EVART WILLIAM ARDIS, 1943. Kate's
brother, "Slim" Ardis, sits for a portrait as Superintendent of Schools in Inkster,
Michigan USA, at age 30. Photo from the Tom Ardis
Collection.
- -- Thomas John Ardis, Austin, Texas USA
- ardis@summaweb.com
During the early years of The Great Depression,
Katherine Ardis and her brother (my father) Evart Ardis lived together in
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA, where they both attended Western Michigan Normal College (now Western
Michigan University).
"It was hard, but we made it," said Katherine.
One year the Jolliffe girls, who were cousins,
shared an apartment with them, and Evart had to sleep in an unheated attic.
"It was cold," says Slim. "Fine snow would blow in through
the eaves and I would wake up covered in it."
Katherine and Evart both
received the B.S. degree in 1934. Katherine went on to study art at
several places in the USA, Europe, and Latin America. Evart went on to an
M.S. degree at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois USA, and to
postgraduate study at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA.
Katherine and Evart both received honorary doctorates from Western
Michigan University in 1975, along with the Distinguished Alumni Award for that year. Evart later received honorary doctorates from
Eastern Michigan University and and from Cleary College, both in Ypsilanti,
Michigan USA.
The new Ardis Elementary School in Ypsilanti, Michigan USA,
was named for Evart "Slim" Ardis, in recognition of his service as Superintendent of Schools
there in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
After being a school superintendent
for twenty-five (25) years, Evart Ardis went to the University of Michigan
at Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, where he was Director of Career Planning and
Placement for the next twenty (20) years. He retired in 1982... to Irvine,
California USA... and lives there today with his wife (my mother), Dorothy Schurman
(p. SKUR-men)
Ardis.
