A fixture on the Ottawa University campus for 15 years, Ronnie Small retired as an OU custodian in 2007. Prior to that, he was a meter reader for the City of Ottawa for 20 years. A graduate of Ottawa High School and a lifelong Ottawa resident, Ronnie was married to Mary Lois Bell for 30 years before their divorce. He was a member of Bethany Chapel Baptist Church and past master of Corinthian Lodge No. 12, Free & Accepted Masons of Ottawa. He is survived by four sons and two daughters.

Music was at the center of Joyce Stuermer’s life. Her ability to bring the heart out of a music piece, as well as her students was what endeared her to so many during her two-time tenure as assistant professor of music and choir director at Ottawa University (1970-76 and 1989-96). Joyce returned in 2010 as guest director of the alumni choir during OU’s Reunion Celebration. Joyce was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and attended schools in the Stony Point and Muncie areas, graduating from Turner

A longtime friend of Ottawa University passed away November 4, 2012. The Reverend Dr. Fred Asher Ansell, 67, of Topeka, was on the Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2007. He served on a number of committees, including the Executive Committee, Mission and Identity Task Force, Committee on Academics, Committee on Trusteeship, and the 2005 Presidential Selection Committee. Ansell spent more than 34 years in ministry, including ten years as Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of the

Ottawa University’s roots and traditions can be traced back to the work of Baptist missionaries Jotham and Eleanor Meeker, who labored ceaselessly to improve the lives of the Ottawa Indian Tribe in Kansas. They served as ministers, nurse and doctor, business agents, marriage counselors, teachers, and of course, spiritual counselors. Their seminal work, the prophetic vision of tribal leaders, and the engagement of others, such as John Tecumseh (Tauy) Jones, led to an eventual agreement between