A-Mag, 2009 Spring/Summer

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Spring/Summer 2009

Home Fires Keep Burning for Alumni

A Portrait of Col. Elliott • Face(book)ing the Future


Clockwise, from top Faculty brats from the Class of 1959 pose after re-enacting their Iron Gate ceremony. They are, from left, A. Coke Smith IV, Greta Hughes, Jean Curry Stephenson, and Dr. Melvyn Estey.

Gary Mills photo.

David Culver ’59 makes his point to classmate Jim Metcalfe after their reunion class photo. Culver was the recipient of the 2009 Butler Award. Endowed by Joe Levy ’43, the Butler Award recognizes distinguished service to Culver and includes a $10,000 Annual Fund gift in the name of the recipient’s class. Culver is the greatgrandson of the school’s founder, H.H. Culver. Members of the Culver Academy for Girls Class of 1974 returning for their 35th reunion had the opportunity to pass through the CGA Graduation Arch, which did not exist when they graduated. Participating were, left to right, Kathleen Riley Beck, Dorothea Noyes Ragsdale, Anne Reilly Fahim, Barbara Bach, Fay Eliopoulos, and KC Carswell.

Photo courtesy of A. Paul Pare W’62, ’67 of Culver.

Garrison photo.

REUNION in Review!

1969 classmates Rich Wells (left) and John Biddulph are all smiles during their 40th reunion reception at the Roberts Hall of Science.

Gary Mills photo. Haberland photo.

Haberland photo.

To view and order photographs from Alumni Reunion and Summer Homecoming weekends, visit MyCapture, Culver’s online photo gallery, at www.culver.mycapture.com

Haberland photo.

Arm-in-arm, members of the Class of 1999 enjoy their 10th reunion with a stroll toward the Reviewing Line.


Culver

visit us on the web

Contents

From a cadet to acting superintendent during World War II, the 57-year career of Col. Allen Elliott ’08 is captured in words by Master Instructor Emeritus Richard Davies. On canvas, Fine Arts instructor Jack Williams has painted a portrait memorializing one of Culver’s historic figures.

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The names of faculty with more than 25 years of service are now memorialized in a granite bench, a gift of Miles ’73 and Kimberly White. The Faculty Distinguished Service Monument currently bears 125 names representing 4,185 years.

Departments 2 4 16 18 33 39

Face(book)ing the Future

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The writing is on ‘the wall,’ and Culver alumni and the school itself are using Facebook to communicate with alumni, parents, and friends. Donald Kojich ’78 explains how social networking is helping his classmates connect and re-connect.

Letters to the Editor Views & Perspectives Sports Roundup A Splash of Summer Alumni Class News Passings in Review Haberland photo.

Monument Honors Distinguished Faculty

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ON OUR COVER

er 2009 Spring/Summ

s Home Fiurrening Keep B ni for Alum

A Portrait

k)ing the tt • Face(boo of Col. Ellio

A bonfire burns brightly in front of the Naval Building. During Reunion and Homecoming weekends, this lakeside location is the venue for class receptions and parties, the bonfire serving as a beacon to returning alumni and their families. Photo by Doug Haberland.

Future

Culver educates its students for leadership and responsible citizenship in society by developing and nurturing the whole individual – mind, spirit, and body – through an integrated curriculum that emphasizes the cultivation of character.


Letotttehers Editor

Was its name Hal?

Corrections & Clarifications

I enjoyed reading “Technology at Culver: A Student Perspective” in the Winter/Spring 2008 issue.

• Daniel Young’s first name was incorrect in the inside front cover of the Winter/Spring 2009 magazine. Rest assured his name is properly recorded in the annals of Culver athletic history – and the state of Indiana – as our Stakeholders first individual state Sharing Commitm to Keep Costs Dow ent n wrestling champion, finishing his senior season with a perfect 48-0 record. Winter/Spring 2009

Three cheers for Tippy trips Three big cheers to Bob Meek for his commentary about the shortness of recent Tippy trips and his influence on increasing their length this summer (Winter/Spring 2009). Canoe trips of three or four miles are pretty much a waste of time, definitely not a challenge, and just an aggravation for everyone involved, be it campers, counselors, or support personnel. While in the D&B in the mid ’60s, the Tippy trip was 20 miles and one of the premier, most anticipated escapades of the summer. The Tippy was not a gentle paddle down the river, but a 20-mile search-anddestroy-mission/race. The object was to be the first war canoe to reach Beason Park. There were no rules, other than fist-fighting and paddle-bashing were forbidden. Swamping opposing war canoes, “borrowing” their paddles, and enticing canoes to run aground on sandbars by hanging balloons above them as bait were all just part of the game. Thinking back, it is a wonder that the Boat Shop crew could keep enough canoes afloat to complete all the trips!

Culver got its first computer on June 15, 1967, and put math teacher Al Bunner (with help from Bernie Stukenborg) in charge. The IBM 1401 wasn’t a laptop, not even a desktop. I guess you’d call it a floortop computer. It had no screen; output was in one of two forms: a special computer paper that came in rolls or punch cards. The Culver computer was primarily for business and administrative purposes – accounting, class schedules, etc. True to the school’s educational mission, the Academy’s first computer class began that September. Mr. Bunner taught 18 of us how to write FORTRAN (formula translation) programs and stood next to the 1401 to witness the results. He immortalized these experiences in a 1968 article for the Alumnus magazine. Computing has changed a lot over those 42 years, becoming an indispensable tool in the education of all Culver students. The educational value of computers now depends as heavily on resources provided on the Internet as it does on the software of any single machine. R. Jeffrey Blair ’69 Nagoya, Japan

John Mars turns 90!

• To clarify an Alumni news item, Catherine Vanessa Bentley Lyons ’89 has only one child, a son, Jack, who was born Dec. 30, 2008. • There were conflicting dates published in the Winter/Spring 2009 issue for Summer Homecoming Weekend. We apologize for any resulting confusion the error may have caused.

Volume 87 Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2009

COMMUNICATIONS

ALUMNI OFFICE

INTERNATIONAL

Culver (USPS 139-740) is published quarterly by The Culver Educational Foundation, 1300 Academy Road, Culver, Indiana 46511-1291. Periodical postage paid at Plymouth, Indiana, and at additional post offices.

