Changing Lives while Honoring a Legacy
KATIE BELK MORRIS REMEMBERS A LIFELONG FRIEND WITH THE PATSY JO GUYER ’61 SCHOLARSHIP
By Vanessa Infanzon
When Patsy Jo Guyer ’61 (left) accepted a scholarship to attend Queens College in 1959, she set in motion a series of events that would lead to a lifelong friendship, in addition to a scholarship named in her honor. A first-generation college student
from Elkin, North Carolina, Guyer was one of 10 children and could not afford
to live on campus. The president of Queens at the time, Edwin Ruthven Walker, intervened and asked Katherine and Thomas Belk if Guyer could live with their family. They agreed to the request. The Belks’ daughter, Katie Belk Morris, was five years old when Guyer moved into their home and remembers her being “a member of the family.” As they grew older, their friendship deepened. Guyer graduated from Queens in 1961 and stayed with the
Although Marjorie began college after high school, she didn’t graduate during that time. After talking with her friend, Adelaide Davis ’61, Crane decided to pursue a degree in communications at Queens. Marjorie said her studies were a good influence on their three children, as she remembers them saying, “Tere goes Mommy, going to study.” After graduation, the Cranes stayed connected
to Queens. Marjorie was instrumental in persuading the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to fund Queens’ communication program, and Te James L. Knight School of Communication, named for Marjorie’s father, is housed in Knight Crane Hall. She also served on Queens’ Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2015. “I love Queens,” explained Marjorie. “I was so
thrilled with Queens when I went there. I was older and more serious. It put me back on the right track. It gave me purpose.”
Belk family another two years before moving to Washington, D.C., to work for North Carolina Senator B. Everett Jordan and later Louisiana Senator J. Bennett Johnston. Despite the distance, the family stayed close to Guyer. She joined the Morris family on vacations, and they visited her in D.C. Throughout Guyer’s 30-year tenure on Capitol Hill, she
mentored young people by connecting them to job and school opportunities. “She was a people person and made a lot of contacts,” Morris explained. “People wanted to help her because she helped other people.” Guyer passed away in 2008 at the age of 69. This past
fall, Morris founded the Patsy Jo Guyer ’61 Scholarship at Queens for North Carolina residents who demonstrate financial need. Morris is a member of the board of trustees, a 100-year long tradition in the Belk family. “I loved the way Queens changed Patsy’s life,” Morris
said. “I feel like the scholarship is a way to honor her legacy and provide the same kind of thing that she tried to do for so many people.”
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