Ruth Ann Wefald said it felt “overwhelming” to have her late husband, former Kansas State University president Jon Wefald, memorialized on campus through his love of butterflies.
“I think he’s smiling in heaven,” Ruth Ann said of her husband. “I loved him with all my heart.”
Wefald died in April at age 84 at his home in Minnesota. The university recognized his legacy during a ceremony Friday with the unveiling of a new street sign for Butterfly Lane on campus. The road is now officially renamed Wefald’s Butterfly Lane. About 40 people attended the ceremony, including members of the Wefald family, university officials, and former president Richard Myers and his wife, Mary Jo.
Ruth Ann said her husband was obsessed with the monarch butterflies which migrate across North America annually. She said he would often call for university staff to come look at the butterflies congregated in the trees surrounding the president’s home on campus.
“He was, in a way, kind of a renaissance guy,” Ruth Ann said. “There were many things he was passionate about, you know. He loved Coach Bill Snyder and building the football program.”
Snyder also attended the ceremony. He told The Mercury he rejected Jon Wefald’s offer to coach K-State football three times before finally accepting.
“He was very persistent, and I appreciated that about him,” Snyder said. “He was a good man.”
Snyder said he saw Jon “probably every other day” and enjoyed developing a friendship with him. Wefald came to Manhattan in 1986 as the 12th president of K-State. He took over at a time of declining enrollment, faculty departures and a deflated football program. He is widely credited with turning around the fortunes of the university, including the football team through the hiring of Snyder in 1989, and improving relationships between students and administrators on campus.
His presidency lasted from July 1986 through June 2009, marking the second-longest tenure in the 159-year history of the university. Only James McCain, president for 25 years, lasted longer. Current K-State president Richard Linton and his wife, Sally, helped reveal the renamed street sign. Linton said when he was first announced as president of the university, the first person to call and congratulate him was Jon Wefald.
“Although I never had a chance to meet Jon in person, I will be eternally grateful for his support and his counsel,” Linton said. “I had a phone call with him about every week, and none of those phone calls were short.”
Linton said it was ironic that Jon Wefald’s main challenges during his presidency are also his, namely declining student enrollment.
“Many of his strategies were highly impactful and helped to shape the K-State we know today,” Linton said.
As part of the ceremony, Linton presented Ruth Ann with a replica of the street sign bearing her husband’s name. The sign is surrounded by a frame handcrafted by Larry Melton, a former carpenter in the university’s Division of Facilities for more than 30 years. Linton said the frame is made from wood from a 70-year-old white oak tree that was planted during the McCain tenure on the west side of McCain Auditorium. The tree was removed from the grounds to allow for expansion of the building in 2020.
Staley School of Leadership associate professor Andrew Wefald said his father “poured his heart and soul” into K-State.
“Our family is grateful to accept and recognize this honor,” Andrew said, “and is happy to share this moment with my father’s friends and former colleagues.”
