I don’t know if I’ve said it before, but Bridgeport’s Aliff family is one of my favorites. Of course, Momma Aliff – that being Laura Stevens Aliff – was the first of the group that I got to know and it’s easy to see why her daughters and husband make up one of the most well-respected families in the city and area.

 

While I could talk about her husband Bill or daughters Natalie Aliff Foley and Stacie Aliff, this blog is reserved for mom. And for good reason.

 

Just this past week, Laura Stevens Aliff was honored by West Virginia University. In particular, she was honored by the WVU School of Dentistry during their Alumni Weekend as one of three to receive the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award for not only what’s she’s given to the profession locally and statewide, but nationally as well.

 

The honor was perfect on more than one front. Including one that wasn’t in the information included by WVU.

 

Laura’s father was Dr. Frank “Doc” Stevens. The majority of those that recall him statewide is that he served as the public address announcer for WVU football and basketball games, as well as the band’s announcer for more than 40 years. He was known for his call of “Let’s Bring on the Mountaineers” and yelling out “The Pride of West Virginia” before the band took the field.

 

Doc Stevens was a legend whose legend lives to this day. Doc was more than just a guy behind a microphone at WVU events.

 

The nickname wasn’t for his prowess on the basketball court. Doc earned the nickname during his time as a student at WVU’s dental school in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

 

The name never left as he developed a private practice here in Bridgeport and became intertwined in dentistry at the school he graduated from for years. Stevens served as an assistant professor and assistant dean of external affairs back at the WVU Dental School.

 

Of course, the dental apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Laura Stevens Aliff followed her father’s footsteps and graduated from WVU in 1982 with a degree in dental hygiene.

 

“I actually was assisting at an early age where I’d walk to his office from junior high so when it came time to pick a profession I knew the dental office pretty well and it seemed like a good fit,” said Aliff. “ … There were a lot of reasons to choose the profession from knowing how important good dental hygiene is to your entire health, but a lot of that early decision was watching (my father’s) commitment and passion to help not only on the dental front, but also in the community.”

 

For three and a half decades Aliff worked with those in the Mountain State in the private practice world as well as community groups. Even today, as she’s stepped away from the work, she said there’s really one key reason she stuck around for three and a half decades.

 

“My last job was a year and a half ago, but throughout all of those years of working and serving on groups is that you recognize the need that you should be helping others,” she said. “Honestly, the biggest part of staying around so long was the hope you were helping others.”

 

For those that know Aliff, they know she’s not a one-trick work pony. As mentioned, she did more than just work in the dental field. She became an advocate for it.

 

Those community groups and working in the community was a decades-long endeavor. She served on advisory boards, made dental health presentations in schools, and worked with groups in communities everywhere about proper dental health.

 

Is there more? Of course there is.

 

She served on boards in the profession, often in leadership capacities or as a member. Groups such as the American Dental Hygienist Association, West Virginia Dental Hygienist Association, West Virginia Oral Health Coalition, and served as the president of the West Virginia section of Sigma Phi Alpha, which is a national dental hygiene honor association.

 

That it? Nope.

 

As for her alma mater, Aliff has served on the WVU School of Dentistry Alumni Association Board of Governors dating back to 1991. Since then, four times she’s served on boards of the association and in 2007 was the first-ever hygienist to be elected the Board of Governors President.

 

So that’s it? Well, it’s a pretty good summary on the medical front. She’s done additional stuff on the Bridgeport community stuff.

 

If you happened to be around the Bridgeport school system anytime her children ventured through, chances were good you saw her there. One of my early encounters was when she and I served on the Bridgeport High School Local School Improvement Council (LSIC). She’s also been a huge part of the Bridgeport High School Alumni & Friends Foundation.

 

“Looking back, I can tell you I was blessed to have a chance to be on those boards and I imagine that’s part of the reason for this award,” said Aliff. “One thing I don’t think I got a chance to expand on about this honor that I need to expand on is that in working and in serving on boards of various natures I’ve always been surrounded by great teams. The amount of great people who give of themselves I was able to serve with are the ones that made this possible.”

 

All of her efforts didn’t go unnoticed by the Bridgeport. In 2015, Laura Aliff was named a Michael L. Benedum Fellow. The honor is the highest for community service given to an individual contributing to the betterment of Bridgeport.

 

In that community was her family. A family, she said, allowing her to spend a lot of time away at meetings and other venues.

 

“My family sacrificed a lot. Sometimes when you’re passionate and get in the middle of it you don’t realize how fast you’re spinning and how much time you’re committing,” said Aliff. “Had it not been for my husband and my kids who have always been willing to sacrifice, I couldn’t have done it. I don’t regret it because the one thing I’m confident about is that my heart was always in the right place and that made it easier to serve.

 

“When I think back, there was a line by Gale Sayers that was in the movie ‘Brian’s Song’ that is true. He said, ‘The Lord is first, my family and friends are second and I am third,” Aliff continued. “I follow that and our family did fine with it. I was the one honored, but I’m the one who is honored to be so blessed.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Laura Aliff, second from left with her husband Bill, and daughters Natalie, third from left, and Stacie. Second photo is of Aliff with her mother Marian Stevens following the award ceremony and the bottom photo is a closeup of the award. Photos courtesy of Natalie Aliff Foley.