Petrie among William Woods University graduating class

FULTON, Mo.—Eric Toussaint Petrie of Columbia, Mo., graduated in May from William Woods University with a master of education degree.

Petrie is the son of the late Ernest T. Petrie of Phoenix, Ariz., and the late Esther R. Petrie of Fort Wayne. He is the son-in-law of William and Hattie Norfleet. Petrie is a special education learning specialist.

A native of Fort Wayne, Petrie attended James H. Smart Elementary, Weisser Park/Miami Jr. High School and Wayne High School. He graduated from Westminister College in Fulton, Mo., with a BA degree before later going on to earn his post graduate degree in education administration from William Woods University in Fulton, graduating with a 4.0 GPA.

Petrie said he has had a variety of life experiences that have helped him grow, including a variety of jobs and personal trials.

“My first job was a kitchen aide at Lutheran Hospital [in Fort Wayne] at the age of 16, three months before the birth of my daughter Tonya. I was a father at a early age—16,” explained Petrie. “Latonya was born in 1975, not long after my mother’s untimely death in 1970. My second child Eric Anderson was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1977. I was 19- years-old.”

After leaving Fort Wayne in 1977, Petrie moved to Fulton and lived there nine years before returning to Fort Wayne and then moving to Phoenix, Ariz., from about 1998 to 2003. He then relocated to Central, Mo./Columbia, Mo., where he currently resides.

Petrie served as owner and operator of General Building Maintenance Service in Fort Wayne from 1990 to 1998. Prior to that, he worked as a juvenile probation officer for about two years.

He was licensed as a apecial education teacher, in Phoenix in 1998, and was granted a lifetime license in Jefferson, Mo., in 2005. He has been employed at Hickman High School as a special education math instructor since 2006.

Petrie served as a bi-vocational pastor establishing God’s Creation Worship Center in Fort Wayne from 1994 to 1998, at God’s Creation Worship Center in Phoenix from 1999 to 2003 and Columbia, from 2003 until the present.

All five of Eric and Linda D. Petrie’s children—Latonya Petrie, 33, Eric Anderson, 31, Ben Petrie, 28, Steve Petrie, 26, and Antonio Petrie—actively participate in and support the family owned and operated church in Columbia.

Eric and Linda, who exchanged vows in Fort Wayne, have been married since May 19, 1978

William Woods University is an independent, professions-oriented, liberal arts-based institution serving the educational needs of both men and women. William Woods has an enrollment of about 3,500 students, and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines in both campus and outreach settings.

A record-breaking total of 625 students received diplomas (the previous high was 591 two years ago). A combined total of 1,359 students in all disciplines have graduated from WWU in the past 12 months.

The 180-acre main campus is located in the mid-Missouri community of Fulton. Since its founding in 1870, the mission of William Woods has been to provide a quality education while ensuring the development of the individual.

This is part of the July 22, 2009 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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