SIOUX FALLS -- On Saturday afternoon (Nov. 25), the University of Sioux Falls Athletics Department will honor the Hey Family at a dedication reception of the Gladys Holm Hey Lobby at the Stewart Center on the USF campus. At the dedication reception at approximately 5:30 p.m., USF will welcome and recognize the Hey Family for their generous gift in reshaping the welcome area of the Stewart Center. The ceremony will be held between the USF Women's Basketball and USF Men's Basketball games with Southwest Minnesota State which begin at 4 p.m.

At dedication reception, USF Director of Athletics will deliver a welcome followed by remarks from Associate Director of External Relations Ben Krush and Chuck Hey, who represent the Hey Family. In addition, USF will also recognize the Hey Family during halftime of the USF Men's Basketball game.

USF Athletics honors trailblazing Gladys Holm Hey

Gladys Holm Hey always had a place in her heart for the University of Sioux Falls.

At the private, Christian, Liberal Arts University, she blazed a trail that generations later inspired her children and grandchildren. 

In honor of the late Gladys Holm Hey and her unbridled passion for USF, the Hey family has made a generous gift to USF, which reshapes the welcome area of the Stewart Center on the USF campus. As part of the gift, the upgraded area has been named the Gladys Holm Hey Lobby. The improvements included a new ticket area, rebranded lobby with student-athlete photos and logos, four offices and more.  

"I am probably more excited than anybody truly knows," said her son, Chuck Hey, who founded SBI, a Sioux Falls-based company that handles team busing needs for USF. "It makes me feel good that her legacy will be memorialized at a school she loved. It is where she began to cut a path of leadership and hope," he said.

According to Ben Krush, Associate Athletic Director of External Relations at USF, the Hey gift transforms the Stewart Center with greater consumer access to tickets while showcasing USF Athletics through branding and imagery. In addition, the lobby features a pictorial perspective of Gladys Holm Hey, outlining her impact on the USF campus more than 85 years ago.

"What I have learned at the University of Sioux Falls is that we have a group of alumni and friends that deeply care about the student experience," said Krush, who worked with the Hey family to develop a project that would carry on the legacy of Gladys Holm Hey.

"People, like the Hey family, show they care by constantly being accessible, ingraining themselves in the school while also providing gifts to enhance the student experience," added Krush, who developed and shared with the family a retrospective scrapbook of images that captured the essence of Gladys Holm Hey.

"It (scrapbook) means a lot to us," said Hey. "It really captures who my mother was at USF. It allowed us to see that this type of project fit who she was. It is the right thing to do," he added.

According to Director of Athletics Josh Snyder, USF is moved by the family's generosity.

"We are all touched by the generosity of Chuck Hey and his family. This is a gift that will impact student-athletes and their families for generations. And, knowing how much USF meant to Gladys, we are humbled by this gift and appreciative to the Hey family in ways more than words can say," he said.

Making impact at USF
At the urging of her brother, Alfred, Gladys decided to go to college at a difficult time when families everywhere faced struggles. Her father, John, a farmer near Colman, had died at age 37, and her mother, Anne, worked hard to ensure the family carried on.

It wasn't an easy decision. The country was in a depression following the stock market crash in 1929. One of 11 children, she headed to USF (then called Sioux Falls College) with little coin in her pocket – if any.

Strong, courageous and independent, she placed trust in her self-reliance. Upon arriving at USF, she found a place to stay in which she would work (do laundry, cleaning, household chores) for room and board, related Hey.

"Thing is, she worked so many hours that she would struggle through classes, including falling asleep," said Hey, noting his mother might work seven or eight hours after being at USF all day. "One day, a professor called her aside, telling her she wouldn't make it through (college) if she didn't change her approach," he said.

After he learned about her class/work load, the professor went to the university president, Charles Sattgast, who made a contact and told Gladys that she would be moving – immediately. Despite her protests, she was convinced the move was in her best interest and was taken to the house of Judge Raymond Dougherty, who would take a federal appointment in 1933.

"She continued to work (for Judge Daugherty) but not at the pace before, which opened up opportunities at the college," said Hey.

At USF, she thrived. With a competitive spirit and a relentless drive, Gladys, found success in basketball and soccer while also participating in USF's Mixed Chorus. While women's sports did not receive the attention of men's athletics in that time period, women, like Gladys competed hard, setting a leadership example for others, male or female, to follow.

Those co-curricular endeavors fueled Gladys' interest and participation in the Pep Club as well as the Women's Athletic Association. She served as an officer for both groups.

Earning Degree, Teaching and Courtship
While athletics and other extracurricular activities provided a collegiate balance, she had a goal and that was to become a teacher. In 1932, Gladys Holm earned her two-year teaching degree in the year that USF, celebrated its 49th anniversary.

She promptly took a teaching position in Wakonda, S.D., living on a nearby farm. It was living in the country where Holm showed her resilience and toughness. She chipped in with chores and would walk two miles to the school every day, rain, shine or snow.  

"The school was so cold most days she wanted to arrive an hour early to start a fire to warm up the school," said Hey, noting that his mom was not only a teacher but a janitor, nurse and even a second mom.

