Connections for a Lifetime

Nebraska Wesleyan gave Dennis “Denny” and Margaret “Cricket” McClatchey connections they’ve kept throughout their lives. Denny and Margaret did not arrive expecting to find each other—let alone any of the other relationships they hold close to their hearts. Nevertheless, their lifelong relationships with fraternity brothers, sorority sisters and Professors David Clark and Henry Blanke shaped their lives. Denny and Margaret want the ripple effects to continue, so they are laying the groundwork now for the legacy of their beloved NWU professors to live on even after Denny and Margaret are gone. Funded through a charitable gift annuity, the David Clark and Henry Blanke Endowed Scholarship will support future generations of NWU students.

Though their paths crossed before, Denny and Margaret McClatchey both remember the event that kickstarted their lifelong bond. Denny believes they both attended a Phi Kappa Tau and Alpha Gamma Delta social event, where they played a boys vs. girls game of touch football. Margaret remembers that they were both in a class with Professor Henry Blanke, where she sat in the front of the class eager to answer all questions while Denny hid in the back with his hood over his head. They also both auditioned for a play directed by one of Margaret’s sorority sisters.

The fateful encounter that set their story in motion occurred on a rainy Friday night after Easter break. Margaret sat reflecting on how her sophomore year hadn’t held the excitement of her first year. Denny altered that course by sitting next to her, interrupting her thoughts. Margaret asked Denny about what it was like to be Catholic. Since Margaret was from New York State, she assumed a last name like McClatchey meant Denny was Catholic. Denny told her he was Methodist, but that he had always wanted to experience Catholic mass. One thing led to another, and soon Margaret was back at her sorority house jumping with joy. She had a date with Denny McClatchey on Sunday to attend mass. However, Denny had other plans. Sunday was too far away, and he called her, asking if she would meet with him Saturday to play miniature golf. The rest, as they say, is history. Their relationship began that Friday night, but their decisions to come to Nebraska Wesleyan are what ultimately set them on this path.

Though bound together since that fateful day, Denny and Margaret’s paths to NWU were unique. Margaret enrolled at Nebraska Wesleyan because her Aunt Maud, who had an inheritance, offered to pay Margaret’s college tuition if she attended Nebraska Wesleyan. Margaret visited campus in June of 1963, and after seeing the Alpha Gamma Delta house, she knew she belonged at NWU. Her mother had been an Alpha Gam when she was in college, and Margaret wanted to continue the legacy. Denny, on the other hand, knew he wanted to attend a Methodist school, and his uncle had briefly attended Nebraska Wesleyan. The distance from his home—200 miles further than the Methodist college down the road—the size of campus and the friendliness of everyone he met sealed the deal.

A Legacy to Leave

Speech and theater professors David Clark and Henry Blanke shaped the McClatcheys’ lives. Denny first met Professor Clark while auditioning for the freshman play. Professor Clark made the theater program engaging and inviting. “We wanted to do our best for the professors in the department, because we would feel bad if we let them down.” Shortly after, Professor Blanke returned from a brief teaching experience elsewhere and brought his own charm. He never forgot anything about his students—the plays they auditioned for, characters they embodied, things they experienced together. Professors Clark and Blanke cultivated a space on campus that not only enabled Denny and Margaret to meet, but also molded them for the rest of their lives.

They gave Denny someone to look up to and respect. They made him want to perform while also teaching him discipline and concentration. He learned how to present himself confidently and broke away from the shy person he was in high school. In return, he became more familiar with himself. The two professors (and his major in philosophy) helped him mature and gave him valuable life skills.

Margaret credits her career to the two professors and their collaborative teaching style. Professor Blanke taught Margaret how to direct and how to teach. His work with Professor Clark showed her the level of teamwork she wanted to achieve in her own teaching. Everything she learned from Professors Blanke and Clark gave her the keys to create a successful theatre program with two other full-time teachers—where they won several national awards. No one truly had as much experience as she did because her professors had her do it all at NWU.

The connections the McClatcheys created with their fellow students and professors have lasted long past commencement day. Every year they reconnect with old friends to wish them well on their birthdays and often text them to keep them in the loop of current events. They made a point of visiting Professors Blanke and Clark when they visited Lincoln—and Professor Clark would visit them when they lived in Colorado. The lasting impact their professors gave them led Denny and Margaret to create a scholarship in their memory, gifting it to NWU in hope that their legacy will live on.

Denny wants the scholarship to be used in a way that honors both Professors Blanke and Clark. The two professors transformed the McClatcheys’ lives in an immeasurable way, giving them a connection to Nebraska Wesleyan that was enhanced by their fraternal houses, individual majors and the friends they made. NWU gave Denny and Margaret experiences to carry with them for the rest of their lives: an exceptional education, connections carried to the end of lives and a desire to give back. They recently worked with Nebraska Wesleyan to establish the David Clark and Henry Blanke Endowed Scholarship as part of a planned gift to the university—their way of their professors and their beloved university. They have been given opportunities they never dreamed they would receive when they first found Nebraska Wesleyan to be home, and their gift will continue give back to NWU even after they pass on.

If you’re considering including NWU in your estate plans, please contact Director of Development Mary Hawk to learn more about the legacy you can leave at Nebraska Wesleyan.

Story by Camryn Melroy '23