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Myers-Hesse, Lois and Reverend Victor A. Myers Student Enhancement Learning Fund

The Lois Myers-Hesse and Reverend Victor A. Myers Student Enhancement Learning Fund for Bierce Library was established in 2011 by Reverend Victor A. Myers in memory of his mother, Lois E. Myers-Hesse.

The Lois E. Myers-Hesse and Reverend Victor A. Myers Student Enhancement Learning Fund is designated to assist students who work in the library in areas of acquisition, circulation, government documents, and/or research. Lois Myers worked with many students during her tenure as Assistant Professor of Bibliography and was highly regarded by them. The recipient(s) will be selected annually by the University Libraries Dean and faculty.

Lois Myers-Hesse (nee Liebegott) is remembered as a dedicated and longtime faculty member at The University of Akron Bierce Library. Lois served as Assistant Professor of Bibliography from 1939 until her retirement in 1974. She was born in Orange, N.J., on October 14, 1917, to the Reverend Charles and Clara E. (Popkin) Liebegott. She graduated from South High School in 1934 and earned her diploma from Wittenberg College in 1938. Later, she received a B.S. in library science from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1939. Lois was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority. Throughout her life, other affiliations also included membership in the Ohio Library Council; AAUP; AAUW; St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Akron, Ohio; and the First Presbyterian Church in Orange, N.J.

As a valued member of the library faculty, Lois enjoyed her work and was very proud to be a central part of the library resource team. At that time, the library was located in Carroll Hall and built in two stages (1949 and 1961) to house the Bierce library collection. Lois considered the library to be her second family. She made lasting friendships with other longtime library faculty and staff members, including Pauline Franks, Ruth Clinefelter, Bob Blankenship, Paul Schrank, Barbara Clark, Louise Forsch, Barbara Jones, and her supervisor, Dorothy Hamlen.  In 1973, the library staff moved from Carroll Hall to the four-story facility of Bierce Library, then on Buchtel Avenue, now on Buchtel Common in the center of campus where it stands today. Lois was instrumental in this major move and coordinated the project.

Lois was highly regarded by student assistants who worked in the library. According to her son, Vic, she worked closely with students on a day-to-day basis and made an extra effort to get to know each one of them personally. She knew about their hopes and dreams and was always there to listen and offer advice. A student once commented, “Lois is not your typical librarian.”

When Vic was in junior high school in the early 1960s, he remembers going to the library after school to help shelve books and working in the visual aid department during the summer months. One particular memory stands: helping to carry boxes for the move from the old brick building to the new addition. Nurturing the gift of education was foremost in Lois’ life, as she made education a priority for her students and children in every possible way.

As a dedicated mother, Lois provided many opportunities for Vic and her daughter, Janet, to encourage their education and expose them to cultural and civic events at the University. Lois took Vic and Janet to see Conservatory of Music events in front row seats. They attended programs featuring famous speakers such as President William V. S. Tubman of Liberia and General Mark Clark. Often, they would go to the live broadcast of the Firestone Hour, a television program sponsored by the Firestone Company, to see Broadway musicians perform. Vic remembers before his mother had a car, she took the bus from West Crosier Street in Akron to the University to get to work. Vic and Janet met her at the Main Street bus stop when she got home. When the Akron Transportation Company closed its doors due to a bus strike, Lois walked to and from the University each day.

Through a renewed friendship, Lois became engaged to Frank J. Hesse, a widower and NYSE stockbroker from New Jersey. In 1974, the couple was married by Lois’ son, Reverend Victor Myers, who officiated the ceremony at Trinity Lutheran Church in Kent. Frank and Lois relocated to Montclair, N.J., and later to Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge, N.J. Frank had two children, Judith Grace and Paul. The couple later welcomed six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Lois and Frank dedicated their lives to helping others in the community. They became involved in the First Presbyterian Church in Orange, N.J., where they served in the homeless shelters and tutored elementary-school children in the area. Through Vic, they established The Frank J. and Lois E. Hesse Scholarship Fund at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary in Pennsylvania, where Lois’ father, Reverend Charles Liebegott, and Vic attended. Frank died in 2000, and Lois continued to reside in Basking Ridge until her death on March 16, 2011.