May 14, 2024
Celebrating BLSA
Celebrating an Extraordinary Legacy Pat and Marshall Nuckols’ estate gift supports scholarships and student opportunities.
Devoted supporters and engaged members of the Washington and Lee community, Patricia K. and E. Marshall Nuckols Jr. ’33, ’35L were recognized posthumously as Honored Benefactors of the university during a special ceremony on May 17. The couple left $6.5 million to W&L through their estate, and the family created the E. Marshall Nuckols Jr. ’33, ’35L and Patricia K. Nuckols Endowment with the extraordinary gift. The endowment will provide full scholarship support to undergraduate students as well as fund student opportunities including travel, research and internships that are part of the full W&L experience.
“Pat and Marshall were very generous, loved to talk to young people and wanted them to learn as much as they possibly could,” says Orville Dewey, the couple’s nephew. “They never sought the limelight, but they were always focused on the future. This gift came down to the students, to give back to the kids and make an education possible.”
The Nuckolses’ niece, Susan Thurston, says the couple made a lasting impact on at least three generations of their family, teaching them values and life lessons while encouraging curiosity and tenacity.
“They weren’t bold about it, but they were change agents, and they wanted to give people opportunities,” Thurston says. “They knew what people needed, and that’s why their money is going to scholarship support and the Washington and Lee experience — to provide students the opportunities they were lucky enough to have in different ways, hers through traveling the world on field hockey and lacrosse teams and his through attending W&L.”
Cumulatively, the Nuckolses generously gave more than $7.3 million to the university. Through her own significant estate gift, Pat contributed to the E. Marshall Nuckols Jr. Honor Scholarship, originally established by the Barra Foundation in Marshall’s memory after his passing. The couple also supported the construction of the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Archives in Lewis Hall and made regular, generous contributions to the law and undergraduate annual funds.
A dual graduate, Marshall was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa and Order of the Coif. He was elected vice president of his class, worked on the Ring-tum Phi and was a member of the swimming, diving and football teams. Marshall earned his undergraduate degree in 1933 and graduated at the top of his W&L Law class in 1935.
In 1942, after practicing law at a firm in Washington, D.C., he joined the Campbell Soup Company. He held several positions there, rising to senior vice president for administrative services, the role from which he retired in 1976. Nuckols was a dedicated alumnus and took his service to the university seriously. He served four years on the Alumni Board, the last year as president. He joined the university’s Board of Trustees in 1969 and served as rector from 1974 to 1981. He also co-chaired the committee for a decade-long capital campaign that concluded in 1981, raising more than $67.5 million.
In the winter 1974 edition of the W&L Magazine, Marshall thoughtfully answered a series of questions as the newly appointed rector of the board, making his passion for W&L and work to advance its mission clear. In response to a question posed regarding how he could possibly have time to volunteer and serve as W&L’s rector, Marshall responded:
“It has to be because I have a very high regard for Washington and Lee. It means a great deal to me. […] I have rather heavy job demands I have to meet, but to the extent I have additional time and energy I don’t know any place I would rather spend them than on Washington and Lee. It is that important to me.”
Marshall strongly advocated for fellow alumni support, encouraging them to give back to enrich the many opportunities and increasing caliber of academic quality at Washington and Lee. “The primary goal has to be to keep Washington and Lee the outstanding, strong, private educational institution that it is today and to build on its present strengths in every way that we possibly can,” he said in the article. Marshall passed away in 1994.
In 1948, Marshall married Patricia “Pat” Kenworthy, who was a captain of the United States field hockey team (USFHA). At the beginning of World War II, she volunteered with the American Red Cross Motor Corps and became a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), for which she trained Army pilots and flew AT-6s and AT-25s. Following the war, she was a flying instructor, continued her USFHA career on global traveling teams and was a member of the U.S. women’s national lacrosse team. She met Marshall when he signed up to learn to fly. According to Thurston, she was his flight instructor.
Pat was awarded the WWII American Campaign and Victory medals in 1988, and as a member of the WASP, she received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010. She was also one of the charter inductees into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame. While living in Vermont, Pat taught skiing at Bromley Mountain Ski Resort and was named one of SKI Magazine’s top 100 ski instructors. She joined the local ice hockey team, the Rusty Blades, at 76, and she was an accomplished skier, golfer and equestrian. Pat passed away in 2022 after a life lived to the fullest — with not a moment wasted resting on laurels — at the age of 100.
The Nuckols family legacy at W&L continues with Pat and Marshall’s grandson Jeff Nuckols ’92 and great-grandson Connor Higgins ’20.
Pat was interviewed in 2010 and said she and Marshall were pleasantly surprised when they learned Jeff would attend W&L.
“The day Jeff graduated was a day for celebration as far as Marshall was concerned for he was so very proud of him,” Pat said.
“My grandfather set an example for me with his career and his leadership at W&L,” Jeff Nuckols says. “Leadership seemed to find him, and he wore those roles of businessman and volunteer well.”
Higgins earned a bachelor of science in biology and minored in philosophy at W&L. He is currently a research associate at ProteoWise, a biotech company founded by scientists from Yale University. Higgins attended the May ceremony honoring his great-grandparents along with Thurston and Dewey.
“I’m so excited to share this experience, not only with other members of our family, but also with the W&L community. Pat and Marshall have touched my life and my family’s lives deeply, and having a chance to celebrate their generosity with the university speaks volumes about who they were,” Higgins says. “They were proud to create a legacy of learning and leadership for future generations and to give back to the school that gave Marshall so much.”
