Wooster magazine, summer 2009

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SUMMER 2009

Working for H2O Access to clean water is a global issue. Wooster students, faculty, and alumni are working toward solutions.

ALSO INSIDE: Independent Studies address health issues | Wooster alumnus remembers Robert Frost

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Building communit y

A few years ago, a friend of mine—a fellow alum—lost his job. He was confident that a network of Wooster alumni could help him with his professional crisis. But first he had to let them know. As I’ve watched the Wooster family grow larger and more far-flung, I’ve become increasingly aware that we need to be even more deliberate about ways to stay connected. Our need for community has never been stronger.

I am excited and proud to tell you that our new online community, launched on July 20, includes careernetworking capabilities that allow alumni to post their resumes and reach out to other alumni. It’s no secret that graduates of The College of Wooster tend to be creative, hardworking, and open-minded. In other words, the kind of people you’d like to work with. Perhaps you read the story of the Wooster team at Kent Displays International in the Fall 2008 Wooster magazine. Kent Displays, an international leader in research and development of cholesteric liquid crystal displays, employs 60 people, and 10 percent are Wooster alumni.

Asad Khan ’93, vice president for technology, says that Wooster’s presence at the company is not a coincidence. “I know that when I hire someone from Wooster, they’ll be absolutely incredible, and I haven’t been wrong yet,” he says.

“They can express their viewpoint, they’re open, they hear other people—that’s what makes them good employees.”

Will Porter ’88, director of sales and marketing for Ansaphone, in Quincy, Mass., agrees. “Our Wooster degree is powerful. But we need to leverage it more. Once you begin to tap into its influence, it becomes organic and grows on its own.”

Sandy Nichols previewed Wooster’s new Web site for Alumni Board members.

Photo by Matt Dilyard In addition to professional networking capabilities, our new online community makes it easier to maintain friendships. With one keystroke, a fellow alum can access your Facebook profile, see what you are Twittering about, view your photos on Flickr, or see how your business life is progressing on LinkedIn. Those are just a few of the hundreds of social networking sites available. You will be able to register securely online for College events, access the alumni directory, and post and read up-to-date Class Notes and obituaries.

Our new online capabilities are not substitutes, but enhancements. There are some things for which there are no substitutes—thumbing through Wooster magazine after it arrives in your mailbox, sharing excitement at a Scots athletic event, surprising a former roommate with a phone call, or receiving a warm hug at a class reunion.

SANDY EYRE NICHOLS ’94 Director of Alumni Relations and The Wooster Fund I S S N 0 8 9 4 - 8 7 9 8 | S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 | VO LU M E 1 2 3 , N O . 4 | C O N T I N U I N G T H E W O O ST E R P O ST G R A D U AT E , F O U N D E D 1 8 8 6

AS S I STA N T E D I TO R Jimmy E. Wilkinson Meyer E D I TO R I A L AS S I STA N TS

Emily Billingsley ’11, Elizabeth Wardrop ’11, Keli Horton ’10 P H OTO G R A P H E R Matt Dilyard DESIGNERS

Christina Ullman and Alix Northrup, Ullman Design P R O D U CT I O N D I R E CTO R Roger Collier

PR ESI DE NT

Grant H. Cornwell V I C E P R E S I D E N T F O R D E V E LO P M E N T

Sara L. Patton AS S O C I AT E V I C E P R E S I D E N T F O R C O L L E G E R E L AT I O N S A N D M A R K E T I N G

John L. Hopkins D I R E CTO R O F A L U M N I R E L AT I O N S

Sandy Eyre Nichols ’94 E D I TO R I A L A DV I S O RY B OA R D

www.woosteralumni.org P R I N T E R Angstrom Graphics, Cleveland This publication is made with paper certified by SmartWood to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance. It is printed using healthy, environmentally friendly soy inks.

WO O ST E R (USPS 691-220) is published fall, winter, spring, and summer by The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691. Periodical postage paid at Wooster, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices.

Send address changes to Wooster Magazine, 1220 Beall Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691-2393, 330-263-2327, and editorial comments to 330-263-2187.

Email: kcrosbie@wooster.edu, Class_Notes@wooster.edu Visit us on the web at www.woosteralumni.org

Cert no. SW-COC-002235

A Q U A R T E R LY MAGAZ I N E FOR A LU M N I & FRIENDS OF TH E COLLEG E OF WOOSTE R

E D I TO R Karol Crosbie

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Fe a t u re s

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I N DE PE N DE NT STU DI ES OF H U MAN H EALTH AN D WE LL-B E I NG

Wooster’s senior capstone project inspires creative study.

2 2 WOR KI NG FOR H 2 O When water is the boss, hope and hard work are essential.

1 6 LATE FROST A Wooster alumnus remembers Robert Frost’s last public appearance.

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10 4 Departments

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2 OAK G ROVE

32 C L A S S N O T E S

6 ALU M N I N EWS

60 O B I T U A R I E S

C OV E R P H OTO :

64 FA M I LY H I STO RY

Dreamstime.com

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Oak Grove

HAPPE N I NGS AROU N D CAM PUS

Oak Grove

New Web site www.wooster.edu The College’s new Web site, under construction for more than a year, launched this month. With hopes that you’ll visit it often, we would like to identify a few highlights.

Student recruitment Working with the knowledge that one-third of applicants aren’t recruited but instead independently seek out the College via the Internet, the Web team made student recruitment one of their highest priorities. “We know that young people want instant gratification; information must be accessible and easy to use,” said Melissa Young Schultz, director of Web communication, who coordinated the project. “We also know that they use sites that are entertaining, almost game-like—sites that make them curious and pull them in.”

To this end, the College site was designed around key words that embody the Wooster experience.

When users “mouse” over words or

images, they are directed deeper into the site. The key phrase from the old site, “Each and Every Student,” has been replaced with “Independent Minds, Working Together.”

Alumni engagement If “game-like” isn’t on your list of Web priorities, don’t worry. Alumni have their own site at ww.woosteralumni.org,

where they may find recent and vintage photos, reunion reminders, details on upcoming events, and an alumni directory. The site also includes links to personal profiles and allows you to connect with a curious student, post a job opening, sign up for an event, or make a contribution. (see Sandy Eyre Nichols’ message on the inside cover.)

NEWS BRIEFS

NEW LEADERS FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES David H. Gunning, a member of The College of Wooster’s Board of Trustees since 1994, has been elected chair of the board. Gunning retired as vice chair of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a global producer and merchant of iron ore and other steelrelated products, in 2007. Previously, he was a partner, regional managing partner, and coordinator of corporate practice at Jones Day, a law firm whose clients include more than 250 of the Fortune 500, and chair, president, and CEO of

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Capitol American Financial Corp. He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. His son, Paul, is a 1992 Wooster graduate.

Doug Brush ’77, a member of the College’s Board since 2000, has been elected vice-chair. Brush is the chair of the board of Sentry Group, the world’s largest producer of fireresistant chests, files, safes, security storage containers, and gun safes. He received his B.S. in history from Wooster.

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A spring day at the Oak Grove smiled on the 396 graduates of the Class of 2009.

RETIREMENTS Ric Martinez director of admissions Ric Martinez ’69, who has been called “the face of Wooster” in New England for 27 years, says his role in admissions, including three years as director, has not been to sell the school. “The school sells itself,” he says.

Instead, his role has been to listen and counsel. “It’s all about fit,” he says. “By the time I leave an interview, I have a sense of whether Wooster is right for a particular student.” Martinez’s success and satisfaction have come from building relationships with families and high school college counselors throughout New England.

The high points of his career were those many small moments when he knew that the fit had been a good one, says Martinez. For example, every fall he visited residence halls as students moved in. “I watched students and families that I had come to know saying goodbye to each other. You might expect everyone to break down, but they don’t. Parents say, ‘My child is in a good place and I’m at peace.’ And that makes me feel good.”

Martinez has been such a valued supporter of the College’s athletic programs

that he was invited to the bench as “honorary coach” for major sports events during his last year on campus. In his early days at Wooster, he served as assistant soccer coach and was the first women’s softball coach.

The admissions process has changed dramatically since he began at Wooster, says Martinez. “Of the approximately 4,500 students who apply each year, today only 50-60 percent will ever visit campus. So it’s less about personal rela-

tionships, and more about blogs, e-mails, and text messages.

“Things are changing. It’s a perfect time to say goodbye. I’m ready for the next chapter. But the first chapters have been pretty good. It’s been an honor and a pleasure.”

Martinez, who is well known in the community for his soccer and t-ball clinics for young children and service as a parks and recreation commissioner, will remain in Wooster with his wife, Nancy.

A NEW TRADITION

NEW DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS

I.S. Monday serves its purpose well. But the campus community decided more was needed. This past spring, the inaugural Senior Research Symposium was launched. Classes were dismissed, so that students, faculty, and visitors could attend panel discussions and students’ poster sessions and oral presentations that exemplified the College’s nationally renowned Independent Study program. The Symposium serves to heighten the importance of the I.S. on campus, and also to showcase it to potential students and high school counselors.

Cezar O. Mesquita has joined the College as director of admissions, following the retirement of Ric Martinez. Mesquita comes to Wooster from Doane College in Crete, Neb., where he was director of admissions and assistant women’s soccer coach.

Before that he served in a number of capacities at the University of Denver, including assistant director of admissions and director for diversity enrollment.

Mesquita earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a master’s in Latin American studies from the University of Alabama.

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HAP P E N I N G S AR O U N D CAM P US

Oak Grove

RETIREMENTS Ishwar Harris, professor of religious studies Ishwar Harris, who grew up in northern India, was enticed to join the Wooster faculty in 1981 because of the College’s historic connections with India. He spent the next 28 years strengthening those connections and developing ways for members of the Wooster community to better understand Indian and South Asian culture.

One of the most important ways was helping Wooster’s international students become ambassadors and educators. For 25 years, Harris advised the Indian student group, which 10 years ago broadened its scope and name to become the South Asia Committee. Using speakers, musicians, films, dancers, and exhibits, the students build understanding of South Asian culture.

Harris developed the Wooster in India program, and twice he and his wife, Jyotsna, took students to India for full semesters of on-site learning. In 2003, he began the Wooster in Thailand program, which resulted in student trips in 2003, 2007, and this coming fall. The College plans to continue developing a relationship with faculty at Payap University in Chiang Mai, says Harris.

Harris used study leaves to visit China, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and to research Hinduism, Buddhism, and Mahatma Gandhi. He has also authored Gandhians in Contemporary India, about how the philosophy of Gandhi is used

in social work, rural development, and conflict resolution; The Laughing Buddha of Tofukuji, about the life of a Zen master; and a book on the life of Indian philosopher Radhakrishnan. “My research has been student-driven,” says Harris. “The College’s leave program allowed me to improve everything that I taught.”

One unique course was Zen and the Arts, in which he introduced students to Japanese culture, including flower arrangement, tea ceremonies, drama, and haiku.

Ishwar and Jyotsna will remain in Wooster, where Ishwar will concentrate on a book about Zen Buddhism in China that he is co-authoring with Ted Burger ’98.

NEWS BRIEFS

LEARNING AND EARNING THROUGH “WOOCORPS”

CENTER FOR DIVERSITY AND GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT

This summer, approximately 200 students, employed by a special program dubbed “WooCorps,” are washing windows, replacing bricks, painting, and sprucing up flower beds—minimum wage jobs that might not be available at home. The goal of the program, says Kurt Holmes, dean of students, is to forestall student decisions to drop out because of inadequate funds, and also to educate. For example, students on the paint crew might find themselves learning about historic restoration. The program was recently covered on the front page of the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/ 06/19/education/19college.html.

President Grant Cornwell has announced the formation of a new Center for Diversity and Global Engagement, created to provide more collaboration between campus programs and offices devoted to global engagement and multiculturalism, and to coordinate initiatives in student life and academic affairs. Acting co-directors are Marc Goulding, who has been a visiting instructor in history since 2007, and Susan Lee, who has served as assistant dean of students and director of multiethnic student affairs at the College since 2002.

The Center is located in the newly renovated Babcock Hall.

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The reading room at the Timken Science Library

Donna Jacobs, science librarian When Donna Jacobs arrived in 1989, the College’s math and science collection was scattered in four buildings across campus. There wasn’t even a way to formally check out books; they were simply “borrowed.” At the same time, Frick Hall, the College’s original library—occupied for 30 years by the art department and museum—had grown . . . wobbly. The mezzanine had been designed to be supported not by pillars or walls, but by shelves of books. Over the years, art department faculty and staff, hungry for space, had nibbled away at the supporting shelves.

Change was needed.

Jacobs was a key player in the change that occurred in 1998, when the building was returned to its original use to become the Timken Science Library in Frick Hall. Top-notch architects and contractors renovated the structure, including restoring a breathtaking Neo-classical reading room.

But key decisions—like how to plan for collection growth and which student services to offer—could only be understood by a librarian. “It was my baby,” remembers Jacobs.

Jacobs trained faculty and students how to search literature on topics that can often be elusive. A former zoology major, Jacobs says she told her students, “You are the subject matter expert; I’m the information source expert. We need to work together.

“Information—particularly in the sciences—changes so quickly that I sympathized with students who just wanted to ‘Google’ a topic, and then stop,” says Jacobs. “But my job was to encourage them to keep on going—to teach them the difference, for example, between the Journal of Organic Chemistry and Discover Magazine.”

Jacobs plans to remain in Wooster with her husband, Don, professor of physics.

A TREE FOR COREY Before they parted for the summer, students at the College’s nursery school celebrated the life of their classmate, three-year-old Corey Cline. The son of Lauren and Doug Cline ’95, Corey died in a car accident on Feb. 22. On a sunny morning in May, Corey’s friends launched a green balloon, planted a magnolia tree, and created a stepping stone, decorated with handprints and marbles.

Among the attendees at the memorial event were residence life staff members and members of the Scot basketball team.

Doug Cline is assistant basketball coach, and Lauren is an administrative coordinator for residence life.

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Alumni News

W O O ST E R A LU M N I A CT I V I T I E S

Alumni News

Alumni honored for their contributions during Alumni Weekend In addition to Distinguished Alumni Award recognitions for Wayne Cornelius ’67, Jay Gates ’68, and Cyndi Tice ’58 (see profiles in the Spring 2009 issue at www.woosteralumni.org), recipients of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award and the John D. McKee Alumni Volunteer Award were recognized.

Sohil Nainish Parekh ’99 received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, given to a graduate of the past 15 years who has devoted extraordinary time and talent to the College.

Parekh, who arrived at Wooster from Calcutta, India, without ever before having been to the U.S., soon developed a passion for the College.

In 2001, he pioneered Boston alumni involvement in Scots in Service and today “his” city leads the way in numbers of participants. He served on the Alumni Board between 2004 and 2007 where he chaired the Distinguished Alumni Award Committee. As chair of the International Student-Alumni Network, he coordinates conference calls twice a month with key alumni around the country and advises current students and recent graduates.

Parekh, who majored in math and economics, is a strategy project manager for Staples Inc. in Boston, Mass.

Nancy Braund Boruch ’64 was awarded the John D. McKee Alumni Volunteer Award. Borouch served the College as an Alumni Board member from 1972-75, president of the Alumni Association from 1978-79, Alumni Trustee from 1990-96, and currently serves on the Chicago Leadership Group.

Early in her professional career, Boruch founded her own real estate investment company, Bonsall, Braund Boruch Associates, and consulted on projects designed to create socially responsible investment opportunities that can be marketed by churches and other nonprofits. Most recently, she has trained as a grief counselor and worked as a hospital chaplain.

The award honors John D. McKee ’17, the first secretary of Wooster’ s Alumni Association from 1921-34, editor of the alumni magazine from 1921-60, business manager of the College from 1936-45, and director of alumni relations from 1941-58.

Why $25 matters

“It doesn’t matter how much.” Annually, 30 percent of Wooster alumni from across all classes give to The Wooster Fund.

However, for the 10 classes that represent GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade), as a group, giving participation is less than 10 percent.

“That’s not awful,” says Ciriegio, “but compared to some of our competitors, it’s very low. For example, more than 33 percent of Kenyon’s young alumni traditionally give, and overall, 41 percent of Kenyon alumni give.”

The seven-person Class of ’09 Senior Committee (see photo on pg. 54) convinced 106 seniors to contribute this spring, for a total of $1,007. Half of the class gift will go to The Wooster Fund and the rest to senior scholarships. Ciriegio believes the habit of giving something—even if it is small—will gain momentum, as more young alumni understand why it is important. “It will grow,” she says. “It will be a big deal.”

Carolyn Ciriegio ’08, development assistant for the Wooster Fund, knows the refrain by heart. You’re a recent Wooster graduate and you ignore all requests for a donation to the College’s Annual Fund because you’re up to your ears in debt. Maybe you could afford to give about $25, the cost of a nice meal out, but in the scheme of things, how could that help your alma mater?

Ciriegio’s answer is persuasive, and her goal this year was to educate the Class of 2009 Senior Committee, who in turn spread the message to their senior classmates. Here’s the message: College rankings, such as the one done by the U.S. New and World Report, are based on many measurements, and perhaps the one least understood is labeled “alumni satisfaction.” “The only way satisfaction is measured is by the number of alumni who give a financial gift to the College,” says Ciriegio.

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Alumni Weekend highlights More than 900 alumni returned to campus to sing, celebrate, eat, play, remember, and reconnect. Among those attending were 21 members of the Class of 1949, six from the class of 1944, and three members of the class of 1934, celebrating their 75th reunion.

For class photos, see alumni.wooster.edu/reunion.

Generous gift, high participation from Class of 1959 Approximately 63 percent of the 256 members of the Class of 1959 gave back to their alma mater with gifts totaling $3.4 million to support endowed student scholarships and presidential initiatives.

(from top, left to right): Kauke Hall; Ron Rolley ’59 and Dave MacMillan ’59; Carly Carey ’09 and Kelsey Cornwell; Joan Bowser DeLon ’59 and Winifred Myers Rohrbaugh ’59; Diana Dewey Emanuele ’78 and Marggie Scherbel ’78; Linda DeSoto Culliton ’77; John “Mike” Carter ’57; Don Coates ’44; Diglio Simoni ’89 and son Lucas; Kevin Maxwell ’88 and Meskerem Brhane ’88 P H O T O S : Matt Dilyard

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INDEPENDENT

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STUDIES

H E A Land T H well-being In this 21st year of Wooster magazine’s annual Independent Study coverage, we have chosen to focus on studies that research human health and well-being. Each of the students featured received a grant from the Henry J. Copeland Fund for Independent Study to help fund their research. Established in 1995 with gifts from members of Wooster’s Board of Trustees, the fund honors the College’s ninth president, Henry Jefferson Copeland.

by KAROL CROSBIE illustrations by ALIX NORTHRUP

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“Eating disorders signal how unbalanced and unequal the world still is.”

— Lindsay Galan

T H E L A N G UA G E O F FAT; LA LANGUE DE LA GRAISSE Analyzing eating disorders as a feminist issue LINDSAY G ALAN , F RENCH &

WOMEN ’ S STUDIES

Lindsay Galan, a double major in French and women’s studies, was at a personal low when she decided to study in France for two semesters in 2007-08. Although she did not have a clinical eating disorder, like many of her friends, she was preoccupied with her weight and shape—never light enough, never thin enough. She considered the myth that French women didn’t get fat. If French women had some kind of glorious fat immunity, did that mean they were also immune from American-style low self-esteem?

For her Independent Study, Galan contrasted French and American attitudes towards women’s eating disorders by interviewing women diagnosed with eating disorders and by analyzing four memoirs by American and French women. She read the stories of the women’s eating disorders through a feminist lens, taking note of how literary structure illuminated gender dynamics. Galan was advised by Carolyn Durham, professor of French, and Christa Craven, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.

Galan’s interest in the memoir genre was both personal and academic. From the time she was 14 years old, she has kept a personal journal. “For this project,” she writes, “I wanted to know how much of my journals were devoted to the self-loathing ‘language of fat.’

“…Of the almost 2,000 pages I have written since September 5, 2001, 12 percent mention ‘fat,’ ‘weight,’ ‘thin,’ or ‘diet.’”

Her comparison of the two cultures found more similarities than differences. In 1983, Americans’ silence about eating disorders turned into a national conversation when the popular singer, Karen Carpenter, died of complications from anorexia. In France, the silence was broken in 1995, when the 19-year-old daughter of a beloved TV newscaster committed suicide after years of struggling with anorexia.

Regardless of the culture, eating disorders are not about food, Galan found, but about a complex, individual set of circumstances, fomented by social pressure. “In my opinion,” she writes, “eating disorders signal how unbalanced and unequal the world still is . . .

The memoirs show how women are trying to force their bodies, minds, and spirits into forms that are considered acceptable in a male-oriented society—literally and metaphorically.”

Galan hopes to become a certified massage therapist. “I’d like to use massage therapy to help women reconnect with and have a better relationship with their bodies.”

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“The game provided social interaction that wasn’t there before.”

— Emmeline Ayers

U S I N G W I I A S M E N TA L AND PHYSICAL THERAPY WITH ELDERS E MMELINE AYERS ,

PSYCHOLOGY

Emmeline Ayers’ career road is smooth and straight. There are no forks of indecision nor potholes of doubt. She already knows the population she will be working with and her future job.

Ever since Ayers began volunteering at a nursing home in her hometown of Hillsborough, N.J., as a high school student, she knew she wanted to work with elders. She spent a semester as a research intern at a retirement center in Philadelphia, researching the preferences of the residents. For the past two years, she and her roommate at Wooster have delivered Meals on Wheels to some of Wayne County’s oldest residents.

When it was time to design her Independent Study, Ayers knew she wanted to research how to enrich the lives of elders living in retirement and nursing homes. While the merits of Wii (the Nintendo computer video game that requires competitive physical activity) are well-known to young people, they are only beginning to be discovered by elders. In fact, when Ayers visited a Wooster nursing home to begin her research, she found that the center owned Wii components, but the game had never been set up nor plugged in.

Working with Gary Gillund, associate professor of psychology, Ayers identified two Wooster nursing homes and 17 residents willing to participate in the study. Ayers’ hypothesis—that residents who played an assortment of Wii games would exhibit improved cognition, less depression, and general feelings of improved

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health—was supported. This did not surprise her, said Ayers.

What did surprise her was the degree of excited enthusiasm that the elders brought to the games.

There was, for example, Maxine. A former professional bowler, Maxine is confined to a wheel chair and connected to an oxygen tank. Not only did Wii allow her to mimic bowling movements, the game also prompted her to become good friends with another resident, Norma. “The game provided social interaction that wasn’t there before,” says Ayers. “Maxine showed Norma how to play, and they saw their scores improve. Every morning they would play together.” In fact, often by the time Ayers arrived to do her I.S. measurements, she discovered that the residents had been playing for hours.

Ayers is ready to take the next step down her career path— obtain an master’s degree in public health. She has been accepted at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Her future job title? Nursing Home Director.

Back at Ayers’ “research site,” the residents continue their Wii competitions. One of the centers won a new Wii game in a lottery, and the old, stationary computer game in the physical therapy room has fallen from favor. The new, portable game can go anywhere.

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FISH, HUMANS, AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS Why human disposition is hurting fish S HANNON C ONLEY,

CHEMISTRY

Shannon Conley’s research was primarily about fish. Because 90 percent of the drugs consumed by humans eventually end up in waterways, scientists have begun looking at their effects on fish. For example, pike in the Mississippi River that have ingested synthetic estrogen developed deformed sexual organs. Zebra striped bass that have swallowed antidepressant drugs are unresponsive, more susceptible to predators, and reproduce less. They also float vertically in the water, rather than horizontally.

Working with Melissa Schultz, assistant professor of chemistry, Conley examined the neurotransmitter levels for fathead minnow larvae exposed to Prozac and Zoloft.

Along the way, Conley began studying humans. She wondered why antidepressants are the most commonly used prescription drug in the United States, taken by 11 percent of females and 5 percent of males. She found that the drugs were significantly improved in 1981, and since that time their use has expanded to treat anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, bulimia, panic disorders, post-traumatic stress, and PMS. The majority of antidepressants are prescribed by family physicians; a diagnosis by a psychiatrist is not required.

Conley discovered that the use of antidepressants soared in 1997 when changes in advertising laws allowed drug companies to market directly to consumers. She read studies that found that TV commercials convince one in five Americans to request a prescription for the advertised medication.

Conley’s research on fathead minnow larvae was inconclusive.

But her side journey into the history of antidepressants was revealing. “It was discouraging, actually,” she says.

Conley has been accepted into the Ph.D. program in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of California, Davis, where she hopes to continue her work in the area of emerging contaminants.

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“I’d love to see a longitudinal study done on whether boarding school students are less likely to drink than public school students when they go to college.”

— Alysia LaBonte

S TA Y I N G O U T O F T R O U B L E A comparison of student behaviors and perceptions in a private boarding school, private day school, and public school A LYSIA L A B ONTE ,

PSYCHOLOGY

Alysia LaBonte, who attended a private Catholic high school in Connecticut, suspects that one’s social experience in high school is a powerful shaper, and even predictor, of later coping skills. LaBonte, who is choosing between offers from two graduate programs and wants to become a high school counselor, designed an Independent Study that spoke to both her past and her future. Working with Susan Clayton, professor of psychology and environmental studies, she measured differences in the way students from a boarding school, private day school, and a public school coped with “everyday stressors.”

In other words, how much did they get into trouble? What kind of trouble? And what strategies did they use to keep out of trouble? Her most important take-home lesson from the research, says LaBonte, came from the difficulties she experienced lining up schools to participate in the study. Decision-makers put her on hold. Administrators didn’t get back to her. Schools agreed, then backed out. “I learned so much about being dependent on other people,” said LaBonte. “It made me resolve to be true to the promises I make to others.”

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LaBonte’s results were complex. Some findings didn’t surprise her. She wasn’t surprised, for example, to find that students in boarding schools were more likely to use alcohol to escape from their problems than were their counterparts in the private day school or public high school. “I’d love to see a longitudinal study done on whether boarding school students are less likely to drink than public school students when they go to college. I suspect that we’d find differences.” Boarding school students who have already learned how to negotiate new social settings may encounter fewer problems at college and need to rely less on alcohol, says LaBonte.

She was surprised to find that boarding school students reported feeling the highest levels of support from their families.

“It may be because these students know the amount of money their families were spending on them to go to boarding school.

Knowledge of financial support may have been perceived as emotional support.”

LaBonte was also surprised to find significant differences in many behavioral and perceptual areas between students in the private boarding school and the private day school. Demographically, the schools were almost identical, she said. “It was crazy how close they were—the same numbers of males and females, the same numbers of countries represented in the student body.

“What I learned was that no two schools are ever the same.

Their missions, the way they recruit students, the values they communicate . . . those shine through.”

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THE SCENT OF A MAN Olfactory cues as a predictor of physical attractiveness M ICHAEL K AROGLAN ,

PSYCHOLOGY

What makes somebody sexy? We think we know. Women like to say things like, “Kind eyes are sexy.” Men rank “She laughs at my jokes” fairly high on the sexometer. But science tells us that the sexiest attribute—the one that is most universally appealing in all cultures—is facial symmetry. A symmetrical face is linked to physical and genetic health, and some deep, non-rational, evolutionary instinct prompts humans to recognize and value an attribute that can lead to healthy offspring.

But what if our asymmetric, unattractive selves can be camouflaged or changed with face-lifts, plastic surgery, creative makeup, or a well-trimmed beard? Michael Karoglan has a theory. He thinks that in the future, humans’ sense of smell may become more finely adapted, to compensate for visual cues that can lie.

Studying with associate professor of psychology Michael B. Casey, Karoglan constructed an Independent Study that measured the role that scent plays as an indicator of sexual attractiveness. The first step in his research was to ask 35 female Wooster students to rank the physical attractiveness of 15 photos of Wooster male students. Then he asked two male students—one who had been ranked “unattractive,” and the other “attractive”—to help him with his research. (Actually, said Karoglan, he asked many more than two students to participate. It was a hard sell. “They had to agree to wear one t-shirt to bed for three nights. During that time, they couldn’t use alcohol or other drugs or sleep with anyone, because doing so would change their scent.”)

Karoglan put his two scent-soaked t-shirts into plastic bags, froze them, and added a third test t-shirt that had never been worn. Then he asked 60 female Wooster students (different women from those who had participated in the first part of his study) to close their eyes, sniff the contents of the three plastic bags, and respond to a series of questions on their emotional states, post-sniffing. The sniff test was the only stimulus they were given.

The most dramatic difference in responses came from the question that asked the women how they felt about their own sensuality after sniffing the bagged shirts. A significant number of women reported feeling less sensual after sniffing the “unattractive” shirt, compared to the “attractive” one.

“I believe that scent—although subtle in its cues—is a truthful signal of genetic fitness,” says Karoglan. “A Western emphasis on masking natural scents may mislead our understanding of what is truly evolutionarily sexy. Conceivably, we may be limiting our assessment ‘tool box.’”

Karoglan has applied for a job in a neuroscience laboratory and is choosing between multiple offers from graduate schools, where he will study the behavioral sciences, with an emphasis in forensic psychology.

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YO U . . . O N LY B E T T E R Studying the culture of cosmetic surgery S ARAH G REEN -G OLAN ,

“The idea that ‘God gave you only one face, and to change it is blasphemous,’ is last century’s idea. We don’t think that way anymore.”

— Sarah Green-Golan

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ANTHROPOLOGY

Sarah Green-Golan had good reason to listen to attitudes about women, power, and appearance. She interned in Las Vegas for the Hilary Clinton for President campaign and spearheaded the C.O.W Students for Clinton campaign. And what she heard made her angry. “I heard things like, ‘I don’t want an old woman for president.’ Comments like that fueled my decision to use my Independent Study to study social standards of female beauty.”

Working with Tom Tierney, associate professor of sociology and anthropology, Green-Golan decided to target cosmetic surgery and to research it in a number of ways. A literature search of current practices led her to conclude that social attitudes about cosmetic surgery had radically shifted. “The idea that ‘God gave you only one face, and to change it is blasphemous,’ is last century’s idea. We don’t think that way anymore.”

She dug deeply, and everywhere she looked she found unresolved tensions. She considered the psychological underpinnings of a woman’s need to change her body and found ambiguity. On the one hand, the “Mommy makeover” denies the natural look of fertility by making women look streamlined, masculine, and powerful. On the other hand, surgery that creates a voluptuous look (i.e. breast and lip augmentation) makes women appear young, sexual, and ready for procreation. Green-Golan analyzed Web sites of institutions offering plastic surgery and noted the heavily floral “back to nature” imagery used to sell nips, tucks, and augmentation. She interviewed four plastic surgeons. And she surveyed 143 female students on campus about their attitudes towards their self-image and cosmetic surgery.

In the survey, 79 percent of her respondents indicated that they think of their bodies as a cohesive, unified organism. But 96 percent reported that they wished at least one body part or feature looked different, reflecting an internal conflict that appeared consistent with ambiguities that Green-Golan had found elsewhere.

