{"id":7338,"date":"2019-04-03T16:15:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T21:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=7338"},"modified":"2019-04-03T16:18:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T21:18:17","slug":"miss-virginia-riddick-honored-with-plaque-spirit-of-sau-award-bestowed-on-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2019\/miss-virginia-riddick-honored-with-plaque-spirit-of-sau-award-bestowed-on-family\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Miss Virginia’ Riddick honored with plaque, Spirit of SAU Award bestowed on family"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The family of the late Mary Virginia Riddick attends the plaque dedication ceremony at the SAU Cafeteria in the Reynolds Center. Dr. Trey Berry, right, president of SAU, made the presentation. Pictured from left to right, are Miss Virginia\u2019s great-granddaughter, Heather Mykel; her granddaughter, Brandi Barge, and son, Larry Riddick. Also pictured are Miss Virginia\u2019s great-great-grandchildren.<\/p><\/div>\n

The late Mary Virginia Riddick, or \u201cMiss Virginia\u201d as she was affectionately known to students and co-workers, was honored with a memorial plaque dedication at Southern Arkansas University on Monday, April 1, 2019.<\/p>\n

Miss Virginia, who was employed with Aramark Professional Food Service and previous food service providers at SAU for 39 years, passed away on September 4, 2016. Her warm smile, kind greetings and open heart were commemorated by Dr. Trey Berry, SAU president, and others during the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to recognize a very special lady on a very special day, Founder\u2019s Day, the birthday of SAU,\u201d Berry said. \u201cOn this day, we always try to remember those who came before us and made SAU such a special place.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said she \u201cdispersed love from the counter,\u201d sometimes even tough love, as he once discovered on a day when he forgot his ID. \u201cShe said, \u2018Okay, Dr. Berry, I\u2019ll let you pass this time,\u2019\u201d he said, to heartfelt laughter.<\/p>\n

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Roger Giles, vice president for administration and general counsel, said he had known Miss Virginia for more than 30 years. \u201cShe was an amazing individual,\u201d he said, praising her warmth, sensitivity, and genuine caring for students. \u201cAnd she made the best chicken salad sandwiches,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

Regina Ford, Aramark production assistant, said Miss Virginia epitomized \u201cthe old-fashioned work ethic \u2013 do what you do, and do it well. She always gave 100 percent. She would know all the students by name. We all can take a lesson from her work ethic and compassionate heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adriana Valentine, SGA president, said Miss Virginia was one of the reasons SAU felt like home. \u201cShe was always smiling. She will be truly missed.\u201d Evelyn Escamilla, RHA president, said Miss Virginia\u2019s impact will continue to be felt on campus, and that she represented the spirit of SAU.<\/p>\n

Berry reiterated those remarks, bestowing on Miss Virginia\u2019s family the Spirit of SAU Award, given posthumously in honor of Miss Virginia\u2019s personification of what this annual award represents. \u201cSAU is about more than bricks and mortar,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is about those people who touch the lives of students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Riddick, Miss Virginia\u2019s son, thanked Berry and SAU. \u201cIt is overwhelming,\u201d he said of the University\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

Dr. Donna Allen, vice president for student affairs, offered her warm remembrance of Miss Virginia. \u201cI loved her like one of my family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The late Mary Virginia Riddick, or \u201cMiss Virginia\u201d as she was affectionately known to students and co-workers, was honored with a memorial plaque dedication at Southern Arkansas University on Monday, April 1, 2019. Miss Virginia, who was employed with Aramark Professional Food Service and previous food service providers at SAU for 39 years, passed away… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":7340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[276,7753,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-corner","8":"category-homepage","9":"category-student-life","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}