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Personal Reflection/Anecdote

Interview With a Legacy Builder

By Karen Kinney

Kathaleen Tigner Reese was born in 1928—one year before the founding of Delta
Kappa Gamma. She began teaching in 1950 and joined Alpha Zeta Chapter of
the Indiana State Organization in 1957.

I became interested in Kathaleen’s professional history through a chapter project designed to keep
members connected during the pandemic (see Kinney, 2021). As one of the strategies, a team of 10
volunteers called members, not just to “catch up” but also to answer
a “getting to know you” question, with responses published later
in the chapter newsletter. In one instance, members responded to
this question: Why did you become a teacher? Among Kathaleen’s
reasons was the fact that she wanted to direct a marching band. When
I found out her band marched on a basketball court, I had to know
more.
A legacy is defined as something handed down from a
predecessor or from the past. For 65 years, Kathaleen has been
constructing her legacy by her example of a pioneering spirit,
determination, and steadfastness in support of her local chapter. Let’s
Kathaleen Tigner Reese meet this key woman educator.

KK: How did your teaching career begin?
KR: After getting my Bachelor of School Music degree, I had planned to teach in Ohio, but the pay
schedule was much higher in Indiana. I accepted an offer to teach for $2,800 a year at Coesse, a Grades
1–12 school. I was hired to teach band, English, spelling, writing, and physical education. I expected
to have a marching band. Imagine my shock and surprise coming to Indiana from Ohio, a football
state, and finding no football games at which a band might perform. I didn’t realize that Indiana was a
basketball state. I was determined to have a “marching band,” so we marched at the basketball games,
sometimes to the chagrin of the coaches who had to wait while their players changed from wool band
uniforms to basketball shorts.

KK: Were your bands ever able to march at a football game?
KR: No, we never marched at a football game. We did march at all the local parades and the big
Bluffton Street Fair parade. We were a small band, but the kids worked hard, and we marched right
along with the larger bands. We also entered the State Music Contest each year as a concert band. The
kids took great pride in their accomplishments, and together we all formed a great bond that continues to
this day. I organized a band reunion in 1992, and these kids came from different parts of the country to
be together again.

KK: Did you teach at any other schools?
KR: Yes, after 8 years at the Grades 1–12 school, I taught at Etna Troy. It was a Grades 1–8 school
where I taught all grades vocal music and started a junior band.

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