Director/Strategic Communications

Director

Director/International Advancement

Bill Hargraves III ’77

Alan Loehr Jr.

Tony Giraldi ’75

Editor/Culver Alumni Magazine Director/Publications

Legion President

Postmaster: please send change of address notice to Culver Alumni Office, 1300 Academy Road, No. 132, Culver, Indiana 46511-1291. Opinions are those of the authors, and no material may be reproduced without the editor’s written consent.

Doug Haberland

Russell Sheaffer ’81 Mahtomedi, Minn.

Director

Asst. Director/Publications

CSSAA President

Mike Hogan

Jan Garrison

Kathryn Ryan Booth SS’67 Harrison, N.Y.

Deputy Director

Director/Culver Clubs International

Director/Annual Fund

Lindsey Pick ’95

Chet Marshall ’73

Printed by Harmony Marketing Group, Bourbon, Indiana.

Annalise Kaylor

Mailed by Shepherd Services, Plymouth, Indiana.

Gary Mills

Photographer

DEVELOPMENT

Mary Kay Karzas

Director/Planned Giving Dale Spenner

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2009

• It was President Reagan’s second inaugural parade in 1985 that was canceled due to severe weather (Winter/Spring 2009, page 28). That parade would’ve marked the first appearance of the Equestriennes in an inaugural parade. “The girls did a fantastic job preparing and were ready,” said R. Jeffrey Honzik H’65, former director of Horsemanship (1980-88), who pointed out the error.

Grady Smith W’67 Marietta, Ohio

Website Content Manager

• Inaugural Parade


a word from the

Coming back, and moving forward A

Editor Doug Haberland, Editor (574) 842-8365 haberld@culver.org

lumni Reunion and Summer Homecoming weekends are among the busiest on the Culver campus. There are a lot of long days and hard work for the staffs of Alumni and Development and for everyone from the head of schools to the employees in the dining hall and Uniform Department. It’s a total team effort, and the payoff is seeing so many alumni enjoy their return to campus. After 16 years, I am feeling like more of a participant than a working observer, and I like that. I always get to meet some new people, and I enjoy seeing familiar faces. Alumni are always complimentary of the magazine, publications, and the photographs, and I certainly appreciate hearing that, as well as any criticisms or concerns they might have about our publications.

Several alumni asked me this year about the online version of Culver Alumni Magazine planned for the Fall/Winter 2009 issue. Some didn’t like the idea, and I shared with them that the reason for going online with the 2008-2009 Annual Report (see page 7) and the magazine was to save money. I can’t say I like it either, but it’s the right thing to do to help the Academies keep expenses in check while we continue to deal with a recessed economy. As a former newspaperman, I still have ink in my blood, and I like it on my fingers. I like the feel of newsprint and the rustle of turning pages. I want to relax with my Sunday newspaper and a cup of coffee in my favorite chair or on my deck. The same goes with the magazines I like to read. For one thing, after spending my working day in front of a computer, sitting down to one at home to read an online newspaper or a magazine has very little appeal.

‘...make sure we have your latest e-mail address... in order to access the Alumni Portal.’

For years, printing and mailing Culver Alumni Magazine and other materials were the primary methods of communicating with alumni. Now, there are many other ways – the website, electronic newsletters, e-mail blasts, and Facebook. All of these are electronic, but it doesn’t mean the printed magazine is going away.

But these electronic ways of communicating and networking aren’t going to go away, either. The good news is, there is more Culver news coming your way than ever before. Communicating with alumni has never been faster, easier, more immediate, or less expensive – and it is just going to keep getting better. Communication today is now also a two-way street. Facebook is one of many social networking avenues available and one that Culver and Culver alumni are taking advantage of. In this issue, Don Kojich ’78 shares how classmates from the late ’70s and early ’80s used Facebook to connect, re-connect, and organize a mini-reunion in Chicago. We don’t want you to miss the upcoming online issues of the Annual Report and Culver Alumni Magazine, so make sure we have your latest e-mail address and that you are registered in order to access the Alumni Portal (www.culver.org/alumni). – Doug Haberland, Editor Culver Alumni Magazine

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Views & Perspectives

Caring people making a difference has taken Culver to the top P

by John N. Buxton Head of Schools

am and I have just completed our 10th year at Culver, and as I write this are well into our 11th Summer Schools & Camps session. It does not seem possible. When we arrived, we saw so many opportunities and so much potential. I remember thinking that in a strange way saying that a school or a person or a program has potential is not a very positive thing. To say a place has realized its potential is the supreme compliment. I believe we are close to that ideal now, and believe we all have every right to be proud of Culver for its accomplishments, the impact it has on the secondary school world, the leadership it provides to its peer schools, and the quality of its people and programs. We no longer need to dwell in the past and talk about what a great school Culver once was. We are at the top of our collective game. When someone in the academic world makes such a lofty claim, that person needs proof or warrants to support the assertion. Consider the following as my warrants: the historic ride in the Presidential Inaugural Parade this past January, the number of Merit Scholar finalists, the performance of our athletic and academic teams, the quality of our faculty and staff, the high level of performance of our arts initiatives and groups, the exceptional performance of Culver students on Advanced Placement examinations, the vibrancy of the Summer Schools & Camps at 1,360 strong in this withering economy, the excellence of the oversight provided by the Board of Trustees, the relative performance of the Culver endowment in

this downturn (outperforming all indices and every major college endowment), and the quality of the student body – reference their college choices and destinations. There is so much of which to be proud. This is a peerless school. However, at the end of a decade of work – in partnership with faculty, students, staff, and alumni, friends, and of course, each other – what makes Pam and me most proud of Culver is the commitment to the well-being of this institution. People who have experienced Culver care about the school and the camps and will do what they can in order to help it not only succeed, but to prevail. Recently I have chronicled the success of the Batten Leadership Challenge in our alumni correspondence. We have talked about the vision and the selflessness of Frank and Jane Batten. They realize what it will take to make Culver viable and they act on that knowledge and that opportunity. They obviously have the means to make a real difference and thank goodness, they make that difference. Enter the thousands of alumni and friends who in a down market, maybe the worst in 75 years, do their best to support the school and their beloved summer programs by qualifying for a matching gift. This alone is impressive enough, but then consider the sacrifices being made by the faculty and staff to support their school. Dozens of members of the faculty and staff have given back time to the school so they can qualify to be part of the Batten

‘(I) believe we all have every right to be proud of Culver for its accomplishments... the quality of its people and programs.’ 4 Spring/Summer 2009


Views & Perspectives help reduce the budget, we concluded that any increase on an already weighty salary and benefits line would be more than we could manage, especially when we needed to plow as much resource as possible back into financial aid for families in distress.

