It’s fair to say the members of the Sampson and Stephens families swelled with pride when Andrew Sampson ’13 graduated from Illinois State, as he represents the fourth generation of Redbirds.
His legacy began with his great-grandmother, Ethel (Peart) Hume, who took teaching classes at the University in the 1910s. She taught in the Morris area between 1917 and 1922 until she married.
Ethel’s daughter, Janice Hume, also chose to study at Illinois State. She completed a home economics education degree. Her future husband, Gordon Sampson, was a business education major. The two graduated in 1952, then married and began teaching at Minooka High School. They retired in 1986, ending their careers at Romeoville High School.
The son of Janice and Gordon, Brian Sampson ’82, extended the ISU connection. He graduated with a bachelor’s in geology and is an IT project manager at Arrow Electronics. He met his future wife at ISU, Natalie Stephens ’83, who earned an accounting degree. She works for Aldi as a corporate consolidations accountant. They reside in Batavia.
Illinois State was familiar to Natalie, as her mother is also a graduate. Maxine (Haase) Stephens completed a business education degree in l956. She taught in Piper City, Gilman, and Bloomington high schools before retiring in 1994. She currently resides with her husband in Normal.
Andrew is the son of Brian and Natalie. He received his degree in information systems. A resident of Downers Grove, Andrew works as a programmer for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Brian was pleased his son chose to continue a family tie to campus that goes back a century. “I’m proud to be a part of the Redbird tradition,” Brian said. “College is a special time in everybody’s life. ISU is a common bond between the different generations of the family. We hope there is a fifth generation.”
