Fannie Whitenack Libbey has the distinction of being the Founder who lived the longest. She was born on March 31, 1848, and enrolled at Monmouth College when she was 16. On October 9, 1871, she married Howard Libbey. They raised their seven children in Red Wing, Minnesota. She died sometime in 1941 at the age of 93. The changes she saw in her lifetime were astounding – from horse and buggy to Model T Fords to airplanes. One of the most amazing changes she saw was in the growth of her beloved Pi Beta Phi. Its beginnings were traced to a conversation she had with some friends on the porch of her family home on an April evening in 1867. On the 28th of April, she and a group of her friends acted upon that conversation and formed an organization of their own, I.C. Sorosis (the Former name of Pi Beta Phi). She attended more conventions than any other Founder. She attended the re-installation of her beloved Illinois Alpha. The five Founders who attended, though they were in the twilight of their lives, became again the group of young girls of 1867.The last convention she attended was the 1940 Pasadena Convention. When she gave the toast at the banquet, most in attendance knew it might be the last time a Founder addressed convention. Mrs. Brown’s described the scene, “All voices in the hall hushed as she arose – she stood quietly for a moment, handsome in a rich black evening dress, her white hair shining under the lights, her lovely face aglow with deep feeling – and in her clear, soft voice, spoke the last words from a Founder.” Mrs. Libbey said: “Dear Pi Beta Phis, I am glad to be here with you tonight. For all of us this has been a week of helpful meetings and pleasant times together. When very young we learned that ‘Little drops of water’ made the mighty ocean, ‘Little grains of sand’ made the pleasant land. Most great things have small beginnings – so it was with I.C. – Pi Beta Phi. Seventy-three years ago only twelve girls in the world were wearing our golden arrows, now we are numbered by the thousands. The loyalty and service of the thousands make Pi Beta Phi large and strong. At the first mention of forming a club, the Founders were thrilled. We had a Vision. Right then we decided to attach ourselves to Monmouth College, as a barnacle to a ship, without so much as a ‘by your leave,’ to expand, to enter other colleges, universities and states, to ask Elizabeth Cady Stanton to permit us to make her an honorary member. This we did to give prestige to our club. “Do you not think we had a Vision? Dear Pi Beta Phis, Wherever you may be, Much good may you do, And the right to the last, To the best, be true.” Sources Pi Beta Phi https://piphiblog.org/happy-birthday-to-fannie-whitenack-libbey/