Green-Golan did not use her study as an editorial forum to reject cosmetic surgery. But she did identify one area that she found ethically troubling: The relatively new practice promulgated by surgeons themselves—female genital cosmetic surgery. “I believe this is the only area in cosmetic surgery where the industry alone has set the standard of what is beautiful, normal, or acceptable, without any social or historical guidelines,” she says.

“And that’s problematic.”

Green-Golan hopes to go to law school and eventually work in politics.

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GREEN TEA AND CANCER An antioxidant molecule in green tea affects breast cancer cells.

L UCAS S TETZIK ,

“This is significant because it could substantially limit the tumor’s freedom to move about in the body.”

— Lucas Stetzik

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Luke Stetzik began researching cancer as a high school student. His work on a science project as a senior at Akron Firestone High School caught the attention of Wooster faculty members, who allowed Stetzik to use a laboratory on campus.

There was no question about where the young scientist would go to college or what he would study for his I.S. Working with James West, assistant professor of chemistry, Stetzik studied the effects of green tea on cancer cells. He wondered if an antioxidant molecule found in green tea might prevent the metastasis (spreading) of breast cancer cells by inhibiting a protein called MMP-9.

Controlling this secreted protein is critical, because it breaks down adhesion molecules between cells and allows tumors to spread.

Stetzik placed purified compounds from green tea with breast cancer cells and found that the tea extracts could neutralize MMP-9 by as much as 80 percent. “This is significant,” he says, “because it could substantially limit the tumor’s freedom to move about in the body.”

Stetzik plans to continue his research on cancer in graduate school.

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L A T E

by WILL LANGE ’57

It was May of 1962, and the Ohio spring was in full bloom—fields turning green, Amish men driving their black buggies in shirtsleeves, and cardinals singing from the forsythia bushes. After nine years of desultory attendance punctuated by many adventures, including marriage, I was finally closing in upon graduation from The College of Wooster. And my wife and I, on the 15th of the month, celebrated the arrival of our second child, a son.

Besides attending classes and studying minimally, I worked evenings at the Wooster Bus Station. I sold tickets, checked and carried baggage, cleaned the men’s room, announced arrivals and departures of Greyhound and Trailways buses, answered the phone, and planned itineraries.

The owner of the station, its snack bar, and the Wooster Cab Company was a rotund and fairly pleasant local-boy-made-good named Marvin. Marvin dressed almost always in a dark polyester suit and tie, treated his customers cordially, and drove a black Cadillac. Mysteriously and predictably, he disappeared from work in the early evening shift for purposes known only to him. It fell to me to take calls from all who might be looking for him. Marvin made this easy for me by never sharing anything. Marvin’s end of this tacit bargain was to make the call after I gave him the message.

The College of Wooster was in a bit of a stew that spring. The president, Howard Lowry, was a former Princeton English professor and a personal friend of Robert Frost. Frost was becoming old and feeble, but Dr. Lowry had invited him to give the commencement address. Frost had been quite ill, and had declined; so the president went with his second choice, Henry Luce. Then, as commencement

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Late in the morning, Frost held a news conference on the slate-floored, covered piazza at the east end of the president’s house. Of course I was there. Frost sat in a comfortable chair on the edge of the piazza, his white hair gleaming in the sun, and fielded the questions of the eager local journalists.

(above) Robert Frost with local reporters, on campus in May 1962.

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approached, Frost revived and decided he could make it, after all. What to do? You don’t tell Henry Luce that your first choice has replaced him. But by great good fortune, Wooster was also dedicating a new library that same week. So Frost was invited to give an address in honor of the new building.

The old man had been an idol of mine for years, beginning in 1953, when our senior English master at prep school had taken several of us to Amherst to listen to Frost read his poetry. From that time on, if Frost was speaking anywhere nearby and I could get there, I went. I read and memorized great chunks of my favorite Frost poems. So, even though it occurred two days after our son was born, I was on hand for his reading at Wooster. It was the last time I was to see him at a podium; his death was only months away.

Late in the morning Frost held a news conference on the slate-floored, covered piazza at the east end of the president’s house. Of course I was there. Frost sat in a comfortable chair on the edge of the piazza, his white hair gleaming in the sun, and fielded the questions of the eager local journalists. He was clearly exhausted. I stood at the outer edge of the ring and listened. I’d been associated with the College almost as long as Dr. Lowry, and we knew each other well. Both of us, underneath everything else, were aspiring writers. He nodded and gave me a high sign.

The questions were mostly mundane and predictable: How did you get into poetry? What’s poetry got that prose doesn’t? How did you settle on New England as the scene of most of your work? But then it suddenly got more exciting.

“Haven’t I read somewhere,” began a bright-eyed young woman reporter, “that you’re the poet laureate of the United States?”

“Yes, that’s true,” he answered.

“Is that a paying position?”

“I serve,” he responded dryly with a hint of a smile, “without emolument.”

“That’s nice,” she pursued. “But do you get paid for it?”

“There is no emolument connected with the honor,” he said—a trifle testily, I thought.

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“Yes, but what’s the salary?” she insisted. You could feel some people beginning to edge away from the imminent explosion.

“Young lady,” he said. “Your business is supposed to be words. I suggest you go back to your office, get a dictionary, and look up ‘emolument.’ Then, if you want to, come back and ask me some more questions.”

Dr. Lowry spotted me at the outside edge of the semicircle in front of Frost, sidled over to me and asked, “Would you be willing to show Mr. Frost around the campus after lunch, and then this evening come with us when we take him back to his hotel in Cleveland?” Would I! “Come pick him up here about two. Show him around, and get him to the chapel vestry by four-fifteen. Then come back here at seven, and we’ll go to Cleveland.” He slipped back onto the piazza behind Frost and signaled to everybody to beat it.

I went to visit my wife and brand-new son at the hospital, told her about the chance to go to Cleveland with Mr. Frost in the college limousine, and went home to call Marvin.

“Marvin,” I said, “I’ve got to take this evening off. I’ve got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I just won’t be able to make it.” I told him what I had been invited to do. But I don’t think he knew Robert Frost from Melvil Dewey.

“I need you this evening,” he answered. “Got to go out.” My heart sank.

“Well, I’m sorry, Marvin, but I need to do this. I’ll never get a chance like this again.”

“You do whatever you need to do, then. I’m just going to have to try to find somebody a little more reliable, I guess.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” I said. I meant it, too; I had a wife and two kids now, and I needed that job. “But I can’t pass this up. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Frost had spent the noon hour autographing books over at the president’s house.

No paperbacks, we were told; he wouldn’t sign them. Anybody who wanted an autograph left his book there, in a huge pile, with his name on a slip of paper in the flyleaf. Naturally, I left my Complete Poems of Robert Frost, which my bride had given me for Christmas a couple of years earlier.

I picked him up at two, and we strolled very slowly around Wooster’s brick campus—red brick walks underfoot, yellow brick and sandstone everywhere above ground level. Pure Ohio. In his lifetime, Frost had walked hundreds of campuses. I wondered if this one made him feel (as it did me) far from home in New England.

He was easy to spot from a long way off, of course, and people who saw him came hustling up to say hello, shake his hand, and tell him how much they adored his poetry. The old man was already a national monument. When he saw them coming, he stopped, and as they arrived, wearily held out both his hands to be shaken, and nodded his head in acknowledgement of the expected praise.

The College chapel was jammed for Frost’s reading. I stood leaning against a post at the head of the left-hand aisle, and watched him in profile as he “said” his poems and commented about what might or might not be concealed within them.

There was nothing there, he said, decrying the analysts who said they had “vivisected” them for hidden implications. “You can’t vivisect a poem,” he said, “because the operation kills it. If I wanted a meaning there, I put it there.”

During the question-and-answer period, someone asked how it felt to be so old, to be one of the last surviving giants of his generation. “It feels terrible,” he answered.

“All my friends have died, and I have conversation now only with younger people.

It’s very lonely.” He had been leaning forward and supporting himself on the lectern with his elbows; and as he said this, he seemed to slump and lean even more heavily.

President Lowry stood and, holding up the palms of his hands to forestall any more questions, thanked Frost for having come. Long standing ovation.

Even though it occurred two days after our son was born, I was on hand for Frost’s reading at Wooster. It was the last time I was to see him at the podium; his death was only months away.

(top) Robert Frost was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the College’s new Andrews Library. (above) Frost, with Mabel Shields Andrews at commencement.

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As we headed north out of Wooster toward Cleveland, Frost asked if I read much poetry. Yes, I told him, quite a bit. I wanted to be a poet myself someday. You’d better have a regular job, too, he cautioned, not realizing I’d just given up a regular job to spend a few hours with him.

Historic photos: Special Collections, Wooster Libraries Photo illustrations: Karol Crosbie

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I found my Beetle, and drove up to the hospital to see my wife and our new son.

Then back home for a quick supper with our daughter and her baby sitter. Finally, after a shower and lots of talcum—the evening was hot and oppressive—I put on my brand-new summer suit and a tie.

Doctor Lowry was there in the foyer, along with a couple of beautiful young women who had some kinship to either him or Frost, I don’t know which. It didn’t matter; the president was a bachelor, and surrounded himself with attractive women the way some people put vases full of flowers around the house. Frost wasn’t there yet; still upstairs, we were told. But there were still a few of his books on the settee, books that he’d signed but that hadn’t been picked up. I leafed through till I found mine, opened to the flyleaf, and discovered to my horror that he’d missed it.

A couple of minutes later we heard a shuffling in the upstairs hall, and here came the old man, dragging his own big Samsonite suitcase down the stairs. The president and I rushed to his aid, but he waved us off. “I can get it myself. I got it this far.” How often since then have I heard those exact words in northern New England!

“Well, then,” said Doctor Lowry, “if we’re all ready...”

“Excuse me, sir,” I said. “But my book, Mr. Frost, I left my book here, but I think you must have missed it.”

“Let me see it.” I opened to the flyleaf. “Have you got a pen?” I handed him mine. He set the book on an end table, bent over it, and read what was already there: To my husband Will — Love Ida — Christmas 1960. He turned his head toward me. “What’s your name?” I told him.

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He wrote laboriously, straining to see and to hold his hand steady: To Will Lange from his friend Robert Frost, Andrews Library Day 1962. “There!” he said.

“That ‘friend’ business will make it worth a couple hundred dollars more after I’m gone.” I don’t think he had any inkling how much more it made it worth to me.

(Years later, by the way, I discovered that he had signed the book already, but under his photograph opposite the title page. I hadn’t thought to look there; one of the few times I’ve profited from an oversight.)

The four of us walked out the front door, where the College limousine was waiting: a middle-aged sedan, driven by the College chauffeur, a lively character from Buildings & Grounds named Lou Nolletti. Lou bowed, saluted, and deferentially stowed Mr. Frost’s suitcase in the trunk. Doctor Lowry arranged us for the ride. “I’ll sit in the back between the ladies, and Will, you sit up front between Lou and Mr. Frost.” I slipped into a state of quiet rapture. I’m sure it showed.

We climbed in, shut the doors, and cranked the windows down. No air conditioning in those days. Frost was clearly suffering from the heat. He reached up, pulled off his tie, and stuck it into his jacket pocket. Lou saw him do it, and did the same. So I did, too. Then Frost, suffering also from his sumptuous supper, reached down, unbuckled his belt, and unzipped his fly. Then—I couldn’t believe it!— so did Lou! I sat there goggling back and forth at the two of them, thought, “No way!” crossed my wrists demurely in my lap, and looked straight ahead.

As we headed north out of Wooster toward Cleveland, Frost asked if I read much poetry. Yes, I told him, quite a bit. I wanted to be a poet myself someday.

You’d better have a regular job, too, he cautioned, not realizing I’d just given up a regular job to spend a few hours with him. Which poets did I like best? The two Roberts—Frost and Service, Walt Whitman, Don Marquis, Edna Millay, Emily Dickinson, and Edward Lear. He seemed pleased with the list. Did I have any favorites among his poems? Yes: Mending Wall; After Apple-Picking; and ‘Out, Out—’ Why in the world ‘Out, Out—? Well, I answered, it was easy to memorize. A faint little smile slightly deepened the heavy wrinkles around his habitually pursed mouth.

We passed the hospital where my wife and our infant son were spending the evening together. He noticed the hospital (seemed, in fact, to notice almost everything). “Doctor Lowry tells me you and your wife have just had a son.”

“Yes, sir. Just a couple of nights ago.”

“Isn’t that wonderful. What are you going to name him?”

“Well, sir, in honor of your visit, we’re thinking of calling him Robert Frost.”

He half turned toward me. “Oh, no,” he said, “that’s not a good idea. You never name a child for anyone famous or notorious. It’s not fair to the child. He spends his whole life trying either to live up to the name or to live it down. Haven’t you any alternatives?”

“Yes, there’s the family name, and I know the family would like that.”

“What’s that?”

Cringing inwardly, I murmured, “Willem Maurits Lange, the Fourth.”

The old car rolled through the long early summer sunset at a smooth fifty miles an hour, north on Ohio Route 83. The little glacial hills rose and fell ahead of it like the bumps in a children’s roller coaster; the green cornfields stretched toward kneehigh; occasional oil well pumps bobbed up and down like great, long-legged birds drinking. Frost sat quietly, ruminating.

Finally he said, straight ahead at the windshield, “You better call him Robert Frost.”

About an hour later I had my last look at the old man, forever. He was dragging his suitcase with one hand through the glass doors of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, and trying to wrap his crumpled tie around his neck with the other.

Storyteller and commentator Willem Lange has written five books, hosted shows for Vermont and New Hampshire NPR and PBS (one received an Emmy nomination), and is a columnist for several New England newspapers. His Web site, http://willemlange.com, indicates that he “earned a degree in only nine years at The College of Wooster in Ohio. In between those scattered semesters, he worked as a ranch hand, Adirondack guide, preacher, construction laborer, bobsled run announcer, assembly line worker, cab driver, bookkeeper, and bartender.”

Will and his wife, Ida, live in East Montpelier, Vermont.

Their second child’s name is Willem Maurits Lange IV.

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by KAROL CROSBIE

working for

HO 2 Water is power.

Water is grace.

Water is the boss.

The scientist, lawyer, anthropologist, student, lobbyist, and water regulator all agree.

Americans take water for granted. EPA water regulator Nancy Neagoy Rice ’85, whose concern is often to make good water better, remembers something she read on the Web site of the nonprofit organization, Water for People: “As the North American water community debates parts per billion of one contaminant or another, the developing world is dealing with billions on another level: The staggering number of people without access to safe drinking water.”

“That says it all,” says Rice. “That’s where we are. We have water; they don’t.”

The Woosterites interviewed also agree on something else: Change is coming.

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WITHIN OUR REACH DAVID DOUGLAS ’71, who began his career as an environmental lawyer, remembers the night in 1985 when he was awakened to a new mission. He was trying to comfort his young daughter, who was ill with a diarrheal disease. He knew that in the morning, he and his wife would take their baby from their home in the mountains into nearby Santa Fe, where a physician would treat her. In the meantime, there was plenty of good, clean water to reduce her dehydration.

“I began wondering what it would be like to live in a part of the world where you couldn’t count on water, or would have to walk to find it, and where there was no doctor to call.”

As soon as he began researching the topic, Douglas learned two truths: First, that the scope of the problem was shocking.

And second, that few people were writing about it.

And so he began writing. Hundreds of interviews and a dozen magazine articles later, Douglas decided that writing wasn’t enough. “I began wondering who out there was reading.

And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be good to get water flowing, at the end of the day?’”

And so in 1988 he founded Waterlines, a publicly-funded nonprofit organization made up entirely of dozens of volunteers, which provides funding and expertise to villagers in developing countries where drinking water sources are contaminated or far away. Solutions may be as simple as installing tubing to pipe water down from a mountain, and may cost as little as $5,000.

The goal of each project, says Douglas, is to leave villagers with a system that they can sustain by themselves.

But 12 countries and 200 villages later, Douglas decided that creating systems, one holding tank or pipeline at a time, wasn’t good enough. And so, assisted by some of the world’s leading water experts, he founded the Washington, D.C.-based Water Advocates, the nation’s first nonprofit organization dedicated solely to increasing American financial support for worldwide access to safe, affordable, and sustainable water and sanitation.

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Douglas’ two positions—president of Waterlines and president of Water Advocates—provide no salaries. Douglas’ grandfather, Henry A. Wallace, secretary of agriculture and vice president under President Franklin Roosevelt, founded Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Company and gave his grandchildren stock in the company. The financial legacy, says Douglas, has given him professional flexibility.

The mission of Water Advocates, established in 2005, is to triple the amount of U.S. funding for worldwide water and sanitation projects by 2010. The organization, which plans to end in 2010, neither implements projects nor raises money for itself.

The behind-the-scenes model has worked well, says Douglas.

“We don’t step on other organizations’ turf, because we’re looking for money for the sector as a whole.”

Sh a p i n g t h e m e s s a g e Douglas, who works with Water Advocates approximately 70 hours a week, including biweekly commutes from his home in Santa Fe to Washington, D.C., has combined his legal skills with an understanding of persuasive language to become a formidable lobbyist. He fine-tunes messages for each of his five constituencies—Congress, civic groups, faith communities, corporations, and foundations.

The facts that propelled Douglas in 1985 and that continue to fuel his passion for change are these: Every day more children—4,500—die from water and sanitation-related diseases than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Nearly a billion people still lack access to even five gallons of safe water per day, and 2.6 billion have no way to dispose safely of daily human waste, according to WHO and UNICEF. “There is no more serious global public health problem,” he says.

Douglas’ key message is positive and persuasive: “With adequate funding, the world could solve this problem tomorrow.” And why has civilization fallen behind in this area? A key reason, he says, lies in the complacency of the world’s biggest superpower. “In this country, past generations have

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Every person on the planet deserves at least five gallons of water a day. The biggest impediment to this basic human right, says a Wooster alum, is the lack of human will.

subsidized the infrastructure. We can take water for granted.

It’s off our radar screen. If you ask Americans how much they spend on a gallon of milk or gasoline, they can tell you.

But few people know how much they spend for a gallon of safe water from their taps. In fact, in this country it’s less than a half-cent a gallon.”

Contributing to the crisis, says Douglas, is the media’s silence. “Since 1982, for example, Newsweek has published 18 cover stories on AIDS but none on the casualty toll from lack of water and sanitation. We aren’t saying stop covering AIDS; we’re asking to broaden the spotlight.”

And why the media’s silence? “Nobody wants to talk about diarrhea.” But the disease—90 percent of which is caused by unsafe water and sanitation—kills 1.5 million people every year.

The last taboo If diarrhea is difficult to address in polite circles and public forums, it is even harder to talk about the fact that 18 percent of the world’s population must defecate openly—in fields, forests, bushes, or in streams or rivers, according to a joint report by WHO and UNICEF. The lack of basic sanitation robs communities of dignity, health, and well-being, the report concludes.

If Douglas is speaking to faith communities, he asks them when they last heard their ministers speak of global access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation as issues of spiritual concern. If he is talking to members of Congress, he reminds them that a country’s development and national security depend on clean water.

With the exception of America’s 35,000 Rotary Clubs (see story on pg. 28), most major philanthropic organizations have been slow to support clean water and sanitation efforts, says Douglas. “They like to see themselves as visionaries, but in fact they take a lot of their cues from the media.”

A small subgroup—children—require the least convincing, he says. “You don’t have to articulate statistics to kids. There’s a group called H2O For Life whose main constituency is school

Photo above by Stephen Katz, Wéyo

Top left: David Douglas, speaking at the launch of the WASH-inSchools initiative held at the National Geographic Society last year.

Photo by Kate Baylor, National Geographic

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N Water Advocates: www.wateradvocates.org Waterlines: http://waterlines.org

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A Wooster chemistry professor develops a silica-glass that expands to eight times its size to absorb water contaminants. children, who will go out and raise several thousand dollars for a drinking water or waste project. They intuitively understand that it’s intolerable that other kids have to walk two miles to a polluted river and can’t go to school.”

Douglas believes that change is coming, but that it will require more commitment from America’s leaders. “In his inauguration address, President Obama said, ‘To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work along side of you, to let clean waters flow.’ No president has said that before. Our current Congress has increased funding to $300 million dollars a year, but that’s really a drop in the bucket compared to the need. In fact, private American citizens are doing more to extend clean drinking water in most developing countries than our federal government is doing.”

Douglas’ organization is partnering with other leaders to hold the first meeting of the country’s Christian nonprofits working in the area of water.

“We remember that Jesus said, ‘I was hungry and you gave me food.’ But we forget that he also said, ‘I was thirsty and you gave me drink.’ This is not an anachronism. It is true today.”

Above: Sanitation problems in a slum in Kibera, Nairobi Photo courtesy of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Photos Photostream.

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FULL GLASS THE FORMER PARTS manufacturing plant in West Lafayette, Ohio, sits in the middle of town, simultaneously obsolete and powerful. A vibrant employer during World War II, today it is empty and silent. But beneath the ground, flowing under houses, churches, and schools, is its potent legacy—a plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) that was used to clean grease from machinery parts. Over time, an industrial-sized vat of the stuff leaked, contaminating today’s groundwater sources.

The situation is not unique. In fact, the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Site Registry estimates that between 9 and 34 percent of the country’s drinking water supply sources have some TCE contamination. Because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found TCE “highly likely to cause cancer in humans,” its standard for acceptable rates is five parts of TCE per billion. The EPA has identified 1,428 of the country’s most polluted sites, with levels of TCE at 1,000 to 10,000 parts per billion.

Forty of these are in Ohio.

“It’s the problem very few people know about,” says Paul Edmiston.

This summer, a crowd of EPA regulators, scientists, and

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At left: Paul Edmiston and Emily Barth ’10 working in Edmiston’s campus laboratory. Barth is one of five Wooster students working with Edmiston on additional applications for Obsorb™. Barth, who visited Kenya during spring break (see story on pg. 28), is working on ways to use the substance in developing countries.

It holds particular promise there, because it can be repeatedly reused and because of its simplicity. After absorbing contaminants, the powder floats to the water’s surface and can then be removed using a coffee filter.

Photo by Karol Crosbie

West Lafayette townspeople will gather to watch, as 50 pounds of a glittering white powder are injected into the center of the toxic plume. In the group will be Paul Edmiston, Wooster professor of chemistry and inventor of a substance called Osorb™ that has been called a “magic bullet” for cleaning water.

Indeed, it seems almost magic. Discovered accidentally by Edmiston in 2004 and first witnessed by his former student Colleen Burkett ’06, Osorb™ is a silica-based glass that instanteously swells to eight times its original size, in order to absorb substances such as gasoline and other solvents (including TCE). It does not, however, absorb water. The pores in the rubbery glass (Edmiston describes the texture as a cross between window glass and caulking compound) act like microscopic vacuum cleaners. In fact, Edmiston can’t resist making “schlooping” noises, as he describes how Osorb™ works on contaminated water.

To treat water that has been fouled by TCE and PCE (perchlorethylene, which is used in dry cleaning fluid), Edmiston imbeds nanoparticles of iron in the glass molecules. The iron reacts to chlorinated solvents and destroys them. “It swallows the TCE and PCE toxins and turns them into harmless byproducts,” Edmiston explains.

The West Lafayette pilot project will yield information on Osorb’s effectiveness at cleaning up TCE and PCE

plumes. Current treatment methods are often expensive and cumbersome. Sometimes, communities shut down wells and hope that TCE will dissipate over time. “But natural attenuation takes forever, and we just can’t wait that long,” says Nancy Neagoy Rice ’85, section manager of Ohio EPA’s Division of Drinking and Ground Waters in Northeast Ohio. (See pg. 30.) “If this works, it would be pretty fantastic. And how exciting that it’s being developed at Wooster.”

To produce Osorb™, Edmiston has founded a parent company in Wooster, Absorbent Materials Company LLC. The College of Wooster holds the Osorb™ patent.

In the meantime, Edmiston has already put the substance to work cleaning up another problem—water that is a byproduct of oil and gas wells (called “produced water”). A subsidiary company, Produced Water Absorbents, founded

by Reuben Domike, formerly the director of the College’s Center for Entrepreneurship, is using the technology to clean produced water, leaving it essentially toxin-free. In fact, Edmiston, the company’s chief science officer, demonstrates Osorb’s effectiveness by adding gasoline to a glass of water, treating it with the glistening powder, and then drinking it.

The company is only in its first year of operation but has already received a $25,000 Clean Energy Prize from a competition sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 27

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Wooster students learn how understanding, knowledge, and caring bring about change.

H OW C H A N G E H A P P E N S TH IRT Y YEARS AGO, David McConnell, then a crosscultural studies undergraduate at Earlham College, spent a year teaching math, English, and science in the villages of Vigedze and Vigina in the Maragoli region of western Kenya. He returned many times in ensuing years. But other academic pursuits intervened, and after a 15-year hiatus, McConnell, now a Wooster professor of anthropology, returned in 2003. What he saw affected him deeply.

WO O S T E R I N K E N YA Two groups of Wooster students have visited the Maragoli region in Kenya: 2009 Ali Drushal ’09 Amanda Gottesman ’11 Amy Sondles ’11 Emily Barth ’10 Justin Keener ’10 Meghan Hough ’11 Sheldon Masters ’09 2007 Bethany Caldwell ’09 Dierre Taylor ’09 Crystal Riley ’07 Sarah Haserodt ’08

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“Nothing had changed. The villagers still didn’t have water.

People were so frustrated, they came to me and asked, ‘Is there anything we can do? We feel like we’re educated; we know what our problems are.’ I could see that they were quite confident. I thought that if somebody could just get small amounts of money into the hands of the local leadership . . .”

McConnell, deciding he might as well be that somebody, created a foundation, called the Maragoli Community Development Foundation (MACODEF) to develop external fund-raising and to empower local leadership. Doug Drushal ’74, a lawyer practicing in Wooster, helped McConnell with the legalities of setting up a foundation, and the stage was set for a shared venture. A long-time Rotarian, Drushal chairs the Wooster club’s World Service Committee. Rotary International is one of the few U.S. philanthropic organizations that have targeted solving the world’s water problems as their primary mission, according to international water lobbyist David Douglas ’71.

(See story, pg. 25.)

And so it was that McConnell and Drushal led groups of Wooster students to the Maragoli region during 2007 and 2009 spring breaks. There, they worked and celebrated with two communities that were in the midst of change.

The most recent group of seven students helped with work that had already begun, the result of an infusion of funds and leadership from Rotary International and MACODEF. They helped with three projects—harvesting rainwater, improving community springs, and building new latrines. “The villagers were well underway with the projects, and our assistance was largely ceremonial and symbolic,” said McConnell.

But symbolic or not, sweat equity can be influential. Says Drushal, “I heard someone say, ‘We had no idea white people knew how to work.’”

Mostly, the Wooster students were there to learn. Many of the lessons came during homestays with Maragoli families.

Emily Barth ’10, a chemistry major who was gathering background information for her Independent Study (see story, pg.

26), tells her story: “My Maragoli mother offered me a bath and I thanked her. But in the morning, I looked out my window and saw a six-year-old running to get water. The spring is about 15 minutes away, and people usually wait in line for a half hour, before returning with five-gallon buckets on their heads. I thought, ‘This is not OK.’” “I stood in a bathing hut,” recalls Barth, “and used a cup to pour water over myself, and I realized how little water you really need to get clean. And I recalled my 20-minute showers at home.”

The other students came away with a similar understanding, said McConnell. “They all said, ‘I never knew how much I took water for granted.’”

The students were overwhelmed by the warmth and generos-

ity of the villagers, a reception that was in large part a result of McConnell’s commitment to the community, said Drushal.

“He’s too humble to tell you, but he’s a celebrity in these villages as a teacher and MACODEF guru.” When they arrived, a band of school children playing homemade instruments welcomed the Wooster students, “Professor Dave,” and “Guga” (Drushal’s nickname, meaning “grandfather”).

And will Wooster students continue Professor Dave and Guga’s legacy of change? It has already begun. Bethany Caldwell ’09, who was part of the 2007 Wooster Maragoli group, established a Rotaract Club on campus, which focuses on international service. Caldwell’s close association with Rotary International resulted in a Rotary scholarship to travel to Kampala, Uganda, to study for one year at the School of Public Health at Makerere University. She will continue her studies at Ohio State University’s Medical School, with an emphasis in global health.

“My trip to Kenya changed my life,” she says.

Left: Amanda Gottesman ’11 and a community leader from Vigedze plant an indigenous tree to replace imported Eucalyptus trees, which deplete water souces.

Photo by Dave McConnell

Above: In Kenya, only women and children carry water. This child from Vigedze began carrying water by the time she was four years old. Photo by Amanda Gottesman

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In the United States, the government pays close attention to water quality. EPA water regulator Nancy Rice enforces an increasing number of rules

WAT E R RU L E S Soon after Nancy Neagoy Rice ’85 began her job as a water inspector for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in 1986, she had learned the regulations like the back of her hand. Twenty-three years later, Rice, now section manager of EPA’s Division of Drinking and Ground Waters in northeast Ohio, wades through such a morass of rules and regulations that she can no longer totally rely on memory and personal resources.

“The pace has quickened. Rules are more complex, we’re testing for more parameters, standards are lower—you just can’t have it all in your head any more. And no one can be an expert on everything.”

And why has the pace quickened? Are Americans getting messier, or are they getting smarter? Rice doesn’t hesitate.

“We aren’t polluting more than we used to. But we are able to identify more pollutants and better understand their effects on our health.”

For example, in 2006 the government lowered the amount of arsenic that is acceptable in drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10, because of new information on arsenic’s carcinogenic effects. A rule change such as this deeply affects communities, particularly small ones, says Rice, who oversees the regulation of clean drinking water in 347 cities and towns and in 1,500 additional small systems, such as trailer courts, schools, and churches.

Arsenic, she explains, occurs naturally in the environment, particularly in glacial sediments and aquifers. The 15 counties that are in her district were the recipients of ancient glacial deposits and have much higher levels of arsenic than other parts of the state, said Rice, who was a geology major.

As she helps communities comply with new standards, Rice walks a delicate line between educator and regulator.

“I don’t want to be a ‘flash your badge’ regulator. If you’re a principal of a school with its own well, for example, it’s your responsibility to comply with rules that ensure that the water is safe, even though that’s not your area of expertise.

30 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

It can be overwhelming. My job is to provide technical assistance whenever I can.”

“I want a positive relationship with the people we regulate. But I can’t be their friend.”

In the coming years, Rice will help communities comply with new rules that regulate bacteria such as coliform and e-coli in groundwater. And never-before-seen rules that regulate pharmaceuticals are anticipated. Rules take years to develop, and in addition to health effects, public officials consider the numbers of water systems affected and the cost and efficacy of bringing them into compliance. “In some cases, science is barely keeping up with the regulations,” Rice says. “If the technology isn’t available to test for a new, lower parameter, then there’s not much point in having it.”

Rice, the recipient of a state award from the American Water Works Association, says she loves her work. “I take a lot of pride in being a public employee—in being responsible to the taxpayers and in doing the right thing, within the bounds of our rules and regulations.”

