The Virginia Tech community paid tribute Friday to the life of Zenobia Lawrence Hikes, 53, who died Oct. 27 due to complications from cardiac surgery.
Tech's highest-ranking officials gathered in the building most connected to the university, Burruss Hall.
Behind a lectern towering over a bouquet of orange and maroon flowers in its auditorium, top administrators, family and friends of Hikes gathered to remember and honor her life.
Although the room was filled with hundreds of students, faculty and staff sporting black outfits and solemn looks, there was an undeniably hopeful ambience.
The memorial service's theme, though perhaps unintentional, was one of despair over Hikes' passing but also joy for the mark she left on the community.
"Welcome to the celebration of the life of Dr. Zenobia Hikes," senior vice president and provost Mark McNamee said upon beginning the service.
"I am sure that she wore her running shoes to heaven, but she met her God in her high heels," McNamee later noted, a remark that caused an eruption of laughter.
A handful of the event's 14 speakers jokingly remarked on this habit, which was one of Hikes' trademarks. She was often seen walking across campus in tennis shoes and the bright blue suit, which she wore in her most prevalent picture. But she always changed into high heels once reaching her destination.
The service did produce laughter over some of Hikes' actions, but many of the hundreds in attendance and some of the speakers were visibly fighting back tears.
Howard Jeter, Hikes' brother-in-law who served as an ambassador for the family, struggled to finish his speech.
"Unguarded, Z's laughter could fill this auditorium," Jeter said. "Her empathy could fill this university, her strength could fill the universe and her smile could radiate like the sun."
Jeter thanked the Tech community for everything it did following Hikes' death -- the e-mails sent to the family in remembrance of Hikes, the memorial service organized by Tech officials, and even the constant phone calls made by administrators to John Hopkins Hospital when Hikes was battling for her life.
"She was very special in our lives, and I've come to learn that she was equally special in yours," Jeter said.
The crowd's love for Hikes as an administrator was apparent. As Jeter stated that she was "one of the best vice presidents of student affairs that this country has ever produced," everyone burst into applause for the first time during the service.
Hikes touched all of the service's speakers in some way -- most were her co-workers. The range of speakers included Edward Spencer, who has temporarily taken over Hikes' position at Tech, Beverly Tatum, the president of Spelman College where Hikes served as the vice president of student affairs for six years before she came to Tech, and Tech President Charles Steger.
Steger came last in the line-up and noted that there was little he could add to all the memories already shared by other speakers.
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