Mercersburg Magazine - Fall 2015

A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends V O L U M E 4 1 N O . 3 F A L L 2 0 1 5

MercersburgThe Spirit of MercersburgPAGE 16

to come

V O L U M E 4 1 N O . 3 F A L L 2 0 1 5 A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

Mercersburg

From the Head of School 2Via Mercersburg 31,045 Words 14–15Arts 42Athletics 46Reunion Weekend 50Class Notes 55

The Spirit of Mercersburg

The Spirit of MercersburgA legendary (and unquestionably spirited) coach; a new school minister; alumni inspired to be agents of change; and a salute to three faculty stalwarts. Find it all here. Page 16

Mercersburg magazine is published three times annually by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Mercersburg Academy 300 East Seminary Street Mercersburg, Pennsylvania 17236

Magazine correspondence: [email protected]

Class Notes correspondence: [email protected]

Alumni correspondence/ change of address: [email protected] 800-588-2550

Read us online: www.mercersburg.edu/magazine

Editor: Lee Owen

Class Notes Editor: Tyler Miller

Contributors: Shelton Clark, Paul Galey, Shannon Gazze, Zally Price, Douglas Smith, Craig Statham, Wallace Whitworth, Jillian Wilkerson

Art Direction: Aldrich Design

Head of School: Douglas Hale

Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications: Wallace Whitworth

Assistant Head for Enrollment: Tommy Adams

Assistant Head for Advancement: Brian Hargrove

© Copyright 2015 Mercersburg Academy. All rights reserved. No content from this publication may be reproduced or reprinted in any form without the express written consent of Mercersburg Academy.

Mercersburg Academy abides by both the spirit and the letter of the law in all its employment and admission policies. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or national or ethnic origin.

Photo credits: p. 2 Chris Crisman; p. 3 Louis Walker III; p. 4 Jillian Wilkerson; p. 5 Wilkerson; p. 6 (Hovenden/Dillard) Wilkerson, (faculty group) Bill Green; p. 7 (all photos) Green; p. 8 (Rutherford) Green, (all other photos) Stacey Talbot Grasa); p. 9 (all photos) Grasa; p. 10–13 (all photos) Green; p. 17 Wilkerson; p. 18 courtesy Jenn Flanagan Bradley; p. 19 courtesy Susan Rahauser; p. 20–22 Mercersburg Academy Archives; p. 24 courtesy Alexis Kemmler Simpson; p. 27 courtesy Tim Hitchens; p. 29 Green; p. 33 Ryan Smith; p. 37 Green; p. 41 Green; p. 42 (all photos) Green; p. 43 (Magalia/Octet) Green; p. 44–45 (dance) Smith, (seniors) Wilkerson, (Shakespeare) Green; p. 46 Bob Stoler; p. 47 (basketball) Stoler, (squash) Kevin Gilbert; p. 48 (track) Green, (softball) Stoler, p. 49 Stoler; p. 50–54 (all photos) Green.

Cover illustration: Peter Hoey

You Should KnowFaculty member (now faculty emeritus) Jim Applebaum gave the address at the Baccalaureate ceremony for the Class of 2015 in the Irvine Memorial Chapel. For stories about Applebaum’s farewell and the retirements of fel-low longtime faculty Larry Jones and Karl Reisner, see page 29.

10 16122nd CommencementA true blue-letter day for the Class of 2015. Page 10

Green Inks

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On the Spiritual DimensionFrom the Head of School

humans, we tend to like our categories neat and our labels precise. As far back as the Book of Genesis we

find an account of man naming the animals. Many centuries later Carl Linnaeus ushered in binomial nomenclature allow-ing us to categorize and label every plant and animal system-atically. Roughly 100 years later the first periodic tables of the chemical elements started to appear. Of course, undergirding all of this was the evolution of the ultimate tool for naming and categorization—languages—of which there are now roughly 6,500 worldwide. Our languages continue to evolve, as do our abilities to organize and classify with the intent of achieving ever-greater clarity, insight, and understanding, and in general we’re doing a pretty good job at achieving our end.

Yet it’s strange that defining and explaining something as primal and pervasive as spirit—a thing shared by all of us com-prising the essence of human existence—largely eludes us. The more we attempt to describe what spirit is and does, the less sense we seem to make. Carl Jung was hardly afraid of trying to explain or bring clarity to the mysterious; in fact, he relished it. But his admonition above reveals a reticence that seems to spring from personal experience: having explored the depths of the human psyche in a clinical vein like no one before or since, Jung tacitly acknowledges that divining the nature and essence of spirit usually exceeds our grasp, because it lies beyond the reach of language or any other tool of human origin.

Talking about spirit in American culture can often take us into the realm of religion. When Mercersburg was founded, spirit would likely have been addressed largely by way of the Christian tradition, and that tradition is still very much alive and well on our campus—not by accident, but by intent. Yet spirit at Mercersburg presently has many faces and manifestations just as it does around the world. Today, Mercersburg invokes the exploration of spirit not only through a formal religion curric-ulum, but also through campus speakers—some of whom are tied to non-Christian faith traditions, and others who may or may not be religious at all. These are authors, poets, athletes,

artists, educators, and social activists who address issues of the spirit—human and divine, individual and collective—through stories about their lives, their art, their experiences, and their encounters with people of all stations in all corners of the globe.

Both Jung’s and Steinbeck’s words provide a bridge to an important document that sits at the foundation of all we do here—Mercersburg’s Mission Statement. Steinbeck is correct: even the scientists among us would likely agree that great teaching is far more akin to an art than anything reminiscent of scientific linearity. It’s a profession for sure, but it’s actually more of a calling: one feels the—spiritual?—urge to teach, and when one acts on that urge, the teacher and the student are— spiritually? —driven, fulfilled, uplifted. At this point I’m going to resist the urge to expound further on the topic of spirit itself, lest I run afoul of Jung’s good advice. But I will close with Mercersburg’s Mission Statement, because if you haven’t read it in a while, I think you will be intrigued at what an admirably spiritual document it actually is.

As

Douglas HaleHead of School

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since

the medium is the human mind and spirit.”—John Steinbeck

“The connection between spirit and life is one of those problems involving factors of such complexity that we have to be on our guard lest we ourselves get caught in the net

of words in which we seek to ensnare these great enigmas.” —C.G. Jung

Miss ion StatementMercersburg Academy prepares young men and women from diverse backgrounds for college and for life in a global community. Students at Mercersburg pursue a rigorous and dynamic curriculum while learning to live together harmoniously in a supportive residential environment. Mercersburg’s talented faculty instill in students the value of hard work and the importance of character and com-munity as they teach students to think for themselves, to approach life thoughtfully and creatively, to thrive physi-cally, to act morally, to value the spiritual dimension of human existence, and to serve others.

M E R C E R S B U R G M A G A Z I N E FA L L 2 0 1 5 3

MercersburgA roundup of what’s news, what’s new, and what Mercersburg people are talking about.

Dates to Remember

Feb 29–Mar 3 Irving-Marshall Week

Mar 3 Declamation 7:15 p.m., Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Mar 22 Cum Laude Convocation 11 a.m., Irvine Memorial Chapel

Apr 11 Schaff Lecture on Ethics and Morals: Matthew Vines 7 p.m, Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

May 28 Commencement (10:30 a.m.)

Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu

Katherine M. Titus Named Head of SchoolDavid O. Frantz ’60, President of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents, announced December 1 that the Board has ratified Katherine M. Titus as the new Head of School starting July 1, 2016, following a thorough and competi-tive search over the last year. She will succeed Douglas Hale, who will retire at the end of the 2015–2016 school year after 19 years of service as Head of School.

Titus will be just the seventh head of school in Mercersburg’s 123 years as a college preparatory school

and the first woman to hold the office of Head of School. Currently she is the Associate Head for School Life at St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island, a position she has held since 2013.

Titus received her B.A. in mathematics with a minor in secondary education from Middlebury College, where she was a standout on the women’s basketball team, scoring more than 1,000 points in her four-year career and serving

continued on page 4

Katherine M. Titus with her husband, Stuart, and daughters, Natalie and Samantha

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as a two-year team captain. She received her M.A. in educational leadership from Columbia University in 2011.

Titus has been at St. George’s since 2005, serving in a variety of leadership roles, including dean of students and assis-tant head for student life before assuming duties of associate head. In her current role, Titus oversees the day-to-day running of the school in conjunction with the head of school. She also continues as an active member of the math faculty. Prior to St. George’s, Titus was the director of college counseling at Pingree School in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, where she also taught math, served as an adviser, and coached.

Frantz said enthusiastically, “The search committee was immediately attracted to Katie’s drive, intelligence, and warmth. These important character-istics combined with her deep and varied experiences in the boarding-school world all bode well for her success as the next head of our great school.

“The committee was impressed as much by her ability to listen carefully as it was by her ability to articulate forcefully a telling set of core values consistent with the most treasured ideals of Mercersburg Academy.”

Commenting on her appointment, Titus said, “From my first conversations with the search committee to visiting campus and meeting faculty, staff, parents, and students serving on the advisory com-mittee, I have been impressed and inspired by the strong sense of community and identity at Mercersburg.

“Mercersburg is a place where individual humility is valued and a strong sense of collective pride is alive, two elements that are important to me as an educator. The opportunity to take the helm, following the visionary leadership of Doug Hale, is a true privilege. My family and I are eager to join the Mercersburg community and look forward to meeting the people who contribute to such a strong sense of tradition and spirit.”

Stacie Rice Lissette ’85, co-chair of the search committee, said,

“We know that Katie will value the tra-ditions that Mercersburg holds dear, while working with all constituents of the school to continue the incred-ible, forward-thinking trajectory we are on. It was also clear to us that she cares deeply about the students, and that they are an important factor in so much of her decision-making.”

Founded in 1896, St. George’s School is an exceedingly well-respected New England boarding school with a diverse student body of 371 (of which 88 percent of students board). As associate head for school life at St. George’s, Titus is the chair of the internal administrative team, which includes the dean of academ-ics, dean of faculty, and dean of stu-dents, and she is responsible for the implementation of innovative initia-tives and programs at the school.

Katie lives on campus with her husband, Stuart, who is an English teacher and college counselor, and her daughters, Natalie and Samantha. As a family they enjoy the boarding-school life, whether it’s living and working in the dorms or attending community events.

The search for a new head of school began in earnest in January 2015. The Board of Regents hired Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates to assist with the search. Co-chaired by Frantz and Lissette, the formal search

committee of the Board also included select faculty and administra-tive representatives. In addition, a separate Head of School’s Search Advisory Committee—comprised of Mercersburg faculty, staff, and alumni—played an active and vital role in the vetting and inter-viewing of finalists.

Mercersburg’s founding head of school was Dr. William Mann Irvine, who served from 1893 to 1928. Succeeding heads of school were Boyd Edwards (1928 to 1941), Charles Tippetts ’12 (1941 to 1961), William C. Fowle (1961 to 1972), Walter H. Burgin Jr. ’53 (1972 to 1997), and Douglas Hale (1997 to the present).

“My family and I are eager to join the Mercersburg

community and look forward to meeting

the people who contribute to such a strong sense of

tradition and spirit.”—Katherine M. Titus

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New Springboard Classes, STEAM Plant Cultivate Learning and CreativityBy Jillian Wilkerson

Dave Holzwarth ’78 in the new STEAM Plant

continued on page 6

Mercersburg students have a newly designed space to learn, imagine, envision, and create in with the new STEAM (Science, Tech Engineering, Art, Math) Plant. The space is occupying the Class of ’60 Sculpture Studio on the lower level of the Burgin Center for the Arts.

STEAM Plants are growing in popularity at schools across the country, providing hands-on creative spaces that encourage students to build and create as they engage in scientific and engineering pursuits. Spaces are designed to accommodate a wide range of activities and tools. Physics teacher Dave Holzwarth ’78 is utilizing Mercersburg’s STEAM Plant for two sections of his Springboard course, Maker’s Lab—

Making, Thinking and Understanding in a Studio/Workplace Culture.

Mercersburg is offering a record eight different Springboard courses to members of its senior class in 2015–2016, which marks the first year that successful completion of a Springboard course (or its capstone cousin MAPS, which stands for Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for Global Studies) is a graduation requirement. MAPS and Springboard were optional experiences for students in the school’s 2014 and 2015 graduating classes.

By retrofitting the sculpture studio with additional electrical outlets, work tables, and kitchen cabinets repurposed from North Cottage (the historic house which formerly

was home to Mercersburg’s head of school), Holzwarth created a space that now hums with the sounds of laser printers, a Shopbot milling machine, a 3D printer, and sewing machines.

A large part of Holzwarth’s course is skill building—teaching students to use the equipment, including hand tools from drills to table saws—to eventually develop and build an end product. Students will make a foam core box using a foam core cutter (a good skill to learn if one is considering the study of architecture in college), build a box kite, design and produce cardboard furniture, and sew a zippered pouch.


continued from page 5

“I hope they discover a love of making things,” says Holzwarth, who adds that students will garner a basic understanding of electronics and how they’re powered, learn about electronic circuits, and be able to answer those nagging questions—such as, for example, the purpose of that little green light on their TVs.

Maker’s Lab students are also using C++ code to gain an understanding of small-board computing and to automate tasks like using an app to control and operate household electronics. “I want them to get inside that stuff and understand it,” Holzwarth says.

The sculpture room is hosting two rotations of the Maker’s Lab class, with a total of more than 20 students enrolled. The space will also continue to be used for faculty member/arts department head Wells Gray’s Sculpture I course.

“Not only are students consuming information, but they’re producing, and that’s the important thing,” Holzwarth says. “It gives kids a sense of production instead of consumption.”

Emily Howley, director of Springboard and a history faculty member, envisions that the STEAM Plant will eventually open its doors to anyone in the Mercersburg community. “As the space grows and

develops, we hope that it will be used in all sorts of creative ways,” she says.

Other Springboard courses offered in 2015–2016 are 3D Design, Applied Economics: Entrepreneurship, and Global Food Chain (all of which were offered in each of the past two years), as well as four more new courses: Rapid Application Design, Imagining 21st Century Theatrical Performance, Education Across Borders, and Parallel Histories.

Springboard has also added a physical headquarters this year, following renovations to the Sheridan Gallery in Irvine Hall. The space includes collaborative workspace and offers a place for Springboard students to

meet with their mentors and fellow students; it was designed by Treva Ghattas ’90.

“When we were thinking about how the space would come together, we wanted it to be flexible, clean, and bright,” says Howley. “My hope for the space is that it is used by Springboard students and teachers for collaboration, individual work, meeting with mentors, or even learning a new skill or craft.”

The Springboard space continues to serve as a gallery for student and professional art. Pieces by William Clutz ’51 and speed painter Erik Wahl (who delivered the 2014 Jacobs Residency Lecture) are currently hanging in the gallery.

Last spring, Springboard students Kathryn Dillard ’15 and Gabby Hovenden ’15 designed and created prototypes for their own line of handbags as part of their 3D Design coursework.

The New Faculty ClassMercersburg’s 14 new faculty members in 2015–2016 are (front row, L–R) Michael O’Keefe (English), Shelley Akers (English), Rachel Mallory (college counseling), Hope McGrath (dormitory dean), Doonie Brewer (English); (second row) John Henry Reilly ’10 (science), Cally Conklin (dormitory dean), Austin Curwen (college counseling/history), Zach Swope (admission), Kelly Dowling (fine arts); (third row) John Chepren (information technology), Will Whitmore (school minister/history), Brian O’Rourke (mathematics), Sean Crocker (mathematics).


Mercersburg held an October groundbreak-ing ceremony to mark the official start of con-struction on the Hale Field House, which is named in honor of Head of School Douglas Hale and will be located immediately to the north of Nolde Gymnasium.

Speakers during the ceremony included Hale, Board of Regents President David Frantz ’60, Board President Emerita Denise Dupré ’76, and Board member and Daring to Lead Campaign Co-Vice Chair Stacie Rice Lissette ’85 and her husband, Dylan.

Anticipated construction time is approx-imately 12 months on the $12 million, 64,000-square-foot facility, which will include a 200-meter, six-lane, competition-level indoor track with an infield for field events that can be converted to other com-petition and/or practice space.

“I am deeply touched by this incred-ibly thoughtful and kind gesture, and I am honored and grateful that this building will bear my name,” said Hale, who captained the basketball team as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is in his 19th and final year as Mercersburg’s head of school; he is retiring at the close of the 2015–2016 academic year.

“This building, when finished, will be an amazing asset to our school community,” he continued. “And this facility will be all about you, the students. It will be used—likely on a daily basis—by every student in our school.”

“We have benefited in extraordinary ways from Doug’s service to Mercersburg and his devotion to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents,” Stacie Rice Lissette said. “As we honor the past and look to the future, we know that his considerable con-tributions have helped position our school for even better days.”

Field House to be Named for Douglas Hale

Hale is just the sixth head of school in Mercersburg’s 123 years as a college pre-paratory school. He came to Mercersburg in 1997 after 24 years at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was a teacher, associate headmaster, and eventu-ally headmaster. As a student-athlete at UT Chattanooga, he earned the school’s Dayle May Award as the varsity athlete with the highest academic average.

The groundbreaking ceremony was moved indoors due to inclement weather,

Douglas and Peggy Hale with a sign for the new Hale Field House

which Lissette offered in her remarks as illus-trating the need for the field house. “On a day like this [with rain], you’ll be practic-ing in this new space,” she told the assem-bled students, which drew laughter and applause. “So in a way, the weather helped us out today.”

Construction of the field house is a key capital priority of Mercersburg’s $300-million Daring to Lead Campaign. For more information on the Campaign, visit www.mercersburg.edu/daringtolead.

The groundbreaking featured (from left) Board of Regents President David Frantz ’60, John Prentiss ’65, Carol Prentiss, Stacie Rice Lissette ’85, Dylan Lissette, Board President Emerita Denise Dupré ’76, Head of School Douglas Hale, Peggy Hale, Jeff Reeder, and Gail Reeder


’Burg’s EYE VIEW CAMPUS NOTES

Head of School Douglas Hale has appointed Julia Stojak Maurer ’90 as Mercersburg’s first assistant head of school for academic affairs and has promoted Eric Hicks to the position of academic dean. Maurer and Hicks had previously served as the school’s academic dean and associate academic dean, respectively. Between them, they have a total of 37 years of service on the Mercersburg faculty.

“I’m delighted that Julie will be the first person at Mercersburg to serve as assistant head of school for academic affairs,” Hale said. “We will all benefit tremendously from her leadership and vision in this new position, which is critical to the continued development and recognition of our aca-demic program and the tremendous faculty members who work with our students.

“I am also pleased to recognize Eric, whose exceptional work has kept countless portions of our school running smoothly for many years and look forward to his leader-ship in the academic dean’s office.”

In her new role, Maurer will have stra-tegic oversight of Mercersburg’s entire aca-demic program, which includes faculty hiring, training, classroom observations and evaluations; the development and imple-mentation of new and emerging academic programs; and the continued integration of the school’s two capstone experiences, MAPS and Springboard.

Maurer returned to her alma mater to join the faculty in 2001. She has taught mathematics, science, and robotics, and

has spent the past five years as the school’s academic dean. Her husband, Matt, is a member of Mercersburg’s English and fine-arts departments.

As academic dean, Hicks will work closely with academic department heads and the school’s senior leadership to give direction and operational support to Mercersburg’s overall academic program. He will oversee program leadership, faculty performance, and resource management.

Hicks has worked at Mercersburg since 1992 and is the school’s longtime registrar in addition to his duties teaching science and serving as head boys’ varsity tennis coach. He was appointed the school’s first director of dormitories before moving into the role of associate academic dean in 2014. His wife, Renee, is a fellow member of the science department.

M e r c e r s b u r g ce l eb ra t ed the o p e ni n g o f i t s 123rd academic year with Opening C o n v o c a t i o n September 6 in the Irvine Memorial Chapel. Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford, who has served on the faculty since 1977, was the featured speaker.

Rutherford has served as Mercersburg’s associate head of school since 1991, and is in her 39th year on the Academy faculty. She has also taught Spanish and served as a department head, coach, adviser, dormitory dean, and director of counsel-ing. Rutherford and her husband, fellow faculty member Frank Rutherford ’70, have three sons (Matt ’03, Paul ’06, and Stephon Fullerton ’06), all of whom are Mercersburg alumni.

Also at Convocation, Fernando Cervera ’16 of Mexico City, Mexico, received the Michelet Prize, and Ava Paul ’18 of Hagerstown, Maryland, was awarded the Culbertson Prize.

Mercersburg opened 2015-2016 with 441 students who hail from 31 states and the District of Columbia and are citi-zens of 42 nations of the world. A full 50 percent of the student body receives financial aid (need-based or merit). The Class of 2016 (this year’s senior class) includes 126 students.

Among numerous faculty and staff appointments this academic year are John Chepren as director of information technology services and Brian Nordyke as director of facilities.

Chepren arrives at Mercersburg after 15 years at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut, where he managed the information technol-ogy, communications, and library staff. Nordyke, who has worked at Mercersburg since 2012 (first as a project engineer and later as director of facilities operations) has more than 30 years of construction, design, and facilities experience. His wife, Danielle Nordyke, serves as the school’s director of human resources, and their daughter, Madison ’14, is a Mercersburg alumna.

In their respective new roles, Chepren succeeds Ryan Bennett, who accepted a position at Peddie School in New Jersey,

Maurer Hicks

Rutherford

Nordyke Chepren


and Nordyke succeeds Nick Sturm, who retired in August after 28 years at Mercersburg.

