Supporting his beloved alma mater, and the Northwestern State athletic program, has been a passion of Glenn Talbert’s since he graduated in 1963.
So the creation of the Glenn & James R. “Bucky” Talbert Scholarship supporting NSU Athletics won’t raise any eyebrows among his friends, and anyone who knows of his devotion to NSU.
“Doing this has been on my bucket list for a while. Northwestern’s been good to me,” said Talbert, a longtime successful State Farm Insurance agent in Shreveport who is in the university’s Long Purple Line alumni Hall of Distinction, and the Demons’ Graduate N-Club Hall of Fame for his athletic accomplishments as a football player.
Talbert and his brother grew up in Moss Bluff, 10 miles north of Lake Charles, and were standouts at Gillis High School in an area now served by Sam Houston High School.
“Bucky came to Northwestern a year after I did, in 1960, and ran track. He was a good quarter-miler and ran on the mile relay team and in the open quarter,” said Talbert, who competed in football and track and field for the Demons.
“We were very close. He was 49 when he passed away, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. I wanted to include him, and I called Martha Kay (Smiley), who was his wife then. She contributed the same amount I did.”
The gift is the latest to NSU Athletics as part of the Perpetually Purple endowed giving program managed by the Demons Unlimited Foundation.
The goal is to grow the endowment, through outright donations or deferred gifts, over the next five years from the current $1.7 million level to over $5 million. So far, gifts have come from former athletes and their families, supporters of the university and most notably, iconic retired president Dr. Randy Webb and his wife, Brenda.
To inquire about the Perpetually Purple program, contact Greg Burke (burkeg@nsula.edu, 318-357-5251), or Haley Blount (blounth@nsula.edu, 318-357-4278). Information is also available on the NSUDemons.com website.
(Photo caption) Bucky Talbert, and Glenn Talbert at NSU’s first home football game after the scholarship was announced.