Living the Landrigan legacy

At one point during the 2022-23 academic year, someone tried looking up Lizzie Landrigan’s Purdue University Fort Wayne email address and immediately fell into a whirlpool. The seeker had no idea there were so many Landrigans to choose from.

Patrick Landrigan grew up on a farm outside Huntington and was the first member of his family to go to college. His Mastodon experience started with a master’s degree in education that he earned on the campus of Purdue University Fort Wayne in 1970.

Landrigan and his wife, Susan, had four sons and three daughters. All seven followed in their father’s footsteps by earning degrees under the Mastodon banner. Three met their spouses while on campus.  

“He always has had the mindset that he was so fortunate that his family sent him,” said Patrick’s granddaughter Mary Catherine, a sophomore studying electrical engineering at PFW. “His mentality has always been that getting a college education is so important. You can kind of see that throughout all of our cousins.”

Patrick and Susan’s seven children and their future spouses produced 48 children of their own. More than 20 have graduated as Mastodons. Theodore graduated in 2023, which leaves Lizzie, a senior, Mary Catherine, a sophomore, and Kate, a freshman, still at PFW—but more are on the way. The first member of the family’s fourth generation, Henry Landrigan, will join his father, Matt, and his grandfather, Dan, as proud members of the Herd this fall.

Back in the third generation, Mary Catherine’s sister Claire will be another newcomer in August. The current undergrads admit a full audit hasn’t been considered until now, but including spouses, more than 50 members of the Landrigan family have either graduated or are on track to graduate as Mastodons.

“Each of us knew growing up that we were going to be responsible for getting our own college education,” said Mike Landrigan, the oldest of Patrick and Susan’s children. Mike earned three degrees on campus. “It just made sense to go there,” he said. “We could go to college, and we could still work.”

And all of the second-generation members worked at Rogers Markets at Time Corners. During the famed Blizzard of ’78, four Landrigan children got picked up by snowmobiles to report to work.

Eventually, a spreadsheet will be necessary, especially considering so many of the second- and third-generation members met spouses on campus, and there are significant others currently in the picture. Most family members have remained in Fort Wayne or Huntington to raise their children.

“They could go to school while also working full-time and living at home,” Lizzie said. “Saving money has always been a big focus, and there’s a certain amount of support you get from staying at home. We go home to family meals most nights. We both have siblings who still live at home, and it’s nice to have the familial support. We all go to church together, so it’s nice to see everybody on Sundays.”

But the education is excellent, too, Mary Catherine said. Her father studied pre-med and both her parents are local pediatricians. Not surprisingly, there’s a whole slew of majors among the Landrigans’ degrees, with biology, accounting, and finance being the most popular. Everyone found their own positive experience and was able to effectively apply their education to their careers.

“It’s more about making smart decisions,” Mary Catherine said, “thinking about the pros and cons, and there are a lot of pros. Our parents didn’t really put pressure on us. My two oldest siblings were pre-med and went to med school, the next two studied accounting and finance, and I’m doing engineering.

“I know I will graduate debt-free. I’ve been able to work and go to school in the same community where I grew up, and that’s nice.”

There are also some expectations when a professor recognizes the name.

As Mike Landrigan said, “My father told me before I went to school that I needed to set a good example because my reputation will go to whoever else had our name—and we wanted a good reputation. The kids understand that.”

But living up to the name is always present. As Mary Catherine said, she wants the professors to read the attendance sheet and say, “Oh, good,” and not, “Oh, not another one.”

“One thing my mom stressed to my siblings and me is that there is a certain weight that comes from having that last name,” Lizzie said. “All of our older cousins have been successful and good students, and not to put tons of pressure on us, but we need to be good kids and live up to that name. And there are lots of cousins who will be following our example.”

The third generation is still building its accomplishments, but the previous group of family members set them up for success.

“We have three more cousins who are pregnant right now, so maybe their kids will come here someday,” Lizzie said. 

Click here for a list of Landrigan Mastodons.