Emily Howley , who is director of the school’s Springboard senior cap-stone experience and has served on Mercersburg’s faculty since 2000, has been appointed the Marilyn and Robert M. Kurtz Jr. ’52 Chair for American Studies. She succeeds Karl Reisner, who held the chair from its creation in 2001 until his retirement this year. (Reisner is continuing to teach a section of AP United States History at Mercersburg.)

Howley is a Mercersburg native and the daughter of the late Sonny P a r s o n s ’ 5 9 . She was cri t i -cal ly involved in the creation of Springboard, w h i c h ( a l o n g with its capstone cousin MAPS, or Mercersburg’s

Advanced Program for Global Studies) is a graduation requirement for all current and future members of the senior class.

Established through a gift from Kurtz, who is an emeritus member of the Board of Regents and a former member of the Alumni Council, the chair is intended to encourage and build upon the cre-ative teaching of American history at Mercersburg—particularly the impor-tance of American institutions and prin-ciples. (The Kurtzes are the grandparents of three Mercersburg alumni: Colin Marsh ’01, Karis Marsh Gensch ’05, and Robby Kurtz ’09.)

Howley

Ten Mercersburg students competed in four different disciplines at RoboCup Junior 2015 in July in Hefei, China, and five of the students placed in the top 10 in the world in their categories. The line rescue team of Lexa Treml ’16, Joana Santos ’16, and Conner Caruso ’16 f inished ninth in the individual competition out of 28 international teams, while the open-league soccer team of Tim Englemann ’17 and Allen Ren ’15 placed third in the Superteam soccer competition.

“I could not be prouder of the hard work and effort that our students put into this competition,” said Academic Dean and robotics teacher Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, who accompanied the students to China along with fellow faculty members Marcus Jaiclin and Denise Dalton. “They worked long hours into the nights preparing for the next day of competition. They were positive and excited about the whole experience.”

Mercersburg students have previously competed at international RoboCup Junior events in Brazil (2014), the Netherlands (2013), Mexico (2012), Turkey (2011), Singapore (2010), and Atlanta (2007).

Treml

Santos

Caruso

Raising the(Robo)Cup


BY THE NUMBERS

115 graduates, representing 16 states, the District of Columbia, and 20 nations

Members of the graduating class matriculated at 80 different institutions

Most-popular college choices: Bucknell University (five matriculations), Boston University (four), U.S. Naval Academy (four), University of Pittsburgh (four)

Valedictorian: Alex Jackson, Greencastle, Pennsylvania

Salutatorian: Max Furigay, Arden, North Carolina

Nevin Orator: AnnaBeth Thomas, Amarillo, Texas

Class Orator: Lillian Wilkins, Winchester, Virginia

Class Marshals: Amber Heffernan, Mequon, Wisconsin; Reed Widdoes, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Commencement speaker: Derry Mason, former faculty member

Baccalaureate speaker: Jim Applebaum, retiring faculty member

“Looking ahead to our future as a class, I would emphasize the importance of passion—passion for whatever we decide to do. The future is ours—we need to be ready to make something of it.”

—Alex Jackson ’15, valedictorian

Celebrating the Class of 2015

Alex Jackson ’15, valedictorian Lillian Wilkins ’15, Class Orator

may 23, 2015MERCERSBURG’S 122nd COMMENCEMENT


“We all grew up here. Whether in four years or one, we each have shed parts of ourselves here and have

discovered new ones. And while this process is likely to continue throughout our lives, it is my hope that

everyone sharing a place on this platform with me retains something from their time at Mercersburg.”

—AnnaBeth Thomas ’15, Nevin Orator

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Class of 2015 Legacy Graduates

1. AnnaBeth Thomas, granddaughter of George Mitchell ’59. 2 Sarabeth Henne, daughter of Beth Ann Baxter ’84. 3. Leah Cook,

granddaughter of the late Bill Cook ’51. 4. Max Furigay, son of Paul Furigay ’85. 5. Maddie Nelson, daughter of Susan Hobbs Nelson ’77 and

John Nelson ’77. 6. Bennett Turner, son of Joshua Turner ’81. 7. Ali Leighty, daughter of Bruce Leighty ’77. 8. Erica Borger, daughter of Cynthia

Davenport Borger ’83. 9. Gabby Hovenden, daughter of Claudia Bayona Hovenden ’84 and Todd Hovenden ’84. 10. Alex Stoner, son of Linda

Boyer Stoner ’90. 11. Max Conrad, son of Bryan Conrad ’73. 12. Alyson Kinney, daughter of Brooke Kinney ’79. 13. Sean Egli, son of Stephanie

Plaines-Egli ’86. 14. Addison Viener, son of Adam Viener ’87.

AnnaBeth Thomas ’15, Nevin Orator Derry Mason, invited speakerMax Furigay ’15, salutatorian


CLASS OF 2015 PRIZES FOR DISTINGUISHED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

CUM LAUDE SOCIETY

Erica Borger

Seth Caplan

Rachael Ditzler

Clara Edwards

Max Furigay

Rebecca Glass

Camille Gotera

Alex Jackson

Alec Jones

Hugh Kim

Kate Kistler

Yulia Lomakina

Andy Mangham

Nathan Marincic

Linh Nguyen

Allen Ren

Emily Schoenberger

Danny Shapiro

Sam Strauss

Charles Thao

AnnaBeth Thomas

Lillian Wilkins

Newell Woodworth

Alisher Yerzhanov

PRESIDENT’S EDUCATION

AWARD FOR EDUCATIONAL

EXCELLENCE

McQuire Allen-Hall

Deji Andrew

Henry Asher

Assylzhan Bayashev

Erica Borger

Seth Caplan

Leah Cook

Rachael Ditzler

Clara Edwards

Max Furigay

Rebecca Glass

Julia Gledhill

Camille Gotera

Lauren Greenberg

Ryan Hackett

Amber Heffernan

Sam Hutabarat

Celine Hylton-Dei

Alex Jackson

Alec Jones

Hugh Kim

Kate Kistler

Emily Kopach

Ali Leighty

Yulia Lomakina

Andy Mangham

Nathan Marincic

Morgan Matsuda

Pedro Mello

Linh Nguyen

Erica Oh

Grace Piotrowski

Danyal Rashid

Allen Ren

Teddy Schoeck

Emily Schoenberger

Danny Shapiro

Raj Singh

Sam Strauss

Annabel Taylor

Charles Thao

AnnaBeth Thomas

Lillian Wilkins

Newell Woodworth

Alisher Yerzhanov

ENGLISH

The Harry F. Smith Prize

Alex Jackson

The William C. Heilman

(1896) Prize

Emily Schoenberger

The Pratt L. Tobey Prize

Andy Mangham

The Gordon M. Macartney Prize

Griffin Bosserman

The Dr. Julius Shamansky Prize

Grace Piotrowski

The Poetry Prize

Tatiana Purnell

FINE ARTS

The Head of School’s

Purchase Prize

Clara Edwards and

Andy Mangham

The Austin V. McClain ’26

Prize in Fine Arts

Shay Gallagher

The Music Director’s Prize

Kate Kistler

The Paul M. Suerken Prize

Max Furigay

The Senior Instrumental

Music Prize

Alec Jones

The Strings Music Prize

Rachael Ditzler

The Dance Director’s Award

Lillian Wilkins

The Excellence in Dance Award

Rebecca Glass and

Brianna Howland

The Choreography Prize

Grace Piotrowski

The Stony Batter Prize

Nikki DeParis and Alex Jackson

The Technical Theatre Prize

Luke Staisiunas

HISTORY

The AP Comparative

Government Prize

Yulia Lomakina

The AP European History Prize

McQuire Allen-Hall

The Elective Studies in

History Award

Josh Abele

The Colonel Wills Prize

Alex Jackson (first prize)

Seth Caplan (second prize)

CLASSICAL & MODERN

LANGUAGES

The John H. Montgomery

Prize in Advanced Level French

Celine Hylton-Dei

The H. Eugene Davis

Prize in Spanish

Max Furigay

MATHEMATICS

The Multivariable Calculus Prize

Alex Jackson

The Statistics Prize

Linh Nguyen

RELIGION

The William Paul Buchanan

(1916) Prize

Caitlin Flohr (second place)

Ugochukwu Okolie (fifth place)

SCIENCE

The Wilmarth I. Jacobs AP

Physics Prize

Alex Jackson

ATHLETICS/OUTDOOR

EDUCATION

The Leonard Plantz Award

Nathan Marincic

The Darrell Ecker Award

Teal Tasker

The Frank Hoffmeier (1896)

Scholar/Athlete Prize

Alex Jackson

may 23, 2015MERCERSBURG’S 122nd COMMENCEMENT


The Irwin Cohen ’23 Scholar/

Athlete Prize

Yulia Lomakina

The Persis F. Ross Award

Julia Gledhill

SPECIAL AWARDS

U.S. Military Academy at

West Point Certificate

Chloe Kargodorian

Brandon McCredie

Matt McPheters

U.S. Naval Academy at

Annapolis Certificate

Lauren Greenberg

Alex Olajide

T.J. Powers

Michaela White

The Community Service Award

Charles Thao

The Daughters of American

Revolution Good Citizen Award

Amber Heffernan

The Yale University Aurelian Prize

Lillian Wilkins

The Francis Shunk Downs

(1902) Prize

Teal Tasker

The William C. Fowle Award

Henry Asher

The Carol Amorocho ’81 Prize

Amber Heffernan

The Mary Jane Berger Prize

Amber Heffernan

The Tim O. Rockwell Award

Hattye Hytla

The Head of School’s Prize

Alex Jackson

14 M E R C E R S B U R G M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 M E R C E R S B U R G M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 15

1,045 WordsTwo Mercersburg architectural icons—the Edwards Room’s stained-glass windows and Lenfest Hall—figure prominently in this snapshot by Andrew Dillard ’17, which was a first-place winner in this year’s Beat the Pros student photo contest. To see all the winning photos, visit www.mercersburg.edu/beatthepros2015.

14 M E R C E R S B U R G M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 M E R C E R S B U R G M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 15


SINCE MENTAL HEALTH IS CRUCIAL to the physical state of the body in addi-tion to the mind, it makes perfect sense that Mercersburg’s counseling services department has its headquarters in the school’s Health Center—a building that, while tucked away at the quieter northeastern edge of the campus, never closes while school is in session.

Twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, students can come to the Health Center to receive care from the nurses and, during the school day, from counseling profession-als dedicated to student well-being. Susan Rahauser, the school’s director of counseling services since 1999, works alongside school counselors Kurt Dunkel and Paul Galey; all three are crucial pieces to the spirit of Mercersburg student’s body. In addition, the coun-seling department regularly brings mental-health expert Dr. Kurt Kraus to campus for consultation. Kraus works at nearby Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania as a coun-selor educator.

Like the day-to-day efforts of Health Center personnel, the work of Rahauser, Galey, and Dunkel (who joined the counseling department as a full-time staff member this fall to meet the office’s growing needs), often happens behind the scenes and out of sight. Yet much of the time they spend with individual students in an open and honest environment is crucial to those students’ outlook, personal growth, and, in some cases, a student’s ability to find resilience and continue with daily functioning. The teenage years can be challeng-ing enough without the stress of college decisions and homesickness and grade pressures and even more serious mental health issues that people—younger and older—may face.

“The students I meet are incredibly interesting people,” says Rahauser, who is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a credentialed Nationally Certified Counselor. “They’re sensitive, intelligent, and creative, and may have completely different back-grounds from their peers. But regardless of where they’re from—and at Mercersburg that can be Asia or Africa or Texas or California or close by—they all are still just teenagers, and many of them have similar concerns. ‘Who am I in this world? Will people like me? Am I smart enough to handle this coursework and will I make my family proud? What if I get lonely or I don’t know what to do with my future?’ These are questions and concerns that cross borders and boundaries.”

MERCERSBURG’S COUNSELING SERVICES DEPARTMENT OFFERS AN OPEN DOOR

The spirit of MERCERSBURG

By Lee Owen

Student Counsel

Meet the CounselorsSusan Rahauser, LPC, NCCB.A., Ohio Wesleyan UniversityM.S., Shippensburg University

Kurt Dunkel, LPC, NCCB.A., Shippensburg UniversityM.S., Shippensburg University

The Rev. Paul GaleyB.A., Westfield State CollegeM.T.S., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary


“What we do as counselors can be pretty intense work,” says Galey, who like Rahauser was an early member of Mercersburg’s counseling staff. “When you can help a student think differently about areas of his or her life and learn to deal with them in a health-ier way, it’s very fulfilling.”

Galey began as a counselor when Mercersburg’s counseling staff was created by then-Associate Head of School Jackie Powell in the early 1990s; Rahauser joined the staff soon after as it contin-ued under the leadership of Powell’s successor, longtime Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford. Shortly after Douglas Hale arrived as head of school, the office was formally organized into the Department of Student Counseling Services in 1999.

Galey and his wife, Marcia (an administrative assistant in the Health Center), share the experience of being Mercersburg parents as well as employees, as do Rahauser and her husband, Tom ’74, who is the school’s dean of students and has been a faculty member since 1978. Michael ’00 and Bethany Galey ’02 were the first stu-dents from the aforementioned families to enroll, followed by Eric ’05, Tim ’07, and Laura Rahauser ’12.

Students become connected to Mercersburg’s counseling department in several ways. The most common route is for a student to refer himself or herself by contacting one of the coun-selors directly, many times by email, though the department also learns of students’ desire or need to work with a counselor through

contact from advisers, faculty members, the school’s Health Center personnel, peers, or parents or family members. (In all, nearly 25 percent of the student body each year has contact with a member of the department, for a multitude of reasons.)

“When a child is open to creating a therapeutic relationship with an adult and to reveal vulnerabilities and talk about them, that can truly open a door for growth,” says Rahauser, who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master’s in mental health counseling from Shippensburg University, which is one of a few CACREP (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) accredited schools for coun-selor education. “Sometimes it is not easy for adolescents to see their growth areas, because they’re in a stage of life where they want to be independent. Dropping back and choosing to be vulnerable at a time when they’re trying not to be vulnerable is a particular challenge. Kurt, Paul, and I all feel privileged and impressed when students open up and share their vulnerabilities.”

Rahauser and Galey have worked with Mercersburg students in the classroom as well as in counseling sessions; Rahauser has taught human development, while Galey continues to teach a full slate of courses in the religion department in addition to his work with students as a counselor. Both are past recipients of the school’s Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies.

L–R: Susan Rahauser, Kurt Dunkel, Paul Galey


Galey is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, with which Mercersburg has historical ties. He served as the Academy’s school minister from 1990 to 2000 and again in 2003. Galey also spent 14 years as head of the school’s religion department; in that span, the department added courses examining both Western and non-Western religious traditions, as well as ethics, to offerings that already included academic courses in the Old Testament, New Testament, and world religions. The current Nature & Meaning of the Universe course was originally created by Galey and

longtime science teacher Brent Gift. Larry Jones was among those to teach the course after he returned to Mercersburg as school minister in 2006, and new school minister Will Whitmore is teaching the course fol-lowing Jones’ summer 2015 retirement.

Like Rahauser, Dunkel is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a credentialed Nationally Certified Counselor. “I see stu-dents here who are supported, challenged, nurtured, and given the right ingredients for growth,” says Dunkel, who was an All-America javelin thrower at Shippensburg (where he earned a bachelor’s degree as well

as a master’s in counseling). “That mindset starts at the top, and I see it reflected in the culture of the Academy.”

Over the past decade (or longer), the school’s counselors say they have noticed an uptick in the amount of stress and anxiety on the part of adolescents and adults (not just on campus, but in the wider world).

“There are so many stressors out there today for which there don’t seem to be easy comforts—in fact, more and more research scientists are pointing to the importance of learning to develop an ability to tolerate dis-tress and self-regulate emotions, especially at a young age,” Rahauser says. “The faster-paced, instant-gratification world we live in makes acquiring those skills challenging. We value the time we can spend working with students on identifying emotions and sitting mindfully with those difficult feel-ings. What can be helpful for young people to learn is to develop a way to self-soothe; to ride the wave of discomfort and know that discomfort will pass. Students can learn they are more capable of managing emo-tional turmoil than they think.”

“Adolescents in our current world are unique from their predecessors in some significant ways,” Dunkel says. “They are very interpersonal in nature, dependent on technology, open in their relationships, and they crave life and relational flexibil-ity. While these traits can be very positive,

Paul Galey officiating the 2009 wedding of Jenn Flanagan Bradley ’99 and Tom Bradley


they can also lend themselves to having a busy, anxious, and cluttered mind. I do think Mercersburg’s geographic setting and the commitment to wellness and personal growth we have as an institution can help our students manage these challenges in a healthy way.”

“There’s a really intimate connection between the body and mind,” Galey says. “Students may arrive at the Health Center with what can be called somatic com-plaints—things like stomachache or head-ache that in some cases can actually be more of a product of anxiety than other physical conditions. Our nurses have been trained to look for situations like these and can refer students to us for counseling if needed—in some cases, before the student even leaves the Health Center.”

When a s tudent comple te s h i s or her Mercersburg exper ience a t Commencement, it’s a special time—and a fulfilling one for the students and those who have helped them along the way.

“I can get choked up at the moments when students graduate and receive their diplomas and you know just how hard this or that student has worked to get through difficult days and emotions—especially in the cases of students with whom I’ve worked,” Rahauser says. “It’s a great feeling and so, so wonderful to have shared in the journey.”

The Spirit of Excellent TeachingEach year, two members of the Mercersburg faculty are saluted with teaching awards that recognize significant achievement and excellence in working with students. The 2015–2016 recipient of the Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies is Matt Maurer, and the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award honoree for this year is Renee Hicks.

The Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies was established by Andrew Ammerman ’68 and his mother, the late Josephine Ammerman, while the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award was established by Allen Zern ’61 and his wife, Judith. Ammerman is an emeritus member of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents, while Zern has served on the Board since 1995 and as a vice presi-dent of the organization since 2001.

Maurer joined the Mercersburg faculty in 2001. He is a member of the English depart-ment, directs Stony Batter Players theatre productions, and serves as a duty dean on campus. Hicks teaches science and has served as an adviser to the Mercersburg News and the Photography Club, as head coach of girls’ basketball and diving, and as an assistant track & field coach.

Following are the names of current Mercersburg faculty members who are past recipi-ents of one of the aforementioned teaching awards:

Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies

Paul Galey (2004–2005)Jim Brinson (2005–2006)Susan Rahauser (2006–2007) Trini Hoffman (2010–2011)Emily Howley (2011–2012)David Bell (2012–2013)Denise Dalton (2013–2014)Hope San Filippo (2014–2015)

Zern Excellence in Teaching Award

Frank Rutherford ’70 (1999–2000)Sue Malone (2000–2001)Dave Holzwarth ’78 (2001–2002)Ray Larson (2002–2003)Julia Stojak Maurer ’90 (2003–2004)Mike Sweeney (2004–2005)Jason Bershatsky (2005–2006)Jeff Cohen (2007–2008)Heather Prescott (2008–2009)Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (2010–2011)Peter Kempe (2011–2012)Phil Kantaros (2012–2013)Amy Kelley (2013–2014)Nikki Walker (2014–2015)

The Rahauser family: Tim ’07, Susan, Tom ’74, Laura ’12, Eric ’05


Curran (left) with fellow Mercersburg coaching legend Fred Kuhn


JIMMY CURRAN WAS, FOR 51 YEARS, the athletics (track & field) coach at Mercersburg Academy. When he retired in 1961 he did so as one of the most successful coaches in the sport in U.S. history. His achievements did not go unrecognized; the school would later honor his wonderful sporting legacy by naming its track after him, while his former students continue to speak about him with a fondness that is usually reserved for family members.

Jimmy was born in the Scottish border town of Galashiels in 1880, small in stature but with an unstoppable desire to beat everyone at everything. Returning home after wartime adventures on the South African veldt, he put his lethal mix of speed and stamina to good use, winning amateur middle distance races (usually half-miles). His success saw him turn professional, and he eventually made his way to “Ameriky” to test himself against the best the New World had to offer. He ran against athletes good and great, but perhaps his finest moment came when, as part of a four-man relay team, he took on Alfie Shrubb, arguably the greatest distance runner in history. Shrubb couldn’t shake Jimmy.

In 1910 he was offered the coaching job at Mercersburg, after learning the trade under Penn State’s legendary coach Mike Murphy. While his skills as a coach undoubt-edly played a part in the success of his team, in his first year he was blessed with one of the greatest high-school athletics teams in history, a team including Olympic gold medal-ist Ted Meredith (1912) and Albert Robinson (1914). But while winning was important, Jimmy put as much, if not more, stock in building character in his athletes. The close proximity of his birthplace with that of Samuel Smiles, author of Character, may be little more than coincidence, but what he was imprinting on his boys was something very akin to Smiles’ teachings:

Character… exemplifies human nature in its highest forms, for it exhibits man at his best.

He was creating boys who would, when they left Mercersburg, understand the ethos of hard work, harbor an inherent desire to succeed, and strive for greatness. Educational attainment and school rules trumped athletic achievement, and Jimmy was willing to sacrifice the success of the team to ensure these fundamental principles were upheld. If any of the boys thought their athletic abilities provided immunity from punishment, then a hard lesson awaited them. In late 1913, Robinson—who, many years later, would be described by Jimmy as the fastest boy ever to run at Mercersburg—stayed out beyond the school curfew. He was, euphemistically, “excused from further study.” He was joined by two other rule breakers; one was Harry Goelitz (1914), a future Olympic decathlete. So in one fell swoop, Jimmy had lost three stars.