Garrison photo.

These are special indicators of the care and concern members of the Culver faculty and staff have exhibited in these tough economic times. But there are others. The cohort of seven young faculty members who went through their five-year evaluation process pooled some of their salary money to create an endowment for future five-year classes in order to provide time and resources for them to complete this all important evaluation more professionally. This fund will be matched and will stand as another shining example of the selflessness of this faculty – putting Culver first in a difficult time.

Head of Schools John Buxton and his wife, Pam, with Brice Geoffrion during Commencement.

Leadership Challenge. Some hourly staff have decided to work a number of days for free and have used the dollar amount not paid to them to gain the match for Culver. Other professional staff have changed their schedules to less time on task – a week to a month – and the dollar amount they have not been paid will qualify for a match as well. Administrators have given back salary to meet the criteria for the match. All in all, we should have nearly a quarter of a million dollars coming back to Culver that is eligible for the matching funds Frank and Jane Batten have provided.

That is commitment, especially when you consider that no faculty or staff were given raises for the coming year. In an effort to

There is the story of the senior faculty member who used his professional development grant money to help pay for the graduate school expenses of a younger colleague who needed the support. Then most recently, a family who had received a financial aid grant that would allow their child to return called to say they had had a slightly better second quarter with their business than they expected. So they were returning half the money so it could be used for a more needy family.

‘... the senior faculty member who used his professional development grant money to help pay for the graduate school expenses of a younger colleague...’

If there is a warrant that proves that this great school is a true exemplar, this story of the spirit of service at Culver is the best there is. Pam and I could not be more pleased to work with those who care enough to do the best they can to make a difference, especially when it makes a difference for Culver. Thank you.

Culver Alumni Magazine

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By Example Campaign Update: Together, We Can Do This Dear Friend of Culver: Though a few have had doubts, we can do this. • We have raised almost $300 million for Culver through the By Example campaign. • We have already earned more than $17 million in matching funds through the Batten Leadership Challenge. • We have accomplished so much together during this extraordinary campaign for Culver. But as campaign chair, I need to remind all of you about one little detail that is very, very important: It is not over! We have many campaign goals yet to reach, all in areas where your gift at this time can make a real difference. We continue our efforts to endow eight specific endowment funds identified as priorities for the Batten Leadership Challenge and Culver: General Endowment, Technology, Athletics, Summer Schools Support, Scholarships, Faculty Support, Staff Support, and Physical Plant/Facilities. As of the end of this fiscal year, Culver’s endowment stood at an estimated $189 million, thanks to a prudent investment strategy and generous major gifts to the endowment from the Battens, George Roberts, and so many others. As we have stated before, our goal is to raise Culver’s endowment to the $300 million level, which could mean $15 million a year (at 5 percent) to support Culver’s operating budget. What a difference that would make for Culver! Such a fiscal position would greatly reduce pressures on the school’s annual budget. I’m sure the school’s leadership would agree that such an endowment would be a great comfort should we ever experience such an economic maelstrom as the country has faced in the past year or so.

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By the time you receive this magazine, there will be less than six months remaining to earn matching funds through the Batten Leadership Challenge. By the end of June, your generosity had helped us earn $17.6 million in matching funds. Granted, that is good news, but it also means more than $32.4 million remain available to earn! We are counting on your participation and ongoing support to earn the rest between now and the end of January 2010. Remember, all new endowment gifts and all Annual Fund gifts received between now and Jan. 31, 2010, are tremendously important because they will be matched dollar-for-dollar as part of the Batten Leadership Challenge, with all matching funds going directly into Culver’s endowment. Every gift not only counts, it counts double! Jane and Frank Batten ’45 promise to give Culver every single penny of the $50 million, if and only if as many of Culver’s alumni, parents, friends, and donors as possible participate and rise to meet the challenge. The Battens realize that Culver must build both its endowment and a larger base of alumni supporting the school. We are so fortunate they chose this time to issue the Batten Leadership Challenge. As Head of Schools John Buxton pointed out recently, the dollars raised for Culver at this time may be the most important dollars the Academies have ever raised. On behalf of Culver and all those who care about the future of this outstanding school, thank you for your ongoing support of the By Example campaign. Let’s put this campaign way over the top. Sincerely,

Miles D. White ’73 Campaign Chair


Culver Current

Batten Leadership Challenge Making progress toward earning $50 million in matching gifts by Bob Quakenbush, Campaign Communications Coordinator

W

ith just over five months to go, we’ve made significant progress!

Thanks to the generosity of many alumni, parents, and friends of Culver Academies, as of the end of June, Culver had earned more than $17 million in matching gifts to the endowment through the Batten Leadership Challenge. Several months ago, Frank ’45 and Jane Batten of Virginia presented an extraordinary $50 million challenge to build Culver’s endowment as quickly as possible. The Batten Leadership Challenge matches dollar-for-dollar any new gifts for existing endowment purposes received by Jan. 31, 2010, and all gifts made to the school’s Annual Fund between April 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010. In addition, payments made to fulfill endowment pledges previously made in writing are being matched 50 cents on the dollar. If Culver is to earn the entire $50 million, everyone’s participation is important; already, people who care about Culver are finding creative ways to earn the matching funds: • The Class of 2009 rose to the Beason Challenge issued annually by the Legion Board to graduating seniors to achieve an 85 percent participation rate. Seniors raised enough money for the Annual Fund and their class scholarship fund through their contributions and an incentive grant from the Legion to earn $22,500 in matching funds for the endowment through the Batten Leadership Challenge. • The master instructors pooled their money and earned more than $6,500 in matching funds. • The cohort of younger faculty who have just reached their fifth year at Culver had similar results, raising