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Helping communities comply with water quality standards requires education and regulation.

EPA water regulator Nancy Rice meets with officials at the new water treatment plant in the small town of Middlefield, Ohio. The facility, which opened late last year, was necessary in order to comply with new federal and state requirements for reduced levels of arsenic in drinking water.

Photo by Karol Crosbie

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Class Notes

GRECIAN DANCERS

Lois Black ’31, Mildred Graham, Margaret Reed, ’30s, at College of Wooster Commencement, 1930 Courtesy Special Collections, College of Wooster Libraries

1931

Ron Spahn ’64 tells us of the Oct. 2008 death of his mother, Elizabeth “Betty” Francis Spahn, of Cleveland Heights. A biology major, she was the widow of Ronald Spahn ’30. Three sons survive. Contact Ron at www.bighorn-wyoming.com.

1934

Elizabeth “Libby” Lapham Wills 36500 Euclid Ave., A255, Willoughby, OH 44094

Mil Schuenemann Johnston sends this note in poetry form, “This is Mil Johnston/ You knew me when Schuenemann/ Was my last name,/Fred made my name easier to spell/ Some of you find it easier to remember.

“Remember our senior year?/Will you ever forget/How difficult it was/Getting a job?/I had to teach shorthand and typing/Oh, yes, English and Latin also./Hopefully, now, no one is hunting a job/Or even wants a job.

“We Johnstons now number 32./All but the ones under age 5/Communicate with me by e-mail./Enough family talk!

“I won’t be with you at our 75th./I feel great, am active/But trips are only a memory./ Let’s all write to the Alumni Office./I want news, don’t you?” Find Mil at miljohnston@ mailbug.com.

The Class of ’34 reunion—5 years!—was celebrated but mildly! Two of us represented all of you, Mary Ellen Frame Weaver and me (Libby). The class lunch was at the Wooster 32 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

Inn, and we met there. Mary Ellen is as pretty as she was years ago. Her family members were with her: son Joel ’67, daughter Helen ’69, spending the weekend at her own reunion, and another daughter, who brought Mary Ellen. They all stayed for lunch and convinced my son, who brought me, to join us. They found “connections,” so conversation was lively.

Picture-taking took place in the dining room rather than posing us on the bleachers!

Mary Ellen lives in an independent apartment in a retirement home in Copley, a suburb of Akron. The “girls” said she is well physically but has difficulty hearing. (One was careful to keep Mary Ellen included in the conversation). They said she had to be “persuaded” to come, as did I. But we were glad we did so!

The campus was beautiful and the “new” buildings most stately and fitting well into the whole picture of our beloved college.

The Alumni people said Beryl Young Denny had registered early, and they had no word about her absence.

Please send a little news about yourself or ask a relative to do it. I’ll appreciate that and try to continue to be your secretary. Greetings to all from Mary Ellen and me!

1936

Jean Rupert Nickol ’63 writes of the April death of her dad, Donald Rupert. Though he did not graduate from the College, she says, “he loved his years at Wooster and influenced

me to attend. My husband (Stephen Nickol ’63) and I met there!” Our condolences to the Rupert family.

1937

Martha “Mollie” Tilock Van Bolt NEW! 420 Brookside Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48501 (810) 233-5107, martha1937@comcast.net

This column begins with the news from birthday calls made in the last three months.

Blanche Smith Craig, Kay Huston Recker, Ann Doerrer Shaffer, Martha Fleming Snyder, Ruth Rifenberick Suter, Charlotte Beals Tasker, Judy Coover Wishart, and Otis Heldman are doing well.

The telephone numbers for Brown Jenkins, Margaret Thomas Matthews, and Ruth Lyle Relph were no longer in service. I (Mollie) confirmed that Brown had died on Oct. 13, 2008, and Margaret on Feb. 2, 2009.

I found Ruth through her sister, Jeanne Lyle Kate ’38. Ruth and Earl Relph ’39 live at 2000 32nd St. SE, Apt. 427, Grand Rapids, MI 49508. Ruth says they are now “Lutherans of a sort.”

Betty Wertz Schultz has moved to Live Oak Village (2300 N. Cedar St., Foley, AL 36535) but kept her phone number, so I did contact her.

Cards were sent to Helen Alber Leibert and Betty Olson Tiller, each addressed to one of their children. Both children responded that their mothers are in good physical health.

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A call from Mildred Senff Patterson’s daughter, Mary Beth, reported that Mildred died on Feb. 23.

Likewise, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Claypoole Baldridge’s daughter, Kay, informed me of Betty’s death on Mar. 4. Kay had accompanied her mother to our 60th reunion, so we felt comfortable sharing stories of Betty’s full life. Kay laughingly said, “You won’t be surprised to know that Mom died in the beauty salon at her retirement complex.”

The fact that I know where to contact all 52 of our living classmates and that our class has the distinction of not having a “lost” list at the College’s office of alumni records can be traced directly back to Betty Claypoole. Here’s the story.

If you were on campus during 1933-34, you’ll recall that Betty was, without question, one of the most popular women. Her name turned up everywhere. Her freshman roommate, Helen Forry Drysdale, once said that, more often than not, whenever the telephone rang at Hoover Cottage, the call went up the stairs for “Betty Claypoole,” and she’d dash down to the phone “four steps at a time.”

Off campus, at Colonial, Nunny Fader Bodley and I marveled at Betty’s popularity with not only freshmen but also upperclassmen. To say we envied her is an understatement—we wanted to be her. Once we got to be sophomores, though, our blossoming social lives left us little time to think about Betty, who was then rooming at Warburton.

Fast forward to 1982. At our 45th reunion, Roger Van Bolt and I reluctantly agreed to cochair the committee to raise money for the class 50th reunion gift to the College. We composed a letter to classmates, mailed it to Wooster, and received in return copies for everyone, addressed and stamped envelopes, and the roster of all ’37ers with known addresses. We spent an entire day at the dining room table, Roger with the envelopes for the men, I with those for the women, with our four Indexes, Alumni Directories, and student directories handy to jog our memories. We wrote personal postscripts on each letter.

Roger finished first and began to go over the class roster. Remember, he had just written a note to each guy on the list, but his comment, after a few moments, was, “Betty Claypoole’s name is not here.” I looked at him, then burst out laughing. My own husband had been among those males in our freshman year who had lusted for Betty.

After a few awkward moments, we began to name women and men whose names were missing from the roster. On that day, at that time, Roger suggested we make it a project to locate everyone who had ever been part of our class. That search took us 15 years.

We located Betty Claypoole through her

sister, Barbara ’38. In time, Betty and I became phone pals, and eventually I asked her why she had not stayed on to graduate. She laughed and said, “During my sophomore year, I climbed in through a window at Warburton once too many times, late for curfew, and I was expelled.” (I have daughter Kay’s permission to share this with you all!)

So, if you enjoy the annual birthday calls that Roger initiated in 1982, you have Betty Claypoole to thank.

1938

Betsy Ruf Field writes of the passing of her mother, Elizabeth “Bette” Weir Ruf, on Mar. 20. Betsy writes, “She and my father, Bill Ruf ’33, made lifelong friendships at Wooster and returned to campus regularly—but they did not know each other while in college! They met later, when they were teaching at Dover High School in Westlake, Ohio. Bill and Bette loved Greece and made several trips there, celebrating their 50th anniversary on the island of Crete. They leave two daughters, Betsy Field and Carolyn Ruf, son-in-law Kurt Field, and granddaughters Kimberleigh and Robin Field.” Contact Betsy at efield@eureka.edu.

We send our condolences.

Doris’s father donated the Wooster Inn. He was known to say he could afford to provide one wing because he didn’t smoke and another because he didn’t drink alcohol.

Margaret Kennard Johnson surprised me with a booklet for a 2004 solo show that featured her outstanding work as an artist and teacher. You will remember that Margaret was the daughter of Florence Lott Kennard, who taught art at Wooster while we were there. Margaret mentioned that a daughter attended Wooster and has done great work as an illustrator.

1941

Mary Wilcox Hughes 3880 Eastway Rd., South Euclid, OH 44118 mwoohughes@msn.com

Leonard W. Snyder 422 2nd St. NW, New Philadelphia, OH 446631853, lswhin@roadrunner.com

1940

Last April Betty Olnhausen Cummings ’40 wrote of the passing of her husband, Carl Cummings (see In Memoriam). She quoted Carl as saying that he and Betty “put the ‘Woo’ in Wooster” during their 66 years of marriage. Betty adds that the three things that people often recall about Carl are “his infectious smile, gentlemanly manner, and ‘flashy’ slacks!”

She says she especially appreciates her friends at Longwood at Oakmont (Pa.)— Mart McCreight Rowand ’42 and John ’52 and Marge Mitchell ’51 Bolvin.

NEW! 2128 NE 81st Pl., Seattle WA 98115 FDK05@hotmail.com

1942

1939 Florence Dunbar Kerr Doris Wilson Blanchard reported holding a 90th birthday reception for her friends at the residence where she lives in Missouri, with appetizers, a cake, and punch. She enclosed a page of pictures taken throughout her life and mentioned that she’s considering giving up her car but at present still drives short distances.

While I (Florence) am talking about Doris and parties, I should mention Doris’s grandmother, Mrs. Frank, who lived on Beall Avenue. She gave parties for Doris every year while we were at Wooster. These were formal occasions, and we knew we were to dress properly. We wore hats and gloves and sometimes even took calling cards to leave for the hostesses on the front hall table. The College was then a lot more formal than it is now.

Another thing we should remember about Doris: As one of only a few ’40ers who had a camera at college, she systematically photographed our classmates, the faculty, Prexy, and other well-knowns. We enjoyed looking at these pictures at several different alumni get-togethers. The last time they were organized as a presentation on a CD.

Celia Retzler Gates 1446 Bellevue, Wooster, OH 44691 rlgcmg@sssnet.com

1943

David Lanning writes from Louisiana, “I am doing well but am without my wife of 60 years, Irene, who died from complications of Parkinson’s disease in July 2005. My home suffered no significant damage from any of the hurricanes that hit this area. I still live at my New Orleans residence of 43 years, but I’m frequently at the following address: 66283 N. Odell Walker Rd., Kentwood, LA 704446219. My daughter, Mary, and her school-age daughters, Kelly and Laura, live there.

“I’m grateful that Mr. Bob Irvin is looking out for the Class of 1943,” David concludes.

Bob himself writes, “Since I berated my classmates for not corresponding, I’d better set an example. My life continues to thrive here on the shores of Lake Erie with my wife, Connie, an Allegheny College grad.

“My four older children are scattered from S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 33

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Class Notes

25 TH ANNUAL OAT GATHERING

For 25 years, members and friends of C.O.W.’s Omega Alpha Tau have gathered annually—for Halloween parties, or wine tastings, or hockey weekends, etc. The first such event was in 1984 (see p. 49). In February, the sixth OAT Hockey Weekend was held in Columbus, attended by 39 OATs from all over the U.S. L TO R , BACK ROW John Mack ’83, Bob Neff ’82, Brad Barclay ’84, Joe Hudson ’77, Mark Snyder ’79, Bob Mayer, Chris DeMoll, ’11s, Dave Bates ’10, Brian Holmes ’11, Will Schoenfeld ’12, Justin Keener ’10, Ron Austin ’80, Scott McCune ’79, Don Austin ’80, Pete Wise ’84 SECOND ROW Bob Black ’84, Bill Marcus ’86, Tom Haning, David Tiftickjian, ’82s, Brandon Bozsik ’11, Scott Buckwald ’10, Justin Younker ’10, Andy Sears, George Bell, ’79s, Nate Florian ’09, Larry Whitney ’77 front row Tom Van Cleef ’83, Dick Tiftickjian ’84, Ken Kolich ’79, Ben Buckworth ’80, Pete Murray ’81, Beth Williams Adamson ’75, Jacob Haning ’11, Kim Utt, Gary Maxwell, ’77s, Bob Van Cleef ’79, Jeff Hollander ’83, Bob Adamson ’76 NOT PICTURED Karl Lohwater ’77

Colorado to Ohio, Michigan, and North Carolina. My youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is at Williams College in Massachusetts. This year she’s in England at Oxford. My efforts to get her to Wooster did not succeed.

“I retired from practicing pediatrics in 1998, after 47 years of taking care of kids— hectic but satisfying. My health remains good except for the usual wear and tear of 87 years.

“I still value my time at Wooster as the happiest of all. The memories of my friendships are still fresh. How fortunate we are to have had that experience. The values we learned there are timeless. Best wishes to all.”

Fran Barr Curtis and Bob August were honored by the Wooster YMCA last April.

Eleven senior citizens were named to the YMCA Wellness Hall of Fame, honoring their dedication to a healthy lifestyle. Fran swims, walks, and rides a stationary bike three times a week. She told The Daily Record, “You get to a point where you just can’t do things anymore, and that’s why I keep on going.”

Fran notes more recently, “My arthritis and trauma from past falls required tests of all kinds. Long trips are not possible for me now.”

Anne Harms Cox writes, “Thank goodness for phones! When our Round Robin letter got down to four, we decided to call it quits and to keep in touch by telephone. Here’s some news from the robins.

“Ida Snodgrass Arthurton has eye problems. She recently had a family reunion with 34 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

her two sons in town at the same time—for the first time in three years!

“Betty Vandersall Hanks also has eye problems. She has moved into assisted living but keeps up her mobility by walking inside the building each day.

“Jill “Alice” Walker Thomas has had a rough two years. She has fallen several times and had several setbacks, but therapy is slowly giving her back her strength.”

Anne concludes with news of her own, “I’m active in College Club and at church. I live in an area with two senior centers and partake of their stimulating activities. Since my husband’s death in 1992, I have taken tours with the centers, sometimes two or three times a year. I’ve pretty well covered the U.S. and made two trips to Europe.

“My recent traveling has been to Michigan for Christmas with my daughter and her family and to graduations. Erik and Emily graduated from high school and the U of Michigan. Erik completed medical school at Northwestern U, and Emily earned an M.Ed. Erik was married while in medical school, and he and his wife live just north of Chicago, while he interns at Northwestern U. Emily teaches English literature at a high school in the area. She is the fourth generation of teachers in our family.”

Also a world traveler, Lois Wilson Scott went to the Caribbean this spring and and then left for Beijing. She writes letters about

each trip, she says, “and people seem to enjoy them. I’m not keeping up with classmates, but I like hearing about those who write.”

John Meloy says that he’s a veteran of seven years at Swan Creek Retirement Village in Toledo, “one of 11 such Presbyterian communities in Ohio. Harry and Ginny Lee ’42 Bigelow are at another, Breckenridge Village, near Cleveland. Here we have about 200 residents in independent apartments, plus 75 in levels of care, from assisted living through nursing aid and Alzheimer’s care.

“Last year was difficult, with the death of my second wife, Betty, in July, then the passing of my brother and his wife in California in the fall. I had a hip replacement in December but it’s healed to perfection.” John spoke in the spring of being ready to get out to his garden plot.

The family of the late Dick Shreffler (see In Memoriam) wishes to especially thank Dick’s niece, Sara Shreffler Eyestone, and her husband, David, for the care they gave Dick in his last two years.

1944

Anne Melone Deidrick 342 Wycliffe Dr., Houston, TX 77079-7131 doft@sbcglobal.net

Russell Haley 653 Medford Leas, Medford, NJ 08055 elderguy44@yahoo.com

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Did you happen to notice p. 19 of the spring issue of Wooster? There’s our Don Layton, cruising along over the Golden Gate Bridge in his favorite aircraft, a zeppelin. Don had a 23-year career as a naval aviator and then taught for another 23 at the Naval Postgraduate School. We’ve been hearing from him with increasing frequency because he’s been producing some excellent aircraft-related CDs. He recently sent me one devoted to non-rigid airships (read ‘zeppelins’), one on Jimmy Doolittle and his Tokyo Raiders, and another on Al Williams (an outstanding test pilot and friend). Don is working on a CD concerning military “X-planes.”It covers some 500 experimental planes, with pictures of each and additional facts on most. Very impressive!

I’ve been serving as one of his editors.

Don has solid Wooster lines, as his brother is Francis “Ducky” ’37. I was hoping that Don could make it to our 65th, but his wife, Kathleen, fell and severely cut her lower leg. It took surgery and many stitches to close the wound. It has been healing nicely but not quickly enough to let them come join us.

Our other Don, Don Coates, continues to circle the globe, one patch at a time. Last time it was from Lauderdale through the Caribbean as far as the Panama Canal and back to Lauderdale. This April it was Lauderdale to San Diego via the Panama Canal. Don had a little excitement in Acapulco—pushed the Richter Scale to 6.1. His vote for most scenic sight goes to the cliff divers at Acapulco. Don tells me that after each dive they have to climb all the way back up the cliffs. (This claim is subject to verification at Snopes or some other unimpeachable source.)

Don planned to attend the reunion, along with Ingrid, his travel companion.

Al Linnell and Ann regret that they could not to get to Wooster, “Wish we could.”

A similar response comes from John Bender, “I’ve made every effort to get to our reunion, but Lois is not strong enough.” Of course, John doesn’t feel it’s fair to leave her.

He sends greetings to all, “I hope for the best for all you stalwarts.” The Benders have set up the Bender Endowment at Wooster. Any classmate can contribute, helping to increase the size of the scholarship. Nice idea, John!

Bill and Pat Workman ’46 Foxx also sent a note of regret, with an unusual slant. For some time they’ve wanted to move to a retirement community, Tel Hai, in Honey Brook, Pa. They had their house on the market for three months. It’s a lovely house, and many people said they’d like to buy it. But only one made a firm offer. That’s all it takes!

“Suddenly the measured inventory of our last 47 years has jumped into high gear,” the Foxxes write. “Everything must be done immediately. Almost every day brings a new

demand for action. Tearing ourselves away for the Woo weekend would risk a major disruption of the settlement. And we can’t have that!

We’re unhappy to miss the reunion and seeing all of those fine and fun people. Give them our best and heartiest regards.”

I (Russ) had a big family Easter celebration, with two grandchildren and all four of their parents. I also caught a four-day break in Las Vegas. No luck in the casino but good luck on airplanes. A flight on which I was wait-listed came through. Yeah.

I should have plenty to write about for the next issue. Our class will have met, and I’m bound to pick up a bunch of news. Keep well.

1945

Jeanne “Swanee” Swan Garnett 5310 Loruth Terr., Madison, WI 53711-2630 jeannesgarnett@yahoo.com

Swanee reporting here. Half of my news for the spring issue had to be cut for lack of space, so I’ll give the old news first and add more recent news at the end. I’m sorry some of the information is dated, but at least you’ll know what’s happening in classmates’ lives.

A letter from Peg Russell Emmons updates us. Last April she and Bob welcomed their third great-grandchild, Logan Henry Petyo, and in July they traveled to New Jersey for Logan’s dedication. Bob had a part in the service. There they were able to also see daughter Carol and her two children. Aaron is a sophomore geology major at Lafayette College, and Nathan is a senior at Lehigh U. In September Peg and Bob celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a lovely family dinner. Also in September, at Peg’s annual check-up, it was verified that her right artery was as blocked as the left side had been 15 years ago. So she had surgery on Oct. 1.

In November Bob fell and ended up with a fracture and other major damage to his shoulder. While in the hospital, tests showed Parkinson’s, so he went to a nearby health care center. Bob died on Feb. 20, 2009, of a heart attack. He was a minister in the American Baptist Church. We send you and your family our deepest sympathy, Peg. How wonderful that you and your family could celebrate your 60th anniversary last fall.

Jeanne “Haffa” McKown had a good 2008, “other than some major tooth and eye problems and walking like an old lady,” she says. Daughter Andrea, who lived nearby, sold her home and bought a place in Hilton Head, S.C. Haffa moved south as well (see p. 60).

Andrea has done some traveling (her children live and work in NYC) and worked for the church for a while.

Haffa’s son, Rick, and his wife, Julie, bought a new home in Rochester, N.Y. One of

Julie’s sons lives in California and the other is in Rochester. Cindy, Haffa’s other daughter, and her husband haven’t sold their home yet.

They spent the summer recovering from a golf cart accident—it overturned with them in it!

Both suffered some injuries. Haffa’s son, Doug, and his wife came from Connecticut to help Haffa celebrate her 85th birthday. Doug’s children live in Delaware.

Marcia “Mickey” Chandler Shaffer Fincken’s biggest news is that in October she and her husband celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. They threw a party at their favorite Chinese restaurant.

Last May the Finckens explored the eastern shore of Maryland and attended Bud’s grandson’s graduation from the U of Maryland. In October they drove to upstate New York to enjoy the foliage and visit friends. Bud loves his garden and spends much time there.

He also used his woodworking skills to make a beautiful clock.

Mickey keeps busy reading, singing in the choir, playing bridge, e-mailing pen pals, playing with her glass collection, and helping Bud with his projects. She is learning to use her digital camera and color printer/copier.

Word from Ruth “Frostie” Frost Parker says that on the Wednesday before Palm Sunday 2008, she broke her hip. As she was leaving the church after a Lenten luncheon, she fell. She had her hip pinned, spent a few days in the hospital, and then spent five months in a nursing home before finally returning home in July with full-time help.

Frostie is having physical therapy three times a week, takes walks almost every day, and hopes to be on her own soon. She now attends most of her meetings, plays bridge, goes to movies, theater events, and concerts.

The Merry-Go-Round Museum, of great interest to Frostie, had an interesting fundraiser: an auction of lighthouses painted by local artists and sponsored by generous people, similar to the painted cows in Chicago. The other projects Frostie works on are going well: the State Theater, Sandusky Erie Community Foundation, and condo projects.

Frostie’s foundation (Frost Parker) is involved in many community efforts (a busy lady!). Last February she took her annual trip with her Frost cousins, spending two weeks in Scottsdale. At Thanksgiving Frostie was in Chicago, where she shopped on Michigan Ave., saw the play Dirty Dancing, and spent time with her son, Jim, and his family. He and wife Julie are busy with Parker Plastics and Lake Forest College.

Son John continues to work toward a master’s degree in special education. His wife, Val, is studying to be a dietician and nutritionist. Frostie’s daughter, Alison, and her husband, Pete, live in the Washington, D.C., S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 35

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Class Notes

>WEDDING OF FIORELLA SIMONI ’91 & ANDREW CANNON, JAN. 28, 2006 L TRO R , BACK ROW Keith Nagihian, Tim Griffith, ’90s, groom, Don Campbell ’91 FRONT ROW bride, Diglio Simoni ’89

>>WOO IN SEATTLE L TOR Suzanne Schluederberg, Nancy Miller, ’73s

area. Alison tutors in the Arlington schools and teaches aerobics. Pete left his job at the House of Representatives Ethics Committee and works with a law firm in a Washington public policy group. He specializes in campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, and government ethics. Interesting and needed!

Gordon Garnett and I had a busy fall.

We had wonderful news in October when Gordon’s MRI came back showing the cancer still in remission. The doctor says he seldom sees such a good result. We couldn’t be happier.

We recently welcomed four great-grandchildren. Mila Marguerite Gryzlak was born on Nov. 25 to granddaughter Carrie (daughter of our eldest son, Greg) and her husband, Joe. On Dec. 16, grandson Andrew (the son of our son, Harold), and his wife, Theresa, welcomed Daniel Thomas Garnett.

A daughter, Marijn Lise, was born on Feb. 21 to grandson Emile (the son of our daughter, Liz), and wife Hanneke in Amsterdam.

And on Feb. 27, our grandson, Nathaniel (the son of our daughter, Barbara), and his wife, Elizabeth, adopted Emily Elise, born on Dec. 9. What a great time those four cousins will have growing up so close in age. That brings our total to nine great-grands.

A February “Christmas” letter from Jean Ann Pierce Gow gave a review of her year (2008). In January, halfway through the first week of vacation in Florida, she fell!

Fortunately there were no broken bones, and she learned you can live on pain medication.

She had a sore back for quite a while. Jean and husband Jim’s grandson, Rob, has a job with NYC Parks and Recreation, and grandson 36 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

Dave continues to enjoy filmmaking.

The Gows’ son, Pete, has a demanding defense job at British Aerospace. He and his wife, Andrea, volunteer at church. Pete headed the Thanksgiving basket distribution, the church’s biggest community project. Andrea drives elderly members to appointments and volunteers at Lourdes Hospital. They live in Endwell, N.Y., near Jean and Jim. Their children, Rachel and Eric, are in Binghamton.

Rachel is with the Binghamton police department. Eric is a sales executive with Cyber City computers and continues his love for music and performing.

We are saddened to learn of the death of George E. Bell on Feb. 2 in Columbus, Ohio.

Al Kean sent the following information, “At Wooster George was a member of Eighth Section and a chauffeur for Prexy Wishart. He graduated from the Ohio State U Medical School and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. “George was medical director of the Columbus State Hospital and vice president and medical director of Nationwide Insurance.

He and his wife, Evelyn, had four sons, three of whom became doctors. One was killed by an automobile as he was bicycling. Evelyn died three months after they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2006.”

George and Al celebrated their sixth birthdays together, dated sisters in high school, roomed together at Wooster, and attended Elderhostels together. We send our heartfelt sympathy to George’s family and to Al, in the loss of a long-time friend.

In April I (Swanee) received an e-mail from Stan “Mouse” Morse. He said that he

and his wife, June, just celebrated their 62 years of marriage, “all to the same person, how about that!? How I wish I could relive them all!” he says. “The wonderful years produced three wonderful sons and four wonderful grandchildren. Time has treated us very well and given us great memories and recollections of various Wooster moments.

“I fully plan to be at our 65th reunion in 2010, so save me a place. We keep the active life jumping in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, Calif. T Here’s to the Class of ’45!”

Al Kean, our president, sends the following message: “Did you know that the Scot basketball team did itself proud by winning the conference won-lost record as well as the championship tournament? They won their first game in the national tournament but lost to Capital U by two points in the next game.

“Can you believe it? In less than a year we will celebrate our 65th reunion. Wow! When did we get so old? Maybe we need to start a regimen of vitamins and exercise and datesetting to be able to get to the campus in 2010. If you haven’t been there for a while, you’ll be delighted to see what has been done to the grounds and buildings. If you haven’t seen renovated Kauke, you’re missing a treat.

Gault Manor is splendid. We only get old once, so let’s see each other one more time!”

I, Swanee, agree! See you next year! And we have our first reservation—Stan Morse!

1946

Sally Wade Olson 4209 Hoffman Dr., Woodbridge, VA 22193 oleysally@aol.com, 703-590-3465

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WEDDING OF AMANDA HARPSTER & TIMOTHY HAGEN, '01 S , SEPT. 20, 2008.

L TO R , BACK ROW Nicole Liambeis, David West, Amy Peshina Fontaine, Shaun Fontaine, '01s MIDDLE ROW: Elizabeth McCrary Gornick, Amber Rice, Marcy Grossman, bride, groom, '01s, Carey Speros Baughman '03, Steve Baughman '01 FRONT ROW L to R: Christopher Brubaker, Andrew Weaver, Christopher Gulgas, 01s

An e-mail from Joanne Bender Regenhardt tells of enjoying new independent living quarters on the beach in White Sands, Calif., close to La Jolla, where they spent 60 years. Joanne also relates that the late Arol Noble Escamilla is being honored by the San Diego Master Chorale, in which she sang for many years.

Oley Olson ’47 and I (Sally) just returned from a wonderful cruise, starting in Valparaiso, Chile, and ending in San Francisco, with stops in several places in Central and South America. Our next big event is the graduation of our oldest granddaughter, Katie Lyn Peebles, with a Ph.D. in folklore and English from Indiana U. Besides us, Katie’s parents, Linda Olson Peebles ’73 and Dale Peebles ’71, her brother, Byron ’03, and his wife, Beth Boyce Peebles ’02, and her sister, Elizabeth ’05, will provide a good Wooster cheering section.

If you want to hear any news besides the Olsons’ activities, you know what to do— write, e-mail, or call!

1947

Cornelia “Cornie” Lybarger Neuswanger 360 Canyon Ridge Dr., Wray, CO 80758 cornelia1@mailstation.com

Edith Bender Seaton P.O. Box 523, Penney Farms, FL 32079 ajiaja_seaton@yahoo.com

1948

Lance Shreffler 78 Blenheim Rd., Columbus, OH 43214 mlshreffler@sbcglobal.net

Evelyn Fischer Hewett 2380 Saga Cir. NE, Canton, OH 44730-1832 evelynhewett@juno.com

It was so pleasant to come back from my (Evelyn’s) vacation and find news from classmates. Keep it up.

Bob Emmanuel, married for 61 years, has four children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He worked for several oil companies in the U.S. and Asia, retired in 1983, and then moved to Durango, Colo.

While in Indonesia, Bob was a Scoutmaster for 70 boys. Multiple myeloma has slowed him down a bit, but he’s still active in the Presbyterian church, Kiwanis (where he won a district award in 1995), and scouting.

My (Evelyn’s) visit with Betty Tinkey Baltzly found her in good spirits. We shared wonderful memories of Wooster. Betty has five children, 13 grandchildren, and five greatgrandchildren, many of whom live in the area.

She has always liked to work with people, as evidenced by her more than 30 years of volunteering with school children with disabilities, in hospitals, and in nursing homes. She and husband Walter sold their farm to a son. Her address is Altercare Center, 517 Park St. NW, Navarre, OH 44662.

David Graber writes from Walnut Creek, Calif., that he keeps busy with tennis and bridge. On the golf course, he says he can regularly shoot his age—Tiger Woods can’t do that! David’s hobby is taking care of 30 Cymbidium orchids. He says he keeps life simple by not having a computer. David cared for his wife, Claire, for several years.

She died in Feb. 2008.

Leona Hahn Compton writes from

Sebastian, Fla., that she and her husband are fortunate to enjoy good health, “thanks to modern medicine and vitamins.” They continue to sing in their church choir and an intergenerational chorus that includes local high school students. Their volunteer activities center around church and fund-raising for the choir. Their latest cruise was in October.

In answer to my (Evelyn’s) letter, I got a phone call from Ed Fenton, because his hand was in a cast, and he couldn’t write. Ed and Barbara Schuer ’47 Fenton live halfway out on beautiful Cape Cod, Mass. After earning a Ph.D. from Harvard, he worked at Carnegie Mellon U in Pittsburgh, Pa. Now retired, Ed makes furniture, fishes, and writes articles and books. He has three children and two grandchildren.

We heard of the passing of more classmates. A letter from Martha “Kentuck” Stoll Ballard ’49 told of Everett “Ev” Ballard’s death on Oct. 25, 2008, at home. And their daughter, Anne Ballard Hill ’75, just died.

She’d been in a coma for months after an auto accident. Martha’s address is 1014 S. Yachtsman Dr., Sanibel Island, FL 33957-5013.

Tom Maxwell ’47 wrote of the Jan. 28 death of Ruth Lautzenheiser Maxwell in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Did you catch sight of the open-mouthed faces of Betsy Cowles Sprenkle and Joyce Jarman Little on page 35 of the Winter 2009 issue of Wooster? And on page 37 of the same issue is the proof that Stan and Flo Kurtz Gault graduated from Wooster!

