Meet 1885 Society Members Bobbie and Mason Ellison


By Janice Beetle Godleski


it waS early on a spring morning in 1949 when Roberta “Bobbie” and Mason Ellison ’49 heard a knock on their apartment door at Springfield College. While they were up, they certainly weren’t ready to receive guests. “i had no idea who it was,” Bobbie recalled recently. She was almost eight months pregnant with the couples’ first child, and when she opened the door, “i found the president there. i nearly fainted away,” she said. “i was shocked.” President Paul Limbert had come


knocking with a letter in his hand from the First Presbyterian Church in Wausau, Wisconsin, which was searching for a director of Christian education. Limbert was very right in thinking that Mason might be interested in the job. The couples’ daughter Christine was born


soon afterwards, in April. Then the Ellisons graduated from the College and headed off to Wisconsin, where Mason worked with First Presbyterian Church’s teachers, its junior and senior high school youth groups, and its recreation program—combining all of the skills and experience he gained at Springfield College in a job he loved. The Ellisons credit Springfield College


with getting them started not only with their family but also with Mason’s 44-year career as a Christian educator and minister. The College also provided the tools that Bobbie would call on while raising the couples’ four children—Christine, Jeffrey, Timothy, and Matthew—and later in life, when she taught English as a second language.


The Ellisons in front of Marsh Memorial, where Bobbie worked in the library while she was a student. The personal attention the couple


received from Limbert, who was also their professor for one religion class, stays with them even today. Bobbie said he was humble and interested in his students and committed to helping them grow as individ- uals. He personified Springfield College. “our college years were more than just


advanced education,” Bobbie said. “We learned so many things about life and relating to others and working while studying. Springfield College formed us in a lot of ways. And the people there were so good to us. We made lasting friendships. it was a great adventure for both of us. We’re really committed to the College.” Bobbie described a college campus that


most wouldn’t recognize today. Many students were married, raising their first children, holding part-time jobs, and living together in College apartment buildings. There were baby carriages all over campus, with mothers and fathers taking strolls. She and Mason ate together, studied together. “it was a whole different way of life,” she said. “it was a very special time. We were very close.” So, the Ellisons can’t help but give back


to the College, from which their son Jeffrey also graduated in 1973. They have organ- ized and attended nearly every reunion for their class, and they are longtime members of The 1885 Society and recently established a second gift annuity. “For all our great years at Springfield,


we’re glad to be ‘annuitants,’” Mason said. “We’d like to emphasize the greatness of


the College itself; that’s why we want to share with the school.” The Ellisons both grew up in Elmwood,


Conn., a section of West Hartford. Their families were friends, and they sang and volunteered in church together, the children of church school teachers, who were nurtured and nurturing from a young age. They were married May 18, 1946, about


three years after Mason’s service in the U.S. Navy in World War ii ended, and they spent the next three years together studying at Springfield College in a bachelor’s program that was then called Group Work, which involved training in the social work arena as well as group learning skills. “it was just a great time,” said Mason,


who earned a bachelor’s in theology in 1959 at Biblical Seminary in New york City and worked as a minister in churches in Wisconsin, New york, New Hampshire, and Connecticut until his retirement in 1993. “The professors were super. They made friends of us besides being the teacher. That was wonderful. it was just like a big, friendly family.” The Ellisons live in Avery Heights in


Hartford, Conn., only a short drive from Springfield College, so they still take frequent drives to campus to spend the day. “We feel right at home at Springfield College,” Mason said. “We like seeing all the new buildings and additions.” Bobbie added, “We love seeing the young


students. They know we’re not students, and they welcome us as older friends.”1


SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE • OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT • (413) 748-3124 • (800) 622-6072 TRIANGLE 3 Vol .Vol. 83 83, No.No. 2 29


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