Here’s the Asheville Citizen-Times obituary for Allene Sugg Highsmith:
Asheville – UNC Asheville’s founding First Lady, Allene Sugg Highsmith, 81, died Monday, May 25, 2009, at her residence at Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Center in Asheville. She and husband Chancellor William H. Bill Highsmith are remembered for turning a small junior college into Asheville’s four-year public liberal arts university that in 1969 joined North Carolina’s public university system. As first lady and social hostess of the fledgling campus, Allene fostered a welcoming atmosphere for friend-making, public discourse, fierce political discussion, and community-building. She is remembered for her deep love of her family and friends, her two sons, the university, politics, and jazz.
Born in 1928 in Bellefontaine, Webster County, Mississippi, Allene was the daughter of Hereford cattle breeder, William Bryant Sugg and math teacher, Bessie Hardy Sugg. Offered college scholarships to Duke and the University of Edinburgh, Allene attended nearby Blue Mountain College, earning BAs in English, history, and theater, and then a MA in history from Louisiana State University. She taught English for two years at Eupora (Miss.) High School, once coaching their debate team to the national finals.
While pursuing her Ph.D. in Southern political history, Allene met Bill Highsmith, an LSU professor who was developing GI-Bill classes in Panama’s Canal Zone. After a jazz-tinged courtship, Allene postponed her Ph.D. thesis to wed Highsmith in 1953. Their higher education calling took them to Panama, the University of Alabama at Gadsden, and Jacksonville University in Florida. As JU’s Dean of Faculty, Bill Highsmith helped transform a two-year community college into the fouryear Jacksonville University. The Highsmiths came to Asheville in 1961, charged with developing AshevilleBiltmore College into a fouryear liberal arts college that would expand the offerings of the UNC system.
Allene fully partnered with her husband in UNC Asheville’s endeavors, helping recruit quality faculty and maintain the flagship humanities core curriculum. She nurtured college faculty, students, and staff, and encouraged legions of faculty children. With a rented home, a tiny state allowance, and no serving ware, the Highsmiths used personal funds to establish 62 Macon Avenue as an inviting salon for hospitality, food, and rigorous intellectual debate.
Allene coached debate, planned social events, and represented UNC Asheville in the community. A tireless community developer, she served on many local boards, including the YWCA, WNC Air Pollution Control, Democratic Women and the State Board of Elections. She served as an Alternate Delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 30, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church Street, in downtown Asheville. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall. A private burial will be held at Calvary Episcopal Cemetery in Fletcher.