For Frances Kidder Stiles ’55, the University of Vermont wasn’t just a college — it was home.

Through childhood games behind Redstone, campus events with her parents, and her own years as a student, UVM shaped three generations of the Kidder family.

Growing up just a block from UVM’s Redstone campus, Fran and her childhood friends spent their summers playing hide-and-seek in backyards that bordered university buildings.

“We were sometimes hiding by fraternity houses and other places,” she recalls. “We grew up part of the campus.”

The connection ran deeper than geography. Her father, George Kidder — a UVM alumnus, professor, and eventually longtime dean — dedicated nearly his entire life to the university.

Her mother, Betsy Kimball Kidder '23, was also a UVM graduate who remained closely tied to the community. Together, they shaped not only their daughter’s college choice, but also her sense of place and belonging.

“We lived it,” Fran says simply.

A Campus Legacy, in Every Direction

Fran’s ties to UVM span in every direction. Her grandfather, Ben Kidder, was a charter member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Her sister and extended family also attended UVM. But it was her father’s enduring role that defined the family’s decades-long relationship with the university.

George Kidder’s UVM story began as a student, included time on the faculty, and extended through years as Dean. Even into his 90s, he maintained a desk in Waterman, informally supporting university leadership and serving on accreditation committees. “All the rest of his life, from student to the end, was at UVM,” Fran says.

George and Betsy met on campus and, as Fran tells it, her father helped her mother get through Greek class. “She gives him credit,” Fran says with a smile. A later plaque in the university’s all-night study room would honor them both — a quiet symbol of their lasting presence.

A Childhood Framed by Campus Traditions

The Kidders’ family home on Summit Street was close enough to Redstone to hear marching drills during World War II. “I think the troops kind of occupied Redstone campus,” Fran says. “We didn’t really understand it, but we were aware.”

She remembers Saturday morning programs at the Fleming Museum, milk sold from the dairy building, and UVM ice cream served in sundae dishes. The Waterman building housed both a cafeteria and a bowling alley — and, yes, bowling was an option for physical education.

After her father became dean, the family moved to a larger home on South Willard Street to accommodate Fran’s grandmother and three great-aunts. “That house was also used to entertain faculty,” she remembers. “But never with wine or anything — they were coffee and sandwich parties.”

Becoming a Student at a Place Called Home

When it came time for college, Fran briefly considered going elsewhere. “I wanted to go to Oberlin,” she says, “but decided to go to UVM.” She doesn’t say it with regret. Her final year and a half were spent living at the Theta sorority house, where she found community and independence on campus.

By then, rules for women students were still strict. “We weren’t allowed to wear pants — only if the temperature was below ten degrees,” she recalls. “And freshmen had a curfew. My sister had to be in her room by nine o’clock.” Fran notes this without complaint. “That’s the way things were. You just did them.”

A Life Interwoven with UVM

For decades after graduating, Fran remained connected to the university. She attended Kidder Scholarship luncheons and met scholarship students, who received support from a fund created in her family’s honor. “We loved meeting the scholars,” she says.

She also got to know faculty honored with the George V. Kidder Outstanding Faculty Award, a teaching recognition from the UVM Alumni Association. “I feel that my dad has been honored,” she says. “And my mother — she was always the helper, supporting his work.”

Even as societal shifts transformed the university and the world around it, Fran stayed engaged and reflective. “When you’re 90 years old, there’s been a lot of adjustments,” she says. “If you’re open to them, you grow.”

A Quiet Pride

Fran may not have followed the typical student path — her life with UVM started long before her first class and continued long after graduation — but her reflections capture something enduring: a sense of quiet pride, of continuity, and of a life woven into the fabric of a place.

“My father knew all the presidents,” she says. “He played bridge with them.”

And on warm evenings, long before she stepped foot in a college classroom, Fran was just a girl playing in the shadows of Redstone, with a university as her backdrop — and her home.