A profile of
First Lady Olivia Portera

by Maridith Geuder

Olivia Portera says her earliest memories of her future husband Mack date to the first grade in West Point. "He was the boyfriend of one of my best girlfriends," she laughs. "We've known each other forever."

Both natives of West Point, they began to date when Olivia was a sophomore in high school and Mack was a junior. She worked after school at Rose Drug Co.; he worked at his family's business, the Grand Shoe Shop.

Both chose to attend Mississippi State, where Olivia sought a degree in secondary education with a specialty in social studies. "My father is a Mississippi State graduate," she explains, "and he originally went to West Point to coach." After serving as superintendent of schools, Homer Catledge became hospital administrator for what was then the Ivy Memorial Hospital, a position he held for 20 years.

The teaching bug bit his daughter early. "I was really active in my church, First Presbyterian, and taught Sunday school," she said. "I always knew that I wanted to teach."

Her Mississippi State practice teaching led to her first job-and to a teaching career that lasted for 16 years.

"To finish my degree, I practice taught at Montpelier (in rural Clay County)," she said. "It was a small school and there were very few high school students. To finish my hours, I had to teach elementary students. I loved it."

Montpelier apparently loved her, too, because the school offered her a job. She graduated on Jan. 17, 1969. "Mack and I were married one week later."

Once Mack finished his master's degree in political science at Mississippi State, the Porteras moved to Tuscaloosa, where he worked on a doctorate. Oldest son Anthony was born in 1971; John Paul was born in 1972. "Both were born at the hospital in West Point," Olivia says.

Olivia began to teach in the Tuscaloosa public schools in 1978 when John Paul entered kindergarten, and she taught second and third grade through 1994. "I love working with children," she said.

Among hobbies, the new first lady counts reading Southern authors, gardening, and working on needlepoint. "I also love antiquing," she said. "We've been fortunate to inherit some pieces from both of our families."

She'll be moving some of those pieces into the president's home once painting and re-carpeting are complete. The Porteras also are seeking to identify furniture around campus that may once have been in the old president's home-located on the site now occupied by Allen Hall. "We'll combine our furniture with pieces that have historical significance to Mississippi State," she said.

As her husband begins his work as the 16th president of Mississippi State, Olivia Portera finds some satisfaction in seeing her Mississippi State ties come full circle. "My dad graduated from the university in 1938," she says. "It's nice to be here as he celebrates the 60th anniversary of his graduation."