$5,000 in matching funds through their combined efforts. • Longtime faculty member John Gouwens made a special endowment gift to support the organ and carillon music programs in the Memorial Chapel; his gift was doubled, too. All across campus, Culver employees have risen to the challenge and made contributions to support this remarkable endeavor. It doesn’t stop there, as alumni, parents, and friends of Culver are doing their part to help grow the endowment by donating to the Annual Fund or to priority endowment funds. Recent graduate Guga Tosi ’07 donated his first paycheck to Culver; the Battens matched the amount in full. Since April 1 (when the Battens announced they also would match contributions to the Annual Fund) donations to the Annual Fund have earned $2.3 million in matching funds for Culver’s endowment, helping to further strengthen the endowment by mitigating the draw for budgeted purposes. All matching funds go directly to the endowment. However, you can direct your gift to support specific endowments of the By Example Campaign: The Campaign for Culver, including faculty and programs, student life, facilities, and Summer Schools & Camps. If you would like more specific examples, note that eight endowment funds have been identified as priorities for the Batten Leadership Challenge: Batten General, Technology, Athletics, Summer Schools Support, Scholarships, Faculty Support, Staff Support, and Facilities/ Physical Plant. There is no minimum gift requirement to earn matching funds. All new endowment gifts or Annual Fund gifts received by Jan. 31, 2010, will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

For those eligible to earn corporate matching funds from their employers, all corporate funds must be received by Jan. 31, 2010. Please help Culver fulfill Frank and Jane Batten’s goal; don’t leave one single penny in the account! Make your gift today, while you can double its impact through the Batten Leadership Challenge! For more information, please visit www.culver.org/batten.

2008-09 Annual Report going online to reduce costs Look for the Culver Annual Report in your Inbox rather than your mailbox this fall. As part of the school’s ongoing response to the economic downturn, Culver will reduce costs by publishing its 2008-09 Annual Report electronically this fall. By publishing the Annual Report online, the school will save substantial dollars in printing, mailing, and postage costs. Donors will receive a postcard or an e-mail announcement (with a link to the Annual Report) once it is published this fall. Donors, alumni, and friends of Culver will also be able to access the Annual Report through the website, with written articles accessible on the web and the donor recognition lists password protected on the Alumni and Parent portals. Printed copies of the Annual Report will be available on request to donors who prefer receiving a hard copy. To reserve a copy, please e-mail development@culver.org or call (574) 842-7400. Culver Alumni Magazine

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Horsemanship Reunion, Rededication of Vaughn Equestrian Center Oct. 2-4 new chapter in the long history of Culver horsemanship will be written Oct. 2-4, 2009, as the Academies host a weekend celebration to unveil renovations and improvements to the Vaughn Equestrian Center. All former Troopers, Equestriennes, Summer Cavalry School participants, and Summer Camp riders, as well as patrons and friends of the Horsemanship Program, are invited to return for a celebration that The Culver Educational Foundation Board Chairman Jim Henderson ’52 said will rival the Troop Centennial of 1997. Horsemanship Reunion Weekend will include a re-dedication ceremony, Horsemanship Hall of Fame inductions, a horse show for interested alumni, polo, and opportunities for alumni at every level to ride. The festivities will also include performances and exhibitions by Culver’s current Troopers and Equestriennes, featuring the Lancer Platoon and Rough Riders, among other related activities. The weekend celebration will also unveil Phase 2 of the Vaughn Equestrian Center. These plans will include artist renderings of a second indoor riding arena and an Equestrian Learning Center that will be housed in the renovated Armory. Visitors will have an opportunity to tour the facility and see firsthand the renovated

Jud Q. Little Riding Hall, with its new lighting and seating; the new Robert C. Vaughn Stable, which features 94 box stalls, four tack rooms, and a veterinary suite; and the new outdoor paddock area. During the $11 million refurbishing, great effort was put into preserving, restoring, and recycling original brick, wood, stone, and other building materials to ensure the riding hall and stable retain the look and

Haberland photo.

A

Stalls in the new Robert C. Vaughn Stable

feel that are so much a part of the history and heritage of the Academies. Former Culver riders will be challenged to find where new brick has replaced the old. For more information about this exciting weekend in October, please contact the Alumni Office at (574) 842-7200.

visit us on the web horsemanship

Academies’ riders invited to World Equestrian Games Culver Academies’ Black Horse Troop and Equestriennes have been invited to participate in the largest equestrian sporting event ever to be held in the United States. The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., from Sept. 25 through Oct. 10, 2010. The 16-day event

8 Spring/Summer 2009

includes world championships in eight equestrian sports: dressage, eventing, jumping, driving, endurance, reining, vaulting, and para-equestrian. 2010 marks the first time the games will be held in

the United States. The event has previously been held in Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Germany. For more information about the World Equestrian Games, visit www.feigames2010.org.


Culver Current

To the Members of The Culver Legion D

uring the past year, a subcommittee of the Legion Board of Directors has updated and revised elements of the Legion Constitution. In addition to streamlining language, the revisions address areas of the alumni association’s work that will align us with the other volunteer boards serving Culver, including the CEF Trustees. More importantly, we believe the changes allow us to serve you, the alumni, and the Academies in more efficient and effective ways. The subcommittee was led by Vice President Whitney Alvis ’96 and outgoing Legion President Rick Jennings ’70. The constitutional amendments are outlined

below. They were approved at the board’s May 2009 meeting and they are recommended by the board for your ratification.

posed amendments, and follow the instructions for casting your vote.

The Legion Constitution requires that any amendments be voted upon by the entire membership. As a reminder, all CMA and CGA graduates are Legion members. Therefore, we are asking you to be an active participant and exercise your right to vote. We have elected to conduct the voting electronically via the school’s website. This represents a significant savings to the school at a time when prudent budgeting is expected. Please log on to the address listed below to view the Legion Constitution and its pro-

Finally, you were well-represented by my predecessor, Rick Jennings ’70. He has, and continues to be, one of Culver’s most active and steadfast volunteers, and I want to extend the Legion Board’s appreciation to him in this public forum.

