Alumni of the Year

Biography

Drs. Ken and Marcy (Stewart) Froemke lived 1,200 miles apart until they moved to Bryan College as freshmen, but they didn’t meet at Bryan. Ken graduated in 1967 with a B.S. in Elementary Education the year before Marcy arrived. In 1972, Marcy received her degrees in Music Education and Elementary Education. During her time as a student, she completed a semester of student teaching at Dayton City School where Ken was employed as a history and literature teacher for seventh and eighth graders. While they met at City School rather than college, Bryan was the reason. They have been married 51 years and have one son and two granddaughters. Both remain grateful for all the ways Bryan College favorably impacted their lives.

In 1972, Ken received his M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction at Middle Tennessee State University. After several years at Dayton City School, Ken began work as a counselor at Rhea County High School in 1974. Ken opened the first student counseling office at Bryan in 1978, which he led for ten years. He then joined the teaching faculty in Bryan’s Education Department after completing his D.Phil. degree at Oxford Graduate School. In 1998, Ken became Bryan’s Dean of Instruction and Accreditation Liaison. From 1998-2014, he continued in those roles while coordinating accreditation site visits and serving as a reviewer of on-site visits at fifteen colleges in eight southern states. After retirement in 2014, Ken continued as a part-time accreditation consultant at Bryan until 2018.

Marcy received an M.M. in Organ Performance in 1992 from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and an Ed.D. from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2006. Since 1972, she has served as an elementary classroom teacher at Dayton City School and Walden’s Ridge, a music teacher for Rhea County elementary schools, a private piano teacher, and a pianist/organist for local churches. She has served at Bryan College for over 20 years, first as a part-time member of Bryan’s music faculty and finally as full-time faculty in the Education Department. While at Bryan, Marcy served as Faculty Chair and Faculty Secretary for several years. She has also written eleven novels published by two international publishing houses, Zebra Books and Steeple Hill. Marcy retired from Bryan in 2008.

After a lifetime of living in their college town, Ken and Marcy both feel a strong love and gratitude for Bryan College. It has impacted every facet of their lives professionally, personally, and spiritually. Both feel that God led them here and has blessed them abundantly with a beloved lifetime partner, lifelong friendships with fellow students and faculty, a love for learning, strong biblical principles, and a desire to be light in the world. If asked, both would say, “Choose your college well. Those few years will make all the difference in your life.”