Inside Iowa State
May 21, 1999
Retirees donate flagpole to ISU cemetery
by Anne Dolan
The ISU cemetery has a flagpole this spring, courtesy of retirees of the university.
While a flag has flown from the pole recently, the 25-foot pole will be dedicated Monday, May 31, following the annual Memorial Day ceremony. The ceremony, organized by the ISU Retirees Committee, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Molecular Biology auditorium and honor all ISU employees and retirees who died in the last year.
Ross Talbot, retired from the political science faculty, said the suggestion for a flagpole in Iowa State's cemetery resurfaced last fall at a retirees committee meeting. Members of a sub-committee approached the ISU Foundation about setting up a special projects fund through the foundation.
In February, all retirees -- about 1,950 households -- received a letter requesting donations to the fund and indicating the first "special project" would be a flagpole in the cemetery. Within several weeks, 200 people sent in gifts totaling more than $8,000.
The flagpole was installed in the central part of the cemetery, between the family graves of former Iowa State presidents Adonijah Welch and Charles Friley. A flag won't be flown daily on the pole, but on national holidays and days of burial in the cemetery.
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