"Tell Me Something Good": Odile Gill Leaves a Legacy for Southeastern Students

Odile Gill remembered Southeastern in a bequest because she loved children, and she appreciated the impact that Southeastern had on her life and the lives of those she cared for so deeply.

Odile Gill is fondly remembered for her generous and enduring love of both children and Southeastern Louisiana University.

Odile Gill remembered Southeastern in a bequest because she loved children, and she appreciated the impact that Southeastern had on her live and the lives of those she cared for so deeply.

In order to provide a lasting legacy for future students of the University, Mrs. Gill initiated a bequest that today provides funding for the Joseph Thomas Gill and Odile Chustz Gill Endowed Scholarship.

A longtime Hammond resident, Mrs. Gill started teaching at the Southeastern Laboratory School in 1946 and had a 40-year career. In 1976, she retired from Southeastern and was named Professor Emeritus of Library Science.

Although Mrs. Gill had no children of her own, she loved her nephew, Roger Chustz, as a son. Chustz, a 1962 Southeastern alumnus, remembers the days when his aunt would read to him and the other students at the Lab School. "Her primary focus was to instill the importance of reading to children," Chustz said. "She remembered Southeastern in a bequest because she loved children, and she appreciated the impact that Southeastern had on her life and the lives of those she cared for so deeply."

Along with Chustz, Hunter and Tracy Durham, neighbors of Mrs. Gill, remember how the neighborhood children appreciated her. "Miss Odile inspired an interest in reading, and we were so disappointed when she moved to the "big library," said Tracy Durham in reference to Mrs. Gill's move from the Lab School to Southeastern's Sims Library.

"Tell me something good," were the words Hunter Durham remembers as her mantra. "During the later years of her life, I remember Miss Odile taking me to look at the many pictures pasted to her refrigerator," he said. "Although she had no children, she referred to the pictures of family and friends as the blessings God had bestowed upon her."

Her longtime friend and advisor, Hammond Mayor Mayson Foster, remembers how excited Mrs. Gill was when he, as president of a local bank, would help balance her checkbook. "Her wish in establishing this endowment was to keep the memory of the Gill family alive."

During her years at Southeastern, Mrs. Gill touched the lives of many appreciative students. As friend and colleague Howard Nichols said, "Miss Odile was most interested in the product coming out of the University System."

There is no way to count the number of children that Mrs. Gill inspired to read or how many children will continue to be blessed through the establishment of the Joseph Thomas Gill and Odile Chustz Gill Endowed Scholarship. Her legacy will help Southeastern ensure that the "product" will continue to meet the standards that she upheld for so many years.