NEWS RELEASE

Lincoln Memorial University is mourning the loss of Patricia “Pat” Peace, who served as the first director of financial aid for LMU and for LMU-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Peace, 82, of Harrogate, Tennessee, passed away Friday, Sept. 23, at the Middlesboro Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility.

“Pat Peace was an exceptional ambassador for Lincoln Memorial University, but her true passion was helping students,” LMU President Clayton Hess said. “Generations of LMU students are serving communities around the country as educators, nurses and physicians because Pat showed them the path to finance their dreams. She was a wonderful friend, and we will miss her.”

Peace graduated from LMU in 1972 with a degree in accounting and immediately went to work at her alma mater. After a brief stint in the admissions department, she became LMU’s first director of financial aid. Peace left the University in 1993 to take a similar position at Pellissippi State Technical Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she stayed until her retirement in 2006. Peace was soon called out of retirement to take on the role of director of financial services for LMU-DCOM, where she served until her second retirement in 2020.

During a career spanning over 45 years, she held hundreds of financial aid workshops for students and parents throughout East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Southeast Kentucky. She had been a member of the Tennessee Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for 45 years and held leadership positions and presented at numerous conferences. She had served on the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation Advisory Board and the TSAC Lottery Scholarship Advisory Board.

In May 2011, Peace was one of the inaugural recipients of the Bob Jackson service award, an award established by the LMU-DCOM Class of 2011 to recognize those whose life and community service clearly exemplify a true spirit of love and helpfulness to others, to the community and to LMU-DCOM. In 2015 Pat was named an Honorary Alumni by the LMU-DCOM Alumni Association.

Peace was inducted into the LMU Professional Hall of Fame on Oct. 13, 2018, during the University’s annual Homecoming celebration. She and her son, Rusty Peace, were the first mother and son to be inducted together.

In addition to Rusty Peace and his wife Devena, she is also survived by her daughter Monica Northcutt.

Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies. The LMU-College of Veterinary Medicine is located on LMU’s main campus in Harrogate, Tennessee, with additional academic facilities in nearby Lee County, Virginia. LMU-CVM is an integral part of the University’s medical programs and provides real-world, community-based education in a collaborative learning environment. For more information about LMU-CVM, call 800-325-0900, ext. 7150, or visit us online at vetmed.LMUnet.edu.

The DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine is located on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee and at LMU-Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennessee. LMU-DCOM is an integral part of LMU’s values-based learning community and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of osteopathic physicians to provide health care in the often-underserved region of Appalachia and beyond. For more information about LMU-DCOM, call 800-325-0900, ext. 7082, email dcom@LMUnet.edu, or visit us online at med.LMUnet.edu.