Like Agnes Howard, Ethel Ray Loar was forced to withdraw from school due to rheumatoid arthritis. She spent the rest of her life confined to her parents’ home and died in 1930.
Her father, Lawson Leolidas Loar, was a successful businessman in Clarksburg. He also was the Superintendent of Sunday School at the Methodist Church in Grafton at the time of the first Mother’s Day Celebration. He died in 1938.
Due to the strong connection the family had with the Methodist Conference, and due to her belief in West Virginia Wesleyan College, Ethel’s mother, Mrs. Lawson Loar, agreed in 1943 to provide funds ($100,000) for the Hall of Music as a memorial to the Loar Family. This was a great act of faith and commitment at a time when the nation was facing World War once again. The building was not finished until 1953.
What an upgrade from the old Music Conservatory/Annex building! What an act of faith. What a generous gift.