2024 - Founders Day - Royster Family [Video]

Authors

Gardner-Webb University

Files

Description

Founders Day 2024 honored the names and legacies of persons and groups who played formative roles in the University’s development. Highlighting this year’s observance on Dec. 5, 2024 was the presentation of two Founders Medals to Dr. Shirley Putnam Toney, dean emerita and professor emerita of the School of Nursing, and the Royster family, extending from Dr. S.S. Royster to David W. Royster III.

With a career spanning more than half a century, Dr. Toney has dedicated her life to advancing nursing education and healthcare in North Carolina. The Royster family have been passionate and tireless supporters of Gardner-Webb for decades, as evidenced by the legacy of Royster Hall (the first campus healthcare clinic and hospital) and service on the Board of Trustees.

The celebration also featured a ceremony to place a historical marker at Bost Gymnasium. The marker honors the building named for Alonzo “Lon” C. Bost, founder of Bost’s Bread bakeries, who donated the funds for the gymnasium in memory of his daughter Jean Bost Gardner. Lon was an enterprising young man who got his start in the baking industry around 1903. By 1909, he bought a café in Shelby, where he baked cake, pies and bread and delivered his goods first by bicycle and then by horse and wagon. Beyond his business achievements, Lon was known for his civic contributions. He supported local education and community development, leaving a legacy of philanthropy.

Publication Date

12-5-2024

Keywords

Founder's Day, Bost Gym, Shirley Toney, David Royster, S. S. Royster, Alonzo Lon Bost, Jean Bost Gardner

Recommended Citation

Gardner-Webb University, "2024 - Founders Day - Royster Family [Video]" (2024). Founder's Day. 2.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-founders-day/2