Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 15, 1995 TAG: 9506160005
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY JO SHANNON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The hall of achievement was established in 1987 to recognize graduates who have excelled in the work force since graduation, said Annie Counts, campus director. "When Susan told me about her parents, I knew they were likely candidates."
Percy Light, a native of Floyd County, studied at NBC more than 70 years ago - during the '20s.
"I learned the old Pittman shorthand," he said. "I could take shorthand as fast as you could talk. And I typed 125 words a minute."
After his graduation in 1924, he went to work as a bookkeeper in a garage in Welch, W.Va.
"Later, I managed a Woolworth store in Welch, but I didn't like the coal fields and moved to Roanoke as soon as I could get a job here," he said.
His work in the office of a private traffic manager, keeping up with the schedule of railroad freight for various companies, led to a position with Norfolk and Western Railway in the coal department in 1929. He remained with N&W, serving in the merchandising department, as secretary to the vice president, and as chief clerk in other departments until his retirement in 1971.
Since then, he keeps busy volunteering at Calvary Baptist Church and writing stories, including a self-published account of his past to give to friends and relatives titled "The Way It Was."
Pauline Light enrolled at NBC after high school in Salem in 1929, graduating in 1932.
"National Business College got me a job in Bassett, Va., with the furniture company," she recalled. "I stayed three years, but I wasn't too happy to leave Roanoke."
When an opening at Commercial Credit Company occurred, she returned to this area, later moving to a similar position at General Motors Acceptance Corporation.
"Then, during the war, I was transferred to Richmond to take the place of a man who was drafted," she said. "Two years later, I was sent to Norfolk for the same reason. One time, when I was home on a holiday, I applied to N&W and soon went to work there."
That was a fortuitous change, for she met her future husband at N&W. Percy and Pauline Light were married in June 1950, and she continued to work until the fall of 1955 when, after 13 years, she said, "I retired to become a mother."
After Susan's birth, Pauline Light's activities outside the home were limited to club work, church work and the Girl Scouts.
"The only [paid] work I did was during the summer at Camp Craig on Craig," she said. "I started out part of one summer when they needed a cook. Then the next summer I was a counselor and nurse - putting Band-Aids on skinned knees - and the next summer I was assistant to the director."
Susan, the Lights' only child, graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in psychology. In 1992, she was laid off during the reduction of forces at Hercules in Radford.
"The Trade Readjustment Act went into effect right after I was laid off," she said. "The government offered us the option of getting two years of subsidized education to retrain. I became interested in the Medical Assisting Associate of Science degree program at National and enrolled in April 1993."
She commuted from her home in Christiansburg to attend NBC full time for two years.
Her program included medical and business education, preparing her to work in a medical office and to perform all necessary laboratory work. Besides certification as a medical assistant, she will also receive an associate degree.
The pinning ceremony for medical assistants took place May 21 at Tabernacle Baptist Church, and degrees were conferred June 11, at Cave Spring High School - where, incidentally, she also received her high school diploma.
"I really feel fortunate to have the combination of education from Tech and NBC," she said. "I am facing the business world with all the ammunition I need. And I'm thrilled that my parents are also being honored. They are wonderful and deserving people."
by CNB