elegant dinners were likely students’
first encounter with filet mignon. She
taught and modeled etiquette to the
small campus and its mostly rural, first-
generation college students. Long before
Dr. Paul Dixon took the reins of leadership
and made the phrase a Cedarville
standard, Maddox’s life demonstrated
her conviction that “Everything done in
the name of Christ should have quality
stamped all over it.”
Legacy
At the time of her passing, the College
had grown from 100 students to more
than 2,000. All programs were fully
accredited and new engineering degrees
had just been launched. She was not the
sole reason for that transformation, but in
her own campus spheres, she had blazed
paths of excellence that others followed
and advanced to new heights.
On December 28, 1994, Maddox saw
lights in the corner of her Jamestown
nursing home room and died quietly
later that day. For the memorial service
of this woman who never held a formal
leadership position on Cedarville’s
organizational chart, eulogies were
delivered by the President, Chancellor,
former Academic Vice President, retired
Chief Financial Officer, and Chair of the
Department of Communication Arts.
A lineup of that level of Cedarville
dignitaries has likely never been repeated
at any college-related funeral.
Her gravestone reads, “Miriam Boltz
Maddox, A Child of the King.” She lived
with an elegance fitting royalty, demanded
excellence from all she influenced, and
ultimately lived her own life as a humble
subject to the One she called her Lord.
This was Miriam Maddox’s example and
legacy.
Janice (Warren) Supplee ’86
is
Vice
President for Enrollment Management
and Marketing. She earned her Ph.D.
from the University of Nebraska this
spring.
Five of Miriam Maddox’s students continue her legacy as Cedarville faculty in communications and theatre. Together, they
represent more than 150 years of teaching. Pictured from left:
Dr. Diane (Conrad) Merchant ‘78
, Professor of Theatre,
at Cedarville since 1989;
Sandra (Welch) Harner ‘64
, Senior Professor of Technical Communications, at Cedarville since
1981;
Dr. Deborah (Bush) Haffey ‘68
, Senior Professor of Communications, at Cedarville since 1986;
Dr. Jim Phipps
‘68
, Senior Professor of Communications, at Cedarville since 1968. Not pictured:
Margaret (Stowell) Wheeler ‘64
,
Associate Professor of Communications, at Cedarville since 1995.
