June Nordham Mashburn, who died late last month at the age of 103, was the last surviving member of the 1929 graduating class of Little Rock Junior College. There were eight members of the graduating class, which was the first in school history. The institution is now known as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and it enrolls more than 13,000 students.
On the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2009 she was quoted as saying, “It has grown and grown so much. I am just so proud. It’s been wonderful that so many have been able to go there. And I’m just so proud I could live to see it.”
Mashburn was a native of Jasper, Arkansas, but moved the Little Rock at the age of 2. When she graduated from high school she enrolled in the new Little Rock Junior College so she could become a teacher. After graduating she taught in Little Rock and other local school districts for 48 years. She continued to teach Sunday school class until the age of 100.