Bob Mehl writes, “To current students of Wooster: You have the good fortune to attend a great liberal arts college on a fabulous S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 37

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Class Notes campus with a collection of historic and new buildings. The student body is international and nationwide and widely diverse. Wooster is, finally, a wonderful opportunity for a wide, friendly, expanding experience. Take full advantage of all that is offered.”

I (Lance) attended a boys’ private high school in Pittsburgh. It was a cold, rather unfriendly group in a suburb, with an artificial set of traditions—somewhat like an English public (private) school. Then I became a freshman at Wooster, and the change was 180 degrees!

A beautiful campus, girls, friendly, really friendly classmates, a plethora of comfortable classrooms, an unusual variety of social activities, arts, music, and intellectual pursuits, and some first-class professors. Livingstone Lodge was a home away from home!

Here’s what I’d do differently: Be a more serious student (as a veteran, I tried to make up for over two years as an enlisted man in the Army—not a happy experience); Date a greater variety of beautiful coeds—though I did marry one; Take more advantage of extracurricular activities, especially the intellectual ones: music, arts, lectures, outside speakers, etc.

1949

Evelynn Cheadle Thomas 169 Bayview Cir., Pagosa Springs, CO 81147 eethomas@mailbug.com, (979) 731-8382

I (Evelynn) received a wonderful letter from Dorothy Swan Reuman. She is still in Maine, enjoying life and family. Her family was together for Christmas. She put up a tree at Thanksgiving, and her grandchildren put on the family decorations, which none of them had seen before—a special treat. “It is wonderful to watch them growing into promising young people, with their special interests and talents,” Dorothy says.

She says she’s joining others of our age: “I am becoming a senior bionic woman!” She had cataracts removed from both eyes, with new lenses implanted, as well as new lenses in her glasses. Clarity of vision is a wonderful gift, she says. Last summer Dorothy had a total hip replacement. Since then she has had no hip pain, so she hopes to travel some to New York City for concerts, plays, and ballet.

“Mild exercise seems to keep me otherwise sound in body,” Dorothy says. “Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and Scrabble keep my mind moving.” Her address is still 84 Marston Rd., Waterville, ME 04901. Dorothy has a granddaughter graduating from high school the same weekend as our reunion at Wooster, so will be unable to come.

I’d be so delighted to get newsy letters from all of you.

38 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

1950

Janice “Jay” Wilson George 19476 N. Coyote Lakes Pkwy., Surprise, AZ 85374

A news article says that Charles Sauder was inducted into the Mansfield City Schools Hall of Fame in February. He was a three-year letterman and 1945 graduate of Mansfield Senior High School. The award honors Charles for his 57 years of selling tickets to Tygers sporting events. He returned to his hometown after graduating from Wooster and taught math. He and his wife, Marcella, have been married for 57 years and raised four sons.

A picture that arrived in today’s mail was the perfect jump-start to this column. It showed Nancy Jo Putnam Francis, Jean Kennedy Tolar, and me (Jay) having lunch on the sunny patio of a favorite restaurant in late February. (That’s what brought us here— sunny February days!) I laughed when I was arranging the get-together—we had to work around everyone’s bridge schedules!

Obviously we’re all still very active with fun and volunteering. Jean is even involved with a transplant group through a close friend. Both have family here in Arizona: Nancy and her husband raised their family here, and Jean moved here 16 years ago, as her offspring were all here. We had a great time catching up and plan to attend our 60th reunion next June.

Mark your calendars for June 11-13, 2010!

Pat Milligan, Judy Tilford Van Wie, and I have been in touch with the College to get the ball rolling. I contacted Pat just before he and Carol Benson Milligan ’52 left for Florida.

He later reported that they had good weather and got in touch with several “C.O.W.-mates.” But they no longer shoot hoops at these gatherings!

Nancy Herbst Sechrest’s 2008 update was written on New Year’s Eve, which she spent with a son in Massachusetts. Nancy’s summer of 2008 was full of travel: a Mediterranean cruise, travel through Scotland with a granddaughter, and in September absorbing the culture of Provence on an Elderhostel. In the fall Nancy drove what she calls the “Royal Progress,” about 2,000 miles visiting her sons and their families. She is also talking 60th!

Dick and Ruth Richards Weirich share the happy news of their 80th birthday celebrations. They spent three weeks at the family cottage in West Virginia last July. With the aid of three “guardian angel” dogs, the Internet, a cell phone, and a driver on call, Ruth and Dick still reside in the Ohio home where they were married 53 years ago. Their sons have new positions: Rick is an endocrinologist in Beloit, Wisc., and Stephen (also a doctor), moved from Cleveland to work for a community health center in Miami. I’m sure they miss having him nearby.

Sorry to close on a sad note. Betty “Ike”

Evans Anderson’s husband, Bob “Boze” Anderson ’48, died on Feb. 26. Boze and Ike were married in Aug. 1951, and I ( Jay) was the maid of honor. She returned the favor at my October wedding! They had two sons, a daughter, and five grandchildren, three of whom spoke at the memorial service. The Andersons had enjoyed spending a month at Sanibel Island for several years and had just arrived there in January when Boze fell ill. He was hospitalized for three and a half weeks, then flown to Cincinnati, where he died two weeks later. I extend the sympathy of the class to Betty and the family.

1951

Max Selby 30200 Crestview Dr., Bay Village, OH 44140 maxselby@gmail.com

Janet Evans Smith 121 Cherry St., Perrysburg, OH 43551 NEW! jesmithq@bex.net

Bob Smith is now retired and living at Kendal at Oberlin, after a long public television and radio career. He was a producer/ director and then program director for WETA-TV in Washington, D.C. He founded WNVT-TV in neighboring Virginia, where numerous educational television films were produced for elementary schools. In l974 Bob became CEO of the Toledo public TV station, WGTE-TV, and founded new public radio stations in Toledo and Lima. Now he devotes considerable time to wood and electronic projects and enjoys campus concerts.

Bill and Sally Sterret ’52 Aber celebrated their 57th (Heinz!) wedding anniversary in February. Friends brought Heinz products to a gathering, and the food was donated to a local neighborhood house. Bill said that growing up in Pittsburgh, Heinz 57 varieties were part of the landscape.

Bill and Lynn Wunder Lankton, Allen and Helen Gurley Heinmiller, and I (Max) attended a memorial service for Gerry Kane on Feb. 28 at Bristol Village in Waverly, Ohio.

A rich variety of influences helped Gerry become a sort of latter-day Renaissance man who could weld, plumb, or hammer together a room addition while humming an aria from La Traviata and mentally preparing Sunday’s sermon. After Wooster, he attended McCormick Theological Seminary. There he met Joan King; they married in Dec. 1953.

Gerry’s was a life of service—through action, example, counseling, and teaching. His primary interests were with the young people of the churches where he served as a minister of Christian education. He and Joan organized numerous teen work camps, loading up a trailer and two or three cars and heading off to the Appalachians or inner-city Brooklyn or a

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Native American reservation—anywhere they saw that God’s work needed doing.

In 1973, with a master’s in rehabilitation counseling from Michigan State U, Gerry joined Goodwill Industries in its mission to provide education, training, and career service to people with disadvantages. His final 17 years of work life, until retirement in 1995, were spent as the executive director of Goodwill Industries of Mid-Michigan. Our condolences go to Joan, Gerry’s sister, Suzanne Kane Thorp ’53, and the rest of the family.

1952

Nancy Campbell Brown 1220 Portage Rd., Wooster, OH 44691-2042

Warren M. Swager Jr. P.O. Box 555, Sheridan, MT 59749-0555 wcswager@3rivers.net

Jim Boeringer, an organist, pianist, and composer, recently wrote a suite for organ, Pro Patria, seven movements based on bugle calls and hymn tunes. Each movement is dedicated to a friend who served in the military. The third, “Amazing Grace,” is dedicated to Jim’s Livingston Lodge roommate, Paul Curtis.

Paul, a combat veteran of the Korean War, reports that he’s quite honored. He found an organist to play the suite and other pieces by Jim in the Bangor area. Paul’s daughter recorded the event and sent the video to Jim, who was surprised and pleased.

Jim Breiner ’73 writes about his late fatherin-law, physics major Dick Kuhn, “Dick did his senior I.S. on a radio-controlled airplane, which Dick’s wife, Dorothy “Dot” Pomeroy Kuhn, said flew ‘at least once!’” Dick died last January (see In Memoriam). Jim also says that Dick had taken charge of changing the sign and the light bulbs at the Lawrenceville (Ga.) Presbyterian Church. After his death, Jim says, several men held the first Dick Kuhn Memorial Light Bulb Changing Party.

John ’49 and Carol Farr Worley wrote in April, “Carol was released to travel in March, and we have since made an extensive trip to Florida and Georgia to visit our children, grandchildren, and a new great-granddaughter.

We hope to leave for Bozeman in early May but will return to Texas in late October for our granddaughter’s wedding in Austin.”

Jim Hornaday is preparing to become the oldest lifeguard in metropolitan Philadelphia.

He will celebrate his 80th birthday with his twin sister, Alice, in Santa Barbara.

1953

Don Orr 13460 Marlette Dr., La Mirada, CA 90638-2813 DorrScot@verizon.net

Nona S. Taylor

110 Echo Way, Statesboro, GA 30458 nst3c@nctv.com

The Los Angeles area Wooster contingent has met in a variety of places over the years: yacht clubs, church basements, renowned Italian restaurants, classy hotel conference centers. This year it was a new venue—a reclaimed fire station. In past decades, the Class of ’53 often led the way in numbers at the event. This year we had only two: myself (Don) and my wife, Marcia Klerekoper Orr, mixing with the diversified—mostly younger —group that filled the courtyard.

These gatherings usually feature the current president, but this time we enjoyed a special treat. Prexy Grant Cornwell and his elegant wife, Peg, graced the gathering. Prexy regaled us with a view of current and future Wooster that was warmly received.

Ron Price, our member of the Alumni Board, had sent along some info gathered at the spring meeting of that group, which had prepared me for much of what we heard, but Prexy’s exuberance gave it a special impact.

Get set for the first night football game at Wooster, Oct. 10, 2009, against Case Western Reserve U. It will be played on artificial turf, so neither rain nor snow will keep it from happening. The “W” Association is funding the big change (contributions are welcome!).

If you plan to visit the campus to see this game or any other event this year, watch out for construction. Beall Avenue is torn up, as utilities are being placed underground and brick, concrete, walks, and lighting set in place to create a beautiful “streetscape.”

As you wander about the campus, visit the north side of Bornhuetter Hall, where a red maple tree faces Beall Avenue. You’ll know which one it is by the MacLeod ribbon that identifies it as a gift from our class in memory of Ron Bornhuetter.

Another spot to visit should be the first floor of Andrews Library. It’s being converted into a “library-digital center.” To do test runs of your own technology skills, the College will have its new Web site up and running on July 20 and promises that it will be “user friendly.”

The forward-looking thrust of our college helps to account for almost 5000 applicants for a class size of around 500. With higher SAT’s and a well-balanced group, what a dream school to attend. Interestingly, with all the exotic majors the students are exploring, one area that is bulging is religion.

But there is that cost—$43,000 plus change for next year. Still, the Trustees and administration have come up with a variety of plans to help students not only enter Wooster, but more importantly, finish their programs.

Ivan Preston says he’s just learned that he’s a “real Scot, the 28th in line! It was only in the past few years that I discovered that the line

originated in Scotland, with Leolphi Preston born in Perthshire in 1139. I noticed that the genealogy showed some with titles—two barons and a bunch of knights. On the Web I discovered that in 1374, King David II of Scotland bestowed titles and property on these people and expected them to serve him loyally.

The newly-titled then erected Craigmillar Castle, named for a small settlement just outside of Edinburgh, in the early 1400s.”

Last summer Ivan and his wife, Robbie, visited the castle, where a sign notes its Preston origins. He continues, “The really interesting stuff is that during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots (1500s), Sir Simon Preston was a supporter whom the Queen named provost (mayor) of Edinburgh. Queen Mary came to the castle for visits. On one occasion her lords signed a pact, known as the Craigmillar Bond, pledging to get rid of her husband.

“They did so, leading to a question of whether Mary knew about it. Some people accused her of knowing, a factor in her abdication of the throne and eventual beheading.

“The Presbyterian leader, John Knox, is also involved. Apparently he hated Sir Simon, calling him ‘a man of very wicked life and no religion.’ Imagine that! Simon apparently was simply a Catholic, as virtually all Christians were up to that time. After Mary was gone, Simon Preston didn’t get another term as provost and disappears from the record.

“Sir Simon’s first son got the castle by inheritance, but the second son was my forebear. He went to England, and a descendant of his became the original Quaker in our line.”

Ivan says there’s more to the story! To find out, contact him at ipreston@wisc.edu.

The class sends condolences to Dick Martin, whose brother, Doug, died on Jan. 28 in Connecticut. Doug had been in failing health for some time, and Dick was caring for him.

1954

Gordon Hall 33074 Hidden Hollow Ct., North Ridgeville, OH 44039, gragoret1@aol.com

Francis Ishii Lyon received a note from Barbara Bourns’s cousin, Nancy Bourns Quigley ’64, advising us that Barbara died on Dec. 17, 2008, after a short hospital stay.

Robert Ackerly ’52 informed me (Gordon) that his wife, Linda Loucks Ackerly, passed away on Jan. 11. She had courageously struggled with cancer for two and a half years. After 52 years of marriage, their family consisted of one son, one daughter, and four granddaughters.

John W. Simpers Jr. sent a copy of the obituary of his son, John W. Simpers III (age 48), who died of congestive heart failure. John S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 39

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Class Notes WEDDING OF NICOLE ROMAN ’03 & MARTIN RODGERS, NOV. 1, 2008

Hallie Shapiro Rich ’03, Courtney Peter Marques ’02, groom, bride, Kyle Mueller ’02, Beth Hemminger ’03, Sara Austin, Nanette Bernard Valuk, ’02s SECOND ROW Kristine DeWitt-Jones ’03, Maggie Peter, Courtney Anson, ’02s, Jessica Bacon ’03, Stephanie Hulke ’02, Janette Frederick Mueller, Julie Hobbs-Currid, John Currid, ’03s FRONT Vito Alamia L TO R , BACK ROW

Jr.’s wife, Ethel, passed away in 1993. His other children, Debora Simpers Simpson ’80 and David, survive. We who have not experienced the death of an offspring cannot fathom the heartache. Our deep condolences.

Gilbert and Margaret Casteel Bloom have agreed to become class presidents for the next five years, and Sylvia Huning Tillotson will be our class secretary. Support them!

Last fall Don and Carol Ross ’52 Haskell flew from their home in Astoria, Ore., to the Empire State. They toured Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, Boston, and Plymouth, Mass. Don still swims a half mile daily and gets additional exercise on their 200-acre tree farm.

August Wells planned to attend our 55th reunion on his way to a 150th reunion in northern Maine. The man with the long beard is a retired ophthalmologist.

Mary Mutch Todt and her husband, Bill, retired after teaching English, French, and math for 31 years to take up new careers.

Mary is a vivacious and successful travel consultant, specializing in Scotland, Wales, Switzerland, river boats, and cruising. In the spring she spent a week in Norway on a coastal steamer. Mary will travel to Edinburgh in the near future. She’d be happy to arrange a trip or special family reunion. Mary beams when telling of Bill publishing the compositions and managing the concerts of the jazz pianist, Joe Utterback.

Gordon forwarded an article on spiders to Tom “Goat” Gregg. Tom responded by telling him that his quasi-office (desk and computer behind a bookcase and a couple of filing cabinets) is in a corner of the ‘spider lab.’” He shared the spider bit with a couple of grad students, who enjoyed it.

E. Carl Zimmerman and his wife, 40 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

Marlene Fray Zimmerman ’55, still sing in their church choir. Carl works out at the YMCA four to five times per week. They enjoy good health, see the grandchildren whenever possible, and take frequent visits to Amish-land. Carl, “Goat,”and Gordon were compatible Douglass Hall roommates.

1955

Nancy Mutch Donald 161 Lake Breeze Pk., Rochester, NY 14622-1946 nomodonald@yahoo.com

Fran Bauer Parker 715 S. Webster St., Jackson, MI 49203-1637 fparker99@comcast.net

1956

Pat Young 464 E. Highland Ave., Wooster, OH 44691-9249 Pjyoung52@sssnet.com

Needed: News! News! News! Send it! I (Pat) will write it! Wooster will print it! Since many of us enjoy reading class notes and since my message box is empty—are there interesting things in your life that you would like to share with our classmates ?

I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco for the first time in March. My hostess was Amelia Quinby Wilson, who attended Wooster with us for a semester. She and her husband, Pete, gave me a whirlwind tour of the Magical City and surrounding area. They also shared their experiences as world travelers.

The beautiful photographs in their home feature African wildlife. This spring the Wilsons celebrated Amelia’s birthday with a scuba diving trip to the big island of Hawaii.

Robert M. Ward is retired from the Presby-

terian ministry. He and his wife live at 1921 Acadia Greens Dr., Sun City Center, FL 33573-8052. Find him at rward12411@aol.com.

1957

Anne Kelso Johnson 78 White Tail Rd., Murphysboro, IL 62966-6416 work: ajohnson2@siumed.edu home: (618) 528-4552, ajohnson@globaleyes.net

It was good to hear from those of you who responded to the post cards sent by the alumni office. Bob Rafos wrote about traveling to California for the reunion of eight people who traveled to the Galapagos together in 2007. One special and unexpected part of the trip was reuniting, after 50 years, with Carol Galloway ’60 and Paul Lamberger ’59 at the Quayaquil Airport in Ecuador. The couples had independently signed up for the same tour!

Bob writes, “Paul and I were in Fifth Section and ran track. He and Carol joined us in California with four others for birding, nature walks, sightseeing, and visits to wineries. Much fun and a great break from the harsh, dreary winter weather in Canada.”

Charlie Cochran started college with our class but transferred to Baldwin-Wallace College in his junior year. He graduated with a major in English and minors in philosophy and psychology. He then spent a couple of years in the U.S. Army before embarking on a long teaching career. He has taught English composition and literature in Marshalltown, Iowa, for 30 years! Charlie still teaches parttime and says that after one more year, he’ll write a book entitled Fifty Years in the Classroom: Half a Century in Purgatory.

Here are some of Charlie’s favorite memo-

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ries of Wooster. “Staying up most of the night playing bridge or slap jack. Putting the sign in the chapel from the Nightclimbers—unrolled for all to see at the last chapel service before Christmas break in 1953. Failing physical education my freshman year because Dave Anderson and I would play golf instead of going to class.

“Rooming with Andy Stevenson my freshman year—his side of the room was even messier than mine. Playing clarinet in the Scot marching band—often I didn’t even put a reed in my instrument because I had enough trouble marching, let alone playing, too. Traveling to neighboring towns with Joe Mason in his Ford named ‘Neil.’ We were looking for girls but had very little luck. However, we usually found a place that served 3.2 beer.”

Judy Dauber Guye wrote about her surprise to read in the local paper that G.T. “Buck” Smith ’56 was the new president of Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, WVa., where Judy has been the mayor for six years.

She said she recognized Buck as soon as he walked into her office, after over 50 years.

Judy reports that the Davis & Elkins faculty and students have seen many changes and are delighted with Buck’s administration.

Applications are up 350 percent over last year!

April marks the end of Judy’s mayoral term, then she’ll promote Davis & Elkins. She knows how important the college is, bringing culture and diversity to the city.

Conrad Putzig says, “In late February I flew from New York to Ft. Myers to visit my cousin. One day I had the distinct pleasure of strolling down the beach on Sanibel Island with a former Wooster beauty queen and classmate, Marge Yoder Mitchell. I also visited Marge’s sister, Judy Yoder Webster ’54, and her husband, Jack.

“Hey guys, tell me, when was the last time you even saw a beauty queen in person? Some of these retirement days are outstanding.

“If I can only remember them.”

Dick Smith writes, “I spent my career in sports medicine and orthopedic surgery. I was the orthopedic consultant for Michigan State U for 10 years and even taught, if you can believe that. I’ve had a couple of bypasses, and after a stroke that affected my memory, I gave up my practice (16 years ago). I fished and hunted pheasants before developing polymyositis, which has pretty much incapacitated me. I winter in Arizona near Casa Grande and return to South Dakota in the summer.”

Betsy Scoville Smith sends an update: “I still teach piano and organ and serve as the organist/choir director for an Episcopal church. I’m pleased that one of my organ students has been accepted at the College with a music scholarship, to minor in organ!”

Will Lange sends an updated e-mail

address, will@willemlange.com. “It has cachet!” he says.

Nancy Mohr Sutherland passed away on May 3, friends and family at her side, after a year of coping with pancreatic cancer. Nancy was a double major in French and religion.

She married Bill Sutherland ’54 after he finished seminary and worked side by side with him in the work of the church. She also taught English and raised six children. Bill writes, “Nancy was a remarkable human being—spouse, mother, and committed Christian.” We send our condolences.

1958

Nana Newberry Landgraf 2927 Weymouth Rd., Shaker Heights, OH 44120 nwl9@sbcglobal.net

Dennis Barnes 12 Gildersleeve Wood, Charlottesville, VA 22903 dennis_barnes@mindspring.com

Welcome to a stab at classifying our hobbies/interests as cited in our 50th Reunion Memory Book, elicited by the Alumni Office’s pre-reunion questionnaires (though not everyone responded).

Aircraft: Bob Sponseller. Arts & crafts (general): Mila Swyers Aroskar, Emilie Cunningham Bishop-Moore (multiple), Julie Jerabek Fukuda (“all kinds of art projects”).

Arts & crafts sub-categories—Building: Jack Casteel (military dioramas, model ships, model railroads); Calligraphy: Janet Gabrielsen Ehlers; Furniture refinishing: Murray Blackadar, Carl Vanderland.

Handwork: Sally Eatough Goff (counted cross stitch, embroidery, plastic canvas); Hooking rugs: Murray Blackadar; Knitting: Kay Kridel Buxton, Martha Yost Cornish, Janette Collins Richardson. Needlework: Sarah Weimer Bitzer, Ruth Middleton Turley (worked in quilting store); Quilting: Mary Linke Abbott, Judy Vixseboxse Blackadar (likes best the design element and choosing fabrics), Joan Zimmer Davis, Julie Fukuda; Sewing: Joan Davis, Emily Rhoads Johnson; Woodworking: Bill Moats, Julie Fukuda (carving), Chuck Kayser.

Auctioneering: Carl Vanderland. Bridge (cards): Janet Ehlers, Peggy McAnlis Mueller, Barb Douglas Shelar, Nancy Jacobs Weygandt, Sara-Rae Griffith Young (48 years in bridge club). Collecting: Peter Colwell (philately) Wayne Leeper (Civil War firearms), Stan Totten (toy trains). Computer: Nancy Calderwood Carleton, Facebook (other ’58s on Facebook—Don Custis, Al Peabody, Sally Dunn Springett, Lillie Trent), Marion Shriver Komar (success in learning, teaching, administering expanded program, and deepening mother-son ties).

Continuing learning: Mila Swyers Aroskar

(oblate of Benedictine monastery), Murray Blackadar (collegiality in learning), Bob Carter (Scottish history and U.S. Civil War), Robert Engstrom (American Revolutionary War), Laura Stanley Gunnels (history and passing it on), Nana Newberry Landgraf (books on tape), George McClure (birds, religion, politics), Dorita Weaver Ramage (Bible study), Carol “Spider” Ryder (biology), Pat Gerber Simmons (book club focused on the arts), Bob Sponseller (natural sciences), Stan Totten (natural history, founded and curates museum), Lillie Trent (French and black culture), Peggy Blumberg Wireman (“growing”).

Cooking & food: Robert Engstrom (founded Men’s Cooking Club), Anne Gieser Hunt. Cultural events: Murray Blackadar, Anne Marsh Hoenig. Environment: Mila Aroskar, Sally Wedgwood Cooper (family’s B&B is a certified Maine Environmental Leader).

Farming: Bob Sponseller. Gardening (mostly flowers): John Bayer, Judy Blackadar (tomatoes), Murray Blackadar (roses), Joan Davis, Julie Fukuda, Floyd Hastings (certified Master Gardener), Liz Muncy Hauenstein (favorites are lilies and daylilies), Alison Swager Hopper (herbs), Anne Hunt (big time!), Emily Johnson, George Kandle, Dave Kuebbeler, Rhoda Linton, Bill Moats (vegetables), Toloa Schiller Perry (Garden Club), Dorita Ramage, Ronald Rehner, Barb Shelar, Sue Marsh Totten, Bob Watson.

Genealogy: Ken Heaps (four generations Scottish Heapses), Peggy Mueller (Salt Lake City), Pat Simmons. Home improvement: George McClure, Richard “Babe” Weiss (built his own house, remodeled a rental).

Hunting: Toloa Perry (owns horses, member of Limestone Creek Hunt, joint master and honorary hunt secretary).

Masonic: Floyd Hastings, Sara-Rae Young (Eastern Star).

Music (general): Rosemary Dodson, Anne Hoenig, Marion Komar, Judy Pennock McCullough, Dorita Ramage.

Music sub-categories—Composition: Nana Landgraf (runs contest); Conducting: Millie Gilbert Carlson (hand bell, vocal), Sally Goff (retired church musician who subs), Mary Ellen Miller Orton (small women’s chorus), Paul Reeder, Jane Craig Wilson (hand bells); Jazz scene: Janet Agnew DeBar, Bill Goshorn; Instrument: Janet DeBar (didjeridu), Sally Goff (organ), Nana Landgraf (piano), George McClure (piano), Bev Stockard (euphonium, two bands); Music at nursing home: Sally Goff.

Singing, choral: Mila Aroskar, Judy Blackadar, Julie Fukuda (tenor), Sally Goff, Floyd Hastings (tenor, barbershop), Henry Hopper, Elaine Theurer Kirke, Dave Kuebbeler, Phil Nader, Paul Randall, Paul S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 41

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Class Notes Reeder (a cappella group, Many Centuries Singers), Lillie Trent, Babe Weiss, Sara-Rae Young. Singing, solo: Floyd Hastings, George McClure, Paul Reeder (10 shows, Richland Light Opera). Ushering: Pat Simmons.

Next time—the rest of the alphabet!

Robert M. Ward has retired from the Presbyterian ministry and lives in Sun City Center, Fla., e-mail rward12411@aol.com.

Remember, come to our class mini-reunion brunch, on Homecoming Day (Sept. 26, 2009)!

1959

Nancy McCarthy 188 Cafferty Rd., Pipersville, PA 18947 nbmczog@aol.com

Ginny Wenger Moser 8201 Greeley Blvd., Springfield, VA 22152 (703) 451-7469, ginny.guide@verizon.net

In early June our class celebrated its 50th reunion with music, memories, and camaraderie. We hope everyone had a wonderful time. While there will be a full report of our reunion activities in the next column, here we share reminiscences from several classmates we’ve not heard from previously.

Recalling her time at Wooster, Marion Stewart Beck says it provided many ideas that stayed with her throughout her life. The music department was Marion’s true home, and she vividly remembers times spent with Professors Winter and Gore, as well as much-loved friends. Marion taught junior high school music for 13 years in Pennsylvania. She also directed a Presbyterian church choir and junior choir for 20 years, while raising daughter Jane, now married and the mother of four.

Divorced from her first husband, Marion married Charlie Beck and changed direction—joining him in the oil and gas world, purchasing leases for major companies and small independent ones. Since her father had been a “driller,” moving into the field felt like rejoining her family. Now retired, Marion has purchased a baby grand piano and returned to music. She also pursues needlepoint and other forms of sewing and the arts, dividing her time between Pennsylvania and Naples, Fla. Music was also the focus at Wooster for John “Jock” Willis, who enjoyed studying with Daniel Winter. Jock went on for a graduate degree at Boston U and earned an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music. After teaching music in an academic setting for many years, he retired to garden and teach piano and music appreciation at his home in Winchester, Mass.

Jo Anne Heasley Ringler transferred from Wooster to study elementary education at Indiana U in Pennsylvania. After marrying in 1958 and teaching for a year, she and her husband quit their jobs and traveled exten42 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

sively in Europe before beginning a family. Jo Anne returned to teaching when her second son went to school and remained in the field for 29 years, teaching primarily fifth grade.

In 1997 the Ringlers retired and returned to their hometown to travel, read, and attend musical productions and sporting events. Two of their four grandchildren live nearby, and they’ve had the joy of caring for these little girls while their parents work.

She was only at Wooster for a year, but Jo Anne’s fond memories of the Girls Chorus and her friends at Westminster drew her back to sing in the 50th Reunion Chorus last June.

Drafted into the U.S. Army after Wooster, Chuck Nason was trained as a medic but actually spent most of his time playing trombone in the Army Band. After marrying Patricia Carson ’60 and having two children, Chuck returned to graduate school at MIT and earned a degree in meteorology in 1965.

From 1967-90 he worked in the computer field, then held management positions in the fields of mental health and human services until his 2006 retirement. Chuck’s best memories of Wooster include singing in the Concert Choir, playing trombone in the Scot Marching Band, and Prof. Calhoun’s history lectures.

Barbara Henry Fell says she “loved every moment of my time at Wooster,” from the football games and the Scot Band to struggling with I.S. Barb loves to travel and worked for United and TWA Airlines. She then married, moved to Pennsylvania, raised two daughters, and now has three grandchildren.

For 19 years Barb was employed by the District Center Library. Currently retired, she volunteers at the library and a local hospital.

Active in the Methodist Church, she enjoys reading and gardening and continues to travel.

Equally enthusiastic worldwide travelers, Dick Campbell and his wife, Susanne Lindman ’61, bicycle about 1,000 miles each season. Involved with a biking group since 1971, they lead about 50 people, who ride every weekend in the summer. Dick left Wooster after one year, earned a B.S. from Ohio State U and an M.B.A. in accounting from the U of Michigan in 1960. As a CPA he joined a Youngstown firm in 1964, ultimately becoming a partner and chair of the executive committee. The firm has grown into a regional enterprise with over 200 personnel.

Retired since 1996, Dick is active at church and in the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, and other civic organizations. He serves on the board of various local companies. Two of the Campbell’s three daughters are Wooster grads.

They have 11 grandchildren (ages 4 to 18).

Bob May is another serious bicyclist, riding 18-30 miles daily in beautiful state Hawaii. He earned an M.D. at Western Reserve U in 1963. After an internship in San Francisco, the

U.S. Army sent him to Vietnam. Bob then returned to Cleveland for four years of training in diagnostic radiology. Since his wife was from Honolulu, they moved there in 1970.

Bob worked in the radiology department of Straub Clinic for 38 years, 20 as department chief. The Mays have two sons and two young grandchildren. Retired, Bob enjoys baby sitting, taking courses, reading, going to U of Hawaii football and basketball games, and traveling. Of course, bicycle trips are his favorite.

