WINTER 2013
CRUSADER CONNECTION NEWS FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF
edgewoodhs.org
EDGEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL OF THE SACRED HEART
Bremers’ Selfless Service Earns the Servant Heart Award
The year was 1964. The first Ford Mustang rolled off the assembly line, the Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and Caryl and Howard Bremer began their affiliation with Edgewood High School. They have been serving the school, along with other organizations that are important to them, ever since. The Bremers’ volunteerism at EHS began when their daughter Katharine ’68 was a freshman, and Kathy was later joined by William ’70, twins Thomas ’73 and Timothy ’73, and Margaret ’80, followed a generation later by two grandchildren, Daniel ’97 and Jennifer ’00 Sarbacker. During the years their children attended EHS, the Bremers were always willing to pitch in: from Band Board to PTA, Edgefest to bingo, and even installation of the sidewalk on Monroe Street. Howard served on the Advisory Board from 1971 to 1980, acting as chair in 1973 and 1974, and served as the attorney for the school a number of times; Caryl helped to raise funds by delivering pizza and fruit, and participated in a fundraiser that required EHS volunteers to inventory Prange’s department store, counting everything from pieces of gum to shoes and furniture. Caryl continues to volunteer at EHS on a full-time basis, coming in every morning, Monday through Friday, year-round. She diligently maintains alumni records and a database with over 13,000 constituent names to a 97% mailing accuracy, an amazing feat. She continues to manage the many and varied mailings done by EHS each week, handling all of the in-house, “smaller” bulk mailings (some up to 3,000 pieces). In addition, Caryl is one of the resident historians at Edgewood, and her knowledge about members of the community, oraginzational structure and
fundraising activities is exceptional. She is the welcoming face of the school for many different events and gatherings when she serves as a greeter. Caryl also has found the time to volunteer at her parish, St. Maria Goretti. She was the associate editor of the Gatherings newsletter for 13 years, is a member of the funeral choir, and is active in a number of other ways. She is also a member of the Madison Catholic Woman’s Club, where she has served on the board from 1978 until the present, continues to publish their membership book and has done all of their mailings since 1982. Caryl has received a number of awards in the Madison community, including the EHS Alumni Appreciation Award in 1981, U.S. Representative Scott Klug’s Friend of Education Award in 1996, the Catholic Charities Community Faith in Action Leadership Award in 1999 and an honorary Edgewood High School Diploma in 2008. Howard is a U.S. Navy veteran who served in World War II. He worked as patent counsel for Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, before returning to Madison with his family to take a job at Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
(WARF), where he has been employed since 1960, and after 28 years there as patent counsel, continues to maintain an office as a consultant. In addition to his dedication to the Edgewood schools (the children attended Edgewood Campus School as well), Howard has worked diligently for the Madison community in many ways. He has served in the Patent Trademark and Copyright Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Intellectual Property Law Association, and has worked with the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Association of University Technology Managers, the International Advisory Board of Industry and Higher Education, and on the Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform, all in a variety of roles. He has also presented more than 35 papers at conferences worldwide. Throughout the years, Howard has volunteered with the Edgewood schools, the Boy Scouts Pack 128, and has done pro bono work for individual inventors and contractors. He was a solicitor for the American Red Cross, and served on the Advisory Board for the BNA Life Sciences, Law and Industry Report and Industry and Higher Education Journal in the U.K. He received the 1980 Bayh-Dole Award for his work, given by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) and the “Howard W. Bremer Scholarship” named for him allows five people to attend the Annual Meeting of AUTM. He also received the Honorary Recognition Award from the University of Wisconsin-College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in 2000, the Jefferson Medal from the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association, and the EHS Alumni Appreciation Award in 1990. Carl Gulbrandsen, the managing director of WARF, said, “Howard’s and Caryl’s impact on the Madison community has been by their example of how to live one’s life, by their constant service to the community and by their willingness to roll up their sleeves and do the work themselves.…Howard has worked at WARF for 51 years. He still comes in each day and contributes. I don’t know that any of us can beat that.”