Columbia native Prudence Hutchison ’69 Westholm starts scholarship to honor her mother, Anna Pendleton ’38 Hutchison.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (02/04/2026) The roots of Lindsey Wilson University run deep in the family of Prudence Hutchison ’69 Westholm.
And now her family’s legacy will benefit future generations of Lindsey Wilson students, thanks to the Robert and Prudence Hutchison Westholm Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship honors Westholm’s late mother, Anna Pendleton ’38 Hutchison.
“Lindsey is really a big part of me,” said Westholm, who lives in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and started the scholarship with her husband, retired Army Col. Robert Westholm. “This scholarship means a lot to me because Lindsey Wilson is in my heart. Lindsey Wilson gave me a good foundation to pursue my professional goals.”
Recipients of the scholarship, which is open to all undergraduate students on the A.P. White Campus, will be required to work in the university’s Katie A. Murrell Library in the Holloway Building. Westholm began her library work at Fort Knox, Kentucky, schools and went on to have a distinguished career as a school and public librarian in various locations during her husband’s military career.
‘An important asset to Columbia’
Another reason Westholm wanted to start the scholarship in her mother’s memory was because of the vital role the university plays in Columbia-Adair County.
“Lindsey Wilson is an important asset to Columbia,” said Westholm, who is a Columbia native. “This school means a lot to the community, and the community means so much to Lindsey Wilson as well.”
Her mother, Anna Pendleton, a Greensburg, Kentucky, native, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Fountain Pendleton. She married Columbia resident and hardware merchant Raymond Hutchison in June 1938, soon after graduating from Lindsey Wilson. Prudence’s fraternal grandfather was C.R. “Charley” Hutchison, who opened the longstanding C.R. Hutchison & Sons in 1909, a Columbia hardware store that served the region for more than 60 years.
When it was Westholm’s time to attend college, she enrolled at Lindsey Wilson at the encouragement of her brother, Ray Hutchison Jr., a Columbia attorney and dedicated supporter from the Lindsey Wilson Class of 1960.
“Ray told me, ‘I’d go to Lindsey Wilson over any other place,'” she said. “And I’m really glad I went there because I had some wonderful, wonderful teachers.”
Also her sister, Louella Gore, a retired teacher and faithful supporter of LWU, attended the school for one summer semester. Ray’s daughter, Cynthia Hancock, graduated from Lindsey Wilson in 1983.
Good wishes from President White
Westholm said she learned how “wonderful” her Lindsey Wilson teachers were when she enrolled at the University of Kentucky and found herself one of several hundred students in a classroom, where professors used overhead projectors to teach students. After she earned a bachelor’s degree from UK in English with a minor in library science, Westholm then earned a master’s degree in library science.
Westholm’s mother, whose sister Pauline Pendleton ’32 Moss was a Lindsey Wilson alumna, also had some wonderful teachers while a Lindsey Wilson student — including legendary science professor Elva Goodhue.
“Mother related to me that Miss Goodhue always said that a ‘C’ was a gentleman’s grade,” said Westholm.
Westholm’s mother, who went on to become a teacher of 30 years in Adair County, was also part of Lindsey Wilson history. She was the school’s first representative to the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in Pineville, Kentucky, in 1937; and she was editor-in-chief of the Pine Cone, Lindsey Wilson’s former yearbook, when it returned from a five-year hiatus.
Westholm has her mother’s copy of the yearbook, along with her class pin. The 1938 Pine Cone was dedicated to Aaron Pancoast “A.P.” White, Lindsey Wilson’s second president who was persuaded by students to bring back the annual publication.
On the dedication page, he wrote a note to Anna Pendleton: “I wish you the best of success and honors in your life work.”
For more information about the Robert and Prudence Hutchison Westholm Endowed Scholarship, contact the Lindsey Wilson Alumni Office at alumni@lindsey.edu or 270-384-8400.
Prudence Hutchison ’69 Westholm of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, holds a copy of the 1938 Lindsey Wilson “Pine Cone” yearbook, which features her late mother, Anna Pendleton ’38 Hutchison, on the lower left side. Westholm and her husband, retired Army Col. Robert Westholm, have started the Robert and Prudence Hutchison Westholm Endowed Scholarship at Lindsey Wilson University to honor her mother. Her mother was editor in chief of the 1938 “Pine Cone.”
Prudence Hutchison ’69 Westholm of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, reviews the 1938 Lindsey Wilson “Pine Cone” yearbook, which her late mother, Anna Pendleton ’38 Hutchison, served as editor in chief. Westholm and her husband, retired Army Col. Robert Westholm, have started the Robert and Prudence Hutchison Westholm Endowed Scholarship at Lindsey Wilson University to honor her mother. Her mother was editor in chief of the 1938 “Pine Cone.”
Anna Pendleton ’38 Hutchison was born in Greensburg, Kentucky, but she settled in Columbia after marrying hardware merchant Raymond Hutchison in June 1938, soon after graduating from Lindsey Wilson College. C.R. Hutchison & Sons founded in 1909, served the region for more than 60 years. Hutchison’s daughter Prudence Hutchison ’69 Westholm of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and her husband, retired Army Col. Robert Westholm, have started the Robert and Prudence Hutchison Westholm Endowed Scholarship at Lindsey Wilson University to honor her mother.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)