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Jonathan Williams | The Appalachian
Roseanne Peacock has enjoyed 30 years of marriage to Chancellor Ken E. Peacock. |
Meet ASU's first lady: Mrs. Peacock
by Anna Oakes
Senior Staff Writer
This week, Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock celebrates his first year as the leader of Appalachian State University. In June, he will celebrate 30 years of marriage to his wife, Roseanne.
Appalachian’s first lady said her favorite thing about the university is the students.
“It is never boring,” she said. “You all never cease to amaze us – you’re always evolving and keeping us young.”
Peacock grew up an only child in Winston-Salem. She attended East Carolina University as an art major, and after graduation she moved back home, using her talents to create arrangements for a local florist.
It was inside this flower shop that Mr. Peacock first asked for a date.
“He was getting flowers for his roommate’s wedding, and he just thought, ‘I will just please everybody and ask her out,’ knowing full well I wouldn’t [accept],” she said. “Well, I did.”
Mr. and Mrs. Peacock, who attended the same church, were married 11 months later.
“Life has never been the same,” she said.
The newlyweds moved to Baton Rouge, La., so the groom could attend Louisiana State University. In 1981, Roseanne started her own business organizing special events and creating decor.
The Peacocks have two sons: Chris, 27, who recently moved from Charlotte to Boone, and Brian, 23, a North Carolina State University graduate now working in a hospital.
As the campus’ leading lady, Peacock stays very busy attending meetings and advisory boards, joining the chancellor for special events and planning and hosting events on campus and at the Appalachian House.
When she has time, she enjoys working in the yard, flowers and swimming.
She also chairs the Boone United Methodist Church’s annual bazaar, which has raised $53,000 a year for two years.
Mrs. Peacock said she would like to see businesswomen on and off campus work together in the future.
“This last year has been a real learning experience,” Peacock said.
Special events this year, such as the Appalachian Caravan and the Installation, required a lot of planning. The Appalachian Caravan visited 18 cities last fall, sharing the chancellor’s visions for the campus with alumni and parents, she said.
“If they can’t get up to the mountains, the mountains can go to them,” Peacock said.
“That meant a lot of time on the road,” Office of Public Affairs Editor and Senior Information Officer Linda A. Coutant said.
Peacock, who had to be at six different places yesterday, said, “There’s not enough time in the day some days.”
Unfortunately, she said, the result is each group cannot always get 100 percent all the time.
The chancellor’s wife said she is looking forward to the future at Appalachian – a university that now receives more applicants than the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Coutant pointed out.
“I see Appalachian becoming a really prominent school in western North Carolina,” Peacock said.
Peacock said the chancellor’s mother, referred to by her grandsons as “Granny P,” recently moved to Boone and will attend the week’s activities.
“This has to be a very special moment for her,” she said.
Peacock said many different groups will be highlighted during this week’s Installation festivities.
“This is what we’re all inheriting – it’s not just all about Ken,” she said. “It is Appalachian’s history; we’re all fortunate to be here at this moment in time.”
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