Russell W. Sheaffer ’81 Mahtomedi, Minn.

THE LEGION BOARD PROPOSES THE FOLLOWING CHANGES IN THE LEGION CONSTITUTION: ARTICLE VI

ARTICLE VIII

ARTICLE IX

ARTICLE X

ARTICLE XII

Board of Directors and Officers

Committees of the Board of Directors

Meetings of the Board of Directors

Election of Board of Directors and Officers

Bylaws

Changing the number of Legion Board members to a maximum number of 24 (previously 30); and to fill the following officer positions: President, Vice President, and Secretary, and to eliminate the positions of Treasurer and Senior Vice Presidents.

Retaining the Nominating and Executive Committees, and forming ad hoc committees as needed to address specific needs. Members of these ad hoc committees will not necessarily be limited to Legion Directors. Examples of such committees include Alumni Activities, Development, and Student Life. Their purpose would be solely to assist Culver officials and to aid in the concerns, ideas, trends and technologies in each of said designated areas.

Conducting three meetings each year (previously two), sequenced from the beginning of the school year, so that the Annual Meeting of the Culver Legion shall be the third regular meeting of each year.

Adding performance evaluations for directors at the end of each director’s twoyear term, which will factor in the decision to extend another term.

A new amendment which states: “The Bylaws for the governing of The Culver Legion may be adopted, amended, altered, repealed or re-adopted by the Board of Directors at any regular or special meeting of the Board, but the powers of such directors in this regard shall at all times be subject to the rights of the members of The Culver Legion to alter or repeal such Bylaws at any Annual Meeting of The Culver Legion.”

Cast your vote today at culver.org/legion Culver Alumni Magazine

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Culver Current Stone bench memorializes distinguished faculty

“S

ometimes, I think the part (of Culver) that does not get enough recognition is you, the faculty.” That simple sentiment explained why Kimberly and Miles White ’73 of Abbott Park, Ill., chose to donate a Faculty Distinguished Service Monument to the Academies as a lasting tribute to faculty and staff who have served for 25 years or more. The granite bench – bearing the names of 125 individuals representing 4,185 years of service – was dedicated May 8 on the Academic Quadrangle. Some 30 current and retired faculty/staff members whose names appear were on hand for the ceremony, joined by members of The Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and students. The faculty and staff honored on the bench represent every era in Culver’s history. The average years of service is 33, and room has been left to engrave additional names as others achieve the quarter-century milestone. White said the length of service of the faculty named on the bench was not only impressive but important to the life of the school.

A bench recognizing the faculty is the latest gift from the Whites to honor those who have dedicated their lives to Culver inside and outside of the classroom. The couple earlier created an endowment that will provide a stipend for the retirement account of any current faculty member who crosses the 25year threshold. “This is an unprecedented honor; no schools honor their faculty in a significant way,” Head of Schools John Buxton said. “You can go to many campuses . . . and you will never find a trace that those faculty members – those people who really made the difference – were a part of that institution.” In accepting the bench, James Henderson W’47,’52, chairman of the CEF Board of Trustees, said in his travels for Culver he often hears the same refrain: What everybody remembers are the teachers who made a difference in their lives.

“I am particularly thrilled that they are in granite, somehow that all seems right. I think of them all as blocks of granite, and granite, to me, signifies forever. I think they deserve that kind of recognition and permanence here,” he said. Bill Roth ’63, a 40-year veteran of the Culver classroom, represented the faculty. “Today we sustain the ethos of this unique institution. We acknowledge the endless thread of dedicated mentoring, love, and commitment of youth and passion for the human character that identifies each Culver man and woman. Events such as this and the landmark we dedicate . . . unite the community and contribute to the engaging identity that makes Culver an essential and envied educational institution. “My colleagues, I am proud to stand among you. . . . We current faculty and staff take humble pleasure in just seeing our names side-by-side with yours. Thank you for your friendship and wise counsel. This bench represents a vigorous quality of life. It is the light of a school with a purposeful direction.” – by Doug Haberland and Bob Quakenbush See page 48 for a listing of all names on the monument.

Gary Mills photo.

“The people who stay the longest are really the ones who shape the evolving personality

of institutions like Culver. To survive 115 years and still be here and be tops in its class as a school is a function of, not students, but the faculty members, staff members, and leaders of a school who kept it what it was, valued what it was, and stayed true to what it was,” said White, who is vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and chairman of the By Example capital campaign.

Faculty, staff, and retirees with 25 years of service or more who were present for the dedication of the Faculty Distinguished Service Monument.

10 Spring/Summer 2009


Culver Current

Retiring Garzón honored with emeritus status, Mars Award Oberwetter and Cook also garner faculty laurels for 2008-09 Spanish instructor José Manuel Garzón, who closed the book on a 35-year Academies’ teaching career at the end of the 2008-09 school year, was honored with emeritus status and with the John R. Mars Faculty Merit Award at the June 6 Commencement Convocation. Also honored with the Academies’ highest faculty-staff awards were Humanities instructor John Oberwetter, who was named the Kaser Scholar, and chemistry instructor Phil Cook, the recipient of the Major General Delmar T. Spivey Award. It was truly fitting that Garzón be named the Mars Award recipient, as it was thendepartment chair John R. Mars who hired the Spanish native in 1974, Dean of Faculty Kathy Lintner told the Eppley Auditorium crowd. Garzón also served as Honorary Grand Marshal at CommenceJosé Manuel Garzón ment and received the Martin Uebel Friend of the Band Award. The Uebel award is given by members of the Culver Band for exceptional service and support to instrumental music. A graduate of Muskegon Community College with post-graduate degrees from Grand Valley State University and the Universidad de Salamanca, Garzón has taught all levels of Spanish, including 28 years Advanced Placement Spanish Literature, Spanish Language, Spanish Art, and Spanish Art History courses. He is a master instructor and holder of the W.A. Moncrief Jr. Chair of Teaching. Spanish art has been a lifelong interest, and Garzón has lectured at many colleges and universities as well as presenting sessions at regional and national conferences. He has been a consultant in Spanish Language and

