Eugenia Summer, an artist and former Mississippi University for Women professor who spent nearly four decades inspiring students with her wisdom and work while never losing her peculiar brand of humor and charm, died this weekend.
She was 92.
According to her family, Summer died Saturday at Trinity Personal Care in Columbus.
She spent nearly half a century in MUW’s art department. Through the years she was a student, professor, assistant dean, division head and, eventually, professor emerita. She retired in 1987. In 2002, a gallery space in the Fine Arts Building was named in her honor. Three years later, the university bestowed on Summer an honorary doctorate.
She was a dedicated professor and serious about her work, which has been shown in galleries from Arkansas to Washington, D.C. But it was her personality and natural way of forging friendships that made her a campus legend.
“Dr. Eugenia Summer was larger than life,” Jim Borsig, the university’s president, said Monday. “Her wonderful legacy as teacher and artist is crystal clear, as is her lifelong love and support of The W. I will miss her marvelous stories and wonderfully mischievous smile.”
Eugenia Summer grew up in Yazoo City. Her father was a banker. Her mother gave art lessons. She had a twin brother — Charles Edgar Summer Jr. — and the two of them spent time many days exploring the Delta landscapes.
As a child she had a pet parakeet. It was named Ikey Democrat. She would make clothes for it.
Summer came to what was then Mississippi State College for Women in 1941. Her leadership skills became apparent soon thereafter: She served as student body president and was once Miss MSCW.
As an undergraduate, a unique humor surfaced, too. She talked Burney Parkinson, the school’s president, into having the first jukebox installed on campus. Many years later, she still considered this one of her greatest collegiate achievements.
She graduated in 1945, with degrees in history and art. She then earned a masters in art from Columbia University and, in 1949, took a position as associate professor of art at The W.
She stayed at the school through 1987.
Through the years she taught calligraphy, painting and sculpture. An understanding of such an eclectic range of mediums was proof of a layered, creative mind, said Larry Feeney, professor emeritus of art at MUW, who taught alongside her from 1968 to 1987.
“That’s touching a lot of bases,” he said.
What Feeney recalls most vividly, though, is watching Summer interact with former students. It did not matter if a year or decade had gone by since the student had been in Summer’s classroom, within minutes she would be engaged in heartfelt conversation about the student’s work, family and achievements.
“Sometimes I just watched in awe, her ability to build rapport,” he said. “She was a remarkably vibrant woman.”
Shawn Dickey, the chair of MUW’s art department, had Summer as a professor during the mid-1980s.
He likened her relationship with students to that of an aunt, not a parent. Dickey remembers her wisdom and patience in the classroom.
“She was a nurturing teacher, someone who created an environment that was safe and welcoming and inspiring,” he said.
In conversation, Dickey said, Summer would sometimes pause for a considerable length of time to consider a student’s comment before formulating a response.
“She was always thoughtful, always insightful,” he said.
Her own work ranged from soft, watercolor scenes to nonobjective pieces that explored color and space. In 2001, her artistic achievements were honored by the Mississippi State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
After retiring, she remained a presence on MUW’s campus. Dickey said she could be counted on to attend openings, where she would catch up with students and entertain.
She remained a raconteur late in life.
She never lost her humor.
After receiving a cancer diagnosis in her later years, Summer created cartoons to help cope. She dubbed the chemotherapy room “The Drug Den” and told people she was on drugs.
Dr. Bridget Smith Pieschel, the chair of MUW’s English department, once compiled a book of oral histories titled, “Golden Days.”
Summer was included.
“To a large extent,” she is quoted as saying in the book, “a good sense of humor is a part of my so-called philosophy of life because, oh my, I can remember very many times when humor pulled me through some tedious and difficult situations.”
Funeral services for Eugenia Summer took place at 11 a.m. today at Annunciation Catholic Church.
She was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Yazoo City, beside her mother, father and twin brother.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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