Jimmy Curran: A HALF-CENTURY OF MERCERSBURG SPIRIT

By Craig Statham


Englishman”—questioned whether golfers were indeed real ath-letes. And as with every challenge in his life Jimmy grabbed it with both hands. He intended to play and play until he could play no longer.

By noon the crowd was growing, and by dinnertime had reached into the hundreds. The story goes that, fearing that the 58-year-old would not last much longer, two doctors and an undertaker were amongst the throng.

As night closed in, and he passed 285 holes, one onlooker urged him to reach 300. Jimmy looked at the man and disparagingly replied, “You’re only doing the talking, it’s me that’s doing the walking.” He was looking for an opportune moment to end his day’s work, having done what he had set out to do many hours earlier. That moment came at around 7:30 p.m., on the 290th hole, with a 25-foot chip-in. He’d had enough. He picked up his ball from the hole, and headed for home.

In the lighthearted way that many still remember, Jimmy took a self-deprecating swipe at the (imaginary) tight-fistedness of the Scots, noting the day had been worth it as there had been no green fees, and that he had finished with five golf balls—two more than he had started with.

Jimmy was a larger-than-life character and a veritable legend. So much so that after his death, when the new Mercersburg track was being laid, it was named in Jimmy’s honor. And a painting of him was placed in the gymnasium. But perhaps even more telling was the letter that arrived for Jimmy’s widow at the time of his funeral in 1963. It had been sent by a former high jumper Jimmy had trained nearly 40 years before. At the time he was simply known as “Jim,” or sometimes “Elmer”; later generations would know him as Jimmy Stewart ’28. One of the most famous actors in the world felt he needed to take time out of his schedule to remember the man who had had such an impact on his life—Coach Curran.

Craig Statham lives in Newbattle, Scotland, just 25 miles from Jimmy Curran’s hometown of Galashiels. With the kind support of Jimmy’s family, he is writing a biography of the great man. In order to do this, he needs to speak to those who knew Jimmy. No story is too small. To contact Craig, email [email protected].

Yet Jimmy was not a harsh enforcer who sat back and enjoyed an easy life while his boys adhered to strict rules. He led by example. To test his own character he would set vast challenges for himself. After a medical operation, he walked 17 miles to Hagerstown. Then he turned right around and walked most of the way back (the return journey shortened only by the oncoming darkness). But the biggest, and most remembered, challenge took place in August 1938.

Most of the residents of Mercersburg had not yet risen from their slumbers as Jimmy walked towards the Academy’s five-hole golf course with its rolled gravel greens. On any other given day he could be seen around campus wearing a tartan sports jacket, topped off with a tammy (and, if he was feeling particularly patri-otic, a kilt). But on this particular day he sported slacks, a shirt, and a sun hat for protection. He carried with him two sandwiches, a gallon jug of water and ice, a three-iron, a putter, and three balls. The sun was only breaking the horizon as he walked up to the first tee. He lined up his shot, swung, and peered into the morning sky as the ball sped away from him.

The gauntlet had been thrown down the previous evening at Jack McLaughlin’s Drug Store in Mercersburg. It was said the conversation came around to Scotland’s place as the home of golf. Someone—it could have been “an Irishman or, worse, an


IN HER FIRST YEAR as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Alexis Kemmler Simpson ’93 found herself already staring squarely into the realities of life in politics.

She’d like to be discussing healthy living and sustainable energy. She would prefer to introduce legislation to benefit New Hampshire’s organic farmers. Instead, she and the rest of the 400-member House are wrapped up in budget issues.

It’s a bit of a rude welcome for Simpson, who won election in November 2014 to a two-year term in the House. But it’s something she is prepared to deal with if it means she can advance these core values in the state capital of Concord.

Certainly nobody can claim she is in it for the money. Thanks to New Hampshire’s “citizen legislature,” members of the General Court in New Hampshire are paid only $200 per term plus mileage costs.

Instead, Simpson is taking a lead role in her county and state because she feels she is the right person for the job. The Northeast Organic Farming Association agrees; the orga-nization named Simpson its “Person of the Year” in 2014 for her tireless work advancing the campaign to label genetically engineered foods.

Her colleague, State Representative Maureen Mann, also shares the sentiment, calling Simpson “the hardest-working person I have met in recent memory.” In order to make an impact in the Granite State, however, Simpson first had to build a rock-solid foundation on two tenets in her life—education and religion.

Simpson’s earliest gleaning of the future that awaited her in New Hampshire came in the classroom of Mercersburg faculty member (and future school minister) Paul Galey, where she learned about the New Testament from a slightly different perspective than she had gained in her years growing up in the United Methodist Church in New Jersey and rural Pennsylvania.

“It was fun to think academically about the Bible,” Simpson said.The next glimpse was a student committee Simpson sat on her senior year, which was

charged with bringing the Mercersburg honor code up to date so that it respected the tra-dition and humanity of all religions represented at the school. She gave a speech to her classmates that year referencing the values of a diverse community.

Kitchen-Table IssuesSHAPED BY HER VALUES AND BACKGROUND, ALEXIS KEMMLER SIMPSON REPRESENTS HER COMMUNITY

By Shannon Gazze


Simpson’s path from Mercersburg led south to the University of Virginia, where she studied physics, then on to divinity school at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. At Emory, she also worked as a chaplain, and her focus in ministry was centered on diversity and community. She led the academic discus-sion of interreligious dialogue and catered to the inter-national community at Emory.

When Simpson moved to New Hampshire with her husband, Tom, it was a return to her past in a few impor-tant ways. First, she was back in the Northeast, but the echoes of Mercersburg were rekindled as well when she and Tom took up residence on campus at Phillips Exeter Academy, where Tom currently teaches religion.

Simpson has two children of her own, Blake and Will, but living in a boarding environment means her extended family of “Exonians”—what Exeter calls its students and alumni—grows significantly each year.

“It’s a crucial time in young people’s lives,” Simpson said. “I try to act as a companion, but also try to instill the importance of prep school in building the character and educational background that will serve a lifetime.”

Simpson speaks from experience. Her father, Bruce Kemmler ’68, graduated from Mercersburg, as did her brother (Bo Kemmler ’96) and her stepbrother (Ben Clousher ’97). In Simpson’s own life, the character and practices she nurtured at Mercersburg have become second nature to her. It’s natural in her environment to show concern for the health of the students, particularly as it relates to the food they put in their bodies every day.

She has worked at Phillips Exeter with the wellness

Alexis Kemmler Simpson ’93


program, the food-service program, and the community to cham-pion farm-to-school initiatives, so that healthy eating has become an integral part of the students’ educations.

As part of the state legislature, she continues that quest. “Everybody eats,” Simpson says. “We all play different roles in the food system.”

One unique role Simpson cites is the ability of the consumer to drive demand by eating more fresh foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. On the state level, Simpson is working to promote labeling so that families can make informed decisions about what they eat. She also pushes programs that will lead to better organic farming infrastructure and an easier path for local farmers to share their products, including locally grown poultry and even bison.

In many ways, her work with organic food is what led Simpson to Concord, but her love of education continues to pay dividends for her and her community as well. Last fall, Simpson decided to attend a debate between two famous candidates for one of New Hampshire seats in the U.S. Senate, Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen. Simpson tapped two students to come along with her, one a supporter of Shaheen and the Democratic Party and one

who leaned more toward Brown and Republican political views. Both students got to see democracy in action thanks to Simpson.

In May, Simpson participated in a town-hall type discussion with Hillary Clinton as the former First Lady, senator, and secretary of state dropped into a local Exeter bookstore while on the presiden-tial campaign trail. Simpson has been a Clinton supporter dating back at least to her September 1995 speech on women’s rights to a United Nations assembly in Beijing, China.

At the May Q&A session, Simpson got to ask Clinton what steps she would take as president to protect agriculture and farmers. In July, Simpson penned a letter to the editor endorsing Clinton for president and highlighting Clinton’s focus on clean energy.

“I’ve always been environmentally conscious and that was com-pounded when I had kids,” Simpson says.

It’s clear that deeply rooted values fuel Simpson’s foray into the political battle. She sees herself as a voice for not only her constit-uents, but for the ideals of sustainable agriculture, healthy living, community cooperation, and family values.

As she says, “That’s what democracy should be about.”

“ Everybody eats. We all play different roles in the food system.”

—ALEXIS KEMMLER SIMPSON ’93


WHEN HE WAS GROWING UP, Tim Hitchens ’99 says that he wasn’t completely aware that social work was a “real job.” Looking back, he says, he finds that kind of strange, “because both of my parents were social workers in the 1970s. I thought that doing social work was a part-time thing or something you could do a little bit of—something akin to being a camp counselor, but year-round.”

Today, Hitchens is administrator of the Hotline After Hours for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services’ Children and Youth Division, which he describes as “the very front end of child protective services.”

Hitchens grew up with a mindset of service in nearby Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, just up the road from Mercersburg.

“Our neighborhood was a tight-knit place where the saying ‘It takes a village’ was very real,” he says. “Community-building was important. I was in the Boy Scouts, and we did a lot of service projects. My parents helped us to take those pretty seriously and to get involved with the Salvation Army or collecting food around the holidays. There are service elements required in Boy Scouts, and we were a big troop, so there were constantly service projects going on. Our troop was closely linked with our church, Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, so a lot of the young people were doing mission trips or local proj-ects. There was a lot of value in that. Serving others feels good, helps keep you humble, and connects you with people who might be pretty different from yourself.”

As a day student for the first three years of his Mercersburg career (before he moved onto campus as a senior), Hitchens lived at home and thus was able to stay more involved in projects to assist his local Chambersburg community.

“I was part of a breakfast group for a lot of migrant farm workers,” he says. “We cooked breakfast for kids of the workers and watched them on Saturdays, and we ran some summer camps for the same population.” While he adds that his senior year living on campus at Mercersburg was “all books,” he still found time to play soccer, participate in TREK (the precursor to Mercersburg Outdoor Education, which was run by Jim Malone) and serve in Lighthouse, a student Christian fellowship group on campus.

By the time he graduated from Mercersburg and went off to Skidmore College, serving others had truly become a passion for Hitchens. He was then presented with an opportunity to turn that passion into a career—or, at first, into a field of study.

Helping HandsFOR TIM HITCHENS, SOCIAL WORK IS A PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL WAY OF LIFE

By Shelton Clark


Hitchens harvesting a garden he planted on a vacant lot next to his Philadelphia home


“ I am guided in large part by my faith, but there’s a spirit of community, the spirit of a village, that is universal regardless of your background or who you are.”

—TIM HITCHENS ’99

“During my sophomore year, I had to declare a major and I didn’t know what to do,” he remembers. “My adviser asked if I’d taken any classes I really enjoyed. There was one that stood out that was in a social work-related field, and she asked me if I’d be interested in majoring in social work. And I said, ‘To be clear, social work is basically helping people, and you’re telling me I can major in helping people?’,” Hitchens recalls with a laugh. “She said, ‘It may not pay a lot, but it is real.’ So that’s what I decided to do. Until that point, I was looking at youth ministry. So I declared my major and completed my bachelor’s degree in social work.”

During his senior year in college, Hitchens lived in a homeless shelter while interning in the community-outreach department of a rescue mission in Schenectady, New York, which is outside of Albany and about 25 miles from the Skidmore campus in Saratoga Springs. He moved to Philadelphia after graduation and started looking for a job in social work. Hitchens landed a position with a local church helping to plan Sunday school curriculum, and decided to earn a master’s in social work from Temple University.

“Having a job in social work is great,” Hitchens says. “It pays the bills, and I’m able to serve the community and help keep kids safe. But I also spend a lot of my free time doing social work; I taught social work at Temple for a couple of years, then left that to focus on my own neighborhood and building the community there in Philadelphia.”

Hitchens and his wife, Anna, live in Philadelphia’s Hawthorne neighborhood, between Center City and South Philadelphia. He describes the area as “very diverse, but not entirely well integrated.”

“In the early part of the 20th century, Hawthorne was predomi-nately a working-class, African-American neighborhood,” he says.

“In the 1950s, the city built high-rise public housing projects. There were three towers there that fell into complete disrepair, and the neighborhood was overrun with crime and poverty. Then they tore those projects down in 1999 to build mixed-income housing, so some of it’s still public housing, some of it is subsidized but privately run, and some of it was sold at market rate. Because of its proxim-ity to Center City and some other really nice neighborhoods, a lot of people with money have come in and taken over what was left of the vacant land and dilapidated housing and started rebuilding these really nice houses.

“As gentrification goes, people started moving in with more money, and there are divisions that fall along the lines of race, income, and time in the neighborhood. My mission is to help bridge that divide. We try to do things to bring people together, and it’s really a test of my social-work skills to do that in the neighborhood.

“There’s a very religious element to social work—and I don’t say “religious” as a contrast to “spiritual”—but the structure of my church and my neighborhood growing up taught Christianity,” he continues. “There’s so much from the Bible that I take as a guide, in the way that Jesus lived, the spirit of giving, and in the way Paul talked about his friends and communities in his letters. At the end of Jesus’ life, He leaves His spirit to carry on the work, and I believe that spirit—whether you take it as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit or the spirit of giving—underpins a lot of what I do. I am guided in large part by my faith, but there’s a spirit of commu-nity, the spirit of a village, that is universal regardless of your back-ground or who you are.”


JIM APPLEBAUM RODE A BUS every day to high school with Simon and Garfunkel, interviewed Christian Dior, worked on a project alongside Danny Kaye, had a career in advertising and public relations somewhat reminiscent of Mad Men, and watched his two children appear on a fledgling public-television show called Sesame Street.

This, mind you, was all before his teaching career began.He may not be the Most Interesting Man In the World (with capital letters, made

famous by a popular present-day television ad campaign), but in his 17 years in campus English classrooms and on dormitory-duty nights, leading student groups on international trips, and in countless Mercersburg News or Blue Review meetings, Factet rehearsals, and more, Applebaum has come to embody the Mercersburg faculty version of this larger-than-life persona.

Not surprisingly, he’s had a heck of a lot of fun along the way.“It has been enormously rewarding to be

here,” says Applebaum, who was one of three longtime faculty members to retire following the close of the 2014–2015 academic year. “I am absolutely tickled when graduates and parents contact me and talk about what they’re doing. They want me to know because I played a part in their experience. To me, that’s abso-lutely terrific. I think that teenagers—espe-cially the kind of teenagers we get to know here—are fascinating creatures.”

In 1998, Applebaum’s wife, Laurie Mufson, was hired as Mercersburg’s director of theatre. At the same time, Marilyn Larson (who then was Mercersburg’s academic dean) and Joel Chace (then head of the English department) took a look at Applebaum’s varied background and credentials (which included work as a New York reporter and a master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University) and offered him a position teaching English.

JAMES APPLEBAUM:

A True CharacterBy Lee Owen


“Living in the dorm was a great way to be 100 percent a part of the school,” he says. “You really got close to the kids. Sure, there were times when it could be burdensome—my office opened up to the hall and if one if the kids was having an issue and needed something, he’d knock on the door, some-times very late at night—but that’s part of your job. As Laurie and I look back at that, I think we really relished that time in the dorm. There were some wacky moments and wacky kids, and that’s the way it is.”

Long before Mercersburg, Applebaum attended Forest Hills High School in the New York City borough of Queens (with the aforementioned Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel). He earned an undergraduate degree “with a great, full-blown liberal-arts education” at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, before returning home to New York after grad-

uation. His next stops included a stint in a department-store executive-training program, work as a reporter for a couple of daily newspapers, service in the U.S. Army Reserve as a public information NCO at Fort Indiantown Gap in central Pennsylvania, and a position working with large consumer-goods firms for the ad agency Benton & Bowles (where he worked with Procter & Gamble, Vicks Chemical, General Foods, and on a campaign for UNICEF, which is how he met Kaye—“a delightful experience. My parents had grown up in the Danny Kaye era.”)

About the same time, Sesame Street fea-tured his daughter, Julia, and son, Kenneth. “If you’re a ‘backstage parent,’ and I tended to be from time to time, it’s interesting to watch the show develop from the back instead of the front,” Applebaum says. “It was a lot of fun seeing them do the bits, especially with the Muppets. My daughter’s first bit was with Kermit the Frog. I even got to know several of the Muppeteers, includ-ing Carroll Spinney, who played Big Bird and taught me how to snore like Big Bird.”

In the mid-1970s, Applebaum made a move south to Washington, D.C. (though it wasn’t an actual “move” at first; Applebaum was a frequent passenger on the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle between New York and Washington, where he would often chat on board with then New York Senator Jacob

“It was one of those moments where you take a leap,” remembers Applebaum, who was 58 years old in his first year at Mercersburg. “And it was terrific. I loved sitting around a Harkness table with all these kids. I remember a [Level] 20 Honors Power, Justice, and Authority class; all I had to do was throw out some questions or try to steer the conversation in a certain direction, and the kids just gobbled it up. There were some characters in that class—including Molly Malone ’01, Ben Larson ’01, Andrea Sancho ’01, Logan Chace ’01, and even the famous Emory Mort ’01, who later joined our faculty. I’ve been really lucky to be able to teach kids like that.”

In their third year at Mercersburg, Applebaum and Mufson moved into Fowle Hall, where they would spend 10 years as dormitory deans (along with fellow faculty members Mark and Sandie Cubit).

Applebaum and wife Laurie Mufson in 2002 with students in Fowle Hall


Javits). He worked as a consultant in what he termed “informa-tion dissemination” for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Energy. Eventually, his first mar-riage fell apart and he made a complete transition to the nation’s capital.

As a full-time D.C. resident, Applebaum worked with the National Institutes of Health and the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America. In 1982, he met Mufson, who was completing the master of fine arts program at George Washington University, at a singles’ discussion. They married in 1984, the same year Mufson created the theatre program at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland (where she worked until making the move to Mercersburg in 1998).

If you had told the 25- or 35-year-old Applebaum that he’d finish his professional career as a teacher at a boarding school, the younger Jim (according to present-day Jim) might have described the possi-bility as “improbable.” But life often has a funny way of working out.

“The real important ingredient in teaching is that you have to like the kids, and they can sense that pretty quickly,” says Applebaum, who in retirement has returned to the classroom—as a student, at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins University. “Learning has to be made enjoyable.”

Nick Sturm, Larry Jones, and Jim Applebaum after a salute from the Board of Regents in May

About Jim Applebaum• Earned a bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee

University and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University

• Taught English at Mercersburg from 1998 to 2015; also spent 10 years as co-dormitory dean of Fowle Hall

• Served as an adviser to the Mercersburg News and Blue Review, as well as a Writing Center faculty member

• Was a trip leader/co-leader for Mercersburg student trips that visited Russia, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria

• Received the 2009–2010 Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies

• Served as Baccalaureate speaker for the Class of 2008 and Class of 2015

• Married to Laurie Mufson—Mercersburg’s director of theatre, director of the Burgin Center for the Arts, and holder of the school’s Palmer Chair for the Fine Arts

In addition to the three retiring faculty whose stories appear in this issue of Mercersburg, Nick Sturm, director of the physical plant and a 28-year veteran of the school’s buildings and grounds staff, also announced his retirement over the summer.

“Nick’s energy, his resourcefulness in finding creative solutions, and his determination to see projects to completion have led to a remarkable record here,” says Avery Cook, the school’s head of grounds and Sturm’s longtime colleague.

Sturm’s wife, Diane, spent 20 years as a staff member in the school’s human resources department. Their son, Joseph ’07, is a Mercersburg graduate.

Celebrating Nick Sturm

161061_textC.indd 31 12/4/15 9:06 AM


IT SEEMS FITTING that Karl Reisner’s first at-bat as a high-school varsity baseball player took place at Mercersburg.

And since no coach has won more baseball games in Mercersburg history (356) than Reisner, who officially retired after 44 years as a history faculty member and coach at the close of the 2014–2015 school year, it’s perhaps even more fitting that the Blue Storm sent him off victorious in his final season—and in each of the four preceding it—by earning Mid-Atlantic Prep League championships.

“It was a special year, and everybody likes to go out a winner,” says Reisner, whose 2015 team had just two returning varsity letterwinners and hit three home runs the entire season, but clawed its way to a 19–6 record to claim conference crowns in the MAPL and the Independent-Parochial School League. “We’ve always tried to install a belief in our kids that if you play the game properly, you can win. The kids really loved the game and they worked hard at it.”

All told, Reisner leaves the dugout with 16 conference championships and four Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championships. But luckily for Mercersburg’s student body, faculty, and community, Reisner hasn’t completely left the classroom just yet. He is continuing to teach one section of AP United States History in Lenfest Hall, which was completed 22 years after he joined the Mercersburg faculty in 1971.

“Being able to continue teaching a class has been wonderful,” Reisner says. “It has kept me intellectually stimulated and connected to the school, and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience.”

****

Before his first varsity baseball at-bat (nearly 50 years ago, in the spring of 1966), Reisner and his teammates from The Hill School were sent to take batting practice on what is now a football practice field across the road from the baseball diamond. The field sits next to several faculty homes, and one of Reisner’s swings sent a ball through a window of the house that today is home to Reisner’s history department colleague Emily Howley and her family. “They quickly stopped sending other teams there to take batting prac-tice,” Reisner quips.