Literature for the College Board since 1979 and a regular presenter for AP summer workshops and conferences across the United States. Garzón “believed that his teaching was intricately tied to the sharing of the knowledge of his culture, its history, art, theater, poetry, religion, and philosophy,” Lintner said. “José also wanted his students to become citizens of the world with high moral standards, honor, decency, and character, besides being able to talk – and talk well – the language of Cervantes.” Garzón integrated his love of language with his passion for art, particularly Picasso, into the classroom. He played the mandolin and sang for his students and cooked and served Spanish food, complete with apron and chef’s hat, Lintner said. Colleague and friend John Mars, now 90, had this to say about the man he hired 35 years ago: “The international parents find in José, and in María Jésus, too, personal friends with whom they can talk and discuss whatever concerns they might have. Through the bond of speaking Spanish, these people use José’s home as a kind of mecca, where they are treated most graciously and kindly. José, through his gregarious nature and friendly disposition, has been a secret weapon in advertising Culver to the Spanish-speaking nations.” Lintner added that no tribute to Garzón could be complete without thanking his wife of 21 years, María Jésus. “She has been his best friend, his helpmate, and an equal team member. Along with José, she has opened her home and heart to hundreds of Culver students, both domestic and international, parents and alumni.” The Board of Trustees established emeritus status in 1983 as a way of honoring retiring individuals who have served at least 20 years at Culver.

The Kaser Scholar award was established in 1976 to recognize a faculty member whose scholarly interests, enthusiastic teaching, sympathetic understanding, and wise counsel combine to inspire students and kindle zest for life and learning. Appropriately, the annual recipient is chosen by the top 30 students in the graduating class. Honoree John Oberwetter came to the Academies in 2001 after 18 years as an English instructor in Connecticut and 10 years as department chair. He joined the ninth-grade Humanities program and served as the department chair of Lower Humanities for three years before Upper and Lower merged. John Oberwetter Oberwetter received his undergraduate degree in history from Columbia University and his master’s in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College of Columbia University. Spivey Award recipient Phil Cook joined the Science Department in 2007 as an associate instructor of chemistry. The Purdue University graduate changed his major from engineering to teaching after realizPhil Cook ing he wanted to “focus his energy on making students want to learn science and to have as much passion for it as he did,” Lintner said. Named for Culver’s sixth superintendent, the Spivey Award was established in 1967 and the recipient is selected by the Academic Department chairs. The award recognizes and encourages superior teaching among young, promising members of the faculty.

Culver Alumni Magazine

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Culver Current

Faculty, Staff & Retiree Notes

The Williamson Fellowship was established in 2004 by J.D. Williamson ’63 and his wife, Judy, as a way to reward faculty who have an impact on the education and personal development of Culver students. This award includes an honorarium to motivate and retain bright, young teachers. Williamson Fellows are highly motivated, participate in many extra curricular activities, stand out as student mentors, and rise through the ranks of the academic leadership systems. With a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, a master’s in religion from Yale Divinity School, and a doctorate in history from Indiana University, Buggeln is ideally suited to Culver’s Humanities program. His administrative roles include American Studies Program coordinator, Culver-inChina Program director, and director of the Global Studies Institute. Tulungen earned a bachelor’s degree in German followed by a master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vt. At Culver, she has taught German to native speakers of English and English to speakers of other languages. Tulungen is a founding member of the Learning Support Committee and serves as coordinator of International Student Programming. She spent 15 years as a teacher-trainer in the universities of Indonesia.

For 2008-09, the student body selected chemistry instructor Sandy Schriefer and humanities instructor Kevin Danti as the recipients of the Ralph N. Manuel Award. Named in honor of the former president of the Academies (1982-1999), the Manuel

12 Spring/Summer 2009

Award is presented annually to the male and female faculty member who, in the opinion of the student body, best exemplify the teaching ideals of Culver.

The festival involved hundreds of participants in basketball, cycling, golf, horseshoes, martial arts, running, softball, soccer, tennis, kayak- and canoe-racing.

A graduate of Indiana University, Schriefer came to Culver in 2005 after a stint in the public schools. Her students describe her as “tough,” “honest,” and “caring.”

A combat veteran and retired infantry officer, Leadership instructor Ray Gleason, Ph.D., has authored “A Grunt Speaks: Reflections on a Devil’s Dictionary of Vietnam Infantry Terms and Tales.” Gleason’s personal perspective uses the terminology and concepts of the Vietnam-era infantry to explore the infantrymen’s attitudes toward their role in the war, the anti-war movement, their enemies, and each other. The book will be available this fall from Unlimited Publishing LLC of Bloomington, Ind., founded by Danny Snow ’74. For more information, click http://www.unlimitedpublishing.com/gleason.

Danti also came to Culver in the fall of 2005. He is a football coach, speech team coach, trip leader for the spring break mission trips, member of the Religious Life Committee, the Student Academic Advisory Council and the Program Evaluation Committee, and co-adviser to the CMA Honor Council. Danti is a graduate of Purdue University and earned his master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Battery C counselor Dana Neer, a Howard County resident the past 23 years, served as director of the 25th Haynes-Apperson Sports Festival in Kokomo, Ind., in late June. Neer had directed the festival’s children’s track meet the past five years. A longdistance runner, Neer also assists with track and cross country at the Academies.

The inaugural 2009 Batten Fellows are, left to right, Tom Thornburg, Joe Horvath, Fred Haase, Candace Koehn, Patricia Montgomery, John Yeager, and Dan Baughman.

Former Culver Alumnus Magazine editor Jim Coppens retired in June as the executive director of the South Bend (Ind.) Civic Theatre and was honored with the Marjorie H. & James M. Wilson, M.D., Philanthropic Award. After 16 years at Culver, Coppens became the Civic’s first full-time, paid executive director in 1995. Under his leadership, the Civic relocated to the Scottish Rite Building, which underwent a $4 million renovation.

Gary Mills photo.

Being named the 2008-09 Williamson Fellows is just the latest thing that instructors John Buggeln and Cathy Tulungen have in common. Interestingly, both were in the same graduating class at Middlebury College, though did not know one another until joining the Academies’ faculty in 2004.


Culver

Haberland photo.

