Dan and Jenice Bigbee celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary Aug. 7.
Dan received his master;s degree from Oklahoma A&M (OSU) in1957. He earned his doctorate at Michigan State in 1962. He was recruited to join the faculty at Alamaya Agricultural College in Ethiopia.
In the 1950s, His Majesty Haile Selasse visited Oklahoma A&M to ask for assistance in establishing the first agricultural college in Ethiopia.
Dan was to be part of the first faculty at the college. The Bigbees moved to Alamaya with their four children. Their fifth child Charlotte Louis was born in a French Hospital in Dire Dawa.
After four years at the college and their trip around the world, Dan joined the faculty at the University of Maryland.
Jenice earned her bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Maryland. After graduation, Jenice worked for the Smithsonian; Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Congress – America Indian Policy Review Commission.
In 1978, Dan joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska and Jenice earned a master’s degree in economics development at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While in Nebraska, Jenice was the executive director of the Lincoln Indian Center.
After retirement the Bigbee’s searched for a permanent home. Although they owned property in New Mexico, Arkansas and a farm in Comanche County, Oklahoma, the family decided to move to the “little college town” of Stillwater where they lived 1952-57, and where Dan Jr. was born.
Dan and Jenice have 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. What a joy they are.
They hope to enjoy many more years here in Stillwater, Minnesota
