Good things come in threes, and that is certainly true of sisters Thelma Pate, Norma Redman and Mona Brinkley, all of whom work in housekeeping at Harding University. Pate works mornings in the Ganus Building, tidying the classrooms and offices for teachers each weekday; Redman and Brinkley work together weekday evenings in the American Heritage Building, starting in the Public Relations office, where they visit with the staffers as they clean.
Members of the Waire family, the three grew up with their five other siblings in Pangburn, Ark. Brinkley, Pate, and Redman now live apart from each other but enjoy worshipping and singing together at church and talking on the phone with each other.
“We’ve just always been a pretty close-knit family, we really have,” Brinkley said.
The three sisters have served at Harding in various capacities for a long time. Pate, the eldest of the Waire children, has been here about 30 years, with a five-year break in between.
Redman has worked at the university for more than 20 years, initially starting because her daughter, Amanda, came to Harding as a student. Redman helped Brinkley get a job at the university six years ago.
At work, Brinkley and Redman are a seamless team, each knowing what her task will be to straighten up the rooms they tend. While taking out the trash, vacuuming and dusting, they enjoy talking to students and employees alike.
“Sometimes [the employees] tell us something good that has happened to them, and we’re real excited,” Redman said. “Two of the girls have become pregnant and they’re going to have babies, and we were real excited about that.”
“About the time it comes time for their baby we’ll buy them a little gift, you know, and take it to them, we usually do,” Brinkley added.
Not quite ready to completely retire, Brinkley and Redman said they like to stay busy and keep things neat.
The trio all said that the best part of working at Harding is the positive atmosphere.
“The environment is very good,” Pate said. “The people are nice and the students are very polite, and it’s just very much like home.”
Redman, Brinkley and Pate know how to have fun. They said they love to spend time with their grandchildren, and Pate said she likes listening to music, doing yard work and watching the horses at the rodeo with her family. Young at heart, Brinkley and Redman even like to take part when Harding has carriage rides for students.
“One time, we were riding the carriage ride and there were some students behind, and [we] were laughing and they said, ‘We’re going to be like that one day,'” Redman said. “We thought that was funny that they made that remark.”
