Chuck and Pauletta both graduated with bachelor’s, master’s and education specialist degrees from App State, and Chuck played soccer as a student-athlete. They spent their careers in education — Chuck retired as the chief technology officer for Wilkes County Schools and Pauletta served as an elementary school principal in the same school system. They also both taught courses at App State. The Parkers are active in their community, including in their local school system and in their church. In 1985, Chuck received the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Service Award, and he is also a former Alumni Council member. The Parkers have been Yosef Club members for more than 30 years, with Chuck previously serving as an Advisory Board member. The couple provided primary sponsorship for the biannual Children’s Literature Symposium coordinated by Belk Library and Information Commons and the Reich College of Education, and initiated an endowment to support the symposium in perpetuity.

Gerald, a former Mountaineer football player who passed away in 2016, was director of App State’s Yosef Club for 25 years and previously served as the assistant superintendent of human resources in Virginia’s Pittsylvania County. Julia, a former App State cheerleader, was the supervisor of health and drug free schools in Florida’s Duval County and later served as an adjunct professor in App State’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She was also inducted into the Bell Ringers Society in 2019. Gerald and Julia — who were known as Mr. and Ms. Yosef because of their commitment to App State athletics and affinity for dressing in black and gold — met at the university in the 1950s but didn’t marry until after they reconnected at an App State reunion in 1993. They each served as president of the university’s Alumni Council and received the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Service Award — Gerald in 1983 and Julia in 2008. Notably, the couple established the Gerald and Julia Adams Endowment for Athletic Scholarship, the Yosef Club Endowment and the Julia Ross Adams Varsity Cheerleader Scholarship.

Jim, a professor emeritus, taught accounting at App State for 36 years and also chaired the Department of Accounting. He served as a tennis coach and athletics director for the university, and he is a founding member of the Yosef Club, which provides scholarship assistance to student-athletes. He has been inducted into the App State Athletics Hall of Fame, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame. During the 50th anniversary celebration of women’s sports at App State, he was honored as one of seven trailblazers. His wife, Elaine, earned a master’s degree in educational administration from App State and taught physical education and general science. She was the first woman elected to the Watauga County Board of Education and served as its first female chairperson. For many years, Jim and Elaine regularly volunteered at Watauga Medical Center, in the pharmacy and outpatient surgery units, respectively. In addition to their other donations, the Joneses contribute to the Jim Jones Scholarship Endowment for App State tennis players and the James F. Jones Endowment Fund. They are also members of the 1899 Legacy Society.

A.C. and his wife, Bonnie, met at App State and were married for 64 years. According to A.C., when they were students, they said good night each evening in front of East Hall, a location that became especially meaningful to him after Bonnie passed away in 2016. They both retired from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools — he was the assistant superintendent and she was an elementary education teacher. A.C. was inducted into the Rhododendron Society in 2005 and received the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Service Award in 1990. He is also a former App State Alumni Council president and an emeritus member of the Reich College of Education Advancement Board. The Larrimores became members of the Yosef Club at its inception, and, most notably, they established the A.C. and Bonnie Larrimore Endowed Scholarship for Education.

The Nances met when the university was still Appalachian State Teachers College and their only son, Geoffrey, was born in Watauga County Hospital — now known as Watson-Brumit Hall — on the university’s campus. Both Larry and Nanci have multiple degrees from the university — his in physical education, history and college administration and hers in English, history and secondary education. Larry served as the university’s director of human resources for more than 30 years and Nanci retired as chair of the English Department at Watauga High School. Nanci is a member of the University Libraries Advisory Board, supports the Library Student Employee Scholarship Fund and serves as the volunteer librarian in the university’s Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies. Larry, a former Mountaineer basketball and tennis player and member of the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame, is a longtime member of the Yosef Club. Together the Nances support An Appalachian Summer Festival, where they are members of the Founders Society.

Fred, a former Mountaineer football player who passed away in 2014, retired as App State’s associate vice chancellor of university advancement, and Prissy retired from her position as a third grade teacher at Hardin Park Elementary School in Boone. At App State, Fred helped found the Yosef Club, the Appalachian Fund, the Alumni Travel Program and local alumni chapters, and was an emeritus member of the Reich College of Education Advancement Board. He also created the Appalachian Student Ambassadors program, and the Robinettes have since established the Fred T. and Priscilla S. Robinette Scholarship for Appalachian State University Student Ambassadors. Prissy is a member of the university’s Black and Gold Society and a former member of the App State Parents Association Board of Directors.