Reisner nearly ended up at Mercersburg as a student; his grandfather, also named Karl L. Reisner, was a member of the Academy’s Class of 1905 and had attended as a postgraduate. The younger Reisner learned when he was in eighth grade that his parents

By Lee Owen

KARL REISNER:

Going Out on Top

About Karl Reisner• Served on the faculty from 1971 to 2015

(is continuing to teach a section of AP United States History this year)

• Spent 24 years as head coach of Mercersburg’s varsity baseball team, winning 16 conference championships and four state titles; also coached wres-tling, football, and girls’ basketball

• Held the Archibald Rutledge Chair from 1992 to 2001 and the Marilyn and Robert M. Kurtz ’52 Chair for American Studies from 2001 to 2015

• Named the 2015 [Chambersburg] Public Opinion Area Baseball Coach of the Year and the Independent-Parochial School League’s inaugural Excellence in Coaching Award recipient

• He and his wife, Stephanie, are the parents of Mercersburg alumni Kristopher ’94 and Amanda ’97


didn’t think he was being challenged in the classroom or working hard enough in the local school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “I was accepted here, and I didn’t even know I had applied,” Reisner says. “It turned out my parents had applied to prep schools for me. When I had my interview at Hill, I was asked, ‘Do you want to come to prep school?’ I said, ‘No, I’d like to stay where I am.’ My father interrupted—very nicely—and said, ‘Well, he’s going. If he’s not accepted here, I have his acceptance at Mercersburg waiting.’ So off I went.”

After graduating from Hill, where he played football and baseball and wrestled, Reisner enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned All-America honors while captaining the Quakers’ sprint football team. He had his sights set on law school, but the summer following his Penn graduation, “for some reason, I didn’t want to be a lawyer anymore—what I wanted to do was teach and coach,” Reisner remembers.

A call came from Mercersburg late in the summer of 1971 invit-ing Reisner to campus for an interview; he had filled out paper-work for different placement agencies while enrolling in a master’s program in education at Lehigh University. “I assumed it was for the following year,” he says. “And then I was here for at least an hour before I realized that they were talking about me starting classes the next week—in three days.”

It turned out Mercersburg had to fill several last-minute faculty vacancies that year, following a more-successful-than-anticipated summer on the admission front. The same push that netted Reisner also brought in science teacher Brent Gift, who spent more than 40 years on the faculty before retiring in 2014. Reisner and Gift will forever be linked in Mercersburg lore, owing not just to their decades of service together (which have spanned the careers of fully half of the headmasters in Mercersburg’s history as a preparatory school—William Fowle, Walter Burgin ’53, and Douglas Hale)

Reisner being honored at a May 2015 ceremony


but their success together on the baseball field; Gift was Reisner’s right-hand man at the helm of the Blue Storm baseball program for many of its classic moments from 1991 to 2014.

“Brent was hired a week before me,” Reisner remembers. “In my case, I was hired the very last weekend before school started. So in my case it was pure accident. I wasn’t even looking for a job; I was going to look the next year after taking courses [in graduate school] to prepare myself to be a teacher.

“I was amazed I got here in the first place. I never would have believed that I’d be here 44 years and my entire career—especially since this is a rural area, and I had never lived anywhere but cities before. But life takes some strange twists and turns sometimes.”

Reisner is fond of saying that no two years in a school are ever the same. As he knows from experience, this can even be the case when one stays 44 years—and counting—in a single place.

“The kids are different every year,” he explains. “The focus may be similar, but the perspective changes a bit here and there. Every team you coach is different; each has a different makeup. The mate-rial in a class may be similar, but what a specific group of kids are

“ This place means everything to me. My faith, my family, and my job have been the three things that are central to my life.”

—KARL REISNER

Reisner as James Buchanan


of it too. That was a highlight moment for me, without question.”As far as classroom experiences go, Reisner offers a term course

he taught in American political tradition as a high point for him. “We studied the political values of a number of famous Americans,” he says, “including some who had been president and some who had not, like John C. Calhoun. I loved that course. It was very concept-based and rather deep. And when I taught English, I put together a course called Women in American Literature; we read six or seven novels which all featured female protagonists or were written by women. I really enjoyed that too.”

There have been numerous honors bestowed on Reisner, and even with his legendary success as a coach, not all of the laurels have come in athletics. He held the school’s Archibald Rutledge Chair from 1992 until 2001, when he was named the inaugu-ral recipient of the Marilyn and Robert M. Kurtz ’52 Chair for American Studies.

“People often speak of memorable coaches and teachers, and Karl Reisner is the epitome of the type of guide and mentor who inspires those memories,” says Rick Hendrickson, Mercersburg’s director of athletics and a member of the faculty since 1993. “He has students who remember him just as fondly as former players, and he has colleagues who have gained so much from his leader-ship. We have been fortunate to benefit from Karl’s dedication and commitment to excellence in the classroom and on the ball field for all of these years.”

Reisner also had somewhat of a memorable brush with local fame. To celebrate the 200th birthday of James Buchanan, who was born near Mercersburg and is the only Pennsylvanian to serve as president of the United States, Reisner adopted the persona of Buchanan on stage in old Boone Hall for a well-received public event. His initial performance led to approximately 400 events

good at and not good at can be very different. One year you may have a very oral class, and the next year you have to pry answers out of the group you have. It’s what makes it challenging. I’ve never been one who wakes up in the morning and dreads going to work.”

Many of the highlights of Reisner’s career stand out in clear fashion, especially in the coaching arena. There was the baseball team’s first state championship, in 1998. There was the 1979 wres-tling team’s undefeated season in dual meets and its third-place finish at the National Prep Tournament. More recently, there’s the last five MAPL baseball titles (which are part of an astounding stretch of nine MAPL crowns in an 11-year span).

In a different vein, Reisner nominates the senior prank pulled off by the Class of 1976 as one of his favorite moments. “They did a Mission: Impossible bit, and it was really well done and really hilarious,” he remembers. We used to have faculty meetings on Tuesday mornings in the Jane Ford Lounge [of Ford Hall]; back then, the entire faculty could fit in there. So we’re in there one morning, and we didn’t know that all the windows had been nailed shut the night before.

“All of a sudden, the doors were closed, chained, and locked. A cassette tape came sliding under the door to Mr. Burgin. The recording began, ‘Good morning, Mr. Burgin,’ just like the show. The seniors had thought of everything. They put lunches in the credenzas, and there were a bunch of us that played poker, and so they had a deck of cards and chips for us. We may not have gotten out of there if not for one of the swimmers telling the swim coach [Pat Barry] that it was going to happen. He came with a screw-driver, and we pried open the windows and got out. Nothing was broken; it was so well conceived. Tony Furnary ’76 was the presi-dent of the class and was the voice on the tape, and Denise Dupré ’76, who later became president of the Board of Regents, was part


Mercersburg Elementary School for a number of years, and Karl Reisner has been heavily involved with many local organizations, including the Rotary Club of Mercersburg, the Tuscarora Jaycees, the Mercersburg Historical Society, Mercersburg Little League, and the Saint John’s Lutheran Church Council.

In February, Stephanie Reisner was diagnosed with ALS (amy-otrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease). “Getting used to this and adapting to it is obviously going to be a big part of our lives,” Karl Reisner says. “No one, certainly, ever plans for it. We’re taking it a day at a time and we’re just going to try to do our best.”

After 44 years at Mercersburg, Karl Reisner may have officially hung up his whistle and filled out his final lineup card, but he has still yet to grade his final essay, finish his final class discussion around a Harkness table, or tell his final joke of the day.

“This place means everything to me,” he says. “My faith, my family, and my job have been the three things that are central to my life. It may sound trite, but it’s true. I have been privileged and proud to be a part of the development of this place.”

in the region where Reisner portrayed Buchanan or gave an address on his life—including a 1999 appearance on C-SPAN as part of a presidential series where Reisner served as the network’s Buchanan expert (and was the only high-school teacher to be asked to participate).

“Every week, they’d focus on a different president, and almost every program featured college professors and experts in the field of history,” he says. “When it came time for Buchanan, they asked people here in town who could show them around the historical sites [surrounding Buchanan’s life], and I was nominated. So I did that, and the next day my phone rang and they asked me to be on the broadcast; they said they couldn’t find anyone who knew as much about Buchanan as I did. I have tremendous respect for anyone who does live TV; I was fortunate that no one asked me anything I didn’t know about.”

****

Reisner and his wife, Stephanie, have truly made Mercersburg their home. They raised their two children (Kristopher ’94 and Amanda ’97) here, Stephanie Reisner taught kindergarten at


VERY FEW PEOPLE ANYWHERE get to have an “office” as stunning as Mercersburg’s Irvine Memorial Chapel, where School Minister Rev. Dr. Lawrence Jones presided over Sunday worship services, Chapel programs, convocations and baccalaureate ceremonies, and served as a spiritual guide and counselor for two separate generations of Mercersburg students and community members.

For Jones, the Chapel holds special meaning, and not just because of its physical beauty. Jones was ordained as a Presbyterian minister there in 1980, married his wife (future faculty member Cynthia Jones) there in 1988, and delivered his final sermon at Reunion Weekend in June 2015.

“The essential thing to remember, though, is that as beautiful as the building looks, the congregation inside it is as pretty and as wonderful as the building,” says Jones, who first served as Mercersburg’s school min-ister from 1979 to 1990. After serving churches in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Marquette, Michigan, he returned as school minister in 2006 and retired after the 2014– 2015 school year (giving him an even two decades in the pulpit at the school).

Jones grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended The Lawrenceville School for five years—from “first form” (or eighth grade) through high school. He then studied for a year as an English-Speaking Union scholar at Tonbridge School in England before graduating from Brown University and eventu-ally earning a master’s degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctor of ministry from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

By Lee Owen

LAWRENCE JONES:

Spirit Guide

Cindy and Larry Jones


group [about 50 members, as opposed to more than 100 today], so we all knew each other very well.”

Chapel services were then held on Sunday evenings following dinner. Student attendance at services had been volun-tary for less than a decade (following the Chapel walkout of April 1969, which was an ultimately successful student-led protest against required attendance).

“One disadvantage to meeting in the evenings was that we couldn’t see the stained-glass windows,” Jones says. “I would spend all day Sunday writing my sermon—

in longhand, since this was long before computers or word processors. On Sunday night, after the service, I could finally feel like I had a weekend, because Saturday was always filled with sports and other activities.”

Jones coached track & field (he was a pole vaulter as a student at Lawrenceville), was the dormitory dean of Fowle Hall for three years, worked as a school counselor, and could often be found operating the clock at football games, among a myriad of other duties all boarding-school faculty take on when they sign up for duty. He and

A 30-year-old Larry Jones arrived at Mercersburg in the fall of 1979 to teach history and religion courses in addition to his duties as school minister. He lived in a “suite” comprised of two dormitory rooms on the third floor of Main Hall—which Jones describes as “very different from what we have as faculty members now.”

“Young faculty were all in the dorms then; people who are now venerable were then young,” he says with a chuckle. “It was a great place to be. There was a won-derful spirit among the faculty because we had weekly meetings and were a smaller

In the mid-1800s, a theological debate erupted in a battle for the direction of what was known as the German Reformed Church. A growing movement had gained strength and altered the direction of the Reformed Church in America. It was against this backdrop that Friedrich (Frederick) Augustus Rauch of Germany took over the fledgling Marshall College. Rauch had a short tenure—he passed away prematurely in 1841 after only six years in charge—but was suc-cessful in establishing the Mercersburg Theological Seminary, which had moved to Mercersburg from York (and before that, from Carlisle) and was one of the leading authorities on the German Reformed Church.

John Williamson Nevin took over as president of Marshall College and taught religion and philosophy at the Seminary. He was soon joined by friend and colleague Philip Schaff at the Seminary, and the two men started what became known as Mercersburg Theology.

Mercersburg Theology largely centered around an emphasis of the incarnation of Christ (God’s presence in the world expressed in a real, human life) and not simply the Resurrection and Ascension. As the American frontier expanded and small, rural churches were springing up all over, with that transition came a theology that placed emphasis on one’s individual conversion experience of the resurrected Christ as the sole measure of salvation. As part of this process, proponents of Mercersburg Theology argued, the importance of the church and its sacra-ments—particularly the Eucharist—were being significantly de-emphasized.

For the Mercersburg movement, experiencing the sacraments within the context of the worship-ping community was as important as one’s individual faith/conversion experience. Mercersburg Theology—and Nevin, in particular—argued that in the Eucharist, the faithful experience the “real presence” of Christ, not in the sense that the Roman Catholic Church understood that presence as the literal body and blood of Jesus, but in more than a merely symbolic sense (which was the interpretation that dominated the theology of the more independent, frontier churches—including Quakerism, which had a growing influence, especially in Pennsylvania).

Mercersburg Theology had a long-range and lasting influence in the Reformed Church. For a better understanding of the key figures and a deeper study of Mercersburg Theology, visit http://library.lts.org/mercersburg/index.html.

—Douglas Smith (school archivist) and Paul Galey ( former school minister)

A Look at “Mercersburg Theology”

Nevin


Cindy like to say that right after they got married in 1988, they immediately had 36 daughters—since they jumped in that fall as dorm deans of South Cottage. (It was a role they would reprise during their second act at Mercersburg; the Joneses returned to South Cottage in 2013 when Cindy once again accepted the position of dorm dean.)

Among all his accomplishments, though, Jones says he’s most proud of helping to start Mercersburg’s Peer Group program in the fall of 1985. The program matches groups of ninth graders with two senior leaders to help the youngest stu-dents on campus assimilate into the school.

Current Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford and then-English teacher (now faculty emeritus) Phil Post joined Jones as the program’s first faculty advisers.

“The senior leaders, almost immedi-ately, became champions of the ninth graders—even the ones who were not in their peer groups,” Jones says. “The seniors meet weekly with their peer groups, as well as with their fellow leaders and the faculty advisers. They put in a lot of time and energy. The new students know seniors by their first names early on, and that’s a good thing. They learn to talk with and relate to each other and learn the ropes of the

school. It’s really been a great thing for the students.”

In 1990, Jones accepted the position of associate pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Camp Hill, about 70 miles northeast of Mercersburg and just outside the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg. “Ultimately, it was a very good move for us at that point to go into the church and have our daughters [Campbell and Frances] grow up in the church,” he says.

“Ever since I was in seminary at Princeton, I really had trouble deciding whether I wanted to be in the classroom or the pulpit. I loved them both. It ended up


over time that I decided both ways, several times.” At Mercersburg, of course, he could fill both roles, which ultimately is what led the family back in 2006 following three years in Camp Hill and 13 years with Jones serving as pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Marquette on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“Seven years is a long time to serve in one place as a pastor,” Jones explains. “Thirteen years is an extremely long time. I felt that I had accomplished what I could there. I was in my mid-50s at that point, and so if we were going to move again, this would be it. And you can never really go back someplace, but we came over and looked at it—and it wasn’t coming back. This was someplace new. In many ways, it was a whole different school than the one we left. There were new buildings—Lenfest Hall and the Burgin Center for the Arts.” (Cindy Jones became director of the Burgin Center in 2007.)

“I look back on our first 11 years here—I thought we had good rapport between the students and faculty. And we did, but it’s so much better now. The attitude of the students is different and it’s a much bigger place. It may be harder now to get to know our fellow faculty members since there are more of us, but it’s worth it. It’s a very professional faculty in outlook and expertise.”

“Larry really has been the consummate school minister for a boarding school,” says Mercersburg faculty member Paul Galey, who succeeded Jones following his first term as school minster and today is a member of the religion faculty and counseling staff. “He was fully dedicated to the 24/7 lifestyle that boarding-school life often demands—especially for a school minister—and was always willing to do more than his share when it meant

About Larry Jones• Spent two different terms as school minis-

ter (first from 1979 to 1990, and again from 2006 to 2015)

• Holds degrees from Brown University (bach-elor’s), Princeton Theological Seminary (mas-ter’s), and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (doctor of ministry)

• Created Mercersburg’s Peer Group program in 1985; also taught religion and history and served on the school’s counseling staff and as a coach and dormitory dean

• In between stints at Mercersburg, was asso-ciate pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Marquette, Michigan

• Honored with the 2007–2008 Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies

• Married to Cynthia Jones, who served on the faculty as director of the Burgin Center for the Arts from 2007 to 2015 and was dormi-tory dean of South Cottage from 2013 to 2015


Will Whitmore, Mercersburg’s new school minister, arrived this fall from The Rectory School in Pomfret, Connecticut, where he served as the school chaplain; taught English; and was a tutor, dorm parent, soccer coach, and outdoor-education instructor.

At Mercersburg, Whitmore is succeeding Lawrence Jones, who retired after 20 years as school minister. Jones first served in the position from 1979 to 1990 and then from 2006 until the close of the 2014–2015 academic year.

“I’m excited about this oppor-tunity at Mercersburg to engage with young men and women as they seek to grow academically, intellectually, athletically, and spiritually,” says Whitmore, who is a graduate of the University of Denver and Princeton Theological Seminary and has also worked at The Pennington School in New Jersey.

Whitmore is teaching courses in the religion and history department and works with the school’s Peer Group program. He and his wife, Kristen, met as undergraduates at Denver; she is finishing her doctorate in psychology at the University of Hartford.

“One of the really unique things about independent schools is that they provide opportunities for academic and spiritual engagement,” he says. “I see the role of a school minister at a place like Mercersburg as that of a safe, trust-ing, and affirming presence to both students and faculty that allows them to know that regardless of their race, religion, or background, there is somewhere they can go where they’re cared for and loved for because of who they are—not for what their test grades are or what their 40-yard-dash time is on the field.”

Whitmore has lived in four different states from Colorado to Connecticut and also in Singapore and Ireland (where he studied abroad while in college). He spent the majority of his childhood in the Minneapolis area, and describes himself as “an all-around sports nerd.” His master’s thesis examined the interac-tion between the papacy and baseball in American culture; Whitmore presented on the topic at a 2013 symposium at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He is pursuing a Ph.D. on a part-time basis from the University of Gloucestershire in England, where his dissertation will focus on sports chap-laincy in the National Football League.

—Lee Owen

Introducing Will Whitmoreserving the community and, especially, the students. For him, it was a calling to serve the school and, in doing so, to serve God. He was a demanding teacher, but with that engendered real respect and affection from his students.”

Now that they’ve departed Mercersburg for the second (and final) time, the Joneses have settled near Bristol, Vermont. For Jones, it’s a return to another place he loves; their home is within 20 miles of Camp Keewaydin, where Jones spent more than 20 summers as a camper or camp coun-selor teaching everything from canoeing to drama and even boxing.

“We’ve got good neighbors and good friends up there, and we’re looking forward to being active in church and community,” he says. “I want to do some writing and Cindy wants to reinvent herself as maybe a photographer or an author. We’re excited about the possibilities ahead of us.

“I think the direction Mercersburg is moving is great. There will, of course, be a great deal of evolution and develop-ment, and I have great hopes that it will be done the right way because the right people are here to oversee it and guide it. I would urge the school, as a community, to remember that there is more to life than we can observe, see, and measure. There are things beyond our control that affect us deeply and greatly. Obviously in the way I approach the world, I see that as the power of God working behind us. And I think we lose something significant if we lose out rec-ognition beyond the visible.”


Dates to Remember

Arts


Feb 5–7 Stony Batter Players: Into the Woods Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Mar 2–6 National High School Dance Festival (at Point Park University, Pittsburgh)

Apr 29 Spring Music Concert Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

May 7 Spring Dance Concert Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Music directors: Richard Rotz, Jim Brinson, Jack Hawbaker, Michael Cameron

BandJazz Band

Jazz Band

Chorale


Visual Art faculty: Wells Gray, Sydney Caretti, Kristen Pixler

Magalia

Octet

Barbara Fitzsimmons ’17

Morgan Tomasso ’17

Veronica Tatone ’16


Stony Batter Players directors: Laurie Mufson, Matt Maurer, Steve Crick

Dance director: Denise Dalton

“Home” (Grace Piotrowski ’15,

choreographer)

“Us” (Grace Piotrowski ’15, choreographer) L–R: Jenny Bell ’17, Jess Rice ’17, Anna-Lisa Lüchau ’17, Brooke Wilten ’18, Kat Patterson ’18, Emily Bell ’18

The cast of The Auditioners (senior production)


above: Alex Jackson ’15 and Nikki DeParis ’15 in Shakespeare Scenes

left: Jessica Simonoff ’16, Mariola Munarriz Panos ’16, and Mark Moehrle ’16 in Shakespeare Scenes

“Varia” (Denise Dalton, choreographer)


WINTER SEASON

Boys’ BasketballCaptain: Teddy Schoeck ’15Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Nick Kelly ’15Most Improved Player Award: Carlos Austin ’17John Prevost ’54 Basketball Award: SchoeckHead coach: Tim Crouch (3rd season)Record: 4–15 (0–5 MAPL)Highlights: The Blue Storm won the Devils Holiday Classic tournament (hosted by Springside Chestnut Hill) in December by defeating Franklin Learning Center and Abraham Lincoln High School of Philadelphia; Schoeck was named the tournament’s most valuable player and Kelly joined him on the All-Tournament Team… Malik Miller ’15 was an All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League selection and is playing at Division I Fairleigh Dickinson University, while Kelly is playing at Dickinson College… Schoeck was a first-team [Chambersburg] Public Opinion All-Star and an Academic All-MAPL honoree… Miller was named MVP of the Battle for the DMV Challenge area all-star game after tallying 25 points and 13 rebounds; Kelly and Schoeck joined him as members of the game’s Suburban team… Sean Crocker, who most recently coached at Stuart Hall School in Virginia, has been named head coach for the 2015–2016 season.

