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Class of 1969 Class Notes and photos
Alan Armstrong ’69 lives in Ashland, Ore., with his wife, Victoria Sturtevant (Pitzer College ’72), after retiring from his professorship at Southern Oregon University. Since 2006, he has loved working as a production dramaturg for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In early 2019, he was in rehearsal with Seattle-based director Rosa Joshi for OSF’s production of As You Like It, but still finds plenty of time in retirement to enjoy hiking, kayaking, fly-fishing, and skiing — as well as four grandchildren nearby in Corvallis, Ore., and Walla Walla, Wash.
Ben Barnes ’69 married Susan Carter Barnes ’69 three days after OWU graduation. He reported to Navy Officer Candidate School a month later and spent three years as a supply officer on a nuclear submarine. After the Navy, he earned his master’s in mathematics at the University of California, Davis. He worked in information technology for 37 years, holding positions of systems analyst, programmer, systems engineer, manager of applications development, and vice president of information technology. Sue spent 23 years in financial services. They retired in 2010 and live in Petaluma, Calif., and enjoy spending time with their two daughters and four grandchildren, singing in a chorus, traveling, walking, bike-riding, and being outdoors. They belong to several wine clubs, a gourmet group, and a book group, and attend classes at nearby Sonoma State University.
Robert Beard ’69 jokes he has reluctantly taken on a second career as a farmer after retiring as a strategic planning analyst for the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. He moved with his wife, Donna Pennington, to her family’s farm near Plains, Ga. After OWU he got a master’s in transportation from the University of Alabama and spent 40 years in freight transportation management. Beard and his wife have been married 35 years. They have two children, Penn and Erica, and two grandchildren, Josie and Charlie. In the summer they live in the mountains of North Carolina, two hours away from their daughter in Charlotte.
Julie Wiegel Brust ’69 and Bob Brust ’67 will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this June. They were married one week after Julie’s graduation from OWU. They have three children and six grandchildren. Julie retired from teaching after 36 years in Bellbrook, Ohio. She is active in the Dayton Delta Gamma Alumnae Chapter, and she and Bob enjoy family vacations, Delt reunions, and traveling (one son lives in Sicily!) in their retirement.
Lary Bump ’69 has lived in McKinney, Texas, for 13 years. He’s a freelance sports writer and an official scorer for the Texas Rangers. He spent three eventful, rewarding years as an elementary school special-education aide. His wife Margaret remains the orchestra director at McKinney North High School. Their daughter Samantha, a Hendrix College junior, is studying in London for a second semester. Their older daughters travel frequently — Diana in the Midwest for Willis Towers Watson and Erin in the U.S. and Europe for the Go Game, the real world gaming company. Son Philip, national correspondent for The Washington Post, and his wife China have a son, 2-year-old Thomas.
Steve Clay ’69, of Easton, Mass., retired from a 37-year career as a teacher, coach, and YMCA CEO in 2007, and now lives with his wife Mary Beth (Georgetown ’73, M.A. Smith ’74) in Falmouth, Mass., on Cape Cod. They have two grown children and five grandchildren, all within driving distance! Steve and Mary Beth, a retired public school speech pathologist, now run a residential real estate business.
Joanne Noble Crawford ’69 finds it hard to believe that 50 years have passed since her OWU graduation. Since then, her life has been spent in Chicago, where she worked for Marshall Field’s, met her husband, Bill Crawford ’61, and raised three daughters. After years of volunteering and PTA, she earned a degree in registered nursing. Her focus quickly became hospice care, and she retired in 2009. Her time is now spent spoiling her four grandchildren, traveling to their family beach house in North Carolina, playing golf and pickleball, and finally trying to learn bridge (she wishes she had learned at the DG house!).
Nancy Githens Crocker ’69 moved to Spain three months after graduation, inspired by a summer trip to Europe while at OWU. She stayed for seven years, living in Madrid and Paris, before returning to the U.S. to replenish her bank account. The love of languages, different cultures, and travel, however, stayed with her. Denver became her new home. She met her husband, raised a son, and worked for 40 years as a software developer and systems analyst. As a retiree, she loves her new life volunteering as an ESL teacher, taking classes at CU-Denver as a lifelong learner, and traveling with her husband…everywhere.