Bob remembers great science courses at Wooster and the cold weather—which he doesn’t have to experience any more.

Following graduation, Mary Dronsfield Field traveled with a humanitarian purpose, spending 18 months working for the American Red Cross in Korea. After returning to the U.S. in 1961, she married, had two children, and moved 26 times in 30 years. Mary earned an M.Ed. from Boston U, worked for 10 years in drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and retired in 1995. She works part-time for the government of Fairfax County, Va., registering new citizens and high school students to vote, but her major occupation is renovating and restoring homes in the family with husband Chuck.

They’ve worked on a tiny 800-sq.-ft. 1890s house in Richmond and are currently busy with their son’s huge 1910 Victorian.

Mary remembers many things about Wooster—long walks with friends, pranks (e.g. pigs in the dorm), great classes and teachers—as well as “the pride I always felt when I told someone where I was attending school.”

1960

Vicky Fritschi 16 King Philip Tr., Norfolk, MA 02056-1406 vfritschi@netzero.net

I (Vicky) spoke with Marigale Mohr Compton. She and husband Doug had just returned from a five-month trip to Fort Meyers, Fla., and Surprise, Ariz., in their motor home. They had a wonderful time at Happy Trails in Surprise. There were lots of activities, and it was much warmer than in Bend, Ore., where they live.

Marigale has three children and five grandchildren, all of whom live in Alaska, so she treks north. She purchased a condo, for a little peace and quiet during her visits, but the entire building burned down a couple of years ago, and the settlement is still in the works.

One of Marigale’s passions is traveling witmany countries all over the world, in Asia, Africa, and South America, and took a bike trip in Thailand. She says that perhaps the most interesting trip was to Papua, New Guinea, where she saw the rites of passage of teenage boys from the Crocodile people.

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Before retiring, Marigale was a certified financial planner with American Express Advisors in both Reno, Nev., and Bend. She is particularly proud of the retirement funds that many of her clients contributed to Charitable Remainder Trusts in lieu of handing their tax dollars over to the IRS. Nancy Brown “Brownie” Tyburski writes that she and Chuck visited their daughter, Stacey, in Texas and were planning to visit daughter Jennifer in April, after Jennifer’s second baby arrived. Nancy and Chuck have four children scattered across the country whom they visit as they can, but they also feel that “home is a great place to be.” They sold their large Tudor house of 35 years and purchased a condo two years ago. They describe the process as extremely stressful, but they wanted to take advantage of an unexpected favorable opportunity. The two frequently spend the winter in Hawaii, as a welcome getaway from the cold.

Don Wheeler of New Jersey died in February in Utah, where he was vacationing with children and grandchildren. Four children, two brothers, and three grandsons survive. We send our condolences.

Sang Hyun Lee was honored on Mar. 5 in an inaugural lecture on Asian American theology and ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary, titled “Building the Momentum: Dr. Sang Hyun Lee’s Contributions and Their Prospects.” The lecture was presented by the Rev. Dr. Roy I. Sano, professor emeritus of theology and Pacific and Asian American ministries at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif.

Sang has been Princeton Seminary’s Kyung-Chik Han Professor of Systematic Theology since 1987. He studies the theology of Jonathan Edwards, Asian American theology, systematic theology, and God and the problem of evil.

I hope you’re considering coming to our 50th reunion in 2010 and working on some schemes to give generously to our class gift.

1961

Larry Vodra 51 High Ridge Rd., Brookfield, CT 06804-3517 JLVodra@aol.com

Some of us have had various worn-out body parts replaced, often hips or knees. Kay Warman Tuttle had a shoulder replaced last February. She’s now pain-free but lacks strength and some mobility, which should return with rehabilitation. Kay still works three days a week, counseling at a Detroit-area community college, and is overloaded with laid-off people looking for work or re-training.

Many are in their late 50s-early 60s with advanced college degrees, she says, who have

used up their savings and/or have home mortgages that are greater than the value of their homes. But these people are still ineligible for assistance.

Barbara Beck Diaz writes that, with her 70th birthday at hand, she has decided to put away her red pencil and grade book and retire from Coastal Carolina U, where she has taught for several years. Barbara and her husband plan to spend this summer and next autumn at their house in Spain.

Harris and Mary Madden McKee cruised around South America in February-March.

They started from Rio de Janeiro and rounded Cape Horn, following the route of The Beagle, Darwin’s ship. Port lectures by a naturalist introduced them to a variety of penguins, whales, sea lions, and emu, Chilean fjords and glaciers, majestic mountains, and an erupting volcano. They celebrated Harris’s 70th birthday with this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

A month later, Mary joined five friends on a tour of Guatemala, focused on Mayan ruins and descendants. The country is continually disrupted by the corrupt actions of political leaders, gangs, and drug cartels. Guatemala City’s population has grown over the last 30 years. Its infrastructure is inadequate, the water supply tainted, and the houses cling to steep slopes. The tour director advised the group to see the country through the eyes of ancestral and present-day inhabitants.

At this writing (mid-April), Don and Karen Kinkel Barnes are waiting to hear if they have been accepted for a two-year stint as Peace Corps volunteers to China. In the meantime, they have been bringing China to the U.S., a few people at a time. In March, they had four young Chinese English teachers bunking at their home. The Barneses say the women acted like giddy teenagers!

At Easter, a young Chinese couple now living in Richmond drove up to Washington to spend the day with Don and Karen. The Barneses send a weekly newsletter to 100 people in China, writing about Americans who do unpaid (volunteer) work, something that is unknown in China.

Speaking of multiculturalism, we learned of the May 25 death of Ronald Takaki, considered by many to be the father of ethnic and multicultural history. Dan Calhoun (history) gives us some background, “When Ron enrolled in his first history class as a sophomore at Wooster, he got hooked. It was a Western Civilization class, with optional outside reading assignments, and Ron’s reading choice was Homer’s Odyssey, the saga of a wandering outsider in strange lands. By the end of the semester, he was a history major.

“The next year, he enrolled in Helen Kaslo (Osgood)’s American History survey. Helen’s father was surnamed Kaslovsky, but he short-

ened it when he emigrated from Poland to Minnesota, where the Polish community was not that conspicuous. He was, then, another wandering outsider in a strange land.

“Helen turned Ron from a history major into a history professional, and no Wooster graduate ever turned out more acclaimed publications. His May 30 obituary in the New York Times said of Ron that he ‘made it his life’s work to include Asian-Americans and other ethnic groups,’ wandering outsiders who helped build what was at first a strange land, into what finally became a multicultural America.

“Don T. Nakanishi, the director of the Asian American Studies Center at the U of California, Los Angeles, said, ‘Ron Takaki elevated and popularized the study of America’s multiracial past and present like no other scholar and in doing so had an indelible impact on a generation of students and researchers across the nation and world.’”

Ron, who held an honorary degree from the College, had suffered from multiple sclerosis for 20 years. We send our condolences to his wife, Carol Rankin, and the family.

Last December, Jim Mall signed on to Facebook as a favor to a real-life friend who was enjoying herself there and wanted company. Since then, he says he has become addicted to what he calls the “insidious thing.”

He has over 300 “friends,” most of whom he does not know nor ever will. He had two Facebook “groups,” one for his political blog and the other centered on his bookstore, Ravenswood Books. In April the book group sponsored a celebration of National Poetry Month, with more than 120 members and several non-members submitting poems.

Here’s an editorial comment from Your Humble Scribe, Larry Vodra. Some classmates have suggested joining Facebook as a “Woo Class of 1961 group.” My son (age 39) says that YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites are great if you have hours to devote to keeping in touch with all of your “friends.” In his case, he says he soon becomes overwhelmed with corresponding and replying and feels guilty when he can’t keep up. It’s difficult enough to get information for Class Notes, so I can’t imagine that many of our generation will join.

Remember, our 50th reunion is less than two years away!

1962

Jane Arndt Chittick 192 Valencia Lakes Dr., Venice, FL 34292 jachits@verizon.net

Genie Henson Hatch 1337 Hampton Rd., St. Charles, MO 63303-6105, DHatch9985@aol.com

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Class Notes Peggy Rollo Bagwell reports that she has had a fulfilling life and is now retired from her job as an elementary school counselor. She has been married for 45 years and has two daughters and six wonderful grandchildren. She is busier than ever and having lots of fun. She and her husband live in a suburb of Baltimore, Ellicott City.

Recently Peggy had a mini-reunion in Wooster with Judy Hanson Babcock, one of her freshman roommates from Holden Annex.

The third roommate, Marilyn “Lynne” Prichard Weigand, was not able to make it from Leonardo, N.J. Peggy and Lynne have been in touch through the years. Peggy and Judy revisited their former dorm and room and hope to get together with Lynne soon.

Richard Morrison and his wife, Elly, have spent the last 10 years learning to listen to their bodies and creating a healthy life.

Richard has applied for a grant from the Gates Foundation to support his efforts to help others learn ways to remain healthy as an older adult. He states that the world needs active, alert, interested older leaders who know how to listen and have fun. He believes that the best leaders have always been aged, but they must be able to think and have the energy to lead. In other words, they must be healthy.

Richard says health is not an accident but a full-time occupation.

Arthur and Elaine Rado Raynolds spent 2008 doing what they love best...traveling the world, making friends along the way, and taking a huge number of photographs (30,000 on their trip to the Pacific Rim). In early 2008 they revisited northern Ontario to see the polar bears in minus-17-degree weather with several feet of snow. Then in May they visited the U.S. national parks in the Southwest.

Their 65-day Pacific Rim cruise took them to several ports and the tiger zoo in Bangkok, where they got to hold and feed a baby tiger.

Then on to Koh Samui, Singapore, Bali, and Australia. In Perth they again made contact with the animals, petting koalas and kangaroos. The last ports of call were Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii (for the Pearl Harbor memorial), and then San Diego. On the ship, they participated in two concerts with the ship’s chorus and sang in the church choir. Elaine states “you flat get ‘connected’ to your new family in two months, and the farewells were quite tearful.”

In 2005 Bob Boell retired as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Corning, NY. He now enjoys occasional supply preaching in the Philadelphia area where he lives with his wife, Jean, in the stimulating atmosphere of Swarthmore.

Bob has translated his professional skills into volunteering for and through Philly’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (symphony orchestra, opera, ballet), working in 44 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

its information kiosk in Commonwealth Plaza. He meets and helps people as the only non-paid member of the operations team.

“Love Boston, love Santa Fe, love my life,” says Karen Ingalls Epstein. “I’ve morphed from a driven, obsessed advertising copywriter to a seriously contented 69-year-old. This has been my happiest decade.” Karen’s husband of 35 years, Andy (six years younger), is at the peak of his career and is looking forward to time off, too. In the meantime, they share their love of design, art (Karen studies painting), and entertaining dear friends. They keep in close contact with their son, Eli (31), a music producer in Los Angeles.

After graduation from Wooster, John Friends joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Mediterranean and in Vietnam, eventually retiring in the naval reserve. He then earned a master’s in history at San Jose State U, working for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the summers. It was at a party for HUD interns that he met his wife, Carol, then a recent college graduate working as an architect. In 2008 they celebrated their 41st anniversary.

John and Carol live on Mercer Island, Wash. Retired, he works part-time at the tax accounting company he started in 1983 and sold in 2006. He serves on Rotary boards and commissions.

The couple has two children and were awaiting the birth of their first grandchild, to their son, a physical therapist, and his wife.

They are equally delighted that their family will enlarge even more in August with the first marriage of their daughter (39), a geological technician at an engineering company.

After a brief stint as a United Airlines stewardess prior to her marriage, Alys Wilson Harrop taught English and emotionally disturbed kids in the Toledo area before retiring in 1995. She earned a master’s in special education at Bowling Green State U. As a volunteer Alys edits a quarterly newsletter for Nature’s Nursery. She also transports injured animals to this local wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center run entirely by volunteers. The “accidental find of interesting, compelling work” began when Alys heard a presentation by one of the organization’s members at a meeting some years ago. She is an avid bridge player in several area clubs.

Alys rejoices in the marriage—his first, at age 40—of her son, Loring, last July and is eagerly anticipating the birth of her first grandchild this summer in Minneapolis.

Loring, a foreign language and computer whiz, earned an M.B.A. and is the head of his own company. His wife, Cindy, a graduate of Carleton College, is a speech and hearing specialist in the schools.

Class co-president Kitty Kelly Johnson

writes, “Seven years ago I retired from Smucker’s (a great company) in Orrville, Ohio, after 19 years. Since then, I’ve enjoyed the life of the retiree. My husband, Del, and I have traveled some (I finally got to Ireland!) and enjoyed owning a houseboat for a few years.

Several friends go south for the winter, but we chose to buy a cottage in Conneaut, in Ohio’s snow belt. (Is there something wrong with this picture?) We’ve experienced more than one lake-effect storm there, a spectacular sight, even for my Minnesota husband.

“One thing I’ve enjoyed recently is volunteering at the Wilderness Center in Wilmot, Ohio. This special place in Amish country is a self-supporting, nonprofit nature center with a beautiful interpretive building and lots of trails.

What I find exceptional is the focus on education provided by the dedicated staff. School and group programs serve about 15,000 people a year at the center and off-site. It’s definitely worth a visit. After 40 years, I’m still in the Akron area and would enjoy connecting with you. Give me a ‘heads up’ at kkj44319@att.net.

I’ll put the coffee pot on.”

Jim Kapp spent 20-plus years coaching football, beginning at Willard (Ohio) High School. Following that, he earned a master’s in educational administration at Eastern Michigan U and served as a graduate assistant coach.

He then coached at Michigan Technological U for 12 years, eight as head coach. Finally, Jim returned to Wooster, as head coach for the Fighting Scots (1981-84).

Upon the end of his coaching career, Jim entered a second profession as a stockbroker.

He was initially employed by Edward Jones and then on his own, trading through Paine Webber. Two open-heart surgeries, in 1989 and 2002, led to his retiring in 2005.

Jim’s hobbies include playing golf (getting together sometimes with fellow Delts Ray Crawford, Frank Little, Charles “Chick” Randolph, and Howard Sales) and creating custom-made golf clubs. He and his wife, Kathy Burgess ’63, also enjoy traveling. (Kathy transferred to the U of Michigan after her sophomore year.) On a recent trip to Branson, Mo., they visited with Frank Little.

The Kapps have two sons, each married with a son and a daughter. Jim Jr. lives in Cincinnati, and Jeff lives in Cleveland.

Anne Stocker Zawodniak updates us, “I live in Carson City, Nev. My husband, Richard, and I retired from Pinal County, Ariz., in 1999 and moved to northern Nevada for cooler weather! I was the chief deputy county school superintendent for more than 20 years. My responsibilities were in the fiscal area, although I worked on educational programs with the assistant superintendent.

Richard was in charge of data processing.

“We stay busy with the usual homeowners’

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WEDDING OF KATE GARDNER '98 & JOE HABERZETLE, MAY 10, 2008 L TO R , BACK ROW Anne Trousdale Gardner '64, Suma Rao-Gupta '98, Polly Hicks, Jennifer Cox, Bryan Roland, ’98s, Kristen SilverMoore ’99, Neil Moore ’97, Lorraina Raccuia-Morrison ’99, Jeff Nimeh, Harsh Toprani, ’98s FRONT ROW Groom, bride

projects and serve as ushers at church. I have been actively involved with the Women’s Society and volunteer in the church office. We travel frequently by train—going all over the U.S. and across Canada. During the last two years we’ve toured Italy and northern Europe.

June will find us in Alaska. There are ever so many other places we hope to visit!

“Richard, a railroad nut, has designed and constructed a huge O-gauge train layout that fills our two-car garage. (The van is relegated to a carport!) He runs exclusively passenger trains, including replicas of those that ran in New Jersey (his childhood home), in Ohio when I was young, or through the Southwest, where we’ve resided for years. He also has a model of the Virginia and Truckee train that ran from Carson City to Virginia City (the Comstock Lode area) in the latter part of the 19th century.

“I was married first to Jim Heck ’61, but eventually we divorced. I have three children and four grandsons. My son, R.J. Heck, is a family practice physician in Modesto, Calif.

My older daughter, Mary Jo Heck Cameron, lives in Arvada, Colo. She is editorial director for the Gaiam Co., based in the Denver area.

My younger daughter, Helen “Bunny” Heck Frazier, still lives in Arizona. She has her own child-care business in Florence, where we lived for many years.

“I also have a close relationship with two of Richard’s children, Adam and Theresa, who live in Carson City. We are particularly close to Richard’s oldest grandchild, Christina, who lived with us during her junior high and high school years. She now lives in Alabama with her family, and we visit there often.

“I’m occasionally in touch with Carol Brownfoot Wolf in Lafayette, Calif., and

Sylvia Lewis Kelley in Pipe Creek, Tex. I sometimes see my former husband, Jim, since he and his wife, Shirley, live close to Mary Jo and the grandchildren in Colorado.”

1963

Ron Eggleston 3314 Parkview Ave., Lansing, MI 48910-4650 ronandsueeggleston@comcast.net

1964

Jim Switzer 891 Elmore Ave., Akron, OH 44302-1238 switzer@uakron.edu

Rebecca Beard writes, “James Lucas and I have spent much of our married life (43 years) moving around the country, finally planting ourselves in the D.C. area. I have done numerous things—from teaching, to research and page design for an internet company, to writing for newspapers. We have two grandsons (13 and 10).” Find Rebecca at rsgreenz3@ verizon.net.

Bill Hunter recently wrote of a small world occurrence: “I am one of at least three Wooster graduates among the about 500 Vistage Chairs nationwide. Vistage International provides CEOs with significant growth opportunities, the support of their peers, and coaching from their chair. Allen Hauge ’77, Susan Smith ’75, and I represent Wooster in this unique and honorable craft.

“Vistage has members in Wooster and is pretty well represented in northern Ohio. I’m in northern Colorado; Allen is in St. Louis; and Susan is in the Philadelphia area.”

Lynne Warfield Kaltreider also sent news.

I ( Jim) will let her tell it. “After 30-plus years

of living outside of State College, Pa., and working at Penn State U as a research associate (mostly on drug prevention programs for youth), my husband, Denny, and I made a major life change in Nov. 2008. We sold our 200-year-old farmhouse, barn, acreage, etc., and moved to Los Angeles. Daughter Emily and her husband, Nick, live and work here.

“Our ‘reward’ for pulling up stakes and leaving friends behind was the birth of our first grandchild, Benjamin Nicholas, on Jan. 6, 2009. We live less than a mile from him and are totally enjoying grandparenting. And the weather—while the East Coast froze last winter, we had temps in the 70s and 80s.

“The only classmate with whom I am in regular contact is former roommate Sandy Mitzel, who lives in Dania Beach, Fla. I enjoy reading about others whose names still sound familiar after all these years.”

1965

Chuck & Lill Richeson Templeton 925 Alvarado Terr., Walla Walla, WA 99362-2101 (509) 525-6746, templeton@whitman.edu

Many of us are already saving the date for our 45th reunion in June 2010! Here is recent news from our classmates.

Mary Jo Weaver MacCracken (maccrac@ uakron.edu) was recently awarded the College of Education’s Service Award for over 40 years of professional service at the U of Akron.

Mary Jo worked with minority and disadvantaged youth and promoted the professional and personal growth of women educators. She is a reviewer for the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and an advocate for the needs of the elderly, as she visits her mother (age 95) in a retirement community.

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Class Notes Steve Moran (srmoran@aol.com) shares that after two years of semi-retirement (50% time doing consulting) in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, he accepted a one-year assignment in Edmonton as executive director of the Oilsands Research and Information Network. This new organization will invest in research focusing on reclamation of oilsands mining in northeastern Alberta. Steve says that these opportunities “cap off a career in managing innovation at the interface between industry, government, and universities. I’m optimistic that we will be able to help Alberta implement reclamation practices that will substantially minimize the environmental footprint of developing the second largest oil reserves in the world.”

I (Chuck) am always glad to hear from my Wooster roommate of three years, Jack Travis, M.D., M.P.H. (jwtravis@mindspring.com), who has recently become an adjunct professor at both the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (in its unique Master of Wellness program). He teaches wellness assessment courses online to graduate students around the world. Most of the year Jack lives in Mullumbimby, New South Wales.

Ruth Farr Banner (banfam3@comcast.net) traveled this past spring to a cousin’s wedding at the Wycliffe compound in the highlands of Papua, New Guinea, and enjoyed several days in Australia.

Ghulam Nasrani (gmnasrani@intergrafix. net) writes: “On Jan. 7, 2008, our son, Paul Nikka Nasrani, and his wife, Simi Nilofar Mir, offered us the best gift, a son, Kalil Nikka Mir Nasrani.” After 40 years of full-time ministry with the United Church of Christ, USA, and heavy involvement in its World Ministries, Ghulam is fully retired in Hazleton, Pa. He invites classmates passing through to give him a call (570-454-1982).

Nick and Jill Rasmussen Karatinos (karatinos@verizon.net) cruised the eastern Caribbean and enjoyed the shows in Branson, Mo., just before Christmas. They plan to attend the next Wooster reunion. Nick reports, “I took early retirement from the National Labor Relations Board at age 52 in 1995. I opened my own law practice in the Tampa Bay area, focusing on employment and maritime law and insurance litigation. I am still having fun with it and plan to keep practicing. It keeps me and my brain active. Our son, Ted, also practices law in this area.”

Nick continues, “Two other attorneys, Rocky Rockenstein and Bill Vodra, practiced with large law firms that encourage partners to leave at age 65. Bill is retired (see below), and Rocky will be soon. We had a visit from Rocky and his wife, Joey, this past spring.”

Jill Rasmussen Karatinos graduated from 46 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

the U of Maryland College of Medicine and was a solo family practitioner in Bowie, Md., for 16 years. She cross-trained in psychiatry at the Sheppard Pratt Institute in Baltimore, and in 1995 she and Nick moved to Tampa. Jill initially took a position as a staff psychiatrist with the Veterans Administration hospital.

After a year and a half, she opened a solo psychiatric practice, which she continues. She is board certified in psychiatry and neurology.

Two years ago, Jill took another board in neuropsychiatry, which qualifies her to treat brain-injured patients. Like Nick, she has no plans to retire in the near future.

Bill Vodra (wvodra@cox.net) writes that he just retired. He does historical touring around the U.S. and is on the board of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

1966

Elizabeth “Libby” Westhafer O’Brien 6557 S. Richards Ave. Santa Fe, NM 87508, ewobrien@mac.com

Former students who remember Bev Asbury, minister of Wooster’s Westminster Presbyterian Church in the 1960s, will be saddened to learn that he is being treated for throat cancer. Send him some TLC, at VAsbury574@aol.com.

1967

Rosemary “Rosie” Capps Merchant 32 Binnacle Hill, Oakland, CA 94618-2532, rosienjohn@aol.com

Nancy Lukens-Rumscheidt 6 Cote Dr., Dover, NH 03820-4607 nlukens66@comcast.net

Sara “Sally” Winkler Barnes (swbarnes800 @earthlink.net) writes that she still lives in Mill Valley, Calif. Sara retired several years ago and serves as a trustee and former chair of the Marin Community Foundation. She finds it ironic that she’s still using her management consulting skills but, like many in retirement, just doesn’t get paid. She serves on the foundation’s Leadership Team, a national board that is part of the Council on Foundations, working with 500-plus community foundations to set agendas for leadership, learning, standards, and legislation. Sara now has more time to paint (see SaraBarnesStudio.com).

Her husband, Andy Barnes, has his own urban strategy company and works on private/ public real estate partnerships, primarily in the Bay Area. They have three children: Tucker can be seen doing the weather on Fox Channel 5 in the Washington, D.C., area; Chuck is a teacher in Portland, Ore.; and Hanne is an architect in San Francisco. The Barnes’s three grandchildren, Helena (2), Hudson (7), and newborn Portia are close by, in Marin. “As no

doubt many classmates now realize,” Sara adds, “grandchildren are the best!”

A footnote from Nancy: “One highlight of my 2007 visit with Sara and Andy was seeing large silk screen hangings that Sara had painted, with inscriptions from poetry written by a Vietnam veteran friend while in the ‘Hanoi Hilton.’”

Emily Albu and I (Rosie) sent an invitation to all 21 of our classmates who live in California, netting a small but wonderful gathering in early March. Here are updates from some of that group.

Dick Bunce (dbunce2946@sbcglobal.net) says, “I still work as the deputy director of the Ploughshares Fund (www.ploughshares.org), a public foundation that makes grants internationally to stop the spread of—and ultimately eliminate—nuclear weapons. Obama’s election is creating tremendous potential for our issues.

“Deane Calhoun ’66 is still the executive director of Youth Alive, a nonprofit she founded 20 years ago, with programs in Oakland and Los Angeles to control handguns and prevent youth gun violence. We had an unusual fall: Deane was a fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy for a month. The experience shaped each of us in ways we never anticipated.

“On the home front: We have two sons and a granddaughter. Our oldest son, Noah, and his wife and daughter just returned from a year in Kabardino-Balkaria, a republic in the Russian Confederation in the Caucasus where Noah was working. They’ve resettled in Washington, D.C. Our other son, Cody, is engaged, living in L.A., and working while attending business school at the U of Southern California.

“Deane and I are thinking it’s time to retire, but it’s hard to tell from the work pace we seem to keep. We still do a lot of mountaineering. Last year we did the Tour du Mont Blanc, an 11-day circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, hiking through France, Switzerland, and Italy, staying in refugios along the way.”

Previous to his work with Ploughshares, Dick was development director for the Golden Gate National Recreation Conservancy and was instrumental in opening large areas in the San Francisco environs for public use.

Chip Rath (crath3@gmail.com), who was home less than 24 hours after a month in the Philippines, ignored his jet lag and joined the March gathering. He was celebrating retirement from a career in emergency medicine research and education, most recently with Kaiser Permanente.

Part of his trip took him to the islands of Leyte and Cebu, where his grandparents had gone in 1906. They met and married there and served 30 years as missionaries. His grandfather, for whom Chip is named, was the first

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WOO SINGS IN CARNEGIE HALL L TO R , BACK ROW Trem Oatman ’72, Kate Klonowski, Debbie Gutowki, ’99s, Sarah Jones ’87, Andy Doud ’88 FRONT Tom Hull ’07

Protestant minister on Leyte and ordained the first Philippino ministers. Several of the churches he founded in southern Leyte are celebrating their centennials.

Chip says he “enjoyed visiting the first Protestant church in Cebu and Leyte and hearing stories about my grandparents, who continue to be revered (even though they left there 75 years ago). Many people came up to me and said that my grandparents had put them through college or baptized them.”

Chip’s grandparents founded the College of Maasin, where Chip addressed nursing school students. He says he was treated like royalty and feted with a roast suckling pig for his farewell breakfast. Truly the trip of a lifetime!

Emily Albu, Nancy, Wade Brynelson and his wife, and my husband, John, rounded out the California group. We want to try for an annual mini-reunion and hope to attract other Californians the next time.

Regrets came from southern Californians Susan Heigl Swank (susanmswank@gmail. com), who was recovering from a broken hip suffered on a ski trip, and Carol Linnell (clinnell@ca.rr.com), who spent two years at Wooster.

Also unable to attend were Jeanne Milligan Player and SueAnn Spencer (sueann_spencer@yahoo.com), both of whom I saw three weeks later at the San Francisco home of Dave ’61 and Jane Hartley. The Hartleys hosted a performance of Love Letters, rendered beautifully by Sally Patton and Richard Figge (German, emeritus). Both actors outdid themselves with a passionate performance, holding the audience spellbound.

Jeanne continues as an administrative judge for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. SueAnn lives in Mountain View and has been employed for many years as a writer, mainly of technical materials for Silicon Valley companies. She volunteers to read to elementary school students and is writing her own children’s book .

The Alumni Office tells us that seven ’67ers members registered for Scots in Service ’08: Ann Hills Breed, Susanne Johnston Leggett, and Nancy Wilkin Sutherland in Chicago; Jane Russell in Phoenix; Judy Tucker in Richmond; Rosie in San Francisco; and Sally Patton in Raleigh-Durham. A great way to stay in touch and be of service!

Even Earth Day 2009 had a Wooster connection in San Francisco, as Paul Edmiston (chemistry) demonstrated his new patented substance that restores the damaged environment by neutralizing toxic spills (see p. 26).

One correction from the Summer 2008 notes: Kit Clark VanWinkle’s correct e-mail address is wink@valley.net.

Bonnie Bole Orkow shares a small world moment, “In February my husband, Bruce Blodgett, and I took a hiking trip to Patagonia with nine strangers. We met the others once we arrived in Buenos Aires, and I discovered that one hiking-mate was a Wooster grad.

While huffing and puffing up the steep slopes of the mountains in southern Argentina and Chile, Gary Grimes ’58 and I laughed ourselves silly telling stories about Wooster days.

“We had many memories in common, despite our differences in age, gender, and activities: Gary was president of Fifth Section

and on the football team while I was a Peanut and more sedate! All of our hiking-mates were terrific people, but I found myself seeking out Gary for conversation and laughter. Sharing the Wooster experience bonds people.”

Find time to drop a line or make a call to keep your classmates up-to-date. We love hearing from you and keeping you in the loop of classmates’ doings.

1968

Jim & Jean Adair Mayer 35038 Carnation Ln., Ft. Mill, SC 29707 jeanmayer@hotmail.com, goscots@comporium.net

We continue to include notes written by some who were unable to attend last summer’s reunion. They are just too interesting to overlook. Bill Hunt wrote, “I wish I could be there for the reunion, but I’m filming in South Africa. The crew considers me too important, since I write the checks. It’s approaching winter here, which keeps the flies down out on the grasslands. As long as we keep the lions away, filming progresses. I hope to have a full-length feature film in the can soon. (Well, those are the kind of tales we usually hear at reunions.)

“Instead, I’m really making pots and teaching ceramics and ceramic art history at Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus. I have wonderful students and enjoy teaching. My wife, Liz, and I live on a small farm in Delaware County, Ohio, and enjoy the peace and quiet.

“Like most of you, we are amazed to see age creeping up on us but accept it as the S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 47

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Class Notes

FIGHTING SCOT FOOTBALL REUNION

Tom Boardman ’70, Bill Hooker ’69, Ed Thompson ’71, Jim DeRose ’72, Jack Lengyel, Bob Lafferty (former coach, track, football) FRONT ROW Susie Leach Boardman, Kathy Eckles Hooker, ’71s, Lois Drinkwater Thompson, Darcey Johnston DeRose, ’73s, Sandy Lengyel L TO R , BACK ROW

better alternative. I ask forgiveness for all the selfish, thoughtless, embarrassing, and ignorant things I did while at the C.O.W. It was a time of learning which I pursued earnestly; and I’ve learned, finally.”

Geoff Chittick writes, “I left Wooster and ended up enlisting in the Army to get my service over with, since I could not really get a job until I did. I ended up working in a motor pool as a supply clerk because I could type. I was with the 101st Airborne at Camp Eagle in Vietnam for just over a year.