Current

Baccalaureate speaker John Zeglis NB’64, the retired chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless, congratulates seniors and first-classmen during the Faculty/Staff Farewell Handshake following the service. In his remarks, Zeglis, a CEF trustee, told members of the Class of 2009 to push their limits and to not be afraid to fail. To his right is College Advising counselor Janet Kline.

Deaths in the Family Former Laundry Department employee Marguerite Zechiel, 95, of rural Culver, died June 20, 2009. Ms. Zechiel worked in the Laundry Department from 1941 until she retired in 1978. She is survived by a brother and her sister, Elisabeth Davis, who works for the Head of Schools Office. A. Dean Hurt died March 8, 2009, in Grand Junction, Colo. As a child, he was active in the Koshare Indian Boy Scout troop, and head chief in his troop. He used that training to teach Indian Lore at Woodcraft Camp in the summers of 1948 and ’49. Mr. Hurt was a Navy veteran of World War II. After his discharge, he attended LaJunta Junior College and Western State College. He taught at several elementary schools in Colorado, retiring as a principal. He is survived by his wife, Lavone “Cindy,” three sons, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Col. Quintus Cincinnatus Atkinson V died Feb. 5, 2009. Col. Atkinson spent 1951-53 on the ROTC staff as an instructor of military history and tactics. He also helped train riders for the Black Horse Troop. A career Army officer, Col. Atkinson had lived in northern Virginia since retiring from the military in 1973. His father was an officer in the horse-drawn artillery and Atkinson grew up around horses and became an accomplished rider. He was a 1943 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Then-Lt. Atkinson participated in the campaigns of Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. From 1946-48, Capt. Atkinson was Headquarters Company Commander for Gen. MacArthur’s Far East Command. He was one of 10 officers from the European Theater hand-picked by MacArthur for critical leadership positions.

Subsequent duty assignment included the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Meade, Maryland; the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; and liaison officer to French Cavalry School in Saumur, France. Colonel Atkinson retired after a final tour with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon specializing in African affairs. His awards included the Silver Star, Legion of Merit (twice), Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal (twice), and Joint Service Commendation Medal (twice). In retirement, Col. Atkinson co-founded and served as vice president of the Tank Destroyer Association comprised of veterans of the World War II tank destroyer forces. His work and leadership helped to ensure the installation of monuments which memorialized the service of these veterans. He is survived by his wife, a son, daughter, and sister.

Culver Alumni Magazine

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Culver Current

Seven 2009 graduates garner Academies’ highest honors at Commencement Convocation T hree CMA first-classmen and four CGA seniors were honored at the June 6 Commencement Convocation with the most prestigious and coveted of Culver Academies’ student awards. A number of other students and faculty members were recognized during the Eppley Auditorium ceremony.

Thomas Ott (Co. A) was a dual honoree, being named the recipient of the YMCA Cup as the cadet who best exemplifies the ideals of Culver and the Chambers Award, which recognizes comThomas Ott bined excellence in scholarship and athletics. Among his many achievements, Ott served as the regimental commander and received the Colonel C.F. McKinney Saber. He was named to the Cum Laude Society, the Blue Key Society, and was a Wendy’s Heisman Scholarship Indiana state finalist. Ott received varsity letters in lacrosse, ice hockey, and soccer. A resident of Palmyra, Pa., he will be attending the U.S. Military Academy this fall. Chicagoan Lathelma Armstrong (Ciel) was awarded the Superintendent’s Bowl, presented to a CGA senior in recognition of her leadership, example, influence, and total record of achievement. Armstrong served as a senior prefect, spiritual development chair, leadership training chair, student director of the Gospel Choir, Praise Band assistant director, Spanish Club president, and public relations chair for the Black Student Union. She was a member of the Speech Team, Leadership Committee Lathelma Armstrong for Africa, and the

14 Spring/Summer 2009

CGA Council, among other involvements. Armstrong also performed in several theater productions and was a member of the Fine Arts Honor Society. She will continue her education at Scripps College.

The Van Zandt Key, awarded to the firstclassman who, by virtue of his effort and example, has increased an awareness of moral and spiritual values among the Corps of Cadets, was awarded to Russell Davis (Battery A) of Plainfield, Ill. Davis was involved in many clubs reflecting his moral and spiritual interests. He was the creator of the “Three P’s Revival,” a member of the Gospel Choir, the Black Student Union, Multi-Cultural Russell Davis Awareness Retreat, Cordon Society, the Chinese Tea Club, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. His leadership positions included battalion commander, regimental chaplain’s aide, squad leader, unit first sergeant, and battalion sergeant major. Davis will matriculate at Michigan State University. Ashlyn Ayres (Ithaka) of Atlanta received the Mary Frances England Humanitarian Award. The award, named in honor of the founding director of Culver Girls Academy, is presented to the senior girl who, by her acts, has revealed an exemplary concern for others. Ayres was a member of the Spanish Honorary Society and received Science Research Honors. She was involved in the School for the Entrepreneur, The Vedette, the MultiCultural Awareness Retreat, Youth Choir, and was the editor of The Quill. Ayers, who will attend Furman Ashlyn Ayres

University, participated in crew, fencing, swimming, and cross country.

The recipient of the McDonald Award was Nicolas Elizondo (Band) of Culver. The award is presented to the first-classman who, by his individual work, example and inspiration, has contributed materially to the betterment of cultural life at Culver. Elizondo performed in 12 theater productions, as well as in band and choir. He was an AllState Choir member for three years. He was Nicolas Elizondo vice president of the Academies’ International Thespian Society for two years and president for one year. He received varsity letters in theater and speech. Elizondo was a member of the Fine Arts Honor Society, the Speech Team, was editor-in-chief for The Vedette, wrote for The Quill, and was the Praise and Worship Team director. He also served as the regimental aide to the administration. This fall, Elizondo will be a freshman at the University of Indianapolis. Audrey Abrell (Atrium) Valparaiso, Ind., was the recipient of the Arthur G. Hughes Award, presented to the graduating senior who has revealed the most exceptional concern for cultural life at the Academies. Abrell was a member of the Gignilliat Quartet, Folk Ensemble, Fine Arts Honor Society, speech team, and orchestra, as well as the crew team and Spanish Honorary Society. She held leadership positions as an Honor Audrey Abrell Council chair, Community Service Council representative and secretary, a member of the Dorm


Culver Current Committee, hall prefect, Catholic prefect, Catholic Advisory Council, and Cordon Society. Abrell will be a freshman this fall at Tufts University. Katherine Barnes (Ciel) received the Jane Metcalfe Culver Bowl, which recognizes the CGA senior who has distinguished herself in the classroom and on the athletic field. A Katherine Barnes

Culver resident, Barnes was captain of the CGA basketball team, a Leadership Training prefect, the Protestant prefect, hall prefect, and percussion section leader. She was the Relay For Life develop-

ment chair, received Honors in Music, was an AP Scholar, a National Achievement Outstanding Participant, and a member of the Cum Laude Society, Spanish Honor Society, and Fine Arts Honor Society. Barnes will attend St. Olaf College this fall.