One day, Holm began walking to school when the owner of the farm where she lived said the snow was coming down heavy and she wouldn't make it to the school on foot.
"Worried that children might be there, she said, 'I have to go. Someone might show up,'" Hey said.

So, the farmer saddled up a mule. She was able to get on the mule which then wouldn't move. For 45 minutes, the mule just stood there. "She looked at the farmer and said, 'I guess I am not going,''' Hey said.

In 1932, she and Cyril (Hey), originally of rural Faulkton (SD) and later of Dell Rapids (SD), began a courtship, including weekend trips to barn dances and down to Yankton to listen to the emerging musician, Lawrence Welk.  Cyril Hey worked at an implement in Colman (SD) and would travel to visit her every couple of weeks. In June, 1932, they were married and moved to Flandreau.

As a young mom, Gladys drew on the strength of her mother, who with 11 kids made things work. When Gladys' father, John, died at a young age, the family had only a buggy to transport a large family to church, town, etc. Her mother, Anne Holm, facing a daunting task of working a farm and raising a large family was able to buy a Model T. With money tight, dress clothes were at a premium and shared by the children, especially the brothers. Attending Church was another shared matter. One week, some of the brothers would stay at home to do chores while the others would go to church. Eventually, one of the older brothers helped the family buy a second Model T and transportation issues improved.

Those experiences as a child helped Gladys understand the value of being frugal and trying to make due with as little as possible. But it also fostered the value of hard work, faith and family, values she carried her entire life and passed on to her children.

Family Life
After moving to Chester to start a JI Case Dealership, Gladys and Cyril had their first of two children when Chuck was born. The couple moved back to Flandreau where Marvin was born. Cyril served as a tractor mechanic at the IH Dealership until he picked up a position as manager of the Jasper, Minn., implement. By 1947, Cyril Hey was owner of the implement in Jasper. Even then, Gladys would always be working as they raised about 500 chickens and she was always sewing and making clothes.

Like many women in that generation, clothes making was common. Plus, Gladys, who whistled at times to relieve the stress, baked frequently while tending to a huge garden.
From those days, Chuck and his brother, Marvin, learned the value of hard work and being efficient with money.

"Throughout our days growing up, my mother was always encouraging us to learn, get ahead, and make it on your own," said Hey, noting that he and his brother, Marvin, picked up money handling paper routes and working in the grocery store.

The siblings also learned the importance of remaining true to one's faith.

For the Hey family, things weren't just one faith. When Gladys, a Lutheran, and Cyril, a Catholic, married, neither church nor some family and friends were pleased, especially when they had the service performed by the Justice of the Peace.

"Neither Chuck nor Marvin were baptized until Chuck was a ninth grader and due to be confirmed in the Lutheran Church," said his wife, Marjory, a long-time friend Chuck married in 2015 after his first wife, Patsy, had passed in 2013.

Through it all, the Hey brothers learned the importance of family, faith and hard work

After graduating from Jasper High School, Chuck attended the Minnesota School of Business for two years. Marvin attended Nettleton Commercial College in Sioux Falls. After five years working at his father's implement, Chuck had an idea to take over the local school's bus service. He and his wife, Patsy, were a little startled when they received the contract and bought the buses. From there, they expanded in 1972 with the contract for Willmar (MN) Schools. In 1974, they also took over the busing needs for Marshall (MN) Schools.

They continued to think of expansion. In 1979, the Heys bid on and received the busing contract from the Sioux Falls School District and created School Bus, Inc. In 1986, they sold the Marshall Service to his brother, Marvin and his wife Janet, who are proud of their four children. Laurie, is the manager of the Utilization Review Department for Avera McKennan Hospital, and her husband Tim, have three children: Emily, Katie, and Ashley and grandson Dexter.  Jayne, and her husband Paul are agents for the American Insurance Agency Insurance in St. Louis Park, Minn. Thomas, and his wife Jennifer, are co-owners of Southwest Coaches in Marshall Minn., and have two children: Samantha and Sydney.  James, and his wife Debra, are co-owners of Southwest Coaches in Marshall Minn., and have three children: Jasmine, James, Jonathan and grandson Croix.

Like his brother Marvin, Chuck is proud of his children. Steven and his wife, Donna, have six grown children (Andrew, Laura, Alexander, April, Andrea, and Rachael). Steven has been president of School Bus, Inc., for 19 years. Chuck's eldest daughter, Mali, who was a special education teacher, then a stay-at-home mom, and now a paraprofessional for the Moundsview School District in Shoreview, Minn. Mali, who was named after her great grandmother, has two children (Zachary and Katherine). His other daughter, Mary, lives in Waconia, Minn., where she is also a stay-at-home mom after serving a time as a middle school counselor. She and her husband, Dan, have three children (twin daughters Abby and Eva and son Logan).

As Chuck reflected, he noted that the family is pleased about continuing the leadership legacy of their mother. He is also delighted that the family business has a strong partnership with USF.

"This relationship with USF means so much to the family," he said. "Our mother cut a path at USF that we didn't necessarily know about for years. But now, we know it fits who she was. She provided guidance to our family to always push ahead but do so by holding true to values of faith, family and hard work. We hope others can be inspired by her leadership and example she set."