“Getting out of the service, I ended up at working at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Conn. I thought I was going to start a master’s in geology. That did not work out. I had had enough with school and was offered a job as a computer programmer. They were making $10,000 a year back then (1971), and I thought that was great money.

“After Sikorsky I worked for a computer consulting firm in NYC and traveled around the U.S. I came back to Connecticut and worked for the local phone company, then ended up at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut. I stayed for 14 years, retiring after Anthem bought the company.

“At Blue Cross I met Elaine, now my wife, —love at first sight. I went from single with no children to married with two, Elaine’s from a previous marriage. Four years later, I became a grandfather. We live in my hometown, Milford, Conn. I’m a computer geek with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, a HIPAA specialist on the transactions side.

“I started out commuting to NYC but am 48 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

now a telecommuter. We’re going to be in Alaska visiting Elaine’s son at the same time as the reunion. He’s with the Fourth Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division, back from his third tour in Iraq. He will be going to Afghanistan in 2010. Wish I could be there, as memories of Wooster and the good times in the section come flying back.”

Bob Flanigan writes, “I live in the Chicago area and am professor and chair of the department of urology at the Loyola U Medical Center and secretary of the American Urological Association. After Wooster, I began medical school at Case Western Reserve U, graduating in 1972. I then did my residencies in surgery and urology at University Hospitals of Cleveland before going into the Air Force for two years.

“After that I started my academic career at the U of Kentucky, where I remained for six years prior to becoming chair at Loyola. I have two terrific children (including daughter Nancy ’95) and a grandson.

“My wife, Joan, and I are lucky to live in the Chicago area. I’ve had the opportunity to drive through Wooster on several occasions, even after Nancy graduated. It always brings back great memories of friendship and fun.”

A news article tells us that Joe Benson was named the U of Alabama’s vice president for research and vice provost. Joe joined the UA faculty in 1978 as an assistant professor of geology and served as interim vice president for research and vice provost for a year and a half, having been senior associate dean of the UA College of Arts and Sciences (2001-07).

1969

Judy Simkins Haines 2643 Brook Valley Rd., Frederick, MD 21701 judysimkins@hotmail.com

Michael and Carol Macpherson Berger write, “After almost 40 years in southern California, we have retired and relocated to Texas, near the grandkids. We have a home on beautiful Lake Conroe, north of Houston, with room for company! Mike is pursuing a new career in real estate, and I substitute teach. We continue to be active in Rotary, boat, fish, play golf, and ride bikes with friends and family.” E-mail them at carol@mdberger.com.

Two classmates deserve our heartiest congratulations; see the following notes.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has awarded E. Addison “Buzz” Ellis III the Mary McNulty Award for Lifetime Service to Educational Publishing. This award recognizes exemplary service to the AAP School Division and to the U.S. educational publishing industry. Established in 1983, the award is the division’s highest honor.

Buzz served three times as chair of the executive committee of the AAP School Division, chaired the division’s Texas Committee, and served on many other committees. He recently retired after 33 years in executive positions at McGraw-Hill Education and is a consultant with the company. He elected to give the charitable donation portion of the award to the College, to fund the E. Addison “Buzz” Ellis Operating Scholarship, based on financial need, with

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WEDDING OF BOB ADAMSON ’76 & BETH WILLIAMS ’75, MAY 26, 1984—FIRST ANNUAL OAT GATHERING L TO R, BACK ROW David Tiftickjian, Bob Neff, ’82s, Kevin Lynch ’79, Brian Chisnell ’73, KC Jensen ’76, guest, Lee Svete ’82, Perry Hoskins ’79, guest, guest, Rich Hastings ’82, Dan Reiser ’83, Tom Stevens ’77, Bob Black ’84, Scott McCune ’79, guest, Larry Whitney ’77, Dick Tiftickjian ’84 SECOND ROW Jim Bregman ’80, Bob Van Cleef ’79, Bob Scranton ’76, Gary Maxwell ’77, Pete Wise ’84, Bruce Caldwell ’83, Pete Murray ’81, Ben Buckworth ’80, guest THIRD ROW Guest, John Wise ’77, guest, Karl Lohwater ’77, guest, Julie Rhind Chisnell ’76, Mark Thompson ’77, Spencer Newton ’85, Pat Lackey ’87, guest, guest, Tom Van Cleef ’83, Andy Sears ’79, guest, groom, guest, Kevin Balkam ’83, JJ Johnson ’86, guest, Owen Jones ’87, Pete Murray ’81, Ben Buckworth ’80, guest, bride FRONT ROW Kim Utt ’77, Tom Haning ’82

preference given to a northeast Ohio student.

Solomon Oliver, a U.S. District Judge from Cleveland, Ohio, has been elected to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policy making body of the federal judiciary chaired by the U.S. Chief Justice.

1970

Laura Wolfson Likavec 1702 Mendelssohn Dr., Westlake, OH 44145 lauralikavec@yahoo.com

Jennifer Doolittle and Wally Calaway say, “Hello to all of our C.O.W. friends. We still live in Woodridge, a suburb of Chicago, and would be pleased to have friends visit. We retired early, to travel. Our most recent adventure was 10 days in Bolivia. The trip was sponsored by the United Methodist Church, to start constructing a church building in Chua.

“The Iglesia Evangélica Metodista en Bolivia (IEMB) is an independent denomination which consists of 70 percent indigenous peoples. The population of Chua speaks mostly Amyra, a language which can be traced back to the Tiwanaka Empire (500 B.C to 1000 A.D.). Chua is located on the shore of Lake Titicaca, within view of the glaciercapped Andes Mountains at an altitude of 12,600 ft. We had to take medicine and limit our activities to prevent altitude sickness.

“Now is an exciting time to visit Bolivia. Its president, Eva Morales, is the first indigenous person to be elected as leader of any South American country. The IEMB stands in solidarity with the government, which for the first

time is controlled by the country’s indigenous majority (60 percent). We had a wonderful time living and working with the people of Chua and touring the Altiplano and La Paz. “Most exciting was a boat trip to one of the floating villages on Lake Titicaca. These manmade reed islands are remarkable. We were surprised to learn that the boat’s captain and our tour guide was the son of Paulino Esteban, who taught Thor Heyerdahl how to build reed boats. They then sailed all over the world with Heyerdahl in the boats they constructed.”

Tom Boardman announces, “There will be a reunion on Oct. 10, 2009, of all football players who played for Coach Jack Lengyel (from the 1966 through the 1970 seasons).

Plans include a Friday night reception with Coccia House pizza, a lunch tribute to Coach Lengyel on Saturday, followed by a pre-game meeting with the 2009 Fighting Scots and the first ever Woo night game at 7:00 p.m. against Case.

“All class members who played Scot football at any time for Coach Lengyel (and even those who didn’t but want to participate) are encouraged to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. If you haven’t been back to the College since graduation or even if you have, this is a perfect excuse to get back again and reconnect.

It promises to be a memorable weekend.

“Bubba, Chappie, Tack, Frankeye, Oscar, Artie, John Saunders, Gentle Ben, Neil, not to mention the freshman group of Hardesty, Haworth, Jardine, Moomaw, etc., we’re calling you out! Contact me, taboardman1@yahoo .com, or Carter Smith ’72, carter.smith9881@

sbcglobal.net, for more information, and watch your mail for updates.”

Susan Burkhalter, an organist in Mt. Vernon, Va., reports some small world occurrences. She says she got acquainted with John Shafer ’82 at an recital of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in March. John is an organist at a Church of the Brethren in Virginia. Susan says, “We reminisced about days with music professors Dale Winter and Dale Moore.

Susan also reports that Dorothea Miller Stover ’59 sings in the choir with her at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Arlington, Va. “Dorothy’s husband is a retired math teacher.

She makes enamel jewelry and bowls for a hobby.”

Julie McHenry Emerson wrote in April, “Steve Emerson ’69 and I are in our first week of a six-month sabbatical in Zurich, Switzerland. We lived here from 1974-76, when Steve did postdoctoral work on the chemistry of Swiss lakes. Since 1976, he’s been a professor of oceanography at the U of Washington. He plans to write six papers during this sabbatical.

“During my research leave from the Seattle Art Museum, I’m working on an exhibition of art from the Wiener Werkstatte: 1903-1932. The stated goal of the Vienna Workshops was to unify architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts in coordinated environments. This project will take me to Austria, where I spent the summer of 1969 with Herr und Frau Schreiber on the Wooster in Vienna program.”

“It’s been a while since I checked in,” writes S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 49

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Class Notes Pete Snyder. “The last time I communicated, I was class president. (However, I did the ’60s thing and ‘dropped out’ from that position, in favor of someone who would do the job justice.) Julie Scranton ’72 and I have two children—likely younger than many of the children of our respective classmates. Son Peter graduated from Lawrence U in Appleton, Wisc, in 2006, and daughter Kristen is Woo Class of ’08.

“Peter has his own Web design and programming company. (See his handiwork at www.stimuluswatch.org.) He and partner Prof.

Jerry Brito, George Mason U, teamed up to provide the public with a closeup view of the U.S. government’s financial stimulus program.

“Daughter Kristen has taken to horses and ranching in a big way and has spent the last six months or so in Wyoming. Her ultimate goal seems to be to work somewhere in Australia!

“Julie just retired from teaching kindergarten in the Chicago Public Schools and doing part-time university level teaching.

Retirement lasted two months, and now she works with preschoolers in our community of Flossmoor, Ill. “I continue to serve as regional counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, just four or five miles from our home.

That’s probably the only reason this 61-yearold has not retired as well. (Like the economy and a greatly depleted retirement fund had nothing to do with my decision. Not!)”

1971

James K. Lowery 1675 Riverwood Dr., Jackson, MS 39211-4828 jlowery49@gmail.com

1972

Jay Yutzey 1254 Norwell Dr., Columbus, OH 43220 yutzey.2@osu.edu

In February Stephen Clifton was inducted posthumously into the Fairborn City School District’s Hall of Honor. Stephen began in the district in 1972 as a social studies, business, and speech teacher at Fairborn Baker High School. He also coached tennis, football, and freshman wrestling and advised the student council. In 1982 he became the dean of students at Fairborn. From 1985-86 he was assistant principal and athletic director for Bellbrook High School, and in 1996 he became superintendent of the district, serving until his death in 2000.

Trem Oatman sent information about his participation, along with five other alums, in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. The chorus toured last winter and performed in Carnegie Hall in NYC (see photo, p. 47).

50 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

1973

Suzanne Schluederberg 3385 Carl Ct., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 suz@umich.edu

Wooster alumni meet in Scottsdale, Ariz., each year to celebrate a reunion with Coach Jack Lengyel. Lengyel left Wooster in 1972 to coach at Marshall U, after a horrible plane crash killed most members of its football team as well as its coach. The movie, We Are Marshall, portrayed Jack’s story of rebuilding Marshall’s team. Over dinner at the home of Ed ’71 and Lois Drinkwater Thompson alumni reminisced in February about football and Wooster memories (see photo, p. 48, and 1970 column for news about a similar gathering on campus this fall.)

In April class secretary Suzanne and freshman roommate Nancy Miller enjoyed a reunion over dinner in Seattle (see photo. p.

36). Nancy recently remodeled her home and says she’s ready to receive visitors. She’d love to hear from you at ncmiller4@comcast.net.

Libby Leonard Siegmund is teaching fifth grade in Fairfax County after earning an M.Ed. in 2000. “My son Carl graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2008,” Libby writes, “and lives at home while working as an intern on Capitol Hill. Daughter Martha Karen is a sophomore at the U of Mary Washington in nearby Fredericksburg, Va. My husband, Fred, does labor-market forecasting on a contract basis. We spend most of the summer in northern Michigan. I’m active in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, where Linda Olson Peebles is one of the ministers! Memories of Wooster, especially living in the Myers-Shearer community, will always be with me.” E-mail Libby at fsiegmund@juno.com.

Since 1994 Eric Filios has been doing video production and digital editing at his company, Aardvark Productions. “It keeps me busy sometimes, and the rest of the time I freelance as an ‘Elvis’ operator (disk-based videotape machine) for network sports remotes. It ain’t rocket science, but hey, I get paid to watch sports. How can you argue with that?” Eric enjoys bowling, playing pool, and remodeling his old house. He says his door in Charlotte, N.C., is always open to classmates.

E-mail him at dr_aardvarkian@bellsouth.net.

Dale Newson Forster has spent 30 years fund-raising and planning special events in the nonprofit world. In 2006 she became director of marketing and public relations at Leron Inc., a 100-year-old Forster family business. Leron is a custom luxury linen company with a retail store on Madison Ave. in NYC. Dale commutes from Westchester County, where she lives with a black Lab, husband David, and son Graham, a student at Manhattanville College (in Purchase, N.Y.). Find Dale at dale4str@optonline.net.

Anne Dalzell, a C.P.A. with Skoda Minotti for five years, is her church’s treasurer and choir director as well as the board treasurer of Lutheran Chaplaincy Service. “The organization supplies chaplains to health and social services organizations,” she explains, “including hospitals, nursing homes, even the juvenile detention facility here in Cleveland.

The people involved have a strong sense of mission—providing spiritual support to hurting people. I very much like being a part of it.”

Anne and her husband, John Wert, a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, find themselves busy with the activities of teenage sons Raymond and Christian. Anne also has a son, Jeff, and daughter, Lizie, from a previous marriage.

E-mail her at a.dalzell@att.net.

I (Suzanne) just learned that one of my former roommates, Margi Beem-Miller, died on May 18 of pancreatic cancer. Her best friend (another roommate),Nancy Siegele, was by her side every step of the way and kept us all informed on a weekly basis. We miss her.

1974

Kim Tapie 5511 Canaan Center Rd., Wooster, OH 44691-9611 ktapie@whmhrb.org

Marcy Bailey-Adams was prompted to write after seeing the note from Vanessa Piala ’75 in the Winter 2009 issue. “I completely agree with Vanessa that there is far too little news from our cohort, so here’s my bit. With an M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Mass., I prepared to study for a doctorate in Hebrew scripture and ancient Near Eastern studies by learning Attic Greek and immersing myself in biblical Hebrew and the history and culture of the area. Life’s journey led elsewhere, though.

“I worked for six years in a private special needs school, then for six years at the Stone Center at Wellesley College (working for one of my college she-roes, Dr. Jean Baker Miller).

I followed that with 16 wonderful years at the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in Boston as the director of planned giving. (Greetings to the Rev. Diane Teichert!)

“My husband, Ned Adams ’75, is an architect with Lowe Associates in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He loves the work, and this relatively small firm allows him a great diversity of tasks, from original design to site supervision and review, on projects ranging from ski lodges, to multi-generational housing, to hotels, to ‘empty-nester’ town houses, commercial properties, and single family homes. Ned helped to design and build several homes for New Hampshire Habitat for Humanity, has kept up on the guitar, and follows the folk/rock music scene as much as ever. Perhaps iTunes was created just for him.

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<<WOO IN LONDON L TO R , BACK ROW :Steve Nichols ’94, Tom (guest), Kristen Veblen ’05 FRONT ROW Sam Mahmud ’91, Sandy Eyre Nichols ’94, Jean Laurie Floyd ’54, Hannah Graff ’06, Jay Heiser ’82

<WOO ’05 S IN CHARLOTTE L TO R Laura Andrews, Nancy Dujmovic, Christine McEvoy, Amanda Rollins

“We live in Natick, Mass., with our son Matt (17), his tuba, and our two cats, Nefer and Hadji. We’ve lost track of many area Wooster grads and faculty but keep in touch with Bruce Arnold ’75 and hear from Molly Schnaars ’75 in Denver and Elaine “Nooch” Ferguson ’75 in New Mexico. We’d love to hear from others!” Find Marcy and Ned at Mattnedmar@verizon.net.

John Browder, professor and associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U, received the university’s 2008 Alumni Award for Excellence in international research last fall. The annual award is presented to a faculty or staff member who has had a significant impact on international outreach and research at Virginia Tech. John is an international authority on land use change, urbanization, and regional development in the Brazilian Amazon, where he has directed more than 20 research projects.

Carolyn Gilbert planned to attend the June reunion and states, “It’s hard to believe it has been 35 years since graduation. I’ve managed to fill the years with a great deal of family, travel, and adventure. After graduation I left the country to visit relatives in France. It this turned out to be the beginning of 14 years abroad. A twist of fate took me from Paris to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I worked in social services for two years. Next was my first master’s (in applied social sciences) at the University of Hull in Yorkshire, followed by two years of social work in Derbyshire, England.

“Not content with just working, I left England for the Middle East. I thought volunteering on a kibbutz in Israel for a few weeks would be interesting. A few weeks turned into 10 months (sense a theme?), and I loved every minute of working with my

hands—milking cows, assembling fans, and picking fruit, to name just a few tasks.

“My next life phase included a return to living and working in Derbyshire. I married and had two children before another twist of fate brought me back to Ohio in 1987. Since then, I have worked, participated in every school activity my kids got involved in, moved house three times, gotten divorced, completed a second master’s (in psychology), and retained my sanity (I think) through it all. My son (26) is working toward establishing a life for himself, and my daughter, Grace ’09 (age 22), is finishing I.S. as I write. I am currently the assistant director of operations for the Cleveland State U East Center in Solon.”

E-mail Carolyn at c.j.gilbert@csuohio.edu.

1975

Andrea J. Steenburg Simmers 2121 Breeds Rd., Owings Mills, MD 21117-1646 asimmers@mcdonogh.org

A news article announced that Roy Thomas was named president of the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA) for 200910. Roy is the third member of his family to be OSMA president. His brother, John ’82 (2002-03), and their father, Robert Thomas ’44 (1980-81), also held the position. Roy has practiced ophthalmology at the Elyria Eye Clinic since 1985 and is on the staff at the regional medical center, where he was chief of staff (1999-2000). He married Elizabeth Price, and their children are Katherine ’02, Sarah, ’05, David ’07, and Rebecca ’09.

A Minnesota news article tells us that Denise Ducharme Reilly served on the judicial panel which decided on Apr. 13, after a highly irregular election process, that Minnesota Senator Al Franken did, in fact, have more votes than his competitor.

Previously an assistant U.S. attorney, Denise is currently a Hennepin County District Judge.

Marianne Philbin ’77 sent us a timely note about the October death of John Sharp, but it got overlooked. John died of kidney cancer, which was diagnosed in Apr. 2008. Marianne writes, “From his student years onward, John was a wonder of intellect, integrity, earnestness, generosity, personality, and humor. A resident of Suttons Bay, near Traverse City, Mich., he was an attorney and well-known community leader.

“As a gesture of love and sympathy for John’s family, nearly 150 students at the local high school (attended by John’s daughter, Audrey) arranged themselves into the shape of a heart on the football field, and a friend took a photo (www.leelanaunews.com/drupal/idex .php?q=node/759).” Referring to the article with the photo, Marianne asks, “How many lawyers do you know who are described as ‘revered’? A small indication of how unique John was.” In addition to Audrey, survivors include John’s wife, Carrie, and Audrey’s older brother, John.

At press time, we learned of the May 28 death of Anne Ballard Hill of Hamilton, Mass., of injuries she sustained in a motor vehicle accident in Oct. 2008. We send our condolences.

1976

Dana Vandenberg Murphy 3175 Warrington Rd., Shaker Heights, OH 44120-2428, dmurphy1@sbcglobal.net

1977

Bonnie Savage 4306 River St., Willoughby, OH 44094-7815 bonniesbee@sbcglobal.net

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Class Notes Notes Class >WOO IN WINE COUNTRY L TO R President Emeritus Stan Hales, Steve Osei-Kufour ’05, Clarke Sheffield ’07, Diane Hales, Will Torres ’05

>>WEDDING OF MELISSA GOODWIN LEBLANC ’01, MAY 24, 2008 L TO R , BACK ROW Tim Pellman ’02 FRONT ROW Melina Campbell, Margi Hazlett, ’02s, bride, Lisa Perkins, Jeffe Hill, ’01s

Ronald Tompkins is still practicing law in Urbana, Ohio. He is involved in Democratic Party politics, including assuring the election of President Obama. He just completed an “untidy and unpleasant” regimen of chemotherapy for colon cancer, which appears to have abated. Ronald lives in the woods near Ohio Caverns with his wife, Lisa, sons, Joey (11) and Logan (7), and their horses and dogs.

He says that daughter Lilly (18) has moved out to live with her boyfriend, “Shirtless Bob.” They’re “cultivating ginseng and installing apiaries.” Ronald would dearly love to hear from old friends at ron@tompkinlawoffice.com.

A large contingent of ’77s and ’78s planned to return to C.O.W. this June to take on the Class of ’79 in baseball (listed in a politically correct fashion as “softball” in the Alumni Weekend program).

Robert Dyer recently saw Pete Paras ’78, Dave Luken, and Jim ’76 and Becky Hudak Gerard, all of whom are doing extremely well.

The Gerards enjoy retirement in Mentor, Ohio. Jim planned to spend some time with Rob Rutan and Tom Farquar at Wooster, as Rob celebrated his niece’s graduation.

Nancy Hart Gast and her husband, Greg ’76, are still in Philly. Their children are busy. Traci (27) is in San Diego completing a master’s in child life. Ashley (24) is in L.A., having graduated in June as a doctor of physical therapy. Travis (21) is a junior at St. Joe’s, majoring in philosophy, and is the soccer team captain.

If anyone has news to share, please send it to me (Bonnie). I also am in touch with a number of alumni on Facebook.

52 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

1978

Ken & Laurie Williams Gifford 6 Alicia Cir., Sinking Spring, PA 19608 gi-aol.com

Helen Wilson 7031 Villa Dr., Waterford, MI 48327-3323 hewil2000@yahoo.com

Stuart & Robin Light Thomas 2801 Edgewood Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55426 (952) 925-5028, rsthomas78@comcast.net

Robert “Chip” Vaughan Spayd Jr., chipspayd@yahoo.com, retired from The Berry Company (a subsidiary of AT&T) as a national sales manager, after 25 years of service. He’s enjoying traveling with his wife, Deborah, and spending more time with his daughters and their families.

Bob Sulick writes, “In 2004 my wife, Danita, and I opened a small take-out pizza shop in Manchester, Conn., called Mulberry Street. Last year we moved to a new—old— building (built in 1898), going from a 1500- to a 5000-sq.-ft. full-service restaurant. We make thin crust New Haven-style pizza, along with pasta, salads, sandwiches, and desserts. Our barroom is named the Dan Collins Pub, after my father-in-law... It’s become a popular spot at night and on weekends...especially after U of Connecticut, Red Sox, and Yankee games.

“We have some great old Wooster pictures on the walls. Regulars include Scott Wilson, Pat Hurley and his family, Steve Burns ’80 (a local contractor), and Bob Fish ’66 (a longtime local dentist). I’m very proud of my wife, the real owner, chef, manager, and CEO. She took a small idea and turned it into a concept that is viable and energetic...in a difficult economy...in one of the hardest industries.

“My kids are growing up...Colin (21) will be a senior at Roger Williams U in Rhode Island, majoring in construction management.

Kate (19) will be a junior at the U of Southern Maine majoring in art (after my heart!), and Molly (16)... is going to be a junior at Manchester High. All have jobs in the summer, and when they’re home, they work in some manner at the restaurant.

“I still work as director of procurement for the health care division of Sodexo North America. We manage hospital nutrition, environmental, and engineering services. A few more years of tuition left. My best to all. If anyone is passing through Connecticut, we are on Main Street in Manchester...right off of Route 384, outside of Hartford.”

Cathy McDowell MacLean writes from Duluth, Ga., “Our oldest, Chris (who graduated from the U of Georgia), got married last July and teaches psychology at a community college in Salem, Ore. His wife, Lola, is also a graduate of UGA and plans to enroll in nursing school this summer. Our daughter, Jessica, graduated from UGA, too, and lives in Albuquerque, where she recruits mentors for the Big Brother/Big Sister organization. Our twins are headed to college, Lindsay to UGA and Brooke to Berry College (a small college in north Georgia, much like Wooster).

“Jon continues to feel good with his second kidney transplant (his Dad’s kidney—85 years old!). I still teach middle school Spanish and love it. Jessica and I enjoyed a wonderful trip to Costa Rica last summer. We are happy and blessed to have good health.”

Greg Benckart still lives in the Pittsburgh area and writes, “I am sorry I missed the big

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reunion. It looked like a blast, but as usual I was traveling somewhere and could not get back in time. I go to Wooster a lot these days to see my oldest son, Greg ’12. Fortunately, there is only one teacher around from our years, Dr. Hustwit (philosophy). My son has him for class. (Hopefully Dr. Hustwit does not remember my study habits.) Greg joined First Section, which I think are the Betas, and is on the golf team. My daughter, Elizabeth, was accepted at Woo as well but is not sure she wants to be with her big brother. We will see.”

Frank An writes, “I got married in 1992 and traveled every year to see America the beautiful! My wife, Kimberly, and I have two kids and are doing well. We’re happy to live in sunny southern California. I’ve enjoyed being a family physician since 1989 and have practiced solo since 2000. I was at the 25th reunion of my Ohio State U College of Medicine class in 2007 in Columbus. I’d love to hear from classmates, especially Betas, at mrdrfrank@aol.com.”

The board of directors of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City elected Katharine Rhodes Henderson as president of the school, to succeed Barbara G. Wheeler, who led the institution since 1979. Katharine’s presidential duties began on July 1.

She was invited to join the Auburn staff 15 years ago. As executive vice president, Katharine launched several signature educational programs and built Auburn’s department of institutional advancement. Katharine is the author of God’s Troublemakers: How Women of Faith are Changing the World (Continuum, 2008).

We learned that Mark E. May of Parker, Colo., died suddenly on Feb. 5 of a heart attack at his home after an afternoon run. He leaves his wife, Becky, six children (ages 9 to 21), his parents, and three siblings, including Erin ’86 and Eric ’83. Donations can be made to the May Children Educational Fund, c/o Wells Fargo Bank, 10900 S. Parker Rd., Parker, CO 80134.

1979

Jennifer Reed Jones 328 Inwood Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15237 xojones@aol.com

Patricia Stocker Clinker 1805 Heritage Cir., Dover, OH 44622 (330) 343-6477, pasc1957@yahoo.com

Thirty years and counting! We’ve gone from early inputs about our first jobs, new families, and young adventures, to putting children through college, being grandparents, and more adventures. Some of us are even retiring. By the time this comes out, many of us will have reconnected at the June reunion, and we’ll have a new class secretary.

1980

Susan Estill 1817 Keller Lake Dr., Burnsville, MN 55306-6378 sestill58@comcast.net

Don Leake 300 High Gables Dr., Apt. 208, Gaithersburg, MD 20878-7428

Jenny Watson 1551 Oakmount Rd., South Euclid, OH 44121 jlwatson395@sbcglobal.net

Congrats to Mike Riffee for coaching the Worthington Kilborne High School to win the Div. I lacrosse state championship!

1981

Scott Jones 31 Emerson St., Belmont, MA 02478 scottjones@verizon.net

I (Scott) got a decent response to my “You’re 50. Yes, 50. Now what?” call to action.

The sentiment seems to be: “Yes! 50!” Here’s what classmates had to say.

Tom Litzler reports, “Golf is a metaphor for my life. There is as much left to play as we have experienced, and we are warmed up. As I make the turn and start the back nine, I’ve elevated my workout regime. This old Clydesdale will complete in a series of bicycle races and duathalons this year. The highlight will be running in the Cleveland marathon in May, the actual week that I turn 50. To highlight the event, I secured race bib #1959, an easy number for most of us to remember.”

Beth Christman Kowalsky writes that she turned 50 in March and got whiny about it for a day or two. “Then I got an invitation to my aunt’s 80th birthday party and decided it was time to just get on with things!” It’s all about perspective in all things.

Kerri Ford Ross and her husband, John Ross ’80, celebrated by moving. After losing her job in Tampa due to a reorganization, Kerri found her dream job in Naples, Fla., working for a large hospital company as their national manager of credentialing.

“Naples is so beautiful,” she writes. “We have a feeling we’ll be very happy here.

Daughter Kelly (24) is staying in Tampa, where she works for Publix Supermarkets. Son Craig (25) and daughter-in-law Brandie (29) are happy in Tallahassee. Craig is in his fourth year of teaching high school history; Brandie is the school’s computer tech and working on an associate’s degree. Grandson Christopher (18 mos.) keeps his mom and dad hopping!

“Wooster mates visiting Naples can contact us at jaguar9748@aol.com.”

Paul Smith turned 50 on Feb. 5. “My wife, Rebecca, and I celebrated by spending a long weekend in Bend, Ore., in late January, skiing at Mt. Bachelor. We were joined by my son, Taylor, who’d turned 16 a week earlier; my

daughter, Jaci (20), a junior at the U of Oregon; and her boyfriend, Ben. We had a great time and skied like we were 30! Well, almost….”

Not yet there is Martha McKee. “I’m not turning 50 until next year (and am rubbing it in for my ‘older’ friends). My daughter, Meredith ’08, will attend Case Western Reserve U Law School in the fall. Daughter Anastassia ’09 just graduated. My son and his wife are expecting this summer, my first grandchild—the Class of 2031. I’ll start working on the little one early. It will be fifth generation Woosterite if I am successful!”

Matthew Morra, professor of soil biochemistry at the U of Idaho, was selected as the university’s Outstanding Environmental Science Faculty for 2008. Matt also received the 2008 Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award. He’s been active in the environmental science program since its inception in 1993 and has helped to make it a success through teaching and directing student research. Matt’s areas of specialization are heavy metal biogeochemistry, biofumigation, and pesticides in Costa Rica.

Legg Mason Inc. announced in December the appointment of Peter Sundman as president and CEO of ClearBridge Advisors, one of its principal asset management subsidiaries in New York. Peter came to ClearBridge from Neuberger Investment Management Inc., formerly the asset management arm of Lehman Brothers. He joined Neuberger Berman in 1988 as director of institutional sales and left as CEO and chair of the Neuberger Funds.

Karen Jones Kelley, kkelley0359@ sbcglobal.net, is the pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mich.

Congratulations, half-centurions! I hereby commit to doing our class notes for our 100th birthdays. (Duly noted!)

Photos We love to publish good quality photographs of alumni, preferably those that picture two or more Wooster alums. We receive more photos than we can use, so pictures of groups that include only one alum are not considered.

Do not send photographs that you wish to have returned. We can use traditional prints or high resolution digital images sent by e-mail (to class_notes@wooster.edu) or on a disc, along with caption information.

Note the copy deadline (p. 62). If you do not see a photo that you sent, please contact the assistant editor, Jimmy Wilkinson Meyer, or your class secretary.

S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster

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Class Notes >WEDDING OF DARCY SCHRIMPFMAHLER ’04, OCT. 4, 2008.

