NATCHITOCHES – The Posey family of Natchitoches made a donation to the Northwestern State University Foundation to fully endow a scholarship that honors the late Allen and Mary Lee Posey, a couple who were active in the Natchitoches community and at NSU for more than 50 years. The funds will be matched dollar for dollar through a grant awarded to the Foundation by the Louisiana Board of Regents for institutions to provide scholarships to students pursuing mental, behavioral or allied health studies. The match will bring the scholarship total to $120,000.
The Posey family established the Allen and Mary Lee Posey Scholarship in 2016. Allen Murph Posey Sr. and Mary Lee Sigler Posey were natives of Red River Parish who met at Northwestern State in 1946. Allen had served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and spent 23 months in German POW camps. After the war, he returned home and enrolled at Northwestern majoring in agriculture. Mary Lee was a home economics major. Their first date was made in the library at Northwestern where he asked her to a movie. They were married in January 1948.
Allen and Mary Lee Posey’s association with NSU began before they met. Mary Lee’s parents, Abner Lee and Nyease Dowies Sigler, were graduates of Louisiana State Normal College, as NSU was then known. Allen and Mary Lee were second generation students. Their three children and several grandchildren are NSU alumni.
In 1947, Mary Lee was the first NSU graduate in child development, a new program in the home economics curriculum. At that time, state certifications did not allow child development graduates to teach in public schools, so she continued her studies at night and during summers to earn bachelor’s, master’s and +30 in education. Allen was involved with agriculture, raising cattle as a hobby, and retired from the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles. He also served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Allen Posey passed away in 2003. Mary Lee Posey passed away in 2016.
The match for scholarship is a result of funding targeted towards enhancing mental health services, awareness and outreach eligible for dollar for dollar matches if they meet criteria set forth by the Board of Regents in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Health.
For information on supporting scholarships through the NSU Foundation, contact Cristy Bernard, assistant director of Donor Relations, at bernardc@nsula.edu or (318) 357-4292.
Pictured: The Posey family fulfilled a scholarship that honors the late Allen Murphy Sr. and Mary Lee Posey through a donation to the NSU Foundation. From left are Sheila Posey Clark, Lee Posey and Evie Posey. Not shown is Allen Posey Jr.