Dick Cromwell ’69 has returned to full-time employment after two years in semi-retirement. He’s now athletic director of Cardinal Stritch Catholic High School in Oregon, Ohio, near Toledo. He loves the challenges of working with youth (things are different from 1969 and yet they aren’t). His wife Kathy is still delighting people with her expertise in hairstyling. His son Brian Cromwell ’02 and daughter-in-law Talia Brader Cromwell ’02 are busy raising three boys; Brian coaches and teaches at DeSales High School in Columbus. His daughter Jenna (a registered dietitian) and son-in-law Nick live in Perrysburg, Ohio, with their daughter and son. Forty-three years of teaching math, coaching football (including two Ohio state championship teams), and serving as a dean of students, athletic director, and principal have been FUN (a bourbon manhattan or two helps).
Cecily “Ceci” Campbell Eldridge ’69 and her husband John have called Merrimack, N.H., home for the last 40-plus years. They raised two daughters and enjoy keeping up with four nearby lively grandkids. Eldridge is four years into retirement from a satisfying career as an English, reading, and later ESOL teacher, and she’s still volunteering with her former high school program. As a cancer “thriver,” she’s relishing more time for various pursuits, not the least being her book bucket list!
Tom Eshelman ’69 had a 40-year career in IT in central Ohio, where he and his wife of 45 years still reside. They have been blessed with three lively kids and five grandkids.
Dave Eyrich ’69 and Toni Fingland Eyrich ’69 were married shortly after their graduation and moved to Cincinnati, where they have lived since. Toni retired 10 years ago from teaching at various grade levels. In April, Dave retired from his law practice but finds himself doing work for charities and friends. They have two children: Jen (and hubby Dan) live in Washington D.C.; Nick (and wife Kara and 7-year-old son Owen) live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where they work for the U.S. State Department. Dave loves fishing and Toni enjoys biking in Sanibel, Fla., where they own a condo. They invite you to contact them if you’re ever in one of their neighborhoods — they always love catching up with OWU friends!
Harry Flannery ’69, of New Castle, Pa., retired in January after more than 41 years as senior corporate counsel at FirstEnergy in Akron, Ohio. Prior to that, he was the trust legal officer for the Pittsburgh National Bank and engaged in private practice. Flannery is currently counsel of the law office of Flannery, Seltzer, Harper & Palmer (hflannery@flanneryseltzer.com) and owns Castle Security, LLC. He will be married 50 years this June to Maureen Flaherty and has two children, Preston (Jennifer Jackson) and Courtney (Michael Scalzo), and four grandchildren, Connor, Payton, Miley, and Bentley. His most recent book is titled Rape: The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth, So Help...! (2017 Edgewood Press). Flannery holds law degrees from Ohio Northern University College of Law and Boston University School of Law.
Editor’s Note: In the fall of 1965, an increase in enrollment lead to a housing crunch with some unique solutions.
Flannery fondly recalls his first term at OWU in 1965, when he was among 34 freshman students housed at the Delaware Inn (pictured below). Flannery recalls only eight “livable” rooms in the former hotel, built in 1845, with air conditioners, carpet, bunk beds, bathrooms, showers, and some furnishings supplied by the University. Flannery and his roommate Phil Tulin ’69 were among the 16 lucky students to be assigned to such a room. The remaining rooms lacked basic amenities such as bathrooms or showers and had very poor lighting. On a hot night, it was not unusual to find as many as eight mattresses in some of the air-conditioned rooms. The advantages, however, included that students were close to the Hamburger Inn and entertainment. And of course, the walk to class was closer.
Marti Bond Hardy ’69 lives in Pepper Pike, Ohio, with her husband, Mike (University of Michigan Law School ’72). She continues to teach Spanish, direct the service-learning program, and coach the varsity golf team at Laurel School, a girls college prep independent school in Shaker Heights. She says, “Thanks, OWU, for the wonderful preparation that has allowed me to follow my passion for the past 50 years.” She loves spending time with their two sons, Brian Hardy ’98 and Kevin (Wesleyan University, Conn., ’00), and their families in Boston, where she can watch her four grandchildren play sports. She also loves visiting her OWU Kappa and Theta friends in Westhampton, N.Y., every summer for the past 15 years.
Steve Heisel ’69 attended Ohio State University Medical School and moved to Boston for his psychiatric residency. He says practicing general psychiatry was delightful and never boring. Academically, he’s served at Boston University, the University of California Los Angeles, and the University of Auckland, New Zealand, but mostly at Harvard, supervising resident physicians and tutoring new students. He loves book-rich Boston but doesn’t give a damn about the Red Sox. He has two children, Andrew (32) and Ruth (29), the fruits of his 20-year marriage to another physician. The marriage ended in 1999, but together they’ve seen the kids through festive weddings and raucous graduations. Since retiring in 2014, Heisel has renewed his OWU liberal education at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement.