Samantha Ferm ’04, Adrienne Walts ’03, bride, Whitney Barchus ’04, Sarah Steele ’05, Maggie Combs ’04

L TO R

>>SENIOR CLASS COMMITTEE ’09

Ashley Blackwell, Kabir Banerjee, Wyatt Shimeall, Carly Carey, Jeff Brown, Lauren Merriman, Jodi Sprajcar L TO R

1982

Barbara Brown 2151 Fairmount Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105 wishboneandbarb@hotmail.com

John P. Shafer 9929 Oakton Terrace Rd., Oakton, VA 22124 shaferjp@hotmail.com

Contact Dave for details, at drbddsinc@ sbcglobal.net.

1985

Barry Eisenberg beyesn@aol.com

Susan Lancaster Toner

Katie Hopper

11593 Westbury Pl., Carmel, IN 46032 susan_toner@hotmail.com

15736 Buena Vista Dr., Rockville, MD 20855-2656 k8hop@aol.com

1983

David Martin Collierville, TN, dkmboater@hotmail.com or david.martin2@ipaper.com

See announcement in 1984 column, below!

1984

Sue Steinkraus McDaniel 81 W. Church St., Fairport, NY 14450 Mcdanielfive@aol.com

Lisa Young Page 690 Lanark Ln., Painesville, OH 44077 lypage@sbcglobal.net

David Beckman sends the following, “Each year, the Phi Delta Sigma fraternity holds a golf outing in memory of By Morris ’55. Proceeds go to a fund that Dave Knowlton ’89 disperses to the College.

“This year is the 25th anniversary of the combined 1983-84 pledge class. The event is July 24-25. We urge our pledge class brothers to come on Friday evening to eat at Coccia House. A block of rooms are reserved. The golf outing, a scramble format at Hawk’s Nest, will be the next day, with a cook-out to follow at the home of our gracious host, TJ Landis.”

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Doug Wiley (dwndc@aol.com), who lobbies the federal government for the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, D.C., shares this story: “Over Thanksgiving, I played in the PGA LG Skins Game Pro-Am Celebrity Golf tournament in Indian Wells, Calif. As a guest of sponsor LG Electronics, I got to play with two of the world’s top-10 pro golfers—Phil Mickelson (a three-time major champion) and KJ Choi—a humbling experience!

With Phil and KJ’s help, we managed to finish in second place, taking home some nice crystal and a set of Callaway golf clubs.

In addition to watching from the gallery, my wife and three boys were there to make me even more nervous.”

“We are in Bethesda, Md.,” writes Ellen Buchanan Mundell (emundell@deloitte.com) “and thoroughly enjoying our kids, Lucia (7) and Tait (5), and of course, Chelsea the wonder dog.” Ellen enjoys working in business development for Deloitte’s Growth Co. Practice. “Deloitte has been fabulous—familyfriendly, flexible, and allowing me to exercise my social side,” says Ellen. She adds, “I’m playing lots of tennis and fighting middle-age like crazy.”

Alex and Jennifer Burrows Landefeld

attended the organizational meeting for Podcamp Pittsburgh 4. Alex explains: “Podcamp is a really cool way to provide: (1) an unconference atmosphere for learning about social media, blogging, and audio/video podcasting; (2) an outreach to those who are new to these technologies; and (3) an educational meeting place for those yearning to teach and those striving to learn.”

Is there a podcamp near you? Find out at podcamp.pbwiki.com or e-mail Alex at alex. landefeld@gmail.com.

He is a customer service specialist with a Web development and marketing software company, and Jennifer works in Carnegie Mellon U’s computer science department.

Did you know that Sarah McGraw Krushinski is also enjoying life in Pittsburgh? “I am directing Beauty and the Beast,” she writes. Sarah’s Wexford Acting Studio is thriving. “I have unexpectedly reconnected with lost alums on Facebook recently. I’ve communicated with Sal Midolo ’86, Deanna Peden, Chris Causey, Emilie Storrs, ’87s, and many others from whom I had not heard in some time.”

Contact Sarah on Facebook or at mcgrawactor1@aol.com.

Cheryl Trautmann Boop is a pediatric occupational therapist in Athens, Ga., while husband David Boop still works as the director of career services at Arkansas Tech U. “Maybe Dave and I can be permanently reunited once the economy turns around,” says Cheryl. “In the meantime, we meet monthly all over the Southeast—exploring the country and feeling like newlyweds after 22 years!”

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WEDDING OF JAMES KOLLER ’99 & SUMI VISHNU ’01, OCT. 12, 2008

Sohil Parekh ’99, Nitin Khanna ’00, Merideth Holden Kongchan ’02, bride, groom, Anant Padmanabhan ’99, Nikita Sharma, Devoki Dasgupta, ’01s

L TO R

Cheryl keeps in touch with Karla Hammett Connor (The Woodlands, Tex.) and Becky Sears Drumheller (Danville, Pa.).

She’d love to hear from Cindy Townley (and others) at cherylboop@hotmail.com.

Eric ’84 and Deborah Smith Johnston now reside in Seattle with their children, Jesse (10) and Kelsea (8). Deb teaches history at Lakeside School, while Eric free-lances in the computer and video worlds. Deb will travel with her students this summer for a month of service learning in Senegal. She’d love to hear from alumni in the Northwest, at deborah. johnston@lakesideschool.org.

Suffice it to say that Karl Henning (karl.henning@columbiamanagement.com) is composing and playing a ton of music. The work seems to emanate from his Massachusetts manufactory at an impressive clip. He promises a detailed future update, but for now invites you to sip some hot tea and visit his blog, henningmusick.blogspot.com.

“After a great deal of trial, our family is looking forward to a year of healing and reassessment,” writes Jay Childs (childsj@ casady.org), whose son, David, passed away in June. “Part of my own ‘nesting’ has been to lean on my closest friends, fellow faculty members at Casady School, many of whom knew our David.” Jay and the family spent Christmas in Pittsburgh. “However, we spent New Year’s at Walt Disney World, creating new memories,” he adds.

Speaking of memories…We encourage you to join the growing Class of ’85 community, and larger Wooster community, on Facebook.

It’s not just for kids anymore. Reconnect and break the ice as we countdown to our 25th reunion in June 2010.

1986

Jane Shipman Warner 791 Harbor Point, Lexington, KY 40502 jswarner@insightbb.com

Margo Scruggs Seaman 320 Jefferson Ave., Westfield, NJ 07090 margonova@comcast.net

1987

Emilie Storrs 237 Windermere Rd., Lockport, NY 14094 emcognita@aol.com Elizabeth Lynne Dunham (ohara_ elizabeth@yahoo.com) reports she’s married, living in North East, Md.., and is a clinical social worker, specializing in trauma work with women and children in a private, nonprofit setting as well as running her own practice.

Elizabeth spends time with her family in Maryland and at a home in Key West. She’d love to hear from Erin May and Angela Lambert.

Where is everyone else? Please send news!

1988

Susan Friedman Pasadena, CA, susanlfriedman@yahoo.com

Liz Sweney Decker Westbrook, ME, ldecker@ginne.org

Congratulations to Brock D. Jones, who was awarded the Centurion Medal by the Order of St. Maurice in February at West Point, N.Y. The medal is given to infantry soldiers who represent the highest standards of integrity, moral character, and professional dedication. Brock was also advanced—two years early—to the rank of lieutenant

commander. He took command of a light infantry battalion in June and will deploy again to the Middle East. He describes himself as “a master of moving all over the world (18 moves since Woo) and of raising two teenage boys.”

Megan Anfang Faust is busy keeping up with her girls, Sarah (13) and Anna (5), while working at Roetzel & Andress LPA in Akron, where she has been for over 16 years. Her husband, John Faust ’86, teaches fifth grade— his second career—and loves it. Aside from work and the kids, Megan is actively involved in the Arthritis Foundation. She sits on the board of the northeast Ohio Chapter. Megan’s youngest, Anna, has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, so it’s a cause near and dear to her heart.

Chanley Martin writes, “I was sad to miss the reunion, but a bunch of illness and stress prevented me from coming. I got married in November to Matt Davis (another psychiatrist, an ex-Navy doc who did three tours in Iraq with the Marines). Our daughter, Morgan (3), makes every day exciting! We both work for the Louisville Veterans’ Administration, doing outpatient psychiatry. But in June, we’ll move to New Haven, Conn., for a year, and I’ll do a fellowship in forensic psychiatry, to combine my J.D. and M.D. into one professional path.

I’d love to hear from anyone near New Haven, at chanleymartin@yahoo.com.”

Dawn Crownover says that you’d hardly recognize her son, Brooks (2). Dawn’s new e-mail address is dlcrownover@msn.com.

1989

Beth Kampmeier Palmer Dublin, OH, evkamp@hotmail.com

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Class Notes WEDDING OF JIM WITTER & BRITTON EICHENAUER, ’07 S , NOV. 1, 2008 L TO R , BACK ROW Patrick Chrosniak ’06, Emily Blackie, Emily Irvine, Kate Schlichting, Nate Johns, Kristen Cooperkline, ’07s, Nate Busman ’09, Richard Giles ’07, Ronoldo Appleton ’08, Kara Olson, Jessica Hill, Elizabeth Bennett, ’07s, Elise Meyers ’09, Denise Hardman ’07, Mary Hickey, Mary Ellen Hurst. THIRD ROW Danielle Andrews Chrosniak ’06, Erin Toohey, Meg Brisker, Judith Holden, Hannah Leahy, Catherine Grandgeorge, ’07s, Linda Morgan-Clement (campus chaplain) SECOND ROW Matt Frank '01, Jen Woloschyn ’07, groom, bride, Aubrie Tossmann ’08 FRONT ROW Charles Hurst (sociology, emeritus), Damon Hickey (director of libraries, emeritus), Michael Clement

Drew Traglia lives in Santa Monica with his wife, Beth. In April they celebrated son Tony’s first birthday and are now frantically searching for the right preschool. In August Drew will commemorate 20 years of skating on the fringe of the entertainment business in L.A. His television pilots, “Sunset 101” and “Sorcerer,” continue to look for a home. Until then, Drew manages online communications at the U of Southern California.

Monique Pettorino works for the Medical College of Georgia at the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, as a research assistant and patient consenter on the Type 1 diabetes research study (www.teddystudy.org).

She’ll move to the Virginia/D.C. area in August to pursue her (second) bachelor’s, in nursing. Monique stays in close contact with Carol Pyper, Caroline Somers Trickey, Vivek Batra, Paul Hanusz, ’90s, and Ashley Boswell Renz and recently got back in touch with Alison Stenta Johnston, Jill McFarland, and Michelle Jividen.

Eric Foo still lives in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia, and works at the state development bank. He’s single and trying to make movies in his spare time. He’s sad that he couldn’t make our reunion. Eric would love to hear from friends via Facebook or e-mail (fooman@mac.com).

1990

Shireen Behzadi Hollingsworth

Apt. 601, 5353 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43214, wooster90@funiaz.com

1991

Don Campbell Washington, DC, doakcampbell@gmail.com

Katie Jones McClelland Sykesville, MD, katievjones@aim.com

Elizabeth Smith and Adam Cohen ’89 have moved from Chicago to Rockville, Md., and would be pleased to hear from classmates in the area, at e-smith113@comcast.net.

Kenneth Robinson married Kya Renette Robottom on Jan. 3 on the Ritz-Carlton Hotel’s Great Lawn on Grand Cayman Island. The best man was Andrew Mellinger.

The couple lives in Chicago. Kenneth is currently manager of network security for U.S. Cellular.

Katye McCullough Russell, krussell@ tech.usn.org, is in Tennessee, teaching seventh grade English at the University School of Nashville.

Nick Martin, nm@martinarchitects.com, reports that he’s principal architect with Martin Architects PC and 4MA Builders LLC in Sagaponack, N.Y.

1992

Kathleen Quinn Highland Heights, KY KQuinn92@alumnimail.wooster.edu

897 Bonnie Brae Ln., Bolingbrook, IL 60440-1130

Stephanie Zachary 3411 Brookdale Ave., Cleveland, OH 44134-2226

Daniel Radvansky 56 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

1993

Emily Silverman Mathews

Round Rock, TX, Emat1971@austin.rr.com Nancy Hunter Mycka Mars, PA, nmycka@yahoo.com Happy summer to all of you! In theory, good old Facebook should make our job easier than ever. However, this is not true in practice.

Why? Because unless you give us (Nancy and Emily) permission, we’re not going to dig around your Facebook page and print random information. So even though we have plenty of classmates (and folks from other classes, too) on our Facebook lists, you still have to send us your news, please! Or, we’ll be proactive when talking to you on Facebook and ask, “Hey, can I put that in the magazine column?”

Like I (Emily) did with my old first-year fourth-floor Stevenson hallmate, Brent Ponstingle. I simply poached him from someone else’s Facebook list, asked him for permission to print what was new with him, and voila! So, Brent, you deserve top billing.

Brent lives in Westlake, Ohio, with his wife, Patty, and three unbearably cute children (ages 4 and under): Nolan, Griffin, and the baby, Stella. Brent is director of operations at Watt Printers/Mail Marketing. Having both seen our beloved Stevenson since graduation, we agreed that it was, for better or worse, pretty much the same! Ah, the memories.

I’m having a ball on Facebook, yakking with (in addition to Brent): Laura Dardashti, M.D.; Aimee Eldridge, Ph.D.; Garth Fowler, Ph.D.; Pete Hourigan; Murray Welsh Locke; Anne Swierenga Nabors (whom I see live and in person, too!); Marc Rummenie; Lisa Vadasz Thompson (who graciously accepted my apology for hanging a Metallica banner in our room in our first year at Woo); Michelle DeGraw

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Vandermeer; and of course, my co-columnist.

(If I left an M.D. or a Ph.D. off of your name, that should force you to write and tell me.)

I recall that Rachel “Sweeney” Nutter works at Rosetta Stone, the folks who produce software for learning foreign languages. (I hear their radio ads and of course think of Sweeney.)

Not long after we submitted this column (a couple of days early!), I got a nice, huge chunk of news from Peter Hoopes, who gave me a second chance after I lost his first submission in my laptop crash. Here it is, straight from the man himself. (By the way, Peter is married to Sarah Elderkin.) “After graduating from Wooster, I spent two years at the U of Miami in Florida working on a master’s in media writing and production. Sarah and I got married and moved to Indiana for a year, while she worked at her parents’ business.

“Then the opportunity came for me to work in NYC for an alum of my high school (St. Andrew’s School in Delaware). Sarah and I moved to northern New Jersey, and I commuted by train I wrote music for jingles and documentaries and edited and produced projects of all kinds—albums, PSAs, short pieces, etc. It was intense and a lot of work. I realized that while I loved to write music, I wasn’t really fast enough to produce at that level. My employer decided to move his studio and business to Boston, and I stayed behind.

“Wondering what would be next, I found out that St. Andrew’s School was looking for a technology director. I was good with computers, and I knew the school. At the time (1998), there were few technology directors around.

Luckily the school took a chance on me, and I’ve been here ever since.

“Sarah and I have three girls: Ingrid (7), Sophie (4), and Claire (1). It’s a wonderful place to live and work, and we feel very lucky.

We live in a 300-year-old house in the middle of 10 acres or so of farmed land (not by us).

I’ve coached football, baseball, and tennis. In addition to running all of the computer technology, I teach music composition and film studies. I’d love to hear from area Woo folks!”

It was fun to hear from you, Peter. And, naturally, we’re now connected on Facebook!

Linda King and husband Joe Neff ’92 recently moved to 2987 Kobe Dr., San Diego, CA 92123. Joe still works as a scientist for the Navy, and Linda works at the San Diego Zoo’s Avian Propagation Center. They have two dogs, one cat, and some fish. They’d love to hear from you, at ldking@san.rr.com.

Chris Strompolos says that the London premiere of his film, Raiders of the Lost Ark— The Adaptation, was a huge success. To find out more, check out meemalee.blogspot.com/ 2009/04/sheeps-eyeballs-chilled-monkeybrains.html (get an idea of the food served at the event?). Their film is also featured in

Homemade Hollywood: Fans Behind the Camera (Continuum, 2008), a book by Clive Young.

For a screening near you, see The Raider.net.

It’s April and things that are…odd are going on here in Texas. But you all watch the news; you know. I (Emily) still enjoy my seminar and convention planning job and having Will (3) on my hands! I’m pretty much immersed in work, potty training (for Will, just so we’re clear), and socializing in the nonvirtual world when time and energy allow.

And now it’s Nancy’s turn! After noting that Garth Fowler has been assistant chair of Northwestern U’s neurobiology and physiology department since 2007 (wow!), Nancy adds this final tidbit.

Ann Schmitz Fisher writes that she’s been promoted to executive director, annual giving programs, at the U of Detroit-Mercy. She loves her job and the perks. Recently UDM hosted the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament. Not only was Ann able to volunteer as a host for the MSU band and cheer team, but she also scored some sweet tickets to the games. Ann and husband Chuck Fisher live in Canton, Mich., with son C.J. This column is skimpy compared to our others (yes, it was Emily’s laptop’s fault, but give us another chance!), so write plentifully to either of us. Have a wonderful summer.

1994

Sara Kerewich-Taylor 55 Whispering Pines Dr., Ithaca, NY 14850, Sktaylor@optonline.net

Jessica Amburgey-Ryan 32443 Briarwood Dr., North Ridgeville, OH 44039 Ryanjs@hotmail.com

Stephen S. Nichols 1875 Autumn Run, Wooster, OH 44691 Nichols_145@yahoo.com

Jon and Jana Freed Wynett (jana29@ comcast.net) welcomed twins Jeremy and Jackson on April 2. “We are completely sleep deprived,” Jana says, “but very much in love with these little guys.”

1995

Bradley “Brad” Dixon Cincinnati, OH, ppageno@aol.com

For this installment of Class Notes, I (Brad) have relied heavily on the power of social networking, specifically Facebook (or FB, as it is affectionately known to many) for news. In order to more effectively harness its power, I have created a group: www.facebook. com/group.php?gid=124028845133, known as “College of Wooster 1995 Alumni.” Check it out—share a story, picture, or video, or just look up old friends.

As a testimonial to the benefits of social

networking, Robyn Drothler wrote, “FB has enabled me to connect with so many familiar faces from across the miles.” She adds, “Atlanta is treating me well... My speech therapy company is going on five years old, and I still love working mostly with two-year-olds.”

Robyn notes that she also has a second job, at a neighborhood middle school, due to the economy. She adds, “On another note, I became a godmother last year to Meg Wood Berling’s second baby girl, Molly.” Reach Robyn at robyn08@me.com or on Facebook.

Dori Farthing writes that she keeps quite busy as a professor at SUNY-Geneseo, “a state school that has a Wooster-ish feel to it. I’m glad to call it my work home.” Dori teaches geology with a focus on minerals and rocks, leaving the glaciers to her colleagues. She reports that she did, however, enjoy seeing glaciers on her department’s trip to New Zealand. Dori adds that she’s happily married.

I (Brad) recently came in contact with Ramona Pope. Ramona went to graduate school and has taught high school biology for nine years in Memphis.

Sara Seidel, her husband, Ted Nemeth, and daughter, Marley, welcomed a new baby, Matthias, in October. Sara is still the organist and director of music at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. Reach her at sara@seidelnemeth.com.

Meg Braun also sent an exciting update.

She planned to release her first CD, Tomboy Princess, in April. It will be available for digital download, online purchase, and at her upcoming shows on tour. Find details on www. megbraun.com. Meg also has a fan page on Facebook, if you wish to check her out there.

She writes, “Peter James encouraged me to set up the Facebook page. Better yet, he is designing my new Web site!” Congratulations, Meg! Rob Kugler sends an update that he’s living on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. He has “retired” from educational administration and works full-time as a stay-at-home-dad for twins Robbie and Jensen (4) and daughter Allie (2). He writes, “I’m working on a novel and a kids’ story book and write regular columns at www.alohakugs.blogspot.com/.”

Rob’s wife, Heidi Schultz Kugler ’94, is the supervisory chaplain at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.

Katherine Kussmaul contacted me (Brad) through Facebook (see how important this FB thing is?) to say that she lives just outside of Raleigh, N.C., and is one of the pastors at Cary Presbyterian Church. She adds, “Last winter, I went on an amazing sabbatical (supported by The Lilly Endowment).”

Katherine earned a D.Min. in preaching from The Aquinas Institute in St. Louis last May and says she’s “beginning to navigate the waters of thesis publication.”

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Class Notes Shannon Dodds Washington sends exciting news. She and her husband, Christopher, welcomed a son, Chase Matthew, on Jan. 25.

She writes that she “would be happy to submit an entire album of photos to Wooster, but I’d have to insist that his picture be on the cover.”

Get an update from shanita257@yahoo.com.

Liz Kulp sent a veritable torrent of information on ’95ers, commenting, “After multiple issues of Wooster without much gossip, I finally dragged myself to the computer so people will have something to read!” Thank you, Liz. Liz writes that Matthew Wagner lives in Cleveland and works for LexisNexis as a senior library relations consultant. He travels through the “Jewels of the Midwest” for business, so if you are in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, or Kentucky, you may be able to catch up with Matt over dinner.

Liz also says that Sarah Jane Slezak Wallace lives in Yarmouth, Maine, with her husband, Walter, and children, Anna (6), and John (2). Sarah Jane, in addition to being a self-proclaimed Super Mom, does some freelance writing and blogging.

Liz also updated us on Anne Deffenbaugh Ober, who married Aaron Ober in June 2008, with a reception at the Wooster Inn. Anne earned a Ph.D. in counseling from Ohio State U a year ago and is in her second year of teaching at Walsh U in North Canton, Ohio.

She and her husband live in Wadsworth.

Liz caught up with Jennifer Pagano Stocksdale, who lives outside of Columbus with her husband, Charlie, and two children, Lilly Claire (4) and Charles Edward IV “Chaz” (born on Dec. 19, 2008).

“As for me,” Liz says, “I live in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and work for Mitchell’s Ice Cream, a company that makes super delicious, homemade ice cream for Clevelanders. In my free time, I travel, feed my money-pit of a house, and take my nieces and nephews to cool places.

“Reach Matthew, Sarah Jane, Elisabeth, Jennifer, and Robyn on Facebook, with many other Woosterites! Join the craze!”

Become a part of Liz’s next gossip missive; drop her a line at elisabethkulp@sbcglobal.net.

1996

Michelle Perrigo Kalamazoo, MI, meesch@stratos.net

Emilie McLarnan Moscow, ID, emmclarnan@yahoo.com

Tanya Sukumari Devadason and her husband, Dominic Skilton, now live in Perth, Western Australia. “Are there any Wooster grads down under?” she asks. Reply to Tanya at devadats@iinet.net.au.

Meghan Davis writes, “I was ordained as 58 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

minister of the word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) on Jan. 31.

C.O.W. alums present included Caroline Saum Silverstein, Charlie Gall ’93, and Sue Ellen Spencer ’67. I began my first call as pastor of the Longview (Wash.) Presbyterian Church. If you’re in the area, check us out (www.longviewpresbychurch.net)!

“I’m looking forward to spending time with Kirsti Walter, who lives in Portland, Ore., and would love visits from other friends. E-mail me at revmdavis@scattercreek.com.”

On Mar. 22, 2009, Sarah Day and her husband, Kelly Dunston, welcomed Tegan Elisabeth in Waimea, Hawaii. Tegan joins brother Finn (2). The family will relocate back to Rockville, Md., this summer.

I (Emilie) am happy to add some of my own news. On Feb. 7, my son, Quinn, was born here in Idaho. My partner, Steve, and I are furiously debating which one of us Quinn resembles. We’re all healthy and doing well.

home on the weekends (see www. illegibleink.com). She produces “linocut” prints, using a variety of media, including handmade paper, water-based ink, watercolor, acrylic and oil paint, and pastels. Kathy also works for Arts Every Day, a nonprofit that strengthens arts education and cultural experiences in the Baltimore City Schools.

She married Nate Beachler in 2005. He is the general manager and operating partner of Baltimore's Oceanaire Seafood Room.

Heather Heitsenrether Bradley and husband Clark welcomed son Jacob Cameron on Mar. 31. Heather writes, “He is a good baby, and we’re enjoying our new role as parents. We currently live in Raleigh, N.C. My e-mail is hkbradley@nc.rr.com.”

Kate Gardner married Joe Haberzetle last May on Orcas Island, Wash. (see photo, p. 45).

1999

Deborah Krudwig Gutowski

1997

Jennie Nichols-Goodson Seville, OH, jennie_nichols@hotmail.com

Lyndhurst, OH, Wooster1999@aol.com

James Koller married Sumi Vishnu ’01 last October. (See photo, p. 55. Not pictured but attending was Kimberly Poulson.)

Suzanne M. Fletcher Canton, OH, siouxfletch@yahoo.com

1998

Terah Robbin Webb 3145 McCammon Chase Dr., Lewis Center, OH 43035, twebb@medvetohio.com

Brett Moore was named head coach of the East Tech High School basketball team in Cleveland, Ohio, three years ago. With the goal of reclaiming East Tech basketball traditions, Brett has succeeded in reviving team spirit, according to a news article.

He’s using strategies that he learned while playing basketball for Steve Moore at the College. The East Tech team recently received uniforms and warm-ups from The Word Church in Warrensville Heights. In addition to their success on the court, the team holds a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0, and many players are being recruited to play basketball for Div. I schools.

Christopher Atkins was named the Minneapolis Institute of Arts coordinator of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program, chosen from about 50 applicants.

The artist-run program stages about five exhibits a year. Christopher will oversee the installation of the art, create and issue brochures, raise money, and serve as the liaison with artists.

A newspaper recently ran a feature about Kathryn Ward Beachler. Kathy runs a business, illegible ink, out of her Baltimore

2000

Maura Finn Brooklyn, NY, mauraafinn@gmail.com

Jamie Mapes Farber writes, “We welcomed our second son, Colin Thomas, in September. His big brother, Evan, adores him, and we’re having fun with the craziness. I left my job doing public relations for a minor league baseball team to stay at home with the boys. So far, I love it.”

2001

Joy Bishop Love Westfield Center, OH, joybishop22@hotmail.com

Kevin Heintschel sent news of the third annual “Very Sig Christmas Party” on Dec. 13.

Over 30 members of Phi Sigma Alpha, from 2000-present, gathered in Cleveland.

Melissa Goodwin married Craig LeBlanc last May (see photo, 52).

2002

Liz Farina Markel Chicago, IL, liz.farina@gmail.com

The Toledo Blade announced in March that one of its writers, Joe Vardon, was hired as the executive assistant to Ben Konop, a Lucas County (Ohio) Commissioner who is considering a run for mayor. Joe had several sports writing jobs before coming to The Blade in 2006. He covered Lucas County government.

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WEDDING OF ANNE BAUGHMAN ’05 & THOMAS G. SPEARS ’04, JUNE 23, 2007 L TO R , BACK ROW Andrew Beltz, Kyle Kindbom, ’04s, Jeremy Hohertz ’06, David Workman ’04, Nicholas Novak ’05 THIRD ROW Tracy Morgan ’03, Lindsay Johnson, Lindsay Jarvis Wessel, ’04s, Misty Martinez Hare ’02, Stephen Baughman ’01, Emily Pagano ’05, Christopher Redding, Emily Irvine, ’07s, Alison Nau Novak ’05, Lauren Kuntzman ’03 SECOND ROW Jen Schade Kindbom ’02, Tina Swartzendruber ’07, Meaghin Kennedy ’05, Carey Speros Baughman ’03, Alan Sorem ’63 (pastor), Robyn Hale ’04, Emily Asmus ’03, Leslie Smith, Andrew Prusinski ’06, Brittany Wellner ’05 FRONT ROW groom, bride

2003

Hannah Russell Brooklyn, NY, hwr203@nyu.edu

Kendra Heffelbower Washington, DC, kheffelbower@yahoo.com

Marta Zaborowski Ukropina Grapevine, TX, mzabu2@gmail.com

Brendan Callahan won the Corporate 5K in Hartford, Conn., with a time of 15 min., 17 sec. He spent last summer training for the Nov. 2008 NYC Marathon and finished 27th out of 38,096 and 13th in his age bracket!

Brendan belongs to the New Balance Connecticut racing team that takes part in the USA Track and Field New England Grand Prix, a total of six races.

Michael O’Neil has moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C. “I look forward to seeing everyone in our nation’s capital,” he says.

2004

Sarah Siebert Lakewood, OH, sarahksiebert@yahoo.com

Michael Moore writes, “Jamie Pullin Moore ’01 and I welcomed our third child, Aaron Michael, on Apr. 3, 2009. Mom and baby are doing well, but big sister Abby is not too sure what to make of her little brother!”

Darcy Schrimpf-Mahler sent a photo of friends at her October wedding (see p. 54).

2005

Elizabeth Peebles Alexandria, VA, egpeebles@aol.com

Amanda Rollins sent a photo of a gathering in Charlotte, N.C. (see p. 51).

Will Torres and Clarke Sheffield ’07 enjoyed a visit to wine country while in California to see Steve Osei-Kufour and Emeritus President Stan Hales and Diane

Hales (see photo, p. 52).

Lauren Gilbert married Brad Smith on Mar. 15, 2008, in Atlanta. Nicole Speece, Tiffany Rice ’06, and Lizzie Eckel ’08 attended. An Auburn grad, Brad is an architect in Atlanta. Lauren is an assistant property manager at Wells Real Estate Funds.

2006

Margaux Day Grand Rapids, MI, margaux.day@gmail.com

James Riviere was one of 10 winners (out of a quarter-million entries) of free tickets to all of the 2009 inaugural events and two round-trip plane tickets to D.C. (He shared one with another Peace Corps volunteer who flew in from Hawaii.) Get his impressions at james.riviere@gmail.com.

Kelly Brannan writes, “I noticed the Class of 2006 had no notes in the last issue, so I wanted to remedy that. After graduation I spent three months in Rwanda and Cameroon. Currently I am working for Antioch Education Abroad as the program coordinator. I am also tutoring and teaching for an Upward Bound program and doing online tutoring. And finally, I’m teaching my niece (2) cheerleading dances and stunts so she will be ready to cheer on the Fighting Scots someday!” Find Kelly at brannan.kelly@gmail.com.

clothing and purses made of “repurposed” fabric or leather. The article says that Arianne’s grandmother taught her to sew when she was young in Guernsey County, Ohio. Arianne now lives in Cleveland Heights. E-mail her, sewhiannie @gmail.com.

Jim Witter and Britton Eichenauer got married in November in Toledo, where they now reside (see photo, p. 56). Find Britton atbrittonwitter@gmail.com.

Going to Michigan this summer? Stop

by Petoskey. Daniel Lentz has a lead role (Count Almaviva) in a production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Bay View Music Festival in Petoskey. He says, “This is apparently the oldest music festival program in the nation.”

2008

Carolyn Ciriegio, Wooster, OH cciriegio@wooster.edu Kofi Yankey New York, NY, koffi_y@hotmail.com Julia Vodrey Hendrickson loves Chicago.

She works at a vegetarian restaurant, The Chicago Diner, and does printmaking and design. See www.JuliaVHendrickson.com.