Student Notes

Thirty-five 2009 graduates received diplomas indicating honors in various academic disciplines. To graduate with honors, a student must achieve at an exceptionally high level in a subject. In addition, he/she must demonstrate this excellence through a variety of means – written or oral examinations, recitals, research projects, public performances and presentations – to gain the approval of the academic departments involved and the faculty honors committee. Three students graduated with honors in two disciplines. They were Ashley Eberhart (Downers Grove, Ill.) in Global Studies and Visual Arts; Ashley Fairbanks (Galena, Ill.) in Equine Science and Visual Arts; and Hyoung Keun Kwon (Seoul, South Korea) in Global Studies and Science. At the Commencement Convocation on June 6, 29 members of the Class of 2009 were named to the Cum Laude Society, a national honorary academic society founded in 1906. The Culver Chapter was char-

Haberland photo.

With a 3.98 grade-point average, Alexis Howard (Bourbon, Ind.) was the valedictorian of the 2009 class and the recipient of the Donnelly Scholastic Award as the CGA senior with the highest academic average. The salutatorian was Hao Wu of Beijing, China, with a GPA of 3.97. He also received the Scholarship Medal for the highest GPA among cadets. As valedictorian and salutatorian the pair also received the Weil Academic Achievement Award, a monetary award of $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.

Senior Brady Banks (far right) was the 2009 recipient of CGA’s Tiffany Powell Leadership Award. Making the presentation at the Junior-Senior Tea on Commencement Weekend were Assistant Dean of Girls Lynn Rasch ’76 (center) and Jody Fox ’10, first rotation CGA Council chair for 2009-2010. See below for more details on the Powell award.

tered in 1925. Another 22 juniors and second-classmen were named to the Blue Key Society, an academic honor society for high school juniors.

on campus, and in the community, the criteria calls for the recipient to be a strong student and involved in extra-curricular activities, especially athletics and the arts.

Senior Brady Banks (White Pigeon, Mich.) was the 2009 recipient of the Tiffany Powell Leadership Award presented at the Junior-Senior Tea during Commencement Weekend. The award was established in 2000 in memory of Powell ’98, who died tragically July 16, 1999. The Class of 2000 established the award to honor Powell’s outstanding example as a leader. In addition to excelling in leadership in the dorm,

The Mark Todd Berger Scholarship was awarded during the Commencement Convocation to Blake Hunnewell ’10 (New York City). Funded by the Berger family, the scholarship honors the memory of Trooper Berger, who died April 7, 1988, of his first-class year from congenital heart disease.

Culver Alumni Magazine

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Spring athletes fare well in post-season

Sports

onship with wins over Penn (11-9) and Noblesville (8-3). Staadt was named a first-team AllAmerican by the Indiana Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse and Balchan, Freymiller, Staadt, Abigail Herbert ’09 (Plymouth, Ind.), and Hayley Quartuccio ’10 (Aurora, Colo.) were named Academic All-Americans.

Boys Lacrosse CMA lacrosse also claimed a state championship three-peat with a 15-9 victory over Indianapolis Cathedral, avenging its only in-state loss of the season. The Eagles were led by Brandon Benn ’10 (Orangeville, Ont.) with seven goals, followed by Tommy Ott ’09 (Palmyra, Pa.) and Jesse Rabishaw ’10 (Sharon, Ont.) with three

The spring sports season again extended beyond graduation as Culver athletes made runs deep into the state tournaments. The Academies finished with two more state titles in lacrosse, a CGA doubles tennis team making a final four appearance for the first time, and two state runner-up medals in track. Along the way, the girls tennis and track teams picked up sectional titles.

each, and Pierce Leonard ’09 (Cornelius, N.C.) with two. Goalie Robb Harrison ’09 (Memphis, Tenn.) finished with eight saves in the title game. Benn and Ott were named All-Americans by the Indiana Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse and Benn and defenseman Connor Eustace ’10 (Newmarket, Ont.) were named the offensive and defensive players of the championship game. CMA advanced to the championship game with wins over Park Tudor (16-2) and Carmel (11-4). First team all-state honors went to Benn, Ott, and Rabishaw. Leonard, John Sabo ’09 (Granger, Ind.), and Ryan Everson ’10 (Greenfield, Wis.) were named to the second team. Honorable mention went to Harrison, Bud Lowans ’12 (Orangeville, Ont.), Dominic Panetta ’09 (Zionsville, Ind.), Blake Saylor ’10 (Centennial, Colo.), Michael Kime ’10 (Zionsville, Ind.), and Ryne Sternberg ’10 (Toronto).

CGA lacrosse won its third straight state crown with a 6-3 win over Park Tudor, a team that had beaten the Eagles earlier in the season. Leading the team was Caitlin Juricic ’10 (Michigan City, Ind.) with two goals and one assist and Kristen Stafford ’09 (London, Ont.) with one goal and two assists. Kelly Flanagan ’10 (North Barrington, Ill.), Frances Staadt ’09 (Rockville, Ind.), and Sarah Freymiller ’09 (Nappanee, Ind.) each scored a goal. Goalie Henrietta Conrad ’11 (Chesterton, Ind.) turned in an all-tournament performance with 13 saves. Also named to the all-tournament team were Maddie Balchan ’10 (Springfield, Ohio), Staadt, Stafford, and Juricic. The girls advanced to the champi-

Garrison photo.

Girls Lacrosse

Senior members of the CