College of Agriculture

2010

Elizabeth Stolp

Elizabeth Stolp was born Georgia Elizabeth Keener on August 25, 1910. When she was eight years old, her family moved to Chico from Chula Vista, where her grandfather had a citrus farm.

Elizabeth graduated from Chico High School in 1927 and entered Chico State Teachers College. At that time the enrollment at Chico State was probably around 400 students. According to the 1928-29 college catalog, Elizabeth would have paid $1.50 for registration and $5.00 for the student body fee, for a total of $6.50 per semester in her sophomore year. Sounds like a bargain, right? But if students here tonight think that registration fees are going up too quickly now, consider that when Elizabeth graduated in 1932, her fees had climbed to $15.40 per semester – that’s 137 percent increase in three years!

During her college years, Elizabeth worked as a student assistant in the Registrar’s office and Business Office, which were housed together at the time. When she graduated with a degree in education, Elizabeth was offered the chance to continue working in either office, and she chose the Business Office, where she would stay until her retirement in 1973. During her tenure at Chico State, Elizabeth served five different presidents, including our 1993 Hall of Honor inductee, Dr. Glenn Kendall. In fact, if you look on the Hall of Honor wall, Elizabeth worked with – and was friends with – many of our previous honorees.

Some of Elizabeth’s favorite times at Chico State were the years when Hal Bramsen was Business Manager and Glen Kendall was the College President. It was during these happy years when our own agriculture program was founded and this very college farm was acquired. Through her accounting role in the business office, Elizabeth worked on all of these transactions.

While Elizabeth worked at Chico State for 40 years, she was also raising a son, Fred, supporting her husband Kenneth on their farming operations in Nelson and Gridley, and remaining active in the community as a member of the Chico First Christian Church, Chico Soroptimist Club, Chico Women’s Club, and the Chico Camera Club. Even after retirement, Elizabeth has remained active at Chico State, supporting both the University and the College of Agriculture and attending many functions and performances on campus. As Elizabeth says, maybe keeping busy is a plus for longevity.

This has been an especially busy year for Elizabeth. She was honored at the campus retired faculty and staff luncheon in June, celebrated her 100th birthday in August, and tonight we are pleased to induct her into the College of Agriculture Hall of Honor in recognition of her many years of serving Chico State and supporting our students.