In Memoriam: Lois A. Lovern, Assistant to Three UVA Presidents

Lois Lovern headshot

Lois Lovern worked at UVA for 52 years. (Photo by Peggy Harrison)

Lois A. Lovern, who worked at the University of Virginia through momentous changes on Grounds over 52 years beginning in 1958, died July 5 in Charlottesville at age 75. She assisted three UVA presidents before retiring in 2010.

A Charlottesville native, Lovern first worked for physics chair Jesse W. Beams, an award-winning experimental physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. In a 2008 interview, she said she counted him among her mentors, along with Elizabeth Purvis, a longtime secretary in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, “who I believe first took dictation from UVA’s first president, Edwin Alderman,” Lovern quipped.

The late Frank L. Hereford Jr., who served as UVA president from 1974 to 1985, was a physics alumnus and also held Beams as a mentor. After Hereford was appointed president, he hired Lovern as his secretary. She worked through his tenure and that of subsequent presidents Robert M. O’Neil and John T. Casteen III (whom Hereford had hired as dean of admission).

As an administrative assistant in the Office of the President, Lovern was constantly required to be an ambassador for the University. The Alumni Association had recognized her with its Distinguished Service Award in 1987.

The President’s Office honored her in 2008, when she received an Outstanding Contribution Award. Nancy Rivers, chief of staff and associate vice president for administration, wrote in nominating her, “Ms. Lovern’s traditional work ethic and longevity, combined with her ability to embrace the latest technology over the span of a 50-year career, is priceless.”

Among Lovern’s countless tasks were coordinating travel arrangements for the president and others, writing condolence letters, being the liaison to the Retired Faculty Association and polishing the mace carried by the Grand Marshal during Final Exercises.

In 2008, Casteen said of Lovern and two of her close coworkers, finance director Lynda Birckhead and Board of Visitors clerk Jeanne Bailes, “These three extraordinary women exemplify the finest qualities that we value in our employees. Each has served the University for decades with great competency, compassion and common sense. The University is a better and stronger place because of their long service here and their abiding dedication.”

Birckhead, who was the last of the trio to retire, said they still got together for monthly dinners and helped each other, especially in times of need. Lovern, an only child with no family, was rich in friends at UVA and her church, she said.

“She was one of the finest persons I’ve ever known. She did everything right,” Birckhead said.

Lovern once named the Pavilion VIII garden her favorite spot on Grounds, saying: “I loved being in Pavilion VIII when it was the President’s Office. You felt a part of the Academical Village. I always watched the coming of spring by walking through the gardens at lunchtime.”

A funeral service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 735 Park Street.

Charlottesville Daily Progress obituary.

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