Legacy of Former USD Secretary Lives on Through New College of Arts & Sciences Support Staff Award
The College of Arts & Sciences at the University of South Dakota has announced a new award honoring support staff. The Ada Walradth Krueger CAS Support Staff Award recognizes outstanding staff members whose diligent work is essential to the university's efforts.
The award is made possible due to contributions from the Krueger family in memory of Ada Walradth Krueger, who was a member of the College of Arts & Sciences dean's support staff from 1960 until 1969.
John Dudley, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, is enthusiastic that this tribute provides a tangible way to recognize excellence in the college's staff members.
"The valuable contributions of our staff members to the work of the university are too easily overlooked, but these individuals are essential in making sure our faculty can do their jobs effectively and our students receive the best education possible," said Dudley. "This award will recognize the work of specific individuals, but it also reinforces the importance of all our staff members to the success of the USD College of Arts & Sciences. We appreciate the generosity of the Krueger family in creating this endowment and are honored to steward this gift as a tribute to Ada."
A Thoroughly USD Family
Ada's four children all attended USD. Carol attended USD from 1958-60 before transferring to what is now Northern State University. Jim graduated with a B.A. in mathematics (honors curriculum) in 1963 and a law degree in 1975. Connie '68 graduated from USD with a BFA in theatre; and John '72 graduated from USD with a B.A. in history.
Jim Krueger, spokesperson for the family and one of the Ada's four children, recalls a different start to his USD journey.
"My siblings and I discovered the W.H. Over Museum right away. It was in the basement of the Administration Building (Slagle Hall) right across the street from our house at 222 North University. I went there almost every day. That was my introduction to Vermillion: I was stalking the halls of USD as a nine-year-old."
When he eventually became a student, Jim was delighted by the range of things he could learn about and the challenges he could pursue in his education.
"I went into the honors curriculum, which some people avoided because you had to take science, math and languages. For me, getting to take all of those was just great fun. I took Russian just because I knew it would be hard," he recalled. "One of the highlights of my career at USD was being in an honors seminar with other students. And I was pretty, shall we say, self-confident—though I think the right term is arrogant. Being with these other students, who obviously were better educated and better read and better at their arguments than I was... It was really a humbling experience. And I learned a lot about myself in that process."
Honoring Ada
Gathering and passing on family history is an important part of the Krueger family tradition. Each year, they hold a reunion to honor an ancestor, last year, they honored Ada.
"I learned things about her I never knew, doing research and reading old letters," Jim marveled. "She had won all these top awards as a student, and one year (this was during the Great Depression), her college decided not to have a yearbook. My mother's mother published a newspaper, so my mother grew up in a printing shop. She got her dorm buddies together, formed an annual staff and they put out their own yearbook."
The initiative and intelligence Ada showed as a student were evident in her adult life and led to her being recruited to work in the dean's office in the USD College of Arts & Sciences—a job she came to love.
"She really enjoyed her job," Jim said. "I remember that she was there when they switched to the IBM Selectric, and she was just thrilled to have a really good, high-quality electric typewriter."
When she had to leave USD because her husband, Bob, was transferred to Sioux Falls, her office held a going away party for her. They presented Ada with a card wishing her "So Long Farewell Au Revoir Sweet Belle." The card is full of poems and notes calling her "a good friend indeed," reminiscing about moments in the office and wishing her well.
Sadly, just days after her going away party, Ada died in a fall in her home. When revisiting this history and reading the notes at the reunion, Jim and his siblings were moved to honor her legacy and the family's ties to USD.
This award aims to recognize people at the university who do work like Ada did to keep the university running—people whose contributions often go unseen and underacknowledged, but whose impact is invaluable.
"We wanted to create an award specifically for support staff to let them know that people care about them," Jim said. "They need to know that they are appreciated."