The Class of 1973 returned to Ohio Wesleyan's campus to celebrate 50 years on May 19–21, 2023. Delaware and OWU have grown and evolved yet are delightfully familiar—just like each of us. A smile and a simple hello were all you needed to enter. And what a wonderful celebration of friendship it was!
Join the Class of ’73 yearbook at www.ohiowesleyanuniversity1973.com to catch up with classmates and keep the conversation going after our reunion!
Our Zoom Happy Hours will continue quarterly! Contact Mary Ellen Swegles Wolfsie to get on an e-mail reminder list, if you aren’t on the previous list, at mewolfsie51@gmail.com. Join us whether or not you were able to attend our 50th reunion. It’s just a fun chat fest for an hour, sometimes with topic nudges, sometimes free form. Join in!
Did you take a lot of pictures during Reunion Weekend? Please share your photos through our Memento photo sharing website by clicking the link below. You can also view and download photos from others through this link.
Contributors to our OWU ’73 50th Class Reunion Photo Album will need to create a (totally free!) Memento account in order to share or view photos and videos, but only a name and email address is required. Please make sure to caption your photos with the names of those pictured before submitting OR in the "Comments" section after they are posted.
Our class had the most 50th classmates return to campus—149 registered—in OWU's history!
The total continues to grow until June 30, 2023!
Thank you to the committee who made this unforgettable weekend possible!
Complete with tie-dye flair!
Hearing from fellow classmates during the Alumni College Session was a highlight of the weekend. Thank you to our speakers!
Our class had a record-setting 37 first-time attendees!
Congratulations to the Class of 1973 for a fantastic 50th Reunion! From a record-setting turnout at Reunion Weekend to the outpouring of support for current Ohio Wesleyan students, your class legacy continues to grow at OWU.
With much gratitude, Ohio Wesleyan is proud to share the final Class of 1973 50th Reunion Gift total:
🎉 $4,004,890.37! 🎉
The total reflects an Annual Fund Gift total of $559,030 donated during the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which surpassed the original goal of $400,000 by almost forty percent! Ohio Wesleyan is stronger and more prepared to meet the needs of current students thanks to the '73 Class. Thank you to all 164 of the generous alumni who contributed this year!
Dave ’73 and Binney Brown Fouts ’73 share why they chose to support Ohio Wesleyan in their estate plan. Dave and Binney emphasize education in their charitable giving, so supporting OWU was a natural choice.
Learn how classmate Mary Lou Brecht Johnson boldly chose to see the impact of her charitable giving in her lifetime—and to celebrate her alma mater.
Hayes Hall, 1973
Barcelona, 2022
A letter from Class President Carrie Thomas about the power and impact of generosity on her family—and how you can make an impact, too.
Some Pictures of Delaware County 50 Years Ago by Clark Winter
"OWU’s library had just acquired the school’s first video machine. This film is a few minutes of that tape and other photographs taken while we were all together 50 years ago. And here we are now!"
Watch our class tribute to the bands, music, and performers who came to campus from 1969 to 1973, screened at our class dinner.
Special thanks to Steve Kisling and Carol Dittrick Wolters for spearheading this project.
Congratulations to Belinda Brown Fouts, David Fouts, Jim Mendenhall, and Ann Muenster-Nuiry for receiving an Alumni Award during Reunion Weekend! An extra congrats to Ann Muenster-Nuiry for also receiving our class OWOOO Spirit Award!
Click the link below to watch the full recording of our 50th Reunion Class Dinner program on May 20, 2023.
To our classmates who have passed on: We miss you; we celebrate you. We thank you for your friendship, your love and joy and laughter. You are not forgotten.
Special thanks to Jody Dodd Chatlain for her work to remember each and every one.
A full PDF listing with obituaries can be accessed here.
In addition to our Memento photo sharing album above, Ohio Wesleyan shared photos from the weekend through Flickr. Click the link below to view and download your favorites!
More Than 800 Bishops Come Home to Celebrate Their Class Reunions
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Ohio Wesleyan Graduate Shirley Paden-Bernstein Makes $1 Million Gift to Benefit First-Generation Students
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