Kathie Hepler ’69 and her husband Rich Field live in beautiful Ann Arbor, Mich. They are minutes away from their family: Mike and Sara Bachman and two beautiful granddaughters, Abbi and Josie. They love living in Ann Arbor and take advantage of everything that the city and University of Michigan have to offer: music, free concerts, summer festivals, famous winter weather, wonderful neighbors, and great friends at their local gym (they are there four days a week!). Hepler treasures her OWU years and can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion!
Doug Hoover ’69 retired after 40 years of dentistry and moved to Westerville, Ohio, to be near three of his grandchildren. He volunteers at a food pantry, plays in a couple of orchestras, and sings in several groups at church. He and his wife Joani play golf, pickleball, and tennis in addition to all the grandkids’ activities. He has lunch with four Delt brothers about every six weeks and gets back to OWU fairly often now that he is close.
Patricia “GG” Hawthorne Howard ’69 was born and raised in Elyria, Ohio, and has spent her life in education. Sharing the belief that travel is one of the best forms of education, GG travels extensively with her husband and two children. She also trains service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence. She’s taught art in Columbus, creative dramatics in Auckland, New Zealand, art history in Geneva, and art education at Ohio State and Kent State. She founded the Arts & College Prep. Academy in 2002, artcollegeprep.org. Connect with her at howard@artcollegeprep.org. Retirement is not on her horizon.
Dana Jackson ’69, a member of Chi Phi fraternity, has lived in Newton, Mass., since 1974. He earned his M.Ed. from Boston College in 1974. He taught history in Vermont and special education in Boston public schools from 1971 to 2004. From 2004 to 2015, he was an administrative assistant at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; from 2015 to present, he has volunteered at the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center in Boston. He has been active in Freemasonry since 1976. He has two children: Greg Jackson ’06 and Arielle (University of Massachusetts ’08).
Pamela Turner Kane ’69 is happily retired in West Bloomfield, Mich., where she and her husband Steve enjoy lake living in their new home. After a long hiatus, she returned to college to earn a graduate degree in accounting at Walsh College (Troy, Mich.), which she utilized in the healthcare industry for 30+ years. Her blended family includes her son, Charles Draper, and daughter Dr. Emily Draper ’01, stepdaughter Nancy Olsen, and beloved labrador retriever Reilly. Leisure time involves a return to studying French, playing duplicate bridge, and travel. Four grandchildren are the frosting on the cake of life!
Ken Kinney ’69 worked as a newspaper editor after graduate school and then as a strategic planner in both the private and public sectors, living primarily in Milwaukee and Chicago. For the last 25 years of his career he was a project manager for the planning and design of public transportation systems in major American cities. He retired in 2018. He has lived in Strasbourg, France, since 2014. His older daughter lives in Minneapolis. Her sister and her husband and three children live in Tubingen, Germany, about 80 miles from Ken.
Margi Geisler Leonard ’69 moved from Madison, Wis., after graduation to the Philadelphia area to teach. She married John Leonard ’67 in 1970. John practiced dentistry, and Margi taught French and ESL and went to grad school. They have two children, Karen and Jay, who now live in Connecticut and Illinois with their families. A few years ago, Margi published Remembering the Akamatsus, a true story about family friends who were interned during World War II in a Japanese-American camp in Utah (Topaz). Margi and John love to visit their kids, travel, sail, sing, learn, and hang out in Avalon, N.J. Come and see them in America’s Birthplace or “down the shore.”
Catherine “Cathy” Overhulse Lewis ’69 had a 43-year career in finance at General Electric Co. Married to Bradley Lewis, an economics professor at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., she is busy as a board member of many area and community groups, including Habitat for Humanity, the Girl Scouts, and the YWCA of Northeastern New York. She has been on the Schenectady City Council and is serving in her ninth year on the local school board and her second year as a director on the New York State School Boards Association. Brad and Cathy enjoy traveling and visiting family, and both look forward to moving back into their newly remodeled home before their respective 50th reunions this year.
Jeff MacDonald ’69 and Debbie Guynn MacDonald ’70 live in Oxford, Ohio They have two children: Ryan, a nurse at UVA Medical Center Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., and Erin, in QA and IT with Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati. Jeff’s career since OWU has included: government and trade association work in Washington, D.C. (1969-81), association work in Oxford (1981-85), and owning the Ace Hardware store in Oxford (1985-2017). Now retired, they are figuring out the freedom ahead of them. Travel, local organizations, and home improvements are current activities. Reconnecting with old friends is a priority.
