All of us will miss him."

Clarence Wyatt '78, Pottinger Professor of History, special assistant to the president and chief planning officer, says that McKune knew how life was supposed to be lived.  

"He balanced his work, his family and his service to his community so well because he came to all of them with the same enthusiasm, compassion and joy," Clarence says.

A 1964 graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., McKune completed graduate study at the Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Michigan, in 1975.

Visitation for McKune will be Thursday, Nov. 1, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Community Arts Center in Danville.

Services will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2, at Weisiger Theatre in Centre's Norton Center for the Arts on campus.

Stith Funeral Home in Danville is in charge of arrangements.

Memoral donations may be made to Heart of Danville or Thomas B. McKune Scholarship Fund, in care of Farmers National Bank.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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