During Theo Hamilton's years working in Career Services,
he met with many an Eastern Michigan University student
whose plans had spun off course. Maybe the school district
where they'd done their student teaching wasn't hiring,
or they'd been subbing for a couple of years with no job
in sight.
Hamilton, who died Dec. 1 at 84, had a gift for building
people back up, and he leaves behind thousands whose lives
are better for it.
 |
THEO REMEMBERED: Theo
Hamilton, who worked
at EMU
for nearly four decades, died
Dec. 1. He
is remembered as a
warm and gentle soul who
made
other people's lives
better. |
"Students would walk in with worries and doubts about
themselves and he had the ability to not only give them
very sound advice, but also instill that confidence that
looking for a job sometimes beats down in a person," said
Mike Erwin, EMU acting associate vice president for student
affairs. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who had a
greater ability to make you feel like you were the most
important person in the world when you met with him."
Erwin says working with Hamilton made those who knew him
all a little better at giving that gift of undivided attention.
"I think I've gotten better at it — but not as good as
Theo; he was the best," Erwin said.
Hamilton was EMU's first African-American administrator.
An Ypsilanti High School graduate, he enrolled at Michigan
State Normal College in 1941, but left a short time later
to serve in World War II. He met his wife, Fannie, after
the war - caught her eye while playing piano at a program
at Perry School. After they married, she insisted he get
his degree, and he finished school on nights and weekends
while working manufacturing jobs to support his family.
In 1955, Hamilton landed a job as a music teacher in the
Upper Peninsula town of Pickford and the family moved to
the UP. He returned to EMU in 1967 after meeting
then-EMU president Harold Sponberg at a speaking engagement
and impressing Sponberg with his love for people and for
EMU.
Theo, said Fannie Hamilton, always wanted to do his best
for "his students."
It was by no means an exclusive club. Anyone who wanted
his help belonged.
"He loved his work," Fannie said. "He loved the people;
he loved the university. He thought so much of education.
I can't begin to tell you. It was his life.
"I told him he had a gift. His gift was to give, and he
gave all he had," she said.
Gary Hawks, now an EMU regent — then the University's
director of personnel — hired Hamilton as assistant
director of personnel in 1967.
It was Hawks' children who gave Hamilton the nickname
most of EMU came to know him by. They started calling him "Uncle
Theo" when he came to their house to give them piano lessons
on Saturday mornings. Hawks began using the nickname at
work. Hamilton embraced it and, eventually, so did everyone
else.
Hamilton's keen sense for people served him well screening
job applicants, but he really found his niche' in Career
Services, where there were so many opportunities to help.
To walk across campus with Hamilton was to, most likely,
be late to wherever you were headed because it seemed everyone
knew Theo; everyone loved him; and everyone got a hug.
"He had a genuine warmth about him, and the hugs were
just a natural extension of that," said, Assistant Director
for Corporate Relations Barbara Jones, who worked with
Hamilton in Career Services in the late 1970s. "You could
be walking down the street and he'd see somebody he knew
and they'd be hugging. That was Theo. He was a kind and
gentle soul."
"He could probably make a man on the street who hadn't
eaten in three days feel good," Fannie Hamilton said. "He
always knew the right thing to say."
His students would come back to visit him, bring their
families to meet him. He knew their children by name.
Hamilton's office used to accumulate little pieces of
paper in great, sloping piles. They were the names and
phone numbers of "his students."
One year, when they were working together in Career Services,
Jones decided to surprise Hamilton. She gathered all the
scraps of paper — about a decade's worth — and copied
thousands of names and phone numbers into a Rolodex. Then,
she threw out the loose paper and cleaned up the office.
"When he saw his office all spit and polished, I thought
he was going to fall over," Jones said. "Then, when I showed
him the Rolodex, he breathed a sigh of relief. That was
his lifeline."
Hamilton suffered a stroke in 2003 and retired in 2004
as his health began to decline. Still, he stopped by to
visit often, staying connected to the people and place
he loved.
"After he retired, you know, he was sick, and he wasn't
happy because he wasn't around people," Fannie said. "I
often told him he'd given his life to EMU. He said, 'Maybe
I have, but I loved every minute of it.'"
Contributions in Hamilton's memory may be made to the
Theo Hamilton Scholarship Fund. They can be sent to Eastern
Michigan University Foundation, Attention: Theo Hamilton
Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 972057, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.