Girls’ BasketballCaptains: Megan Lafferty ’15, Teal Tasker ’15Most Outstanding Contributions Award: TaskerMost Improved Player Award: Sarah Lyman ’16Head coach: Katie LaRue (4th season)Record: 15–7 (3–2 MAPL)Highlights: Mercersburg earned the No. 3 seed in the MAPL Tournament, which was its highest seed for the event in the program’s history… the Blue Storm defeated MAPL rivals Hill, Hun, and Lawrenceville… Mercersburg knocked off sixth-

seeded Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in the first round of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association State Championships; the Storm (seeded No. 11) fell in the quarterfinals to Episcopal Academy… Tasker and Molly Taylor ’16 were first-team All-MAPL, All-IPSL, and Public Opinion All-Star selections, while Lyman and Isiuwa Oghagbon ’17 made the area second team and Joana Santos ’16 the honorable-mention squad…

Winter/Spring 2015 VarsityAthletics Roundup

Dates to Remember

Athletics


Feb 12–14 Mid-Atlantic Prep League Basketball Tournament (at Lawrenceville, New Jersey)

U.S. Squash High School National Championships (at Hartford, Connecticut)

Feb 19–20 Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships (at La Salle University, Philadelphia)

Feb 20 MAPL Indoor Track & Field Championships (at Lawrenceville, New Jersey)

Feb 26–27 National Prep Wrestling Championships (at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

Oghagbon was an honorable-mention All-MAPL choice… Tasker, who is playing at Gettysburg, finished her Mercersburg career with 1,071 points and led the Storm with 18.7 points and 3.5 assists per game; she was also an Academic All-MAPL selection… Taylor averaged 17.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 38 percent from three-point range.


Boys’ SquashCaptains: match captains selected Thomas Flanagan ’38 Boys’ Squash Award (most outstanding player): Illia Presman ’17Most Improved Player Award: Archie Levis ’17Head coach: Chip Vink ’73 (15th season)Head-to-head record: 9–12Highlights: Presman was an All-MAPL selection and compiled a 19–5 record as the team’s No. 1 player… Mercersburg placed seventh in the Division V draw at the U.S. Squash Boys’ High School National Championships, posting wins over Salisbury School (Connecticut) and St. Mark’s School (Massachusetts); Presman was a perfect 4–0 in the event… the Storm captured the consolation bracket at both the Tom Flanagan Tournament and Mid-Atlantic Squash Organization Tournament… Presman, Alec Jones ’15, and John Huang ’16 all won matches at the season-ending MAPL Tournament… Jones was named Academic All-MAPL.

Girls’ SquashCaptains: Celine Hylton-Dei ’15, Hattye Hytla ’15, Alyson Kinney ’15Thomas Flanagan ’38 Girls’ Squash Award (most outstanding player): Gabby Fraser ’16Most Improved Player Award: Hylton-DeiHead coach: Wells Gray (12th season)Record: 5–10Highlights: Fraser, the team’s No. 1 player for the second-straight year, compiled a 15–4 individual mark and is now 34–6 for her two-year Mercersburg career… she was an All-MAPL selection and represented her home country of Guyana at the World Junior Squash Championships and the Caribbean Junior Squash Championships… the team reached the consolation finals of the Division IV draw at the U.S. Squash Girls’ High School National Championships before falling to Hopkins School (Connecticut); Fraser was a perfect 4–0 in the tournament and Kinney went 3–1… at the season-ending MAPL tournament, Fraser finished second in the “A” flight and Hytla won a match in the “C” flight… Yulia Lomakina ’15 earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

Boys’ Swimming & DivingCaptain: Morgan Matsuda ’15Harrison S. Glancy ’24 Award (most outstanding swimmer): MatsudaMost Outstanding Contributions (Diving) Award: Alex Stoner ’15Tom Wolfe ’85 Award (most improved swimmer): MatsudaThomas Hartz ’72 Award (perseverance): Jordan Allen ’15Most Improved Diver Award: Xavier Dreux ’18Head swimming coach: Glenn Neufeld (1st season)Head diving coach: Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (7th season)

Easterns/MAPL finish: 8th/2ndHighlights: Ben Carter ’16 (50 free, 20.72) and Matt McPheters ’15 (100 butterfly, 49.62) captured individual titles at the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships; Carter’s effort was an All-America qualifying time… McPheters also placed second at Easterns in the 100 backstroke and the 200 individual medley, while Brandon McCredie ’15 took fourth in the 100 free; Dreux (16th) and Alex Stoner ’15 (17th) both scored points by finishing in the top 18 in the Easterns diving competition… McCredie won the 50 free and 100 free at the MAPL Invitational… McCredie and McPheters are swimming for Army, while Allen (Hamilton) and Matsuda (Middlebury) are also swimming at the collegiate level, and Stoner is diving for Bucknell… Matsuda and his younger brother, Alistair Matsuda ’17, both earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

Girls’ Swimming & DivingCaptains: Lauren Greenberg ’15, Courtney Levins ’16Neidhoefer Swimming Award (most outstanding swimmer): GreenbergJohn Preston ’47 Award (most improved swimmer): Rina Kiyohara ’16Bruce F. Vanderveer ’31 Award (greatest influence): LevinsHead swimming coach: Glenn Neufeld (1st season)Head diving coach: Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (7th season)Easterns/MAPL finish: 4th/2ndHighlights: Greenberg broke a 24-year-old school record while winning the 100-yard butterfly (54.94) at the Pittsburgh Christmas Invitational;

she also won the 200 fly at the same meet… top individual Easterns performers included Greenberg (2nd/100 fly, 4th/100 freestyle) and Danielle Pong ’17 (5th/100 breaststroke); the 200 free relay team of Pong, Greenberg, Lindsay Tanner ’17, and Abigail Voce ’18 took second… 10 of the Storm’s 12 individual point scorers at Easterns are returning for 2015–2016… MAPL champions included Greenberg (100 fly), Pong (100 breast), and the 200 medley relay squad (Greenberg, Pong, Tanner, Ally Armbruster ’18)… Greenberg is swimming at Navy and Kargodorian at Army… Greenberg and Kiyohara were Academic All-MAPL selections.


Boys’ Indoor Track & FieldMost Outstanding Contributions Award: Raj Singh ’15Most Improved Team Member Award: Henry Asher ’15Head coach: David Grady (11th season)MAPL finish: 4thHighlights: Singh is the new school record holder in the 55m hurdles (8.93), and Asher posted the second-best time in school history in the event (9.40); both of those efforts took place at the MAPL Championships… also at the MAPL meet, David Coly ’15 earned All-MAPL honors with a second-place finish in the 55m (6.67); he was also third in the high jump, fourth in the 200m, and sixth in the triple jump… Ugochukwu Okolie ’15 (4th) and Jude Ikekhua ’16 (5th) also placed in the MAPL 400m… Asher and Singh were both chosen Academic All-MAPL.

Girls’ Indoor Track & FieldMost Outstanding Contributions Award: Tatiana Purnell ’15Most Improved Team Member Award: Laila Tijani ’18Head coach: David Grady (11th season)MAPL finish: 4thHighlights: Purnell set two school records at the MAPL Championships, in the 55m hurdles (8.79, which won the event and lowered her own school record) and the triple jump (32’0”, good for second place); she also placed second in the 400m… Purnell qualified for a state-championship meet for the third-straight year, and competed in the 60m hurdles at the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championship in State College… Finley Stewart ’17 was third in the MAPL in the 55m and 200m, and Tijani placed sixth in the 800m… Stewart and Tijani represented the Storm on the Academic All-MAPL squad. WrestlingCaptains: Cody Frost-Eisenberg ’15, Fernando Cervera ’16, Brian Nelson ’16 Fred Kuhn Award (most outstanding wrestler): Frost-EisenbergCoaches’ Award (most improved wrestler): Nick Furigay ’16Ronald D. Tebben Coaches’ Leadership Award: NelsonHead coach: Nate Jacklin ’96 (7th season)State/IPSL finish: 14th/2ndHighlights: Frost-Eisenberg (3rd, 285 pounds) Alex Olajide ’15 (5th, 160), and Nick Furigay ’16 (7th, 145) all placed at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association Wrestling Championships, which Mercersburg hosted… Frost-Eisenberg and Olajide both qualified for the National Prep Championships… Mercersburg defeated Kiski for the first time since 2006—which turned out to be crucial in the Blue Storm’s re-capturing the Centennial Cup from the Cougars… Furigay was

a perfect 4–0 and Frost-Eisenberg was 3–1 at the MAPL Wrestling Duals… Frost-Eisenberg, Furigay, Olajide, and Daniel Davis ’17 earned All-Independent-Parochial School League honors… Cervera and Kent Hall ’18 were chosen Academic All-MAPL.

SPRING SEASON

BaseballCaptains: game captains selectedMost Outstanding Contributions Award: Tristan Baker ’15G. Brent Gift Award (most improved player): Michael De La Rosa ’15Henry B. Swoope Jr. ’23 Award (sportsmanship/good fellowship): Deji Andrew ’15Head coach: Karl Reisner (24th season)Record: 19–6 (7–3 MAPL); MAPL/IPSL championHighlights: The Blue Storm sent Reisner out in style in his final season as the Blue Storm’s legendary head coach—with MAPL and IPSL conference championships… Mercersburg won or shared the MAPL crown in each of Reisner’s final five seasons… Andrew, Baker, Chris Adusei-Poku ’16, and Beau Lowery ’18 were All-MAPL selections… Lowery made the Public Opinion’s Area All-Star first team; he was 7–3 with a 1.31 earned-run average and struck out 61 hitters against just 15 walks… Baker led the team with a .538 average, 43 hits, and 28 runs batted in, and committed just two errors in 25 games… Andrew hit .458, while De La Rosa posted a team-high 17 stolen bases and 18 walks while also hitting .385… Andrew, Baker, and Lowery were first-team All-IPSL choices… Andrew will play at Harvey Mudd and Baker at Shenandoah… Andrew and De La Rosa both made the Academic All-MAPL team… John Lowery Jr., an assistant coach in 2015 who won a West Virginia state championship as a head coach, succeeds Reisner at the helm of the Mercersburg program.

Boys’ LacrosseCaptains: Ryan Hackett ’15, Nathan Marincic ’15, Tom Cremins ’17Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Conner Edwards ’15Most Improved Player Award: Addison Viener ’15Nelson T. Shields IV ’70 Lacrosse Award (spirit/teamwork/sportsmanship): CreminsHead coach: Michael Conklin (1st season)Record: 7–10 (1–4 MAPL)Highlights: Nick Schulkin ’17 led the team in goals and assists and was named All-MAPL, while Cremins joined him on the All-IPSL team… Andrew


Dillard ’17 was the team leader in saves… Hackett, Marincic, and Alex Stoner ’15 earned varsity letters all four years… the Blue Storm knocked off Blair for its first MAPL victory since 2009, and also beat St. Maria Goretti twice in addition to victories over Middleburg Academy, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, and West Shore (twice)… three of the team’s losses came by a single goal… Cremins and Hackett were Academic All-MAPL selections.

Girls’ LacrosseCaptains: Ellie Clark ’15, Sophia Garibaldi ’15, Megan Lafferty ’15Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Amber Heffernan ’15Most Improved Player Award: Madi Johnson ’16Head coach: Katherine Dyson (2nd season)Record: 7–10 (1–4 MAPL)Highlights: Garibaldi and Devon Stuzin ’17 earned All-MAPL and All-IPSL honors… Clark was named the inaugural IPSL Female Student-Athlete of the Year; she will play at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont… the Blue Storm’s MAPL slate included a victory over Peddie and four losses that came by a grand total of five goals… the team won two games to reach the finals of the Prep Lacrosse Classic before falling to undefeated Gerstell Academy… the Storm also made the IPSL championship game, where it lost to St. James… Caroline Brown ’16 and Ria Giannaris ’16 represented the Storm on the Academic All-MAPL squad.

SoftballCaptain: Sydney Reath ’15Most Outstanding Contributions Award: ReathMost Improved Player Award: Ava Paul ’18Head coach: John David Bennett (6th season)Record: 7–9 (1–9 MAPL); IPSL championHighlights: Reath, who was the Public Opinion’s Area Player of the Year finished her Mercersburg career as one of the most accomplished athletes in recent school history; she reached base safely in all but one game in four years and recorded 573 strikeouts, two perfect games, four no-hitters, and 24 shutouts as a pitcher… as a senior, she hit .582 and tallied 25 RBIs and six home runs, and went 7–5 in the circle with a 2.14 earned-run average and struck out 123 hitters in 71 innings; she will play at Eastern Mennonite… Reath was joined on the All-MAPL squad by Sarah Lyman ’16 (who was also a second-team Public Opinion Area All-Star) and as an All-IPSL honoree by Paul… in Bennett’s final season as head coach, the team captured its fourth-straight IPSL title with a win over St. John’s Catholic Prep… Sophia Fabiano ’18 and C.J. Walker ’17 earned Academic All-MAPL recognition… Doonie Brewer, who has served as head softball coach at Holderness School (New Hampshire), Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Massachusetts), and St. George’s School (Rhode Island), is the Blue Storm’s new head coach.

Boys’ TennisCaptains: Saaman Ghodsi ’16, Elliot Hicks ’16Most Outstanding Contributions Award: HicksMost Improved Player Award: John Huang ’16Head coach: Eric Hicks (21st season)Dual match record: 10–4 (4–1 MAPL); IPSL championHighlights: The Blue Storm took second in the MAPL, which was its highest finish in a decade (and was just one point behind first-place Lawrenceville at the MAPL Tournament, which Mercersburg hosted); brothers Saaman and Shayan Ghodsi ’18 won the No. 2 and No. 4 singles flights, respectively, at the MAPL event… Elliot Hicks and Saaman Ghodsi were All-MAPL in both singles and doubles… the Storm did not drop a single match to MAPL rivals Hill, Hun, and Peddie—sweeping them all by identical 7–0 scores… Shayan Ghodsi compiled a 14–1 season mark at No. 4, while John Huang ’16 was 9–1 at No. 5… the team clinched the all-sports Centennial Cup victory for Mercersburg over Kiski with a 7–0 win in the season finale… the Storm won its fourth-straight IPSL title with victories in the tournament over St. James and St. John’s Catholic Prep… Hicks was an Academic All-MAPL selection.

Boys’ Outdoor Track & FieldMost Outstanding Contributions Award: Gabriel Allgayer ’16Edward J. Powers ’37 Award (most improved athlete): Danny Shapiro ’15Head coach: Frank Rutherford ’70 (15th season)State/MAPL/IPSL finish: 8th/3rd/1stHighlights: Allgayer (3200m) and Brice Sydnor ’15 (400m hurdles) won individual events at the MAPL Championships, where the Storm finished third as a team and scored points in all but two events… also at the MAPL Championships, the 4x800m relay team of Allgayer, Jan Smilek ’16, Alex Jackson ’15, and Adam Yang ’16 took first, and the 4x100m relay

squad of Sydnor, Carlos Austin ’17, Ugochukwu Okolie ’15, and Kam Undieh ’15 placed second… Shapiro took second in both the discus and javelin at the PAISAA State Championships… the Storm outscored all four of its other competitors combined at the IPSL Championships… Allgayer and Yang were named Academic All-MAPL.

Girls’ Outdoor Track & FieldMost Outstanding Contributions Award: Tatiana Purnell ’15Edward J. Powers ’37 Award (most improved athlete): Molly Taylor ’16Head coach: Nikki Walker (6th season)State/MAPL/IPSL finish: 3rd/3rd/1stHighlights: Purnell (100m hurdles/300m hurdles), Finley Stewart ’17 (100m), and Isiuwa Oghagbon ’17 all won PAISAA state championships in their individual events… Purnell set PAISAA meet records and school records (15.19 in the 100m hurdles and 44.34 in the 300m hurdles) in both of her victories; Stewart also broke a school record in the 100m (12.35) at the state meet… Purnell set a third school record when she won the 400m hurdles at the MAPL Championships (1:03.82)… other top MAPL performers included Stewart (2nd/100m, 2nd/200m), Oghagbon (2nd/shot put, 2nd/javelin), Tasker (2nd/triple jump), and the second-place relay teams in the 4x400m (Purnell, Stewart, Tasker, Michaela White ’15) and 4x800m (Taylor, White, Danessa Martin ’17, Maddie Nelson ’15)… the Storm won 11 of 18 events en route to the IPSL title… Purnell will run at Shippensburg University… Tasker and Taylor earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

CorrectionDue to a statistical error, incorrect information was printed in the varsity volleyball recap in the spring 2015 issue of Mercersburg. Sarah Pape ’16 was the team leader in kills (95) for the 2014 season.


reunion weekend2015JUNE 4–7


AWARDSALUMNI COUNCIL SERVICE AWARD

Stacie Rice Lissette ’85Stacie is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and George Washington University School of Law. After clerking for a judge in the D.C. Superior Court, she practiced regulatory law with a trade association for a brief time before returning to her family business, Utz Quality Foods, in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Stacie serves as a part-time counsel for Utz; her husband, Dylan, serves as the president, chief executive officer, and vice chairman of the board. Stacie has been active on the Utz board and the boards of various nonprofit organizations.

Stacie, who first served on the Board of Regents from 1998 to 2007 and was reelected in 2009, has supported Mercersburg as a vol-unteer for events, thankathons, the Admission Office, the Annual Fund, White Key, and as a member of reunion committees.

As a Regent, Stacie has served on the Academic Policy & Campus Life, Admission, College Counseling, Advancement, Ad Hoc Alumni Participation, Ad Hoc Marketing Communications, Buildings & Grounds, Executive, and Finance & Audit commit-tees, as well as the Committee on Regents.

Stacie is the co-vice chair of the Daring to Lead Campaign, and along with her husband, she has generously supported the Simon Student Center and the Hale Field House, and been a loyal donor to the Annual Fund. Stacie and Dylan are William Mann Irvine Society members and have five children, including Max ’14, Payton ’14, Alex ’17, and Caleb ’19.

Philip Lloyd ’65Phil graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and the University of Akron School of Law. He served as counsel for the law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease in its Akron office until his retirement in June 2011. He continues to serve on the board of trustees of the Akron Art Museum and the Legal Defender’s Commission, and as chairman of the University of Akron Foundation.

Phil has served Mercersburg as a past member of the Parents’ Advisory Committee and, since 1994, as a member of the Board of Regents, serving on the Academic Policy & Campus Life, Ad Hoc College Counseling, Admission, College Counseling, Advancement, Buildings & Grounds, Executive, Finance & Audit,

and Investment committees, as well as the Committee on Regents.

Phil serves on the Executive Committee of the Daring to Lead Campaign, and he and his wife, Peggy, are members of the William Mann Irvine Society. Phil and Peggy have two daughters, Kim ’90 and Beatrice “Bebe” Lloyd Welch ’94.

Above (L–R): jim lampl ’70, Kim Lloyd ’90 (daughter of Philip Lloyd ’65), Stacie Rice Lissette ’85, John Prentiss ’65, Head of School Douglas Hale.

Michael Davies ’85Philip Lloyd ’65


ALUMNI COUNCIL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

jim lampl ’70**jim graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in conservation. While pursu-ing a career in the supermarket business, he became committed to environmental sustain-ability and strategic use of resources, and pro-moted the first LEED-certified supermarket in the country.

jim is semi-retired after serving as conser-vation director for Giant Eagle Supermarkets in Pittsburgh, and currently owns small busi-nesses in Sarasota, Florida. jim champions environmental initiatives and is involved in environmental consulting and solar energy investing. He is an active volunteer for Planned Parenthood, Green Building, Bike Advocates, and Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government.

jim has served as a Daring to Lead Campaign volunteer, is a loyal donor to the Annual Fund, and is a benefactor of the Environmental Stewardship Fund, which he hopes will encourage Mercersburg in its mission of environmental sustainability.

**Editor’s note: intentionally lowercase

Michael Davies ’85Michael, a native of London, attended Mercersburg under the auspices of the English-Speaking Union. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland before returning to the U.S. to work as a writer and producer. Michael began at Walt Disney Television in 1992 and was handed the reins at Buena Vista Productions in 1996.

Michael joined ABC as executive vice president in 1997 and produced series and specials before moving to New York in 1999 to produce the hit game show Who Wants to

Be a Millionaire, where he continues to serve as executive producer. In 2005, he founded Embassy Row, a multiplatform production company that produces programming for networks, cable channels, and online portals in entertainment, sports, lifestyle, and docu-mentary genres.

Michael has won two Emmys, one Cable Ace, and the prestigious Rose d’Or de Montreux, and was Broadcasting and Cable magazine’s Broadcaster of the Year in 2000. He doubles as one-half of the popular Men in Blazers soccer-commenting duo.

Michael serves on the boards of the National Association of Television Program Executives, the New York Television Festival, and the International Radio and Television Society. He has faithfully supported Mercersburg as a fundraising volunteer, reunion committee member, commence-ment speaker, and member of the Board of Regents. He was on the Board from 1998 to 2001 and 2007 to 2011, with service on the Academic Policy & Campus Life, Ad Hoc Marketing Communications, Admission, College Counseling, Advancement, and Executive committees.

Michael is a member of the William Mann Irvine Society. He has three daugh-ters, including Brea ’10.

CLASS OF ’32 AWARD

John Prentiss ’65John graduated from Mercersburg, fol-lowing in the footsteps of his grandfather, father, and uncle. He went on to earn bach-elor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Fulfilling his lifelong dream of practicing

veterinary medicine, John began his career at Andover Animal Hospital in Andover, Massachusetts, treating companion animals; he also worked evenings and weekends to build a thriving equine practice.

