When alumnus Jerry Hull came to MSU in 1949, he had no idea it would be his family’s home for the next 60 years.
As the years went on, his family became rooted in MSU and the East Lansing community. Two of his grandchildren would even go on to live in the same residence hall as him.
Hull, who has a BS and PhD in Horticulture from MSU and later worked for the Department of Horticulture, grew up on a fruit farm in Ohio. When he first arrived, he lived in cylindrical-shaped metal huts with 15 other men while Shaw Hall was being built.
“There was not sufficient housing on campus for students so they put up this field of huts,” Hull said. “One day I got a phone call (saying) we have a room ready. So I packed up my clothes and moved over there.”
He said Shaw Hall was the first building south of the river. At the time, all of campus was going to be north of the river and everything south would be agriculture.
“In fact, every spring we’d open our windows and we could smell the cows,” Hull said. “Shaw was a real step up. It was like going to the Taj Mahal after being in that quonset hut.”
Since then, Hull’s family has continued to live and learn in the MSU community. All four of his children took classes at MSU – two received degrees and all three of his sons-in-law received degrees from there. Additionally, three of his four grandchildren are currently studying at MSU.
“We grew up here in East Lansing, and all of us went to school here at one point or another,” Hull’s daughter and alumna Mimi Patterson said.
Hull’s granddaughter, accounting senior Kristen Patterson, moved into Shaw when she was a sophomore, exactly 60 years after he moved out. Though it was her first year living in Shaw, Kristen was no stranger to MSU’s campus.
“I grew up being around campus because of those two (Hull and Mimi Patterson) and because my dad has worked here since before I was born,” she said. “So it was no secret that I wanted to come here.”
Accounting sophomore and Kristen Patterson’s cousin Ethan Wingrove also currently lives in Shaw.
Kristen and Mimi Patterson both said growing up in East Lansing and having parents who worked for the university kept them involved in the community. They went to sporting events, classes, workshops, and cafeterias on campus.
“I referred to MSU as ‘we’ my whole life. It’s kind of nice that we all went here and we’re all from the area,” Kristen Patterson said.
But Mimi Patterson said she thinks the most valuable thing MSU gave their family is education.
“It provided a living for him (Jerry), and it’s providing a living for us, and hopefully it’ll provide a living for (Kristen) with that degree,” Mimi Patterson said.