Priscilla Davis Moon ’69 has always been proud to have a degree from OWU. God has been extraordinarily good to her and her husband Nick. They were able to provide their children a deliriously happy childhood growing up on the Gold Coast of Long Island, N.Y. Nick (BS Cornell, JD Georgetown Law) was in private practice there until they moved to Washington, D.C., in 2001. The energy of city living propelled them into second careers. Priscilla is a flight attendant for American Airlines and Nick is an attorney for Mercedes Benz. They have four wonderful, well-educated children; four wonderful, well-educated in-law children; and 17 wonderful grandchildren, one of whom Priscilla is hoping will attend OWU!
William Nix ’69 is retired after a long career as a pediatrician with Texas Children’s Pediatric Associates. He and his wife Peggy, a retired nurse, live in The Woodlands, north of Houston. Their three children and grandchild live in Houston. They travel a lot, and William does locum tenens work for Texas Children’s Hospital to keep busy. Life is good.
Robert Nuner ’69 of Montpelier, Vt., notes that performance has been a persistent — but not controlling — theme in his life. After three years in New York City, followed by two years as a laborer or on-staff with traveling circuses, he trained and performed with a commedia dell’arte/clown troupe, touring throughout the Northeast. Decades later, following several years of parental elder care, he resumed performing, including work in plays by Vermont poet David Budbill. Among his side interests is growing wheat. Since the late ’90s, he’s searched for customers in the energy sector for a power system integrator, a carbon accountancy, and a fuel cell manufacturer.
Ann Seiler O’Brien ’69 married Daniel Patrick O’Brien ’69 one year into his four and a half years of Navy submarine service and they moved to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then to Virginia two years later. In 1973, Dan concluded his active service and they moved to Philadelphia. He received his M.B.A. from Wharton in 1975 and began his civilian career with FMC Corp. Dan, Ann, and their two sons moved to Chicago in 1980. Over the ensuing 40 years, Dan worked at five companies. He retired in 2012 after 37 years in corporate finance. In retirement, he golfs, travels, studies Spanish, reads, and hangs out with friends. After graduation, Ann worked in Detroit as an interior designer for J.L. Hudson’s downtown studio. She got her master’s degree in Chinese art history. In Chicago, she was president and art director of the advertising firm Rubin and O’Brien for 25 years. After retiring, she became president of a local co-op art gallery and then PR/advertising director for a women-owned gallery. She enjoys traveling, making art, visiting her sons’ families in Chicago and California and her four grandchildren, and studying French.
David Owens ’69 and Cathy Czarniak Owens ’68 of Westfield, N.J., served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Jordan from 2012 to 2015. David is now a substitute teacher with the Westfield School District and volunteers as an international student liaison with AFS, a prominent international student exchange organization.
Don Paterson ’69 earned his M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and married his college sweetheart, Bonnie Greenwood ’71, then embarked on a financial career in Washington, D.C., with Price Waterhouse. He transferred to Seattle in 1975 and 30 years, and two children later he moved back to Ohio (Vermilion) in 2005 to help care for Bonnie’s mother. He stumbled into the nonprofit world and spent 20 years on the board of ACT Theatre, then as CFO of ballets in Seattle and San Francisco, and finally as chief operating officer and president of the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Bonnie died in 2009, and he retired and moved back to the Northwest in 2013. He now lives in Bellingham, Wash., near his son, daughter-in-law, and rambunctious 3-year-old granddaughter, Iris Ann Paterson.
Tom Poole ’69 retired in 2016 and moved from California to Tempe, Ariz. His wife is a graduate and former faculty member of Arizona State University. The Southern California Association for Health Care Development chose Poole for its Outstanding Leader of the Year Award a month before he retired from Long Beach Memorial. Poole and his wife enjoy a very active life in Arizona with many activities and friends. His wife’s grandchildren live nearby. Poole appreciates the foundation that Ohio Wesleyan gave him, without which he could not have had such a wonderful and fulfilling life.
R. Brooke Porch ’69 finally retired in 2017 after a rewarding career of public service—teacher, director of special education, and consultant. He and Linda Lane (Vassar ’69) have two daughters and a 5-year-old granddaughter, all of whom live close to Brooke’s home in Swarthmore, Pa. Brooke and Linda have traveled extensively (Japan, Peru, Portugal, Patagonia) and will continue doing so as long as they both can walk. Reach him at: porch4747@gmail.com.