In 1978, he launched his own veter-inary practice, growing Bulger Animal Hospital from a small primary-care prac-tice into a vibrant 18-doctor practice that includes around-the-clock emergency ser-vices along with numerous specialty services. He established the InTown Veterinary Group network of hospitals, a group of highly suc-cessful emergency and specialty hospitals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire that employs more than 90 vets and provides state-of-the-art specialty services and cus-tomer care. John was the first person to bring a veterinary-only MRI to private practice in the U.S., which has since become the stan-dard of care throughout the industry.

John has been a member of the Board of Regents since 1990. He served as chair of the Buildings & Grounds Committee from 1994 to 2015, and under his leadership the school’s physical plant has been trans-formed. New construction projects during his tenure included the Smoyer Tennis Center, the Davenport Squash Center, the Burgin Center for the Arts, Regents’ Field, the Simon Student Center, 1893 House, and eight new on-campus faculty residences. Additionally, he oversaw the renovation of every dormitory on campus, as well as Irvine Hall, Keil Hall, the Masinter Outdoor Education Center, the Prentiss-Zimmerman Quad, Nolde Gymnasium, and Residential Quadrangle East. He has been instrumental in the planning and launching of the coming Prentiss Alumni and Parent Center at North Cottage, the Hale Field House, and the aquatic center. John also serves as co-chair of the Daring to Lead Campaign.

John is active in community volunteer work and is a longtime member of the Board of the Edward E. Ford Foundation, which was founded by Edward E. Ford (1912). John and his wife, Carol, are William Mann Irvine Society members and the parents of Ames ’89 and Kimball ’92.


Loyalty ClubFront row (L–R): Jim McClelland ’55, Jack Bream ’53, Dick Roschli ’52, Walter Newkirk ’45, Bill Rockey ’45, John Hornbaker ’55. Row 2: Blair LeRoy ’50, Jef Evans ’57, David Frantz ’60, Bill Erb ’58.

Class of 1965Front row (L–R): Dick Funkhouser, Peter Kreeger, Carroll Bell, Eli Swetland, Laurence Ransom, Jim Zeger, Jerry Sterner, Mac Butts. Row 2: Richard McCombs, Tom Cahalan, Alan Bowman, Bentley Myer, Bill McIlroy, Larry Mirkin, John Prentiss, Ford Menard, Bill Baumann. Row 3: Noel McKeown, Brian Joscelyne, Richard Stanger, James Porter, William Thompson, Jere Keefer, Paul Kellman, Jim Stepleton. Row 4: Richard Greenberg, Glen Garrison, Wick Peterson, John Hook, John Knappenberger, Doc Bisset, Garvin Warden, Greg Smith.

Class of 1970Front row (L–R): Ross Lillard, Bruce Neustadt, Paul Mellott, Bill Wallace, Rick Macek. Row 2: Frank Rutherford, jim lampl, Pete Flanagan, Dave Winning, Dan Seamans.

Class of 1975Front row (L–R): Bruce Herr, Tony Tito, Billy Olson, Rebecca Peace, Bill Dumke, Noel Thomas Tyra ’74, Carol Furnary Casparian ’79. Row 2: Kirk Noonan, Jane Gregson, Amy Hoober Ahrensdorf, Jim Garber ’76, Greg “Harpo” Morris. Row 3: Brian Mellott, David Ditto, Jim Umbdenstock, Stephan Falk, Barry Brogan, Rick Jenkinson, Page Lansdale ’76. Row 4: Ken Lockyer, Hap Holiday, Cynthia Roe Goldsmith, David Ryan ’76, David Schulz, Lynn Duncan, Jenny Zimmerman.

Class of 1980Front row (L–R): Lynn Brewer Price, Chris Greene, Wes Baker, Jan Dupré. Row 2: Douglas Corwin ’79, Lucy Northrop Corwin, Jane Hoover Davenport, Sarah Koch, Dave Dupont. Row 3: Laura Pisano Lyshon, Joseph Mehalik (guest of Jan Dupré).

Class of 1985Front row (L–R): Chipper Lichtenstein, Peggy Raley Ward, Marca Armstrong Ewy, Mary Beth Mihalakis Karras, Susan Corwin Moreau, C.C. Gachet, Dan Henderson, Katie Hawbaker, Heidi Erb Anderson. Row 2: David Wentworth, Paul Furigay, Glenn Houck, Mindy Hershey Houck, Luis Cervera, Steven Miko Burns, David Koch, Lester Thomas, Tom Donley. Row 3: Seth Reno, Stacie Rice Lissette, Carol Jean McCullough Bender, Sarah Mendelsohn Kim, Sue McLain, Stewart Walker, Samantha Lumby Seiple, Steve LaBoyteaux, Sal Romanello.


Class of 1990Front row (L–R): Neeta Mody Vargo, Kerry Waterman Epstein, Valerie Crouse, Geoff Moorhead, Cameron Ruble. Row 2: Ann Kaguyutan, Kim Lloyd, Julia Stojak Maurer, Maremi Hooff Andreozzi. Row 3: John Terpak, Peter Harrington, Chris Thoren, Treva Ghattas, Tonya Rutherford, Steven Wagshal, Robert Fulcher.

Class of 1995Front row (L–R): J.T. Gibson, Michael Pedersen, Ryan Gocke, Tim Rockwell (former dean of students), Shannon Rawley. Row 2: Richard Ryon, Maximilian Merrill, Andrew Taft, Andrea Marano King, James Brawner, Meredith Glah Coors. Row 3: Bryce Gilmer, John Russell, David Ostwind, Judd Weissman, Rosie Williams Udouj. Row 4: John Dittman, John Koontz, Tommy Wang.

Class of 2000Front row (L–R): Andrew Marshall, Natalie Wingrove Scott, Matt Frankel, Alec Harris. Row 2: Andy Shirk, Colby Schroath, Andrew Miller, Nishant Keerikatte. Row 3: Matt Roberts, Michael Galey, Rachel Kagan, Anne Reeder Bertram.

Class of 2005Front row (L–R): Jenica Lee, Alexis Imler Gray, Mackenzie Gwynne, Cara Leepson, Kyle Taylor, Sonya Karbach Marino, Whitney Pezza, Lindsay Steinour. Row 2: Ryan Reid, Taylor Miller Reid, Ali Krawczak, Tracey Manner, Natalie Blackburn, Rachel Smooke, Mark Dobish, Burleson Grimes. Row 3: Eric Rahauser, Matt Walsh, Jeff Greenberg, Nick Ventresca, Elliott Van Ness, Jonathan Edwards, Ethan Cline. Row 4: Matt Diller, Zander Hartung, J.C. Sabol, Kavi Harshawat, Taylor Newby.

Class of 2010Front row (L–R): Leigh Saner, Sarah Duda, Britta Sherman, Cammie Reilly, Olivia Bulcao, Kate Vary, David Whyel, Taria Griffin, Lauren Davis, Aimee Chase. Row 2: Jessica Keeseman, Brookke Mahaffey, Anmargaret Warner, Paige Harry, Hannah Miller, Jennifer Leahey, Sarah Kolanowski, Jordan Krutek, Andrea Metz. Row 3: Richard Malone, Chris Atkinson, Patrick Young, Joe Strider, Dara Vaziri, John Henry Reilly, Matt Young, Temvelo Masuku. Row 4: Ethan Keiser, Jacob Fries, Evan Castrianni, Aaron Porter, Nate Nelson, Ellis Mays, Felix Guzman, Samuel Hook.


Class Notes

Submit class notes via email to [email protected] or by contacting your class agent. Submission does not guarantee publication; notes may appear online or in print. Mercersburg reserves the right to edit submissions for space or content, and is not responsible for more than reasonable editing or fact-checking. When submitting a photo, please provide the highest-quality version possible, and include the names of all persons pictured and their Mercersburg class years. Due to size and quality considerations, some images may not be suitable for print.Class notes are also available online at www.mercersburg.edu/classnotes.

’41John Walker’s wife, Joanne, passed away December 24, 2014.

’45Bill Rockey shares that he and Walt Newkirk were the only 1945 classmates to show up for their 70th reunion at Reunion Weekend in June. “Walt was accompanied by his daugh-ter, Joy,” notes Bill. “Anna, my wife of 65 years, was with me—she and I met in 1942 at Cen-tral High School in Washington, D.C., and she had made several trips to the ’Burg with her mother for our Mercersburg dances. Walt and I had the pleasure of reminiscing about old times and our wonderful Mercersburg class-mates during the Loyalty Club dinner in the Burgin Center.”

’47Last fall, John Steele moved from Harleysville, Pennsylvania, to Camden, Maine. “Still work-ing as an accountant, though only part time,” he says.

’49Edwin Schmidt and his wife recently visited campus on their way to the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It was the first time Edwin had been back on campus in more than 40 years.

’51Larry Sheridan’s wife, Ellen, died January 31, 2015.

’53Jim Loveless recently celebrated his 80th birthday and says that his wife, Ruth Ann, is running for village trustee in Hamilton, New York. “I’m still painting,” he says. “Neverthe-less, there may be some slight changes in my life on the horizon. I have applied for the job of answering the phone at Ruth Ann Central. It could be worse. I would also remind you that I will be just a heartbeat away from the can-didate who shows real promise as candidate of the year here in upstate New York. Perhaps it is just a matter of time before quality and intelligence combine to lead upstate New York into the political promised land. I stand ready to assist my extraordinarily able spouse on her journey in public service.”

’56Frank Keefe’s wife, Kathleen, passed away in 2014. Frank continues to serve as a volunteer assistant swimming coach at his alma mater, Villanova University.

Thomas Hunter’s wife, Constance, died April 1, 2014.

Joe Sohmer’s wife, Connie, passed away May 27, 2014.

’57John Foster is fully retired after 24 years in the U.S. Navy and 22 years teaching high-school Navy Junior ROTC. “Now doing nothing, and doing it quite well!” he says.

’58James Starkey’s wife, Sandra, died March 3, 2015.

Board of Regents member Phil Lloyd ’65, his wife Peggy, and their daughters, Kim Lloyd ’90 and Bebe Lloyd Welch ’94, dropping off their grandchildren Mattie, Addison, Rowan, and Charlie at Mercersburg’s Junior Adventure Camp this summer.

Marriages

1. Sean Doherty ’02 and Katia MacNeill on their wedding day, September 27, 2014.

2. The wedding of Sarah Powell ’05 and Mark Graeffe, April 26, 2014, in Charleston, South Carolina. Front row: Elizabeth Wilbur ’05, Alexis Imler Gray ’05, Sarah, Jenica Lee ’05, Karis Marsh Gensch ’05, and Stephanie Grimes ’05. Second row: Joe Imler ’72 and Ariel Imler ’09. (Not pictured but also in attendance: Elizabeth Powell ’01.)

Chris Senker ’97 and Kim Lynch, June 7, 2014.

John Dawes ’05 and Katie Sabri ’07, June 6, 2015.

Jess Fejes ’06 and Sam Garland, March 16, 2015.

Tyler Small ’07 and Stephanie Pelonia, December 13, 2014.

’61David Mathew is a retired architect and has moved to Florida with his wife, Jeannine. They are active motorhome travelers during the summer season, when they visit their favorite national parks, Colorado, and British Colum-bia. Their four children and five grandchildren provide additional destinations for their adven-tures. David says he would be glad to reconnect with other ’61 classmates.

’65Alan Bowman is concluding a 50-year career in computer software and support later this year.

’67Sandra Kahn Alpert, mother of Brian Madden and Andy Alpert ’82 and grandmother of Zoe Alpert ’14, passed away May 17, 2015.

Ernie Parkin retired after nine years as Home Bursar of St Edmund Hall, one of the colleges of the University of Oxford.

Randy Peffer’s mother, Marian, died December 28, 2014. Randy retired from teaching English at Phil-lips Academy Andover after 37 years. His new book, Diving the Last U-boat, was published this sum-mer by Penguin-Berkley.

’68Platt Safford retired from financial advising in March 2015. His wife, Lisa, continues to work as a professor of art history and department chair at Hiram College.

’70Dan McLaughlin is faculty chair of the Center for Teacher Education at Diné College, where he has taught since 1994.

’72Kris Pigman’s oldest daughter, Morgan Leigh, graduated from Saint Mary’s College of Califor-nia. His son, Mason Eric, is a junior at Baylor University, and his youngest daughter, Maken-zie Love, participated in a full-immersion lan-guage program in Argentina before spending a month teaching English to children in Peru.

’74Faculty member Tom Rahauser visited with Luis Cervera ’85, Paco Cervera ’86, and their fami-lies during a recent trip to Mexico.

’75Karen Cook Brown has been a U.S. Department of Energy quality specialist contractor for more than 20 years. Recently she has added certifi-cations as a quality auditor. “I’ve been married for 28 years, which still surprises me,” she says. “No children (our choice). I still speak with a Southern accent, although my time at the ’Burg smoothed that out a bit, and I’m still shy. I didn’t graduate from the ’Burg, but it was two of the most influential years of my life. My best regards to those who were my friends there. Yes, I still remember you.”

David Ditto continues to work for the U.S. Nu-clear Regulatory Commission. He has discon-tinued performing inspections at fuel facilities and has taken a project manager position that provides oversight for nuclear material control

2

From left: Ann von Spiegelfeld, Alan von Spiegelfeld ’67, Pete Greene ’82, and Chris Greene ’80 at the 2015 SCAR Swim in Arizona—a 40-mile open water swim in four lakes over four days. Pete and Alan served as the kayakers, while Ann and Chris swam. Ann placed eighth out of 24 female swimmers; Chris placed third out of 22 male swimmers and fifth overall out of 46 swimmers. Chris actively competes at open-water marathon swim events across the country and swam the 3RMS (Three Rivers Marathon Swim), a 30K invitation-only event at The Pointe in Pittsburgh in support of infant cardiothoracic surgery.

1

Class of 1961 members Dan Wilson, Julien Meyer, and Gordon Shapiro enjoying their 50th college reunion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“We are planning to retire in the Naples, Florida, area, where there is no winter,” he says.

Jeanne Palmer Prentiss, mother of Board of Regents vice president John Prentiss, grand-mother of Ames Prentiss ’89 and Kimball Pren-tiss ’92, and widow of the late George Prentiss ’39, died January 22, 2015.


and accounting at fuel facilities, power reactors, research reactors, and independent-spent fuel storage facilities.

Charlotte Lee Morris, mother of Gregory Mor-ris and sister of the late David Benjamin ’35, passed away April 20, 2015.

’76Lisa Danielson Gregor and her husband, Joe, own and operate the Church Street Brewing Company near Chicago.

Dianna Green Lester has been a licensed Chris-tian minister and evangelist since 1997 and has worked since 2004 at the New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation/Bellevue Hospital as a secretary in the EEG lab and medicine/neurol-ogy department.

Denise Henderson Edwards is principal of Myra Linn Elementary School in Riverside, Cali-fornia. She successfully defended her disserta-tion for her doctor of education degree from La Sierra University.

’78Dave Holzwarth, who is now in his 26th year on the Mercersburg faculty, also plays in local Americana bands Wings That Buzz and Pale Barn Ghosts. A video by the Pale Barn Ghosts (which featured Dave playing bass while strapped to a gurney inside an ambulance) was featured online as part of a contest for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts last winter.

Hank Katzen and his wife, Marcie, celebrated two graduations in May: their son Malcolm from Penn State University and their son Ma-son from Edgewater High School in Orlando, Florida. Hank sends best wishes to all.

Mark Talbott’s father, Douglas, passed away October 18, 2014.

’80Steven Lynch is a reference librarian at the De-partment of the Navy Library within the Naval History and Heritage Command at the Wash-ington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

’81Mercersburg roommates Nancy Corwin Sand-ers and Jamie Saucer Holland recently reunited for the first time in 30 years in New York City.

’82Ray Liddy, a deputy attorney general for the State of California, was appointed to the

advisory committee of the newly formed Bureau of Children’s Justice within the California De-partment of Justice. Ray will advise the Bureau on issues related to children and the state’s Medicaid program, which provides healthcare coverage for low-income children.

Parker Ward visited Annapolis, Maryland, for a family wedding at the U.S. Naval Academy and met up with 1982 classmates José Espino and Andy Alpert while he was in town.

’83Mark Pyper hosted several students and faculty at his Utah home as part of a Mercersburg Out-door Education trip to Moab National Park in February.

’84Nathan Mao, father of Emily Mao, Weiyen Mao Jonas ’86, Rendy Mao ’09, and Renee Mao ’11, died February 1, 2015.

’85Luke Ebbin co-wrote and produced Richie Sam-bora’s album Aftermath of the Lowdown, and has been touring around the world with Sam-bora, who is the former lead guitarist of Bon Jovi.

Andy Lilienthal lives in South Portland, Maine, and continues to serve as director of Camp Win-nebago. His wife, Laura, is a pediatrician, and the couple has two sons.

Tim O’Brien has been the national coach for Nitro Swimming in Austin, Texas, since its in-ception in 2006 and recently served as head coach for Team USA at the World Cup Swim-ming Championships in Beijing, Tokyo, and Sin-gapore. Tim was also head coach for the U.S. National Junior Team Camp at the U.S. Olym-pic Training Center. Nitro Swimming is a Top 5

team in the U.S. Tim says he regularly keeps in touch with classmate Russell Weaver.

Peggy Raley Ward’s stepson, Tyler, passed away August 28, 2014.

’86Lucie Portier, mother of Margaret O’Brien and the late Robert O’Brien ’88, died March 22, 2015.

Susan Stoner Leithauser has returned to Deni-son University, where she is a senior develop-ment officer focusing on parent and family philanthropy and engagement. She says she’d love to connect with Mercersburg families near Granville, Ohio, and enjoys being on staff with fellow Mercersburg alumna Kim Lloyd ’90, who is an assistant swimming coach at Denison and helped the men’s and women’s teams to second-place finishes at the NCAA Division III National Championships.

’88Susie Lyles-Reed’s father, Bobby, passed away April 8, 2015.

’92Peggy Burns was featured in a June 2015 article in the arts & leisure section of The New York Times about Drawn and Quarterly, the comics company where she serves as publisher.

’94After seven years in China, Rashmi Jolly Dalai and her family left Shanghai, where she was a writer for the City Weekend and Shanghai Fam-ily magazines, and moved to Singapore. Her article “What Makes the Expat Lifestyle So Ad-dictive?” was featured on The Wall Street Jour-nal’s Expat blog in June.

Hector Leal ’90 (left) and his wife, Paulina, connected with his Mercersburg soccer coach Tom Rahauser ’74 during a recent visit to campus. Hector is an engineer and general manager for the Cayala City project, a mixed-use development effort in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Paul Royer ’93, Rob Pitts ’93, Neil Riser ’93, Ben Martin ’93, and Matt Beatty ’94 at a 1970s-themed 40th birthday party for Rob. “The party was a surprise and held at Rob’s house in D.C.,” Matt says. “Paul came in from upstate New York, Neil from Denver, and Ben from Salt Lake City.”


Births/Adoptions

1. Jonah Samuel Codrea, son of Bradley Codrea ’98 and his wife, Sarah, born February 20, 2015.

2. Colin Timothy Rawley, son of Shannon Rawley ’95, born October 28, 2014.

3. Carter Shreiner, son of Court Shreiner ’04 and his wife, Kaitlyn, born March 10, 2015.

4. Davis Combes Thoren, son of former faculty member Chris Thoren ’90 and his wife, Sarah, born March 4, 2015.

5. Briggs David Schindler, son of former faculty members Abby and Mark Schindler, born April 8, 2015.

6-7. Emsley Rose (born September 19, 2014) and Tevy Anne (age 2), daughters of Karis Marsh Gensch ’05 and her husband, Brian.

8. Alexander Donald Karottki, son of Emily Peterson Karottki ’97 and her husband, Sal, born January 26, 2015.

9. Marietta James Hilton, daughter of Zac Hilton ’04 and his wife, Calie, born June 8, 2015.

10. Lucas John Larson, son of Kit Larson ’97 and his wife, Angie, born June 2, 2015.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9

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To Sarah Blackburn Brincefield ’99 and her husband, Neal: a daughter, Lydia Jan, April 12, 2015.

To Patrick Ferguson ’99 and his wife, Kristen: a son, Jack Robert, April 8, 2015.

To Patrick Koch ’99 and his wife, KellyMay: a son, Colby George, April 1, 2015.

To Kyle Lininger ’02 and his wife, Courtney: a daughter, Molly Charlotte, May 12, 2015.

To Sarah Epstein Sutton ’04 and her husband, Andy: a son, William, April 13, 2015.

To Jordan Gouline ’04 and his wife, Jackie: a daughter, Alexa, May 8, 2015.

To C.J. Gruber ’04 and his wife, Stevi: a son, Landon, March 12, 2015.

To Rachael Hendrickson Lynch ’06 and her husband, Aaron: a daughter, Harper Anne, May 29, 2015.

To Asia Walker Castro ’09 and her husband, Joey: a daughter, Zoey Jenorah, March 3, 2015.


Reema Datta conducted yoga and ayurveda workshops and retreats in Europe this summer, visiting Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and Oxford. She plans to hold a retreat in India in December and January.

’96Matt Russell works on patient-safety initiatives at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco.

’97Nick Jenkins is working in sales for Intel after spending three years at KPMG in Tysons Cor-ner, Virginia.

Emily Peterson Karottki and her husband, Sal, welcomed a son, Alexander Donald, January 26, 2015. (Xander is named for his late great-grand-father, Alexander Dawes Beattie ’41.)

’98Mike Bush has been named head football coach at Kentwood High School in Covington, Wash-ington. Mike was a standout football and bas-ketball player at Washington State University.

Bradley Codrea, his wife, Sarah, and their new-born son, Jonah Samuel, have moved to Rich-mond, Virginia.

’99Masroor Ahmed is vice president of finance for the interactive marketing company Jellyvision.

