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Ada Swindle Mitchell | Dr. Lynn House, Dean of the College of Education at Delta State University, visits with members of the Mitchell family, Irene Swindle, Ricky Mitchell and Mary Ann Stinson. |
Delta State University, as part of its on-going “Year of Cleveland” celebration, recently dedicated its renovated foods laboratory in the Division of Family & Consumer Sciences in memory of Ada Swindle Mitchell, a long-time employee of Viking Range Corporation.
The Viking Range Corporation generously donated all new appliances for the foods lab, according to Dr. Jan Haynes, Chair of the Division of Family & Consumer Sciences at Delta State.
As part of the dedication ceremony held Tuesday, March 28, the program included a demonstration of “Elegant Hors d’oeuvres,” presented by Elizabeth Heiskell of the Viking Cooking School. Delta State President Dr. John M. Hilpert delivered dedicatory remarks with Dale Persons, Vice President of Public Affairs for Viking Range Corporation, offering a response, followed by a tour of the facilities.
Mitchell, an employee of Viking Range Corporation from 1988-2003, first served as administrative assistant to Fred Carl, Jr., and handled all personnel issues. She would be promoted to Viking Range’s first full-time human resources manager before earning the title Director of Human Resources. Prior to her work with Viking, she worked 19 years at WABG-TV in Greenville.
One of her most notable contributions to Viking Range was her single-handed initiation of an “education assistance program,” which allowed Viking Range employees to earn college degrees. “Ada felt very strongly about education and the value it had, not only for one’s company and career, but to the individual as a personal accomplishment,” said Viking President Fred Carl.
Mitchell pursued her own college education and was scheduled to graduate in May 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Delta State. The degree was awarded posthumously to her husband, Ricky Mitchell. She was recognized as a member of the President’s List as a result of maintaining a 4.0 GPA while at Delta State.
A member of the Society for Human Resources Management and the American Management Association, Mitchell was a Personnel Decisions, Inc., certified interviewer and a Birkman International, Inc., certified assessment user. She was an alumna of the Walt Disney World Approach to Human Resources Management and was named by the Delta Business Journal as one of the “The Delta’s Top 75 Women in Business.”
Ada Swindle Mitchell passed Tuesday, April 1, 2003 at the age of 49. She was survived by her husband, Ricky and a son, Jared.