Bruce Purdy ’69 sends greetings to all his OWU classmates from sunny Palm Springs, Calif., where for the last 18 years he and his husband, Barrett Shepard, have spent the winter months. Now both semi-retired, they work on philanthropic endeavors as board members of several desert organizations, travel the world, and build their contemporary art collection. Mentored by Dr. Butler Jones at OWU, Purdy then went to graduate school at the University of Maryland and built his career working internationally on urban development and planning initiatives in developing economies. Currently, he is building an Academy for Global Urban Leadership at the University of Maryland and restoring a historic home in Easton, Md., on the Chesapeake Bay.
Susan Phillips Read ’69 graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1972, married Howard J. Read (Johns Hopkins University ’66; University of Chicago Law School ’69), and followed him to upstate New York. After 20-plus years practicing law in the private sector and three years in the Governor’s Counsel’s Office, she joined the judiciary, where she served more than 12 years as associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. She has now returned to private practice and serves on the boards of performing arts-related organizations. Howard and Susan live with their cat, Betty, and have, through the years, supported many other cats and thoroughbred racehorses (no children).
Ann Russell ’69 earned her master’s in physical therapy from Case Western Reserve University in 1971 and her Ph.D. in exercise science from the University of Iowa in 1989. She also completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. She taught physical therapy at several universities, including Cleveland State University, Cannon University, and Walsh University. She has practiced physical therapy in a variety of areas: acute care, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, skilled rehabilitation, seating specialist, nursing homes, orthopedics, and neurology. She has traveled to a variety of places, including Alaska, Egypt, Europe, and South America, including Machu Picchu in Peru.
S. Michael Scadron ’69 is a retired senior trial counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice with a background in civil rights and tort law. Since his retirement in 2006, he has turned to writing. An avid runner and hiker, Scadron was struck with a neurological condition that rendered him quadriplegic at age 52. The story of his illness and struggle toward recovery is the foundation of his recent memoir, Two Mountains: Kilimanjaro to Quadriplegic and Back. He lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife, Terri.
Rick Shale ’69 earned a master’s and Ph.D. in American culture from the University of Michigan and then spent 35 years in the English Department of Youngstown State University teaching some composition but mostly film studies and screenwriting. He retired in May 2011. He has published three books on the Academy Awards, one on the Disney Studio, and two on parks in Youngstown, Ohio, where he lives. In 2018, he received the Heritage Award, the highest honor YSU gives to retired faculty. His retirement hobbies are painting, genealogy, and volunteerism. (He serves on four boards and too many committees.)
Tim Smith ’69 and his wife Jolee live in Houston. Smith recently retired (for now, looking for contract work) from BHP, concluding a 41-year career as a geophysicist in the oil exploration industry. He worked for Gulf, BP, Unocal, and BHP, and participated in discovery of the Atlantis, Mad Dog, Shenzi, and Stampede oil fields, along with input to Thunder Horse, St. Malo, and Shenzi North, all in the Gulf of Mexico. He’s now tutoring high school chemistry and designing/building hi-fi and guitar amplifiers and speakers.
Left Oh-Wooo with a bachelor’s degree,
Settled down in Cincinnatee.
Taught some English, wanted more,
Found his niche as a guidance counsel-or.
Followed his dream to coach some ball,
Basket-base-football, did it all.
Married to Carol, knew what to do,
Father to three, Pops to two.
Cancer survivor, it led him to Christ,
Taught him well the meaning of life.
Love your neighbor, love the Lord,
Count your blessings, you’ll never be bored.
Now he’s a poet, Bob Marshall would be proud,
Sounds a little better if you read it aloud.
– Fred Thomas ’69 (Hamilton, Ohio)
Jane Ayres Welsheimer ’69 and George Welsheimer ’66 moved to the Cincinnati area to teach after graduation. From there they moved back to Jane’s hometown of Bellefontaine, Ohio. George continued to teach while Jane stayed home with their two boys, Brett and Ty. Eventually they bought her father’s insurance agency, which they ran for six years. Then they went back to teaching, from which they retired. They are now enjoying many activities that they did not have time for before. They have moved to Westerville, Ohio, to be near their sons and grandchildren.
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The deadline for receiving Class Notes and Faculty Notes submissions for the Fall 2019 OWU Magazine is June 8, 2019.