Rache Baird Brand is working as a consultant for Chobani.

Cyndy Coote Blackburn, mother of Sarah Black-burn Brincef ield, Jamie Blackburn IV ’03, and Natalie Blackburn ’05 (and mother-in-law of Victoria Leontieva Blackburn ’03), passed away May 15, 2015.

Patrick Ferguson is an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. He and his wife, Kristen, wel-comed their second child, Jack Robert, April 8, 2015.

Jess Malarik is an architect for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in Philadelphia.

Molly Messick is a producer/editor for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

Ugonna Onyekwe was inducted into the Phila-delphia Big 5’s 2015 Hall of Fame class for his accomplishments as a basketball player at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Penn before playing professionally in Europe and Israel.

Mark Oviatt’s father, William, passed away February 3, 2015.

Christopher Pick received a master’s degree in humanities and social sciences from George Mason University in May.

’00M.C. Corson has started a new job as Mid-At-lantic marketing manager for Rí Rá, a group of Irish pubs/restaurants.

In January, Michael Galey was elected part-ner at the law firm Fisher & Phillips, where he

has practiced employment law for the past six years. Fisher & Phillips was named 2015 Law Firm of the Year for Labor & Employment Liti-gation by U.S. News–Best Lawyers, and Michael was selected by the Pennsylvania edition of Su-per Lawyers magazine as a “Rising Star” for the third year in a row. Michael lives in West Ches-ter, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Rachel Kagan, who is a digital producer at Bryn Mawr Com-munications. Their daughter, Quinn, turned 3 in July.

Jane Crawford was featured in a Wall Street Journal article in February about how people’s social circles change as they progress through life.

Magdalena Kala ’09Boston, Massachusetts

Magdalena works as a private equity asso-ciate for Bain Capital. A native of Poland, she graduated with honors from Harvard University with a degree in economics. At Mercersburg, Magdalena was valedicto-rian of her class, a National AP Scholar, a member of the Cum Laude Society and the Fifteen, a prefect, president of Mer-cersburg Model United Nations, editor of The Mercersburg News, and a varsity let-terwinner in squash. Magdalena lives in

Boston and has been appointed to a special young alumni seat on the Board of Regents.

Todd Hovenden ’84Bloomington, Illinois

Todd is founder of Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, with locations across 10 states. He launched the company in 1999 in Bloomington, Illinois, after working sev-eral years for PepsiCo. Todd received his undergraduate degree from the Univer-sity of Iowa and his M.B.A. from North-western University’s Kellogg School of Management. While at Mercersburg as a one-year senior, he was a member of the swim team and a dorm prefect.

Todd and his wife, Claudia Bayona Hovenden ’84, have two children, Max ’14 and Gabriella ’15, and live in Bloomington.

New on the Board of Regents

Kristin Burkhart Sites ’02 and her husband, Mike, with their son, Henry James, who was born September 30, 2014. The family lives in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.


’02Sean Doherty married Katia MacNeill Sep-tember 27, 2014. Peter Banzhaf served as best man; Jan Rebenich and Joe Am-brose ’03 were also in attendance. Sean and Katia live in San Francisco, where Sean manages West Coast operations for HelloFresh, an online meal delivery company. Katia is an associate at Cooley LLP, focusing on private equity and venture capital funds.

Kyle Lininger and his wife, Courtney, wel-comed a daughter, Molly Charlotte, May 12, 2015. Kyle is the director of program develop-ment at Intermountain Centers for Human Development in Tucson, Arizona.

In June 2014, Robert Terrell advanced to doc-toral candidacy in European history at the University of California, San Diego. He earned a Fulbright research grant to conduct disser-tation research in Germany during the 2014–2015 academic year.

’03Scott Lindquist married Diana “Nikki” Mc-Mullen August 2, 2014. Scott is enrolled in the computer-engineering program at George Mason University; the couple lives in Fairfax, Virginia.

Sam Miller is executive producer of the new sitcom web series L.A. Beer, which has 10 episodes available on YouTube. Sam is also a staff writer for the CBS TV show Mom, which stars Anna Faris and Allison Janney and airs on Thursday nights.

’04Nick Mellott earned an MBA from the Univer-sity of North Carolina.

Brian Schaus graduated with a master’s de-gree in electrical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

’05Jamar Galbreath has been accepted into the doctoral program in counselor education at the University of Montana.

Carl Gray has relocated to New York City to work on Hillary Clinton’s presidential cam-paign as a member of its tri-state finance team.

Tracey Manner is vice president of fashion and business development at THINK PR. She was also featured on the website WhoWhatWear.com in an article about successful women in the fashion industry.

Sarah Powell Graeffe works in the corporate-litigation department of the law firm White and Williams in its office near Allentown, Pennsylvania. She received a J.D. from Emory University School of Law in 2013.

’06David Ashton is part of Orange Sequoia Films, a Washington, D.C., film collective that he and other directors formed. David filmed a music video, “Qué Sera, Sera,” for The Hello Strangers—who are Brechyn Chace ’03 and Larissa Chace Smith ’97—in Mercersburg in February. He also has a narrative independent film in development titled Gossamer, a script he wrote about a mentally ill teenager investi-gating a murder.

Griffin Burns starred in a national television commercial for Redd’s Green Apple Ale. He is also the voice of Eddie Behr in Bear in Un-derwear, an animated TV movie available on Amazon Instant Video.

Hilary Gridley has authored a chapter in The XYZ Factor, a book compiled by she and sev-eral colleagues at DoSomething.org. The text provides advice for young people who want to start their own company or nonprofit or-ganization—or improve one they’re already involved with.

Sophie Scholz is a crossfit trainer in Hong Kong and has started her own fitness practice.

David Smooke is head of marketing for Team-able, a cloud-based employee-referral engine.

’07Alex Ferrara is a founding partner of Bluegrass Law Group in Lexington, Kentucky.

Pat Galey is in his second year of law school at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

Chuck Roberts is enrolling at Stanford Law School this fall.

Katie Stover is joyously overworking as an ac-count executive at High Rock Studios in Hag-erstown, Maryland.

Julia Thorne successfully defended her thesis at the University of Maryland and graduated with a master’s degree in speech pathology. Julia was honored last year with the Rao Family Award for her commitment to research in adult neurogenics.

’08Lily Smith graduated from the University of Georgia with a master of fine arts degree; she also holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in craft and material studies from Virginia Common-wealth University.

Bo Hickey is leading a three-month U.S. Navy program in Japan that targets “at-risk” individ-uals living on-base near Tokyo. “The program involves a full spectrum of fitness, nutrition, and overall lifestyle modification program-ming,” Bo says. “This is an epic opportunity to take my passion and use it in a positive way to help members of the military and their families.”

Rebecca Morrison’s father, John, passed away February 26, 2015.

’09Robert Shabb has started his own custom car-pentry business in Richmond, Virginia, which specializes in the use of reclaimed materials.

’10Sarah Duda graduated from Swarthmore Col-lege with a bachelor’s degree in history in June 2014. Since then, she has found a family at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where she has worked as a bibliographic specialist and visitor services manager. Read her food history blog series at hsp.org/blogs/fondly-pennsylvania/a-philly-foodie-explores-local-his-tory.

Carlos Garcia was accepted into the Peace Corps’ environmental-management sector. He departed for Peru in May 2015 and sends his regrets that he couldn’t attend his class’s five-year reunion in June.

L–R: Mika White ’04, Natsuko Hada ’03, Kensuke Kusaka ’04, and Sayumi Terao ’07 holding a mini-reunion in Tokyo.


Chris McClintick ’08 (left) and Jon Trichter ’89 (second from right) with The Hello Strangers (Larissa Chace Smith ’97/second from left and Brechyn Chace ’03/right) at an April Hello Strangers concert in New York City.

Anmargaret Warner ’10 (second from right) taught English in India during the 2014–2015 academic year as the recipient of a Fulbright grant. In March, she connected in Delhi with a group of Mercersburg students and faculty that spent two weeks in India over spring break. L–R: Nick Kelly ’15, Coleman Weibley, Jennifer Miller Smith ’97, Cara Dealy ’16, Ryan Geitner ’17, Amanda Broyles ’16, Lexi Sommerville ’17, Raj Singh ’15, Anmargaret, and Frank Rutherford ’70.

Maggie Goff is a graduate student at Arizona State University, where she received a Dean’s Fellowship to pursue a master’s degree in justice studies and social inquiry. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Manhattanville College.

Ethan Keiser is part of a three-person team that built StudyTree, a first-of-its-kind app that connects university students with fellow student tutors on campus. The app won first place in the innovation category and a $4,000 cash prize at Microsoft’s 2015 U.S. Imagine Cup finals.

Eliza Macdonald graduated from Bucknell University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and theatre. She is an admis-sions counselor at Southern Methodist Uni-versity in Dallas.

Leigh Saner has been accepted into the mas-ter’s of public health program at East Carolina University.

’11Christian Brockway graduated from Bucknell University in May with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies, economics, and mathematics.

Anne Carrasco graduated from East Carolina University in May with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and has joined the Cardiothoracic Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Duke Medical Center as a clinical nurse.

Sami Kebede received the Alexander J. Barton Cup, Johns Hopkins University’s highest lead-ership award for an undergraduate student, which is presented to a senior. He moved to New York City in June and begins medical school this fall at the Icahn School of Medi-cine at Mount Sinai.

Susie Klein received a Fulbright binational business fellowship to study in Mexico be-ginning in September 2015. Susie will spend 10 months with a multinational organization working full-time and taking business classes in the evenings.

Ryan Ma is finishing his second co-op at the startup PillPack and spent three months in San Francisco as a product design intern with Facebook. He will graduate from Northeast-ern University in spring 2016 with a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and interactive media. “Hope I will have a chance to con-nect with Mercersburg alumni in the Bay Area soon!” he says.

Sam Rodgers, a long snapper for and co-cap-tain of the Syracuse University football team, participated in the Buffalo Bills’ rookie mini-camp in May.

Stephanie Stine graduated magna cum laude from Eastern University with a bachelor’s de-gree in psychology. She is moving to Wash-ington, D.C., to begin a master’s program in forensic psychology at George Washington University. Stephanie is an intern with the Cornwall Police Department, where she is working on developing a grant proposal for a program to assist women who have experi-enced sexual assault.

’12Max Strauss is a public-relations intern with the Washington Redskins; his internship be-gan this summer and lasts through the 2015 NFL season. He will graduate from the Uni-versity of Miami in spring 2016.

Emily Warfield has transferred to the Uni-versity of Denver, where she is studying marketing. “Loving the Denver snow and en-vironment,” she says. “Michelle Skuba Gray

and I are in an honors economics class to-gether here—so cool, small world.”

’13Sarah Firestone won the 2015 Big Ten Con-ference championship in javelin, setting the Big Ten and University of Nebraska school re-cords (184 feet, 3 inches) in the process. She advanced through the NCAA West Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in June, where she placed 17th. Later that month, Sarah (a rising junior at Nebraska) finished eighth at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships. Her sights are set on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro; she has already qualified for next year’s U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held in early July 2016.

’15Amy, Savvas, and Philip Savopoulos, mother, father, and brother of Abigail Savopoulos, died May 14, 2015.

FacultySue Malone joined former Mercersburg faculty member Alisa Springman and a few friends in completing a 48-mile one-day run across Utah’s Zion National Park in April.

Former FacultyKristy Higby and Mark Flowers officially completed their documentary film The Other Brother, and are creating a related traveling multimedia show for museums and other in-terested venues in the Carolinas and elsewhere.

Tony Tucker is director of middle-school ad-missions at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, where he is the school’s bas-ketball coach (and coaches Little League World Series star Mo’ne Davis).

Obituaries


’31Richard B. Mather, November 28, 2014. (Marshall, Class His-torian, News, KARUX, Choir, Glee Club, YMCA Cabinet, The Fif-teen, Lit Board, Working Boy Prize, Cum Laude, Schaff Orator) Dick was a professor emeritus of Chinese studies at the Uni-versity of Minnesota, where he was an internationally renowned expert on medieval Chinese literature and religion. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in art and archaeology, from Princeton Theological Seminary, and from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Ph.D. in Chinese literature. Dick served as a pastor in Belle Haven, Virginia, prior to his time in higher education. Survivors include a daughter and two sons.

’32Frederick O. Hendricks Jr., January 17, 2005. (Marshall, track & field) Fred was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and worked as a towerman for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary. Survivors include a son, a daughter, five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

’34George W. Clark, May 8, 2011. (Marshall, Band, Orchestra) George studied mechanical engineering at Duke University and worked for General Motors Overseas Operations in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and retired in Detroit from GM after 42 years. George was preceded in death by his wife, Gloria. Survivors include four children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

’35John T. Fletcher Jr., November 15, 2012. (Marshall, News) John graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Force and served during World War II. John worked at the Pentagon and later took over the family business, Fletcher’s News, which he operated until 1997. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Norma, and a daughter. Survivors include his second wife, Marjorie, as well as a son, a granddaughter, and a great-grandson.

David Thurlow, February 24, 2015. (Marshall, track & field, Gun Club, Camera Club) David attended Dartmouth College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A Navy veteran of World War II, he started a school for naval recruits in the 1st Naval District Receiving Station, Boston Harbor. He was preceded in death by his first wife, June, a sister, and an infant sister. Sur-vivors include three daughters, two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a niece, and five nephews.

’36Douglas C. Paul, February 16, 2015. (Marshall, football, wres-tling, tennis, Les Copains, Class Day Committee) Doug majored in engineering at Lehigh University and served as a first lieuten-ant in the Army during World War II, receiving the Bronze Star, Silver Star, and Purple Heart. He later worked for the Bethlehem Steel Company and joined his father’s office furniture and sta-tionary business, H.M. Paul and Son in Bethlehem. Survivors include his wife, Elise, five children, five grandchildren, and two step-grandchildren.

’37Robert W. Donehower, January 13, 2015. (Marshall, track & field, soccer, Choir) Robert earned a degree in mechanical engineer-ing from Bucknell University and served stateside in the Army during World War II in the Army Corps of Engineers. He later joined his father and brother in operating the W.L. Donehower sporting goods store in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Robert also served two terms as a Union County Commissioner. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lucy. Survivors include a brother, a sister, two nieces, one nephew, three grand-nephews, and one grand-niece.

’38Roy L. Cousins, January 20, 2012. (Marshall, Camera Club, swimming, track & field) Roy was an Army Air Corps veteran of World War II and spent nearly a year as a prisoner of war in Germany. He later became a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard. Roy is survived by his ex-wife, Ann; a son, two daugh-ters, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren; and four sisters.


Thomas M. Flanagan, July 4, 2015. (Main, Irving, Band, Gun Club, Class President, Concert Band, football, Chapel usher, Memorial Committee) Tom graduated from Cornell University and received an M.D. from Syracuse University. He served as a physician in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps and established a urology practice in Norwich, New York. He was also past president of the medical staff and chief of surgery and urol-ogy at Chenango Memorial Hospital and a clinical professor of urology at the State University Hospital at Upstate Medical Center. He founded Grouse Ridge Kennels, one of the largest English Setter kennels in the country. Tom served Mercersburg for more than 50 years, first as a member of the Alumni Coun-cil and then on the Board of Regents, and five generations of his family have attended the Academy. He and his family have generously supported various projects, including the Class of 1938 Observatory, the Flanagan Pool and Davenport Squash Center in Nolde Gymnasium, and the Burgin Center for the Arts’ Flanagan Practice Room. Tom was preceded in death by three uncles, George Manley (1913), Donald Manley ’27, and Thomas Manley ’35, and a brother, James Flanagan ’36. Survi-vors include his wife, Esther (an honorary member of the Class of 1984); seven sons, Thomas ’68, Timothy ’69, Peter ’70, Stephen ’74, William ’76, David ’81, and Patrick ’84; 17 grand-children, including Jennifer Flanagan Bradley ’99, Michael ’01, Matthew ’04, Tom ’10, Bill ’10, Peter ’11, Jack ’14, and Fiona ’17; seven great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews, including H. William Smith III ’70, Tracy Coyne Tenney ’77, Miles Hearon ’16, and Aicher Hearon ’19.

Howard R. Johnson, March 4, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, swimming, Les Copains, Memorial Committee) Howard grad-uated from Yale University, where he was an All-America swim-mer and led Yale to a national championship in the sport. He served as a first lieutenant in the Navy during World War II, and was owner of Bellmore Johnson Tool Company for many years. Howard was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie, and a brother, Robert ’35. Survivors include three daughters, nine grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

’39Clifford A. Crispell Jr., July 30, 2010. (Main Annex, Irving) Clif-ford was a Navy veteran of World War II. He served on the board of directors of the Mid-Hudson Workshop for the Dis-abled and was a member of the Holland Society of New York. Survivors include his wife, Jane; two sons and a daughter; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Frederick R. Hamil, August 24, 2013. (Marshall, soccer, foot-ball, baseball, track & field) Fred was a World War II veteran and retired from JLG in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. He lived in Daytona Beach, Florida. Fred was preceded in death by his wife, Sara, and a daughter; survivors include a son, three grandchil-dren, and four great-grandchildren.

Howard L. Nielsen, December 16, 2014. (Marshall) Howard served in the Navy during World War II. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jane, and a stepson. Survivors include his second wife, Dorothy; five daughters and a stepson; and four grandchildren, a great-grandchild, three step-grandchil-dren, and three step-great-grandchildren.

’40James B. Ammon, July 5, 2013. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Les Copains, swimming) Jim was a national prep-school swimming champion at Mercersburg. He served as a first lieutenant in the Army during World War II and attended Amherst College and Harvard Business School. He held a lead-ership position at Chrysler before becoming chief financial offi-cer at Baxter Labs. Jim was an avid traveler and visited more than 60 countries; he was also inducted into the Berks County Swimming Hall of Fame. Survivors include two daughters, a son, a granddaughter, and a brother and a sister.

Stephen G. Draper, July 2, 2013. (Irving) Steve served in the Merchant Marine during World War II and was superintendent of his family’s business, Draper Foods, for many years. He was preceded in death by a brother. Survivors include his wife, Clara, as well as a stepdaughter and two brothers.

Albert G. Gillmann, February 14, 2015. (Glee Club) Abbie attended the University of Illinois. He worked for Westclox as a draftsman in the tool department for many years, as well as for the Illinois Department of Transportation and for Caterpil-lar. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothea, and two brothers (including David ’40). Survivors include a son, two grandsons, and one sister.

Gordon L. Hawk, May 25, 2015. (Main, Irving, Les Copains, Latin Club, News Board, cross country) Gordon served in the Air Force during World War II and graduated from American University. He worked for the American Trucking Association for 15 years before serving as an administrative assistant to U.S. Representative Gilbert Gude and Senator Charles Mathias on Capitol Hill. He was preceded in death by a sister. Survi-vors include his wife, Page, as well as three children and three grandchildren.

’41Thomas J. Porter, February 14, 2011. (Marshall, wrestling, football, tennis) Tom was president of the Electric Tachom-eter Corporation in Philadelphia from 1960 to 2003. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jenny, and a brother, Frederick ’44. Survivors include a son, a daughter, a brother, and three grandchildren.

Joseph H. Young, March 14, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, soccer, cheerleader, KARUX Board) Joseph, the son of John E. Young (1901), was an Army veteran of World War II, receiving a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a law degree from the University of Virginia before joining the Baltimore law firm Marbury Miller & Evans (later Piper & Marbury), where he rose to managing partner. He was named to the federal bench in 1971 with the support of Senator Charles Mathias and Vice President Spiro Agnew, retiring in 2002. Survivors include his wife, Doris; three sons and eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.


’42William H. Caldwell Jr., February 18, 2015. (Irving) Bill attended Franklin & Marshall College and was an instructor at San Diego Mesa College in San Diego, California.

Lyn E. Sturdevant Jr., February 23, 2015. (Irving) Lyn was an Army veteran of World War II. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked for the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company. After 35 years, Lyn retired as chief engineer and moved to North Carolina to set up the engineering department for the Joy Manufacturing Company. Survivors include his wife, Jan, as well as five children, 10 grand-children, and eight great-grandchildren.

’43W. Gerald Blaney, March 12, 2015. (Marshall, Football Band) Jerry was an Army Air Corps veteran of World War II. He worked with his father as a truck driver and later as an engineer and landsman for Eberly Natural Gas and Oil Company until his retirement. Jerry was preceded in death by his son, Douglas ’66, as well as a granddaughter, two brothers, and a sister. Survivors include his wife, Carolyn; a daughter; four grandchildren, including Kelly Debor ’00; three great-grandchildren; and several nieces, neph-ews, and cousins. In 1992, he established the Douglas O. Blaney ’66 Memorial Scholarship Fund in his son’s memory.

W. Jay Bleakley Jr., April 23, 2014. (Marshall, football, baseball) Jay was the son of the late William Bleakley (1908). He was an Army Air Corps veteran of World War II and worked in sales for the Orangeburg Realty Company in South Carolina. He was pre-ceded in death by his wife, Gwendolyn; survivors include four children, a stepson, two grandsons, and three great-grandsons.

Burton A. Fleming, May 11, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, News Board, Football Band, Concert Band, Blue and White Melodians) Burton graduated from the University of Virginia, Temple Uni-versity School of Medicine, and the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute. He spent time in the Air Force Medical Corps before setting up a private practice. Burton was the first medical direc-tor of Northwestern Mental Health Service; founder, president, and medical director of the Horsham Clinic; and president of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society. Survivors include his wife, Lynn; four daughters and two sons; and eight grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

’44Maurice L. Brewton Jr., July 1, 2015. (Marshall, track & field, foot-ball, Glee Club, Williams Cup) Maurice graduated from Okla-homa State University with a degree in physical education. He worked for GMC, the National Bank, Liberty National Bank, and 1st Fidelity Bank. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jan. Survivors include his second wife, Marge; three sons, a daugh-ter, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren; and two sisters.

