Winter 2000

Scofields Rate a Homecoming Cheer
for Loyal Support of Their Alma Mater

George and Pat Scofield of Birmingham beamed happily for the Seasons camera after being named Samford's Alumni of the Year at Homecoming. But it was not the first time they had posed obligingly for a Samford publication. Fifty-one years ago, at then-Howard College in East Lake, they did the same thing, smiling their way along a sidewalk near Renfroe Hall. That photo adorned the cover of a school recruiting brochure.

Pat and George Scofield receive Alumni of the Year congratulations from Samford President Thomas E. Corts, left.

They were George Scofield and Patricia Trent then, both from Opp, sweethearts who had marriage on their mind, but not until after graduation. They finished their senior final exams Aug. 26, 1949-and married the next Sunday at Ruhama Baptist Church near the campus.

There was no summer or fall commencement in those days, so they returned the following spring to march in graduation. They're listed as members of the Class of '50.

Samford's first husband-and-wife Alumni of the Year had few classes together. George was preparing for medical school and Pat to be a teacher. "What I did was stay in the science hall all the time," he said. Pat was a math major, worked part-time as a church secretary and sang in the A Cappella Choir.

But they took French together. And according to Pat, Dean Margaret Sizemore [the professor] said later that "we courted in her class."

George earned a master's degree from the University of Georgia and completed his medical degree at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, specializing in pathology. He is senior partner of Cunningham Pathology Associates and chief of the laboratory at HealthSouth Medical Center. A Fellow of the College of American Pathologists, he is a former president of the Alabama Association of Pathologists.

George Scofield and Patricia Trent stroll happily across campus for a Howard College recruiting brochure photo during undergraduate days in East Lake. Pat taught elementary school after graduation but actually got her first experience teaching college students while still a student herself. "A math professor had an accident, and they needed someone to teach an algebra class," she explained. Long active in Birmingham civic and cultural affairs, Pat is first vice president of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary and a board member of the Medical Alliance of the State of Alabama. She is former president of county and state medical auxiliaries, and served as vice speaker and board member of the American Medical Association Auxiliary.

Pat is known nationally for her expertise as a parliamentarian, conducting frequent parliamentary procedure workshops for civic and volunteer organizations. It's a sideline that started during undergraduate days when the math department formed an honor society, and she was asked to write the bylaws.

"I found Roberts Rules of Order interesting," she said, acknowledging, " It's not something that's of wide interest to many people."

The Scofields have four grown children-Amy Carr, Ellen Bastow, Mark and Trent-and six grandchildren. George and Pat are active members and teachers at Mountain Brook Baptist Church, where George is a life deacon. Both support the Birmingham Music Club, Opera Birmingham and other arts organizations.

Samford President Thomas E. Corts described the Scofields as "models of what the Bible calls cheerful givers." The couple established the Earle and Marie Trent Music Scholarship Fund at Samford, honoring her parents, and Mrs. Scofield has been a member of the Samford music scholarship endowment committee since its founding in 1994. In six years, the fund has developed a corpus of some $300,000.

The Scofields have been class representatives on the Samford Alumni Council since 1993. In 1999, they organized and hosted the Class of 1949 Golden Anniversary reunion at Homecoming.

Supporting their alma mater is a tradition the Scofields started over 50 years ago. That's one of the things that cheerful givers do.