The foyer of Pensacola State College’s Planetarium and Space Theatre was dedicated to the memory of Merry Edenton-Wooten on Monday, April 15.
Merry Edenton-Wooten, wife of retired PSC professor of forty-three years Dr. Wayne Wooten, passed away in March 2021. A plaque commemorating her passion for astronomy and dedication to the College now hallmarks the foyer.
Over $25,600 was raised by Dr. Wooten and Merry’s friends and family to establish the Merry Edenton-Wooten Endowed Chair for Space Sciences. Its establishment brings the total number of endowed chairs at Pensacola State College to fourteen.
“Merry was a Davenport. She spoke French, she taught French and played World of Warcraft to keep her brain active,” said Wooten about his wife, who died of Alzheimer’s disease.
“…She did so many things to try to keep her mind fresh. And I just thought the thing about playing World of Warcraft and French was an excellent example of utilizing the human spirit and the ability to make connections. So, obviously, the lobby is not good enough for Merry. It must be the foyer. It must be the foyer!”
Endowed teaching chairs are prestigious academic appointments crucial to recruiting world-class faculty members to lead, mentor, and teach PSC students. Teaching chairs supplement faculty members’ base salaries while financially supporting their research, professional development, service activities and/or academic programs.
An active amateur astronomer, Merry served two terms as president of the Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association (EAAA) and was well-known for promoting the construction of homebuilt telescopes from surplus optics. Dr. Wooten shared that she was famed as the originator of the Copier Lens telescope ─ manufactured by the thousands from her plans which were drafted in the 1980s.
She also edited the regional newsletter of the Southeast Region of the Astronomical League, New Horizons, and coordinated the 1984 annular solar eclipse observations from Louisiana through Virginia. Her photo of the eclipse was on the cover of The Reflector, the Astronomical League’s quarterly publication, in June 1984, and her report on the event observed by the EAAA from Camden, Alabama on May 30, 1984.
From 1980-1992, the Wootens also worked in the College’s E.G. Owens Planetarium, producing and presenting shows free to the public.
“We would usually run two shows on Thursday evenings. It would be standing room only most of the time, and we would set up telescopes between the shows,” Wooten recalled.
An accomplished astronomical artist and scientist, some of Edenton-Wooten’s detailed artwork is currently displayed in the planetarium foyer.
“You see this artwork, ‘When Worlds Erupt.’ This is a program she did in 1986. We had just gotten images from Voyager II at Uranus, so they inspired her. The first painting is this one in blue here and is the appearance of Uranus from the moon Miranda. And then, she developed the other paintings. So, she was predicting ten to twenty years in advance of the arrival of spacecrafts in these places what we might find.”
Pensacola State College President, Dr. Ed Meadows, thanked Dr. Wooten and fellow supporters for their efforts in establishing Merry’s endowed teaching chair.
“We are greatly indebted to Merry Edenton-Wooten. Any time there were celestial happenings, she and Dr. Wooten brought it to the attention of the College and the community,” Meadows added.
Also on hand at the plaque unveiling were the Wootens’ daughter-in-law, Jessica Wootel; the Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association members; Will Moore, a member of the PSC Foundation Board of Governors; “Flash” Gordon Sprague, vice chair of the PSC Board of Trustees; Allison Spradlin, PSC Planetarium Specialist; Joseph Peterson, PSC Physical Sciences Department Head; Tom Gilliam, PSC Vice President of Administrative Services and General Counsel; Andrea Krieger, PSC Foundation Executive Director of Institutional Development; and Mikenzie Francis-Opperman, PSC Foundation Director of Scholarships.
Merry Edenton-Wooten attended Bob Jones University. Following graduation, she taught for two years at North Florida Christian School in Tallahassee before moving to Maryland for an additional two years of teaching in Christian schools. In her professional career, she served as a school librarian and taught English, Literature, and French.
In 1976, she moved back to Pensacola, later earning her horticulture certification from Pensacola Junior College in 1978. The following year, she began working for Dr. William Bennett in the College’s Biology Department, where she met her future husband, Dr. Wayne Wooten, in 1980.
Along with her husband, Merry Edenton-Wooten is survived by beloved children, Michael and Katie; grandchildren; and other relatives.