Douglas A. Egger, March 17, 2004. (Main Annex, Irving, Chem-istry Club, Les Copains, football) Douglas attended the Univer-sity of Virginia and lived in Port Isabel, Texas. Survivors include his wife, Janet; six children; and 10 grandchildren.

Floyd C. Lepperd, December 25, 2007. (Main, Marshall, El Cir-culo Español, Gun Club, weightlifting, cross country, wrestling, tennis, KARUX Board) “Johnny” was a doctor in private prac-tice in Hanover, Pennsylvania. He was chief of staff at VA medi-cal centers in Prescott, Arizona, and Dublin, Georgia, and was director at medical centers in Walla Walla, Washington, and Marlin, Texas. Survivors include two daughters, a stepdaugh-ter, and several grandchildren.

Leland S. Schmitt Jr., October 21, 2013. (Marshall, football, base-ball) Lee lived in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Survivors include his wife, Aileen; a son and a daughter; and three grandchildren.

’45Roderick E. Kennedy, April 14, 2014. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, football, track & field, Glee Club) Rod served in the Marines during the Korean War. He founded the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1972 and remained its producer for 31 years. Rod was a race car driver, owned several television and radio stations, and organized the first Texas FM Broadcasters Association. Survivors include his ex-wife, Nancylee.

Frederick C. Lauer Jr., April 18, 2015. (Main, Irving) Fred attended Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated from the University of Rochester. He worked for French’s, Tree Top, and Seneca Foods. He also did contract work for the federal government, setting up emergency housing at disaster sites around the country. Fred was preceded in death by a brother, Walter ’49. Survivors include a niece, three nephews (including Walter Lauer Jr. ’70), four great-nieces and great-nephews, and 10 great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews.

Robert W. Whitener, January 31, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, News Board, Press Club, Choir, Glee Club, Concert Band, The Fifteen, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Laticlavii, Caducean Club, Chess Club, soccer, KARUX Board, Cum Laude) Robert was a veteran of the Army Air Corps and graduated from Catawba College and Northwestern University Medical School. He worked in the student-health service of the University of Illi-nois before entering private practice in adult psychiatry. Robert was preceded in death by his wife, Marion. Survivors include two children and five granddaughters.

’46Rex W. Hershberger, February 19, 2015. (South Cottage, Mar-shall, Choir, Concert Band, Glee Club, Gun Club, Football Band) Rex graduated from Juniata College and worked as an advertising manager for the Morrisons Cove Herald. He then co-founded Hershberger and Myers Insurance Agency, where he spent 40 years. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy; four chil-dren (including a son, Loren ’70); seven grandchildren; and a brother, James ’45.


’47William H. Cleckner III, April 2, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, baseball, Caducean Club) Bill graduated from Lafayette College and worked in the family business, Harrisburg Hardware Store, before joining AMP Inc. He was preceded in death by an infant son and a sister. Survivors include his wife, Evelyn; three sons; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Richard A. Jacoby, February 13, 2012. (Irving) Dick attended Georgetown University and was a lieutenant colonel in the Army. Survivors include his wife, Anne; three children and three grand-children; and six great-grandchildren.

Charles C. Lathrop, March 17, 2013. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, football, track & field) Charles served in the military during the Korean War and later owned and trained race horses in Califor-nia, Arizona, and Mexico. He was also an oil-investment consul-tant. Survivors include his wife, Phyllis.

Raymond G. Mateer, January 7, 2015. (Keil, Irving, Caducean Club, Concert Band, track & field) Raymond graduated from Franklin & Marshall College and served in the Army during the Korean War. He was vice president of Cyprus Minerals. Ray-mond was preceded in death by a brother (John ’35) and a sister. Survivors include his wife, Barbara, as well as three children and seven grandchildren.

Richard L. Stevenson, November 28, 2014. (’Eighty-eight, Mar-shall, Les Copains, Secretary-Treasurer, Radio Club, Choir, Glee Club, track) Dick was a Navy veteran of the Korean War and designed and sold roofing and flooring systems for much of his career, ending with work at Baker-Miller. He was preceded in death by his wife, Victoria, a son, and two siblings. Survivors include two daughters, a brother, several grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

’48William L. Bair, February 7, 2015. (Main, Irving, The Fifteen, El Circulo Español, Chemistry Club, Glee Club, Caducean Club, Projection Crew, soccer) Bill attended Haverford College and the University of Pittsburgh. He was a psychiatrist at the Center for Psychiatric Services.

Robert P. Belber, December 22, 2014. (football, baseball) Robert attended Goldey-Beacom College, Rutgers University, and the University of Florida. He retired as director of operations for Syn-Cronamics and was preceded in death by his wife, Lisbeth.

Richard M. Law, March 18, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, El Cir-culo Español, Chemistry Club, Choir, Glee Club, Stamp Club, soccer, track & field) Richard, the son of the late Stanley Law (1913), graduated from Lafayette College and served in an Army topography battalion during the Korean War. He joined Procter and Gamble, where he enjoyed a 35-year career as a civil engi-neer, and later helped his son establish Linden Vineyards. Rich-ard was preceded in death by a brother. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; three children; and five grandchildren.

Roy V. Mish, April 17, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, Press Club, Les Copains, Gun Club, soccer, wrestling) Roy’s father was the late Frank Mish (1917). Roy served in the Army, graduated from Princeton University, and attended the University of Maryland Law School. He lived in Falling Waters, West Virginia. Roy was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth, and a brother.

’49John R. Gordon, July 5, 2013. (Main Annex, Gun Club, News, Pai-deia, wrestling) John graduated from Lackland Air Force Acad-emy as an air-sea pararescue trooper and served as a trooper in the Korean War. He taught ski school and was director of the ski patrol at several resorts. John was preceded in death by a brother. Survivors include two children, four grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and a sister.

John C. Harris, May 1, 2015. (Keil, Marshall, Senate, Chapel usher, Entertainment Usher, basketball, baseball, Varsity Club, Stony Batter) John graduated from Haverford College and served two years in the Marine Corps as a company com-mander. He worked as the worldwide manager of distribution operations for Caterpillar. John was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary, and a brother, William ’49. Survivors include his second wife, Ann; four stepchildren and 11 step-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Joseph E. Yungel, February 21, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, News Board, KARUX Board, Press Club, Chemistry Club, Con-cert Band, Football Band, Caducean Club, Chess Club, basket-ball, baseball, track & field) Joseph attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He worked for Lenz & Associ-ates and was president of Associated Underwriters. Survivors include his wife, Alane, as well as a daughter, two sons, and three grandsons.

’50Martin A. Arch, May 24, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, News Board, Press Club, KARUX Board, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Caducean Club, golf, wrestling, baseball) Marty graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and served in the Army. He was founder and president of Marco Specialties. Marty was preceded in death by a sister and a grandson. Survi-vors include his wife; Barbara; a daughter and a son; and four grandchildren.

Robert T. O’Neill, April 21, 2006. (Marshall) Bob attended Buck-nell University and worked in marketing for Opar in Evanston, Illinois. Survivors include his wife, Marlene.

’51John N. Ake, June 29, 2015. (Keil, Irving, Senate, Chapel usher, Gun Club, Marshal of the Field, Varsity Club, basketball, Class Day Committee) John served in the Army and attended Syra-cuse University. He was the former owner of Hammonton Lumberyard and manager of Peter Lumber Company. John was preceded in death by a brother, Thomas ’45; survivors include his wife, Joan, as well as two daughters and four grandchildren.


Robert W. Biggs Jr., December 18, 2014. (Main, Marshall, Choir, Glee Club, Radio Club, football) Bob served in the Army and graduated from Indiana University. He began a career in finance and business management and eventually retired as the vice president and treasurer of Cleveland-headquartered Pickands Mather & Co., an international mining and shipping company. He later worked in real estate. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Bonnie, and a son. Survivors include his wife, Bar-bara, as well as a daughter and two grandchildren.

J. Braxton McKee, February 3, 2014. (Main, Irving, Laticla-vii, Chemistry Club, Caducean Club, football, tennis) Braxton graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School and spent most of his career as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New Haven, Connecticut. He was also an active member of the clinical faculty in the psychiatry depart-ment at the Yale School of Medicine. Survivors include his wife, Lorraine; two daughters and a son; two grandchildren; and a sister and several nieces and nephews.

Milo R. White Jr., June 24, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, News Board, Press Club, Rauchrunde, Stony Batter, Caducean Club, Stamp Club) Milo served in the Army and earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, a master’s from the Univer-sity of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan. He worked in public secondary education as a teacher, social studies department chair, assistant principal, and principal at several Michigan high schools. Survivors include his wife, Sandy; three children, three stepchildren, and seven grandchildren; a brother, Daniel ’53; several nephews and nieces, including Elizabeth White Arcangeli ’91; and a great-nephew, Nicolas Greiner ’16.

’53John D. Andervont, February 11, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, Press Club, Chess Club, Gun Club, football, baseball) John attended Michigan State University and was a consumer safety officer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He was pre-ceded in death by his wife, Kathleen.

H. Norman Bonar Jr., October 7, 2013. (wrestling) Harry was a master gunsmith and owned and operated his own heating and air conditioning business. He was preceded in death by a son. Survivors include his wife, Olive; a son and two daughters; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; and a sister.

William B. Draper, January 18, 2015. (Keil, Irving declaimer, Class Secretary, Ode Committee, News Board, Senate, Student Council, The Fifteen, Les Copains, Choir, Glee Club, YMCA Cabinet, Dance Committee, Gun Club, Entertainment Usher, Marshal of the Field, Varsity Club, football, wrestling, baseball) Bill joined the Marine Corps in 1957 after graduating from Dart-mouth College and remained on active duty until 1978. He went on to become a deputy district attorney in San Diego and was later appointed by the governor to the San Diego Municipal Court bench and eventually to the Superior Court bench. Sur-vivors include his wife, Betsy; three children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren; and a sister.

Donald M. Lamaster, June 21, 2009. (Irving, Football Band) Donald lived in Anaheim, California. Survivors include four sons and a daughter.

’54L. Renick Miller, March 12, 2005. (’Eighty-eight, Gun Club) Renick attended Denison College and was the chief executive officer of Hardwood Lumber and L.R. Miller Inc., an inter-state trucking company. He also served in the Marine Corps Reserve. He was preceded in death by a brother; survivors include two sons, a daughter, a brother, six grandchildren, and four nieces.

’55John W. Fox, May 24, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Chess Club, Radio Club, Jurispru-dence Society, cross country, track & field, Varsity Club) John earned a degree in economic theory from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served for two years in the Army as a finance officer. He worked as a dispatcher with Anchor Motor Freight until he joined Linden Investment Company. For 35 years, he and his brother managed com-mercial real estate investments. John established the Class of 1955 Scholarship Fund and the David Lloyd Fillman ’56 Schol-arship Fund. He was preceded in death by an uncle, Lloyd Fillman (1918), and two cousins, David Fillman ’56 and John Fillman ’59. Survivors include his wife, Susan; two children and three grandchildren; and a brother.

Benjamin P. Houser Jr., February 24, 2013. (Marshall, foot-ball, Caducean Club, Gun Club) Ben, the son of the late Ben Houser ’27, graduated from Ursinus College and Jefferson Medical College. He joined the Air Force and attained the rank of captain, serving as a flight surgeon. Ben later took over his father’s ophthalmology practice and was on the teach-ing staff at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, having staff privi-leges at various hospitals. He was preceded in death by two sisters. Survivors include his wife, Carol; five children, includ-ing Jennifer ’86 and Ben III ’89; six grandchildren and two step-grandchildren; and his stepmother, Ruth.

John H. McBride, December 12, 2011. (Irving, track & field, football, Gun Club, Projection Crew, Radio Club) John attended Kenyon College before graduating from the Univer-sity of Louisville with a degree in commerce. He served in the Air National Guard and was president and chief executive officer of Porcelain Metals Corporation, a business started by his father. Survivors include his wife, Carolyn, as well as five children and 11 grandchildren.

Hamilton W. Stirling, October 7, 2013. (Keil, Irving, Trea-surer, News Board, Student Council, Laticlavii, Chemistry Club, Choir, Glee Club, YMCA Cabinet, cheerleader, football) Hamilton graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and received an MBA from the University of Florida. He was an Army veteran and served on the faculty at the University of South Florida for 30 years before running his own consulting business.


’57F. Albert Baumann III, May 1, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, Caducean Club, Press Club, Varsity Club, swimming, tennis) Albert earned a bachelor’s degree from Hobart College, an MBA from Cornell University, and a J.D. from American Uni-versity. He worked for Ford and later for R.L. Polk and Moore Response Graphics. Survivors include three children and a brother, Bill ’65.

Jerry H. Black, February 22, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, foot-ball) Jerry attended the U.S. Naval Academy and spent 20 years with the Navy before retiring and working for Sprint. Survivors include his wife, Margaret, as well as two sons.

Robert W. Mertz, January 19, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, Glee Club, Concert Band) Bob was an Army veteran and attended Lehigh University. He ran Sunbury Motors in Sun-bury, Pennsylvania, and was a partner in Roy Adams & Son Inc. Survivors include a brother, C. Oakley Mertz ’62; a sister; and a niece and three nephews.

R. Raymond Russell II, October 14, 2014. (Marshall, Football Band, Blue and White Melodians, Jazz Appreciation Group) “Rusty” attended Washington and Lee University and lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Survivors include a sister, a niece, and sev-eral cousins.

’58Roger N. James, January 30, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, swimming) Roger graduated from St. Lawrence University and served in the Navy before working for Verizon, from which he retired in 2001. He and his wife, Kathryn, lived in Bradenton, Florida, and Bucksport, Maine. In addition to his wife, survi-vors include a nephew and a cousin.

Curtis H. Thomas Jr., May 28, 2015. (Marshall, Caducean Club) Curtis graduated from Hampden-Sydney College and the Kirks-ville College of Osteopathic Medicine. He joined Fayette Clinic in West Virginia, where he practiced family medicine until his retirement, at which time he joined New River Family Health Center part time. He also served as medical director for numer-ous local skilled-nursing facilities. Survivors include his wife, Rosalie; a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren; and his stepmother and two sisters.

’59W. Lang Glotfelty, April 7, 2015. (Main, Marshall, Chemistry Club, Rauchrunde, Jurisprudence Society, Gun Club, Chris-tian Service Group, Caducean Club, News Board, Class Day Committee, Football Band) Lang attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and worked for Gulf Oil before launching a 40-year career as an entrepreneur. He is survived by his wife, Judy; a son, a daughter, and a stepson; and several grandchildren.

Constantine G. Koste Jr., October 25, 2012. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, Student Council, Elections Committee, Class Day Committee, Varsity Club, soccer) “Gus” graduated from the University of

Maryland and worked for the Navy in protein enzyme research and for Oxford Lab. He then worked for R. Fox Inc. in women’s retail clothing and opened the Court Street Pub before eventu-ally operating two food-brokerage businesses, Tidewater Mar-keting and Exclusive Sales. Survivors include his wife, Carol; two sons, two daughters, two stepchildren, and several grandchil-dren; his mother; and a sister.

’60John H. Ware IV, May 28, 2015. (Colonial Cottage, Irving, Glee Club) John, the son of former U.S. Representative John H. Ware III, attended the University of Pennsylvania and Lincoln Uni-versity. He worked for Penn Fuel Gas Company and founded the Oxford Area Foundation, and also served on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council. He was preceded in death by a son. Survi-vors include three daughters, 10 grandchildren, a brother and two sisters, and cousins Mark Edwards ’72 and Beth Edwards Eason ’74.

’61Michael P. Graney, June 16, 2009. (South Cottage, Irving, Juris-prudence Society, Caducean Club, Stamp Club, Gun Club, Glee Club) Michael earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a J.D. from Ohio State University. He was a partner with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Survivors include his wife, Melinda; a daughter, a son, and a stepdaughter; and four grandchildren.

’62Merlin E. Ake III, July 29, 2012. (Keil, Irving, Student Council, The Fifteen, El Circulo Español, Jurisprudence Society, Interna-tional Club, KARUX, soccer) Merlin attended the University of Akron and the University of California, Berkeley, and worked in sales management. He lived in Akron, Ohio.

Ronald J. Taylor, May 5, 2015. (Tippetts, Irving declaimer, Chapel reader, Les Copains, Caducean Club, Stamp Club, Electronics Club, Gun Club, KARUX, Press Club, Stony Batter, Music Appre-ciation, Marshal of the Field) Ron earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington & Jefferson College, a master’s degree in psychology from Yeshiva University, a medical degree from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in busi-ness from Loyola College in Maryland. He opened a private psychiatric practice and served as medical director for Taylor Medical Group, Marshall Medical Services, and American Psy-chmanagement. He was also named chief of the Sheppard Pratt-Medlantic Alliance and provided psychiatric counseling services to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Johns Hopkins University, and the Circuit Court of Baltimore County. Survivors include a brother (Rick ’67) and a sister as well as a niece, a nephew, a grand-niece, and a grand-nephew.

’66Gordon B. Hughes, February 15, 2015. (Irving, Class Officer, Elections Committee, Orientation Committee, Dance Commit-tee, The Fifteen, Math-Science Group, French Club, Caducean Club, Lit Board, Glee Club, Varsity Club, Marshal of the Field, soccer, proctor) Gordon graduated from Dartmouth College and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He


served as clinical trials coordinator for the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. He was on the faculty of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s department of otolaryngology and communicative disorders for 28 years. Sur-vivors include his wife, Myra, as well as a son and two brothers.

Bradford K. Strock Jr., January 27, 2004. (summer session student) Bradford worked for the Kellogg’s Company in Lan-caster, Pennsylvania. Survivors include his wife, Sharon; a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren; his parents; and a sister.

’67Peter F. Hotaling, January 30, 2015. (Marshall, Senate, Elec-tions Committee, Blue Key, Entertainment Usher, Varsity Club, football, basketball, baseball, proctor) Peter graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in sociology and worked for the Inland Steel Company in sales. He later worked for the Fort Miller Company, Arcelor Mittal, and Atlantic Steel and Processing, and started his own company, Generation Steel. Survivors include his wife, Mary Jo, as well as two brothers and two nephews.

Gary A. Wein, April 17, 2015. (Marshall, Class Officer, The Fif-teen, French Club, Chemistry Club, Bridge Club, Psychology Club, Caducean Club, Stony Batter, WMER, News, Lit Board, fencing) Gary graduated from Duke University and was the founder, president, and head chef of Durham, North Carolina-based Savory Fare for 45 years. Survivors include two broth-ers, Alan ’58 and Robert ’64; eight nieces and nephews; and 19 great-nieces and great-nephews.

’77Kevin R. Campbell, April 29, 2015. (swimming, water polo) Kevin earned a degree in equine science from the Agricultural and Technical College of New York at Delhi and moved to Lex-ington, Kentucky, to work on thoroughbred farms. For many years he worked at the University of Kentucky, most recently as a library computer support specialist, and completed a bach-elor’s degree in geography there. Survivors include his step-mother, brother, and sister, as well as an aunt, an uncle, and seven cousins.

’78Peter M. Beringer, December 28, 2011. (The Fifteen, track & field, squash)

’80John S. Fisher, November 30, 2002. (golf, Blue Review, Ski Club) John was an underwriter for MMI Companies and an assistant vice president for Arthur J. Gallagher & Company. He was preceded in death by his father. Survivors include his mother, three sisters, several nieces and nephews, and his fian-cée, Donna Davis.

’87Andrew D. Tyson, April 10, 2015. (Irving, cross country, wres-tling, golf, track, TREK, KARUX, Big T Club, Blue Key, WMER, Investment Club, Photography Club, Running Club) Andy graduated from Wittenberg University and was founder of Cre-ative Energies, a solar-energy business based in Victor, Idaho. He worked for many years as a climbing guide and expedition leader, leading trips around the world. Andy died in a plane crash in central Idaho with two fellow Creative Energies employees and the plane’s pilot. The Andy Tyson Memorial Fund (www. andytysonmemorialfund.org) has been established in his memory. Survivors include his parents, Henrietta Tyson and emeritus faculty member David Tyson; his wife, Molly Loomis; and his sister, Laura Tyson Ransom ’84.

’92Avery D. Wilson, February 28, 2015. (Keil, dorm prefect, Octet, football, basketball, track & field, Class Orator) Avery earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Millersville University and master’s degrees in teaching and leadership from the Univer-sity of Phoenix. He was a faculty member at Mercersburg from 1996 to 1999, when he taught Spanish and served as an assis-tant football and boys’ basketball coach. He was an assistant principal at Solanco High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and had also worked at McCaskey High School in Lancaster and for the Susquehanna Township School District. Avery was preceded in death by his father. Survivors include two sons, three daughters, his mother and stepfather, four brothers, and two sisters; numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews; and a cousin, Ajaye Dean ’11.

Former staff/friendsChet Bert, buildings & grounds staff member, February 11, 2015.

Lois Crick, mother of faculty member Steve Crick, March 1, 2015.

Clyde Mann, former staff member, February 27, 2015. Clyde was the father of current Mercersburg staff members Barb Mann Pensinger and Bill Mann.

Grant Wiggins, Mercersburg academic consultant and director of Authentic Education, May 26, 2015.


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