To Mr. Robert J. Small and Family,

I want to give my deep condolences to you, your sons, and their families.

Dr. Small was my mentor. She modeled how I now interact with my students as a professor and a librarian. To borrow a term from the ministry, she was my mother in academia, with every bit of the nurturing and guidance implied in that statement. It is that sense of mother-kindness that I loved about Dr. Small.

I clearly remember Dr. Small taking time to talk to me about matters ranging from diagramming sentences, to marriage, to writing articles. When she hired me to work in the English and Other Languages Department at Huston-Tillotson, I learned not only about the rigors of teaching, but I also got a look into the heart of a masterful and devoted teacher. I will be eternally grateful for her guidance and initiation into the academic life.

As I progressed through college, seminary, and library school, Dr. Small congratulated me on those accomplishments. When I married my wife and began my own family, she and Mr. Small celebrated those milestones. When my parents died, she was there with comforting words. When I became a tenured associate professor and ordained minister, her joy was clear.

Dr. Small has been a great constant in my adult life, and I will continue to provide her example to those students I connect with. I will miss our conversations deeply.

As I write these words, I regret not being there with you to better honor the life of your beloved wife and mother. (She is worthy of the highest honors possible.) Mr. Small, I have learned much from your example of love and devotion to your wife over the years, and I hope to remain your friend.

With sympathy,

Herbert W. McGuin, III and Family