Nancy Pelphrey started her career at Marshall University in 1968 as a student. She will finish her time at Marshall when she retires after the school year. She has been connected to the university in some way for more than 45 years.

In her time at Marshall, Pelphrey has seen the reign of 12 presidents.

“I’ve seen the university grow under each one of them,” Pelphrey said. “It’s exciting to see what they accomplish when they’re here.”

Pelphrey started her job at Marshall in 1987 in the School of Medicine. She started her job in Word Processing, then moved through the pharmacology and surgery department. From there, she left the School of Medicine and went to the Multicultural Affairs Office.

Linda Holmes, executive director for the School of Medicine Alumni Association, recruited Pelphrey into Alumni Relations.

“All of the good things that I learned was from Linda Holmes,” Pelphrey said. “She’s an amazing person.”

Pelphrey has experienced the many ups and downs of Marshall, from the plane crash to the movie and the National Championship in football.

Family has been a big part of Pelphrey’s life. Pelphrey and her husband attended Marshall, and the tradition continued when their two daughters went to Marshall.

“We all bleed green in my house,” Pelphrey said. “[My daughters] both have great jobs, and Marshall sent them on their way for sure.”

Pelphrey had nothing but good things to say about the people who surround her in her work, from President Kopp to her co-workers.

“There’s so many incredible people on campus that it is just a pleasure to work with them,” Pelphrey said. “We have great alumni who volunteer their time. They want to help and they want to be here and they want to help the university move forward.”

Pelphrey is ready to retire, but she is not ready to leave the people who have been with her through every event and every university milestone.

“What I am going to miss most is a lot of the employees here on campus because I’ve just worked with so many of them and developed a relationship with them,” Pelphrey said. “I will miss them a lot. I hope they’ll miss me as much as I’ll miss them.”

The Alumni Association is in charge of planning numerous events around campus, and Homecoming is no exception. Pelphrey said she enjoyed being involved in the planning process. However, she said she will continue to enjoy the Homecoming festivities as a fan next year, and it will be a refreshing change.

“It’ll be nice to be a fan, but the pleasure of those big events is to see them happen successfully,” Pelphrey said. “All of the craziness up to the events its part of it. When you can see it, and it’s done, and everyone is having a good time that’s when it’s worth it to me.”

Pelphrey said she does not have set plan for her retirement, but she intends on spending more time with her daughters, grandchild and husband. Pelphrey and her husband plan on traveling the United States as well.

Although her time at Marshall is coming to a close, Pelphrey will continue her love for Marshall no matter where she goes. She is ending her chapter at Marshall only to begin a new one.

“It’s time to leave, but it’s hard,” Pelphrey said. “I don’t know that I’ll ever be completely away from here. I’ll still bleed green no matter where I am.”

Shalee Rogney can be contacted at [email protected].