2009

New! Wyatt Shimeall

2007

Worthington, OH, wyatt.shimeall@gmail.com

New! Kabir Banerjee

Jennifer Culver

Bethesda, MD, banerjee.kabir@gmail.com

Franklin, IN, ms.culver@gmail.com

See a photo (p. 54) and article (p. 6) about the fund-raising results of the Senior Class Committee.

Megan Phillips won a National Science Foundation grant to study animal behavior (her I.S. topic) at the U of California, Davis.

Beth Greive Raleigh, NC, beth.greive@gmail.com

A news article tells us that Arianne Beros has opened an online store, HiAnnie.etsy.com. She designs and sells

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Class Notes

Births & Adoptions

’02 To Jeffrey & Megan Kotis Pacini, a daughter, Olivia Grace, June 30, 2008 ’00 To Jonathan & Allison Erk Edwards, a daughter, Hadley Cooley, Sept. 29, 2008 ’99 To Jason & Michelle Nicol DeRemer, a daughter, Elyza Mackenzie, Feb. 2009 ’99 To Kate Klonowski & Matt Wolbert, a daughter, Olivia Ruthanne, Mar. 16, 2009, joining sister Naomi (5) ’96 To Jamie & Jenny Christensen, a daughter, Noelle Wong Christensen, Mar. 17, 2009, joining brother Nick (9) and sister Natalie (7) ’96 To Nadir ’98 & Heather Mroczkowski Khan, a son, Savaar Hadden, Mar. 13, 2009, joining brother Arien (2) ’95 To Rachael & Jeff Bowling, a daughter, Shayna Caroline, Dec. 6, 2008 ’94 To Ellen Russell Brannegan, a daughter, Maeve Mullaney, Mar. 4, 2009, joining sister Mallory Karen ’71 To Mary Ann Brehm, a son, Jesse William, born Apr. 19, 2001, and adopted Aug. 7, 2006

Marriages

’04 Jessica Love & Michael MacMaster, June 2008 ’04 Doug Reiser & Jessica Hunter ’05, Apr. 11, 2009 ’03 Grace Gibson & Christopher Bess, Nov. 22, 2008 ’02 Douglas Dahnke & Jennifer Waina, Oct. 19, 2008

We’ve Moved

’03 Michael P. O’Neil, 1700 11th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 ’86 Catherine Brown Schneider, 55 Main St., Wayne, PA 19087, caschneider2@verizon.net ’45 Jeanne Haffa McKown, 110 Gardner Dr. #213, Hilton Head, SC 29926

Obituaries We learn of alumni deaths from other alumni, family members, and newspapers. As in Class Notes, we edit for content, style, and space. Copy deadlines (see p. 62) are about two months before the magazine is mailed, and we don’t always hear of a death until after some time has passed. Thus obituaries may appear in Wooster six months or longer after we have been notified. Please contact the assistant editor, Jimmy Wilkinson Meyer, with any questions: jmeyer@wooster.edu.

60 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

In Memoriam: Faculty

Robert M. Cassie of Massillon, Ohio, formerly of Canandaigua, N.Y., died suddenly on Oct. 16, 2008. A geology professor at SUNY-Brockport for 33 years, Cassie began his career at the College (1966-67). He also taught field geology at Indiana University Geologic Field Station in Montana for many years and mentored children in Massillon.

Margret “Maggie” Kommel died on July 24, 2008, in Springfield, Ohio. She spent her career teaching music at her alma mater, Wittenberg University, and retired in 1985 as professor, emerita. She then taught voice for three years at the College as a visiting professor. A well-known soprano, Kommel presented over 30 recitals while at Wittenberg.

In Memoriam: Staff

Kathryn Atkinson of Wooster, a communications specialist with College security and protective services, died suddenly on Feb. 14, 2009. A Mississippi native, she had worked for the College for 13 years and interacted with students at the office of keys and IDs. Coworkers say that she took her work seriously, was always willing to help out, and was fun to have around. Kathy was an avid pet lover.

Jonathan D. Habig, who worked in the College paint shop, died at his home in Rittman, Ohio, on Sept. 30, 2008. A U.S. Navy veteran, he also worked as a drywaller.

He belonged to Medina Community Church and served as a deacon. A sister died previously.

Ernie Infield, former director of news services at the College, died on Mar. 28, 2009, in Wooster. A Marine who saw combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II, Infield attended Wooster Business College and later became a corporate sales manager with United Steel Fabricators and then the Wooster Brush Co. He came to the College near the end of his career and stayed for almost 20 years, retiring in 1985.

Infield loved sports, especially baseball.

He organized a baseball league overseas that included Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and began a Hot Stove League for young players in Wayne County. He established the Hank Critchfield Award, which recognizes the top defensive football player in the North Coast Athletic Conference each year, and the Bear Award, for a Scot basketball player who demonstrates courage and character and makes a substantial contribution to the team. Infield played an integral role in the formation of the Downtown Rebounders, a

support group for the Scot basketball team.

He was a master of the pun, delivering oneliners that produced groans among those within earshot.

Ernie married Emily Louise Kuhles in 1947; she died in 2005. Their daughter, Linda Infield-Wakefield, lives in Michigan.

Donald W. Wilson, retired computer analyst for the College, died on Jan. 20, 2009, in Wooster. Don served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and was an active veteran. He earned degrees from Kent State University and the University of Akron and worked for many years for Sears & Roebuck before joining the College. A life member of First Presbyterian Church, he recently attended the Church of the Nazarene. Don’s wife of 53 years, Phillis Weirich, died in 2004.

Three children, two siblings, and several grandchildren survive.

In Memoriam: Alumni

’83 Jeanine Henke Neumann, Sharon, Mass., June 15, 2008. In addition to husband Peter and their two daughters, surviving are Jeanine’s parents, Herbert and Sabra Henke, and a sister. A brother died previously.

Jeanine came from an Oberlin, Ohio, family whom she respected and loved.

Those roots grounded her and gave her many amazing qualities. As hundreds gathered to celebrate her life last June, it became clear that Jeanine left a lasting imprint on so many lives—much greater than any of us could realize individually. But she would cringe at the praise. “Modest, private, and dignified” do not even begin to describe the woman we knew.

Jeanine never wanted us to know she was struggling with a recurrence of breast cancer until she couldn’t hide it any longer. She never wanted to talk about being sick. She never stopped working, never stopped being an amazing loving mom and wife (to Peter Neumann ’81), never stopped being there for the rest of us.

She would say that her greatest accomplishments are her beautiful daughters, Olivia (now 14) and Julia (12), her legacy. To her daughters’ friends and teachers, Jeanine is present in the work she did at the girls’ schools.

At Berkshire Partners, where Jeanine worked from 1986 through last June, colleagues posted the following on the company Web site: “Jeanine was loved by Berkshire and contributed greatly to our firm’s success and its culture. We will honor her by continuing to strive for excellence, while striving to reflect her sense of fun and deep empathy for others.” —Edith McGandy Ackerman ’83

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x’72 James “Corky” F. Anadell, Columbus, Ohio, May 16, 2008. Jim played defensive back for the Fighting Scots and quarterback for the semi-pro Lorain Bulldogs. He earned a B.S. at Troy State U, summa cum laude, and a law degree from Case Western Reserve U. Jim served in the U.S. Army before joining the state government. He retired as the administrator of prison legal systems at the Ohio State Public Defender’s office. Surviving are his mother, Nancy; his wife, Elaine; five siblings; and two stepsons; and a grandson. ’64 G. Edward “Ged” Schweikert III, Mifflinburg, Pa., June 15, 2008, of cardiac arrest, after battling multiple myeloma for eight years. At Wooster Ged was a swim team stand-out, winning All-American in the butterfly. A psychology major, he belonged to Fifth Section and the German Club. Ged earned an M.A. and Ph.D. from Kent State U, where he met Mary Louise Paoloni. He joined Susquehanna U in 1970 as associate professor and married Mary Louise two years later. Ged chaired the SU psychology department for two terms and served on its board of trustees, in addition to teaching and mentoring students and coaching the school’s swim club, beginning in 1977. For his ability to lead and inspire team members, the Middle Atlantic Conference selected Ged as Coach of the Year three times. The SU men’s swim team placed second in the Landmark Conference championships (2007-08), the first undefeated swim team in SU’s history and the first undefeated SU athletic team in a decade.

Ged loved gardening, boating, watching sports, and spending time with family and friends. Surviving are Mary Louise; son Gedd Jr. and wife Jennifer; grandson Alexander; and Ged’s mother, Eleanor Fleming Schweikert ’41, and sister, Susan Schweikert Whitaker ’68.

His father, G. Edward ’39, died previously. ’63 Lorna Bejcek Clark, Boone, N.C., Dec. 19, 2007. Lorna was an economics major, belonged to Peanuts, and sang in the Women’s Chorus. She married Gary Clark ’63 in 1964; they later divorced. Lorna worked as a controller for French Systems in Rochester, N.Y., and later for ProPhotographics LLC in High Point, N.C. Surviving are a son, daughter, a brother, her stepmother, Mae Bejcek, and three grandchildren. x’58 Margaret C. Aston, Scarsdale, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2006. ’56 Robert N. Humphreys, Bridgeville, Pa., May 25, 2008. An economics major, Bob belonged to the Men’s Glee Club, THE

Corporation, and Kappa Chi. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and worked in finance and sales for U.S. Steel, U.S.S. Chemicals, and the Carboline Co. Bob belonged to Westminster Presbyterian Church and the St. David’s Society of Pittsburgh. He was an Eagle Scout and a scout leader.

Surviving are his wife, Patricia Fester Humphreys ’53; three children, including Linda Humphreys Miller ’82; and a brother, Arthur ’59. ’55 William L. Hauschild, Colington Harbour, N.C., May 28, 2008. He majored in economics, belonged to Seventh Section, and served in the U.S. Navy after graduation. Bill managed several wire rope manufacturing companies, retiring from Randers Ropeworks in Stamford, Conn. An Eagle Scout, he was active in the Thomas A. Baum Senior Center, the Senior Games, and local politics. Bill married Eleanor Crymble in 1961. She survives, as do six daughters, including Karin ’84; a brother, Lester ’57; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. ’52 Jane F. Abernethy, Haverford, Pa., May 10, 2008. Jane majored in sociology, presided over the Student Self-Government Association, and belonged to the Sociology Club. She earned an M.S. from the U of Pennsylvania and did post-graduate work at New York U and Columbia U. Jane worked for the U of Hawaii, the Japan-America Institute of Management Science, and the psychology department of Bryn Mawr College, and taught in Japan and Germany.

She co-authored a book on Hawaii’s ethnobotany, and served on the Governor’s Committee on the Status of Women in Hawaii. In the Philadelphia area, Jane served on a committee for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Two sisters survive, as do several nieces and nephews, including Laura Janson Moir ’85. x’52 Betty Mae Muskoff Dengler, Circleville, Ohio, Aug. 19, 2005. She graduated from Ohio Northern U with a degree in education.

Before moving to Circleville, Betty Mae and husband David Dengler lived in Cleveland. ’52 Robert J. Kerr, Media, Pa., June 6, 2007, of a staph infection. Before coming to the College, Bob served in the U.S. Navy as a sonar instructor. He then spent two years at Swarthmore College and worked at the Bartol Research Foundation. He majored in chemistry at Wooster and joined the DuPont Co. Bob held a U.S. patent in electrostatic recording and published many articles before retiring from DuPont as a technical manager.

He also worked in the theater for 44 years

as an actor, director, and producer. In retirement he taught video production at Delaware County Community College.

Survivors include his wife of many years, Marjorie, two sons, four grandchildren, and two brothers. Another brother and a granddaughter died previously. ’52 Richard “Dick” B. Kuhn, Lawrenceville, Ga., Jan. 17, 2008. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea before coming to the College, where he majored in physics. He met Dorothy Pomeroy x’52 during freshman orientation.

They married in between semesters, and their first child, Rick ’71, was born while the couple lived in the Veteran Housing Units on campus. A second child, Cindy Kuhn (Breiner ’73), also arrived while they were at Wooster.

Dick earned an master’s in electronic engineering at Case Institute of Technology (1955), while working for Goodyear Aircraft.

He joined American Aviation in Columbus and retired in 1988, after 27 years there. He won several awards for his patented inventions.

The Kuhns toured in an RV, visiting the states in alphabetical order. They got to Nebraska before abandoning the project. Dick was a deacon and elder in Presbyterian churches, most recently in Lawrenceville. Dot survives, as do Rick, Cindy, and four other children, 15 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. x’51 Richard E. Beck, Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 21, 2005. Richard played Scot football and belonged to Phi Delta Sigma. He was the retired president of the Evans Adhesive and Investment Co. ’51 Joanne Windle Bonsteel, Seattle, Wash., Jan. 24, 2008. An art major, Joanne belonged to Imps and the Pembroke Literary Society. She married David Bonsteel in 1956; they moved to Oregon four years later and to Seattle in 1963. Joanne earned a teaching certificate (studying at the U of Buffalo, Case Western Reserve U, and Cleveland State U), taught in Ohio, and substituted in the Seattle schools. She painted and exhibited watercolors, many done during stays in England, Spain, and on the Oregon coast. In retirement she and David pursued the arts and traveled.

David, a son, and a grandson survive. ’51 Georgia Collyer Rea, Vero Beach, Fla., May 4, 2008. Born in London, England, Georgia belonged to Peanuts and the Spanish Club. She lived in Lloyd Harbor, N.Y., before moving to Vero Beach in 1974, where she joined the Community Church and the Moorings Club. In New York Georgia acted in children’s theater and volunteered for hospitals, art galleries, and thrift shops. Her partner, S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 Wooster 61

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Class Notes William Humphreys, and four children survive, as do a sister and five grandchildren. x’49 Caroline Fisher Murphy, Satellite Beach, Fla., Nov. 4, 2006. Caroline married T.J. Murphy, who survives. x’48 O. Margaret Morrison Williams, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, Nov. 9, 2007. She married Hobert Williams. x’47 Lois Shaible Dunsmoor, Davenport, Fla., Feb. 12, 2008, of heart disease. Lois belonged to the German Club. At Youngstown State U she earned a B.S. in business administration (1948) and one in education (1964). Lois taught fifth grade in the Howland Schools for 18 years and volunteered with the American Red Cross and Meals on Wheels, among other groups. She loved crafts and sewed toys and quilts for abused children.

In 1950 she married Bill E. Dunsmoor, who survives, as do a son and a daughter. ’47 Wanda Mae Stahley, Lebanon, Ohio, Dec. 25, 2007. Wanda was a political science major and belonged to the International Club.

She earned an M.A. in religious education (1950) from Hartford Seminary, worked with the Connecticut State Interracial Commission, and was active with the Methodist Church, traveling to India as a missionary. In 1957 she became a captain in the U.S. Air Force and commanded a W.A.F. Squadron in Randolph, Tex. She traveled the world, teaching citizenship to German wives of soldiers, for example.

Wanda loved sports, creative writing, and camping. She never considered herself retired, with a long list of projects to complete. x’47 James “Al” Steele, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Nov. 19, 2007. Al came to Wooster in 1943. He lived and worked in a private home across the street from Livingstone Lodge and enjoyed late night basketball at Severance Gym that fall. He soon entered the U.S. Air Force, serving proudly in WWII. He returned

Deadlines Send news,obituaries,and photographs to Jimmy Wilkinson Meyer, assistant editor Wooster, 108 Ebert Art Center The College of Wooster, 1220 Beall Ave. Wooster, OH 44691 class_notes@wooster.edu phone: (330) 263-2243 fax: (330) 263-2592

Upcoming Deadlines Fall issue July 20 Winter issue Sept. 20

62 Wooster S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

to Wooster in 1946 for a year and later graduated from Ohio State U with a major in accounting. Al worked for 14 years as an accountant for the Borden Co. in Columbus, Ohio, and then spent 26 years as deputy director of finance and data processing for the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System. He and his wife, Mary, enjoyed 43 years of marriage, with two children and three grandchildren, who survive.

—Don Swegan ’47 ’46 Alice Isabel Quin Ward, East Lansing, Mich., May 14, 2008. An English major, she belonged to the Spanish Club and worked on the Wooster Voice. An East Lansing resident since 1977, Alice belonged to Eastminster Presbyterian Church and was active in its vocal and hand bell choirs for years. She was an ordained deacon and a member of Presbyterian Women. Alice volunteered as a teacher’s aide for 17 years and as a WKAR Radio Talking Book reader for 11. She enjoyed bridge, Parcheesi, and Scrabble, watching “Jeopardy,” and playing or listening to music.

Alice played the organ for the chapel at the Marquette, when she lived there. Two siblings died previously, and a brother died in Dec. 2008. Surviving are two daughters, a granddaughter, and a great-granddaughter. ’45 Betty Lou Dickens Neuhart, Alexandria, Va., May 10, 2008, of cardiac arrest. A Color Day queen, she majored in history and English, presided over the International Relations Club and the Big Four, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and won the Galpin and History Prizes. She earned an M.A. in law and diplomacy from Tufts U. After teaching in Ohio colleges, Betty Lou moved to Virginia in 1965 for a career as a public servant, retiring in 1994 as a regional managing director for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s International Trade Association in California. Previously she chaired the U.S. Foreign Service’s orientation programs and held other posts in the Washington, D.C., area. She studied at George Washington U, the Foreign Service Institute, and the Federal Executive Institute.

Betty Lou volunteered for numerous organizations, including the AAUW. Her dedication garnered several honors, including the Commerce Dept.’s Silver Medal (1984) and the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award (1986). She also served on the Alumni Board of the College. Surviving are four children, including R. Bruce ’73; and five grandchildren. ’44 Robert R. Johnson, Athens, Ohio, formerly of Coshocton, Ohio, June 14, 2008.

A chemistry major, he belonged to Eighth Section and was house manager for Livingston Lodge. He graduated in 1947, after serving in WWII, and from the Western Reserve U

School of Medicine (1951). Bob spent 30 years as a family physician in Coshocton and volunteered with many community and service groups, including 25 years with Headstart. An avid birder, he tracked birds and served on Earthwatch projects in much of Central and South America. His wife of 50 years, Kathryn, and a son died previously. Three children and two granddaughters survive. x’44 Louise Harper Schatzman, Fullerton, Calif., July 13, 2007. In the 1940s Louise worked for G.E. in Pittsfield, Mass. She moved to California in 1954. Louise was married to George Schatzman. ’44 Rosanne Kennon Schollenberger, Hudson, Ohio, Apr. 24, 2008. Rosanne majored in math and speech and belonged to Pyramids. She took part in a WWII women’s management training program and married Charles Schollenberger ’43 in 1949. Rosanne taught at the Weaver Sheltered Workshop in Bath Twp., Ohio. In 1964 the family moved to Hudson, where Rosanne was active at First Congregational Church and with the schools.

She helped open Blossom Music Center, the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra (1968), and served on the board of Family Services of Cuyahoga Falls (1970-78). Her husband died in 2002. Two sons, including Charles ’74, and two grandchildren survive. x’43 Jean Loweth Fonda, Clarksville, Ind., Apr. 16, 2008. Jean belonged to Trumps at Wooster and won the Biology Prize one year.

She married Albert Fonda in 1941 and worked as a receptionist and bookkeeper for an oral surgeon. Jean volunteered with the Girl Scouts and YWCA and as an employment counselor for senior citizens in Alexandria, Va. Surviving are two daughters, three grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren; Albert died previously. ’43 Richard W. Shreffler, San Antonio, Tex., May 1, 2008. A biology major, Dick swam for the Scots, sang in the choir, and belonged to Second Section. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1943-47 (Pacific Theater) and 1952-53 (as a chaplain in Korea). He earned a B.D. at Union Theological Seminary (1950).

Dick also studied at Oberlin College and Princeton and Oxford Universities. He spent 30 years as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Md. and made house calls by bicycle, earning the nickname, “pedaling pastor.”

Dick worked for civil rights for Blacks, the homeless, prison inmates, and AIDS victims.

A colleague described him as “a gentle and incredibly humble person who always put others first...” and added, “the world has lost a treasure.” Dick moved to Texas in 2006 to be close to family. Surviving are a brother, N.

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Lance ’48, sister, Mary S. Mack, and seven nieces and nephews. Another brother, Robert ’40, died previously. ’42 Helen Ilene Smith Kearns, Muncie, Ind., Apr. 10, 2008. Helen was a sports reporter for the Wooster Voice and belonged to the Women’s Athletic Association. She married James C. Kearns in 1945. Helen earned an M.A. from Ball State U in 1969 and taught elementary school in Muncie for 17 years. After retiring in 1983, she volunteered for the American Heart Association and the Widowed Persons Service.

She belonged to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and was involved in other organizations as a board member, officer, or volunteer, including the Nature Conservancy and several senior groups. Helen was known for her positive outlook, adventuresome spirit, and love of learning. Surviving are five children, 14 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and two sisters. James died in 1979; a daughter and a grandson also died previously. ’41 Carleton “Carl” R. Cummings, Verona, Pa., Apr. 2, 2008. Carleton was an economics major and the advertising manager for the Wooster Voice. He belonged to Third Section and the Franklin Literary Club and presided over THE Corporation. Carl married Betty Olnhausen ’40 in 1941 and served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. In 1955 he joined Herbick & Held, a large printing firm in western Pennsylvania, as a sales manager, later becoming vice president of marketing. He held offices in many professional organizations and presided over the former Wooster Club of Pittsburgh. Carl was involved in the community and was a devoted Presbyterian, serving as a trustee, elder, deacon, and Sunday school teacher. He most recently belonged to Oakmont Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed golf, tennis, and bridge. Surviving are his wife, a son, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Two sisters died previously. ’41 Gale H. Weaner, Martinez, Calif., Mar. 6, 2008. An economics major, Gale belonged to Fifth Section and Student Senate and ran cross country and track. He served as a captain in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he met fellow officer M. June McColl; they later married.Gale earned a master’s in 1961 from California State U-San Francisco and became a teacher and principal in Martinez. He was a founding director of the Martinez Education Foundation and active at First Congregational Church. Retiring in 1979, Gale enjoyed gardening and golf. June died in 1993. The next year, he married Ruth Spade, who survives, along with a brother, Glen R. x’50, and nieces and nephews.

’40 John G. Cobler, Midland Mich., Apr. 16, 2008. After graduation John married Ruth Mae Mikel x’41 and worked on the staff of the Manhattan Project and then for Borden Co. In 1949 John joined the Dow Chemical Co. as a chemist. He started the polymer analysis laboratory in 1953, responsible for the safety aspects of Dow’s food additives and packaging.

He also played the oboe and English horn in the Dow Symphony Orchestra and the Midland City Band.

John joined the Health and Environmental Research in the Government Registration Group in 1975 and helped develop the U.S. FDA’s original nutritional guidelines. He authored articles in trade journals and reference books, belonged to many professional groups, and received several awards. John volunteered with the Boy Scouts and taught high school chemistry and adult education. He was a talented woodcarver.

Ruth died in 1989, and John married Ruth E. Kalat the next year. They enjoyed travel, golf, and entertaining family and friends at their winter home in Lakeland, Fla. His wife survives, as do two daughters, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. ’40 Frank H. Thatcher, Baltimore, Md., Apr. 6, 2008, of pneumonia. Frank, an English major, played varsity tennis and was class president as a sophomore. He also was president of the YMCA on campus. Frank served in the U.S. Air Force during WWII and married Mary E. Young in 1944. He was an executive with the YMCA in Baltimore for 30 years before joining Essex Community College as coordinator of personnel. Along with other community groups, Frank belonged to Kiwanis for over 50 years, serving two clubs as president, and was a member of its Legion of Honor. He was active in presbytery and an elder, president of the trustees, and clerk of session at Towson Presbyterian Church.

Frank served on the board of the Baltimore Association for Retarded Citizens, which awarded him the title of Director, Emeritus.

Devoted to the College, he was class secretary for many years. The Thatchers moved to a retirement community in Baltimore in 1991.

Mary died in 2004. Surviving are a son, Bruce F. ’71, a daughter, four grandchildren, including Andrew ’04, and a great-grandson. ’39 Eleanor Gore Strickler, Woodlawn, Tenn., May 5, 2008. A mathematics major, Eleanor belonged to the Math Club. She taught math at Aliquippa (Pa.) Junior High School for 13 years and was a bookkeeper for Dravo Corp. She resided in Coraopolis, Pa., for most of her life. Eleanor belonged to the Presbyterian church and the Heritage Club,

loved the arts, and was an avid bridge player.

Surviving are three children, two siblings, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Eleanor’s first husband, Wayne Strickler, and her second, Gaylord Ferguson, died previously, as did two brothers. ’38 Virginia Starn, Wooster, Apr. 19, 2008.

She was born in Wooster and graduated with a degree in music. Virginia worked as a secretary with Taggart, Cox & Moore and then in the president’s office at the College. She belonged to Central Christian Church and played the organ for several other local churches. Virginia was a member of the MacDowell Club, Classics Club, and Business and Professional Women. Four siblings, including Pauline ’28, died previously. x’37 John Wallis “Wally” Creighton, Carmel, Calif., Apr. 28, 2008. Wally was born in China to missionary parents. In his three years at Wooster, he served as a geology lab assistant and on the varsity swim and football teams. Wally earned a B.S. in forestry at the U of Michigan, a B.A. at Hastings College, and a Ph.D. at the U of Michigan. In 1940 he married Harriet Harrington and then served in Ecuador with the U.S. Board of Economic Warfare during WWII. Wally pursued several careers. He taught forestry in Michigan and Colorado before moving his family to California in 1958, where he worked for a furniture company and then managed his own business for 35 years, in diverse fields. In the 1980s he taught at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and worked with various government agencies, editing the Journal of Technology Transfer. Wally wrote several novels in retirement.

Survivors include two daughters; a sister, Ruth Creighton Campbell ’34; a brother; four grandchildren, including Colleen J. Martin x’96; and two great-grandchildren. Harriet died previously, as did another sister, Mildred Creighton Barry ’33. ’34 R. Lynn Hutchison, Wallingford, Conn., June 10, 2008. A biology major, Lynn belonged to the College Drama Club and Fourth Section and sang in the Glee Club. He earned an M.A. from Ohio U and a Ph.D. from Northwestern U and taught biology at Bowling Green State U, Ursinus College, and Southern Connecticut State U, where he helped develop and directed the honors program.

Lynn served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and directed a sex education program for teachers in Connecticut. He married Ann Marley in 1952. The couple moved to New Mexico after Lynn retired in 1982. Ann died previously. A son survives.

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Fa m i l y Hi s t o r y

That president, he talked too much One Sunday this past May, CBS “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney addressed “the graduation season.” The accompanying video included clips from a College of Wooster commencement (see www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50 04914n). Rooney said that most graduation ceremonies today go on for about two hours.

But more than a century ago, Wooster commencements lasted longer than that.

Much, much longer.

In the 1880s-90s, graduation exercises took all day, with a break for lunch. Orations prevailed. Old commencement programs list as many as 42 speakers, in addition to several music performances and the awarding of degrees to about

15 graduates. An 1891 New York Tribune article describes what happened at one such event, when the president of the College (then called The University of Wooster) closed the ceremony.

The Tribune reporter sets the stage: The Rev. Dr. Sylvester F. Scovel, the president of the Wooster University, is an eloquent and forcible speaker. He thoroughly enjoys talking in public, and as an after-dinner orator he has few equals in the West. When speaking on one of his favorite themes, he is likely to forget the limits of time and often expands a few minutes’ talk into a speech two-hours long.

A couple of years ago, Dr. Scovel was making an address at the com-

mencement exercises of the Wooster University. The big gymnasium…was packed to the doors, and the air was hot and stifling. The audience had listened to the college orators until it was surfeited. Everybody was warm and tired, and waiting to make a dash for the open air at the first opportunity.

The reporter notes that Scovel began talking about the school over which he presided—one of his favorite subjects.

The audience was in big trouble. Scovel spoke of Wooster’s history and needs, its success and brilliant future, its trustees, faculty, and students.

Tears glistened in his eyes as he told of the generosity and kindly interest of the dear public. He then dropped pearls of counsel . . . noting the whole circle of human experiences and drawing a graphic picture of the trials and temptations of academic life.

Over an hour went by. The corners of the hall grew dark, and the rays of the setting sun flashed upon the windows. The young graduates fidgeted in their chairs, and the audience looked longingly toward the door. …

All at once the speaker stopped, murmured a brief sentence, wheeled around, and resumed his seat.

A little white-haired woman in the rear of the hall waved her ear trumpet, pressed her finger to her lips, and the fires of his oratory were quenched…

“That’s my son, Sylvester!” she was heard to say, as the hall was slowly cleared. “That failing of his has been a great trial to me. My son, Sylvester, he talks too much.”

Jimmy Wilkinson Meyer

Sylvester F. Scovel, the third president of Wooster (1883-1899), was a talker. But he did heed his mother at one very long commencement ceremony. President Scovel’s mother, Hannah Matlack Scovel, knew when it was time to “quench the fires of oratory.”

Photos courtesy of Special Collections, College of Wooster Libraries

64 Wooster SUMMER 2009

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91 ST

www.woosteralumni.org

homecoming

S E P T.

25&26

Plunge into Homecoming!

REMEMBER Swim team reunion Soccer team reunion Cheerleaders reunion Class of 1958 mini-reunion

P L AY

STOP IN AT THE WILSON BOOKSTORE Extended Homecoming hours: 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sept. 25, 26 New website: www.wilsonbookstore.com

Swim meet Soccer alumni golf tournament Women’s soccer game vs. Misericordia Alumni softball game Alumni soccer game Football vs. Denison Men’s soccer vs. Kenyon

PA R T Y Young Alumni Happy Hour All-campus tailgate Late night bonfire All-campus celebration

E NJOY Concert: Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald Common Grounds 10th anniversary Scot Band parade and serenade Art museum exhibit “W” Association inductions

[above] The Wooster Mermen, from 1935 Index

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A Q U A R T E R LY M A G A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I & FR I E N DS OF TH E COLLEG E OF WOOSTE R

The College of Wooster | Ebert Art Center 1220 Beall Avenue | Wooster, OH 44691-2393

In Closing U N BOWE D It was the bottom of the 12th inning, the day was cold and threatening, and the Scots were close to losing their bid for the NCAA Division III national baseball championship against the University of St. Thomas, Minn. It’s a title that has eluded every Wooster team since 1975.

College of Wooster veteran photographer Matt Dilyard, who had put in a 14-hour day to cover the tournament in Grand Chute, Wis., had to make a conscious effort to stay focused.

“Then the unspeakable happened,” says Dilyard. “A weak grounder got through, their runner scored, and it was over.

I stayed with Scot pitcher Mark Miller ’09, who had pitched the whole game, to see how he might react. He didn’t crumple, he didn’t fall, he just walked off with a lot of pride.”

The photo that came from that raw moment was something special.

Hugh Howard, director of sports information, forwarded it to editors at Sports Illustrated, who ran it across two pages in their June 8 magazine.

“It’s not a photograph about dejection, like you might normally see,” says Dilyard. “Mark carried himself with such dignity. And that’s what the photograph is about.”

Matt Dilyard’s photo was published by Sports Illustrated.