The spring Laker magazine features families with multiple alumni
Before she started at FLCC, Emma (Andrew) Swarthout ’11 got help building her schedule from former students, including her older sister Rebeccah.
And her older sister Sarah.
And her older sisters Abbey, Hannah, and Kathryn.
Emma was the sixth of the Andrew kids, all homeschooled, to attend FLCC. Her brother George followed, and William, the youngest, is currently studying business administration.
Their mother, Colleen Andrew, enrolled her first two daughters at FLCC, thinking an associate degree would be the best proof they were ready for a four-year college.
“It worked so well with the first couple of us that my mom was kind of like, ‘Why fix what’s not broken?’” said Abbey (Andrew) Copenhaver ’08.
The College keeps no records on the number of families in which parents and children, husbands and wives, or multiple siblings attend, though the connections have become increasingly apparent since the first classes began in 1968.
Some alumni marvel at the changes when the next generation attends. Tim Montondo ’88 came back nearly two decades later with his daughter, Rachel, a 2019 accounting graduate.
“It was amazing!” he said. “There was so much new that had been added. It was so cool to see. I had a hard time finding my way around to show her things.”
Sometimes the family tie is not just the College, but a program.
The late Betty Jean McAnn ’73 made a later-in-life decision to become a registered nurse, inspiring her daughter-in-law, Lisa McAnn ’93.
“I was in banking when we moved here from Oklahoma. Betty Jean was the one that encouraged me. She said I had the qualities to get the nursing degree, and she talked highly of Finger Lakes.”
Lisa is now an associate professor in the FLCC nursing department.
Betty Jean’s granddaughter, Alicia McBride, is a 2014 graduate of the program.
Ted Fafinski, a retired Farmington town supervisor, sent both his children to FLCC, and they married alumni. The College took on another dimension in his life when he taught as an adjunct for five years. His family’s connections to FLCC are among many that have grown along with the College.
“FLCC isn’t just a community college,” Ted said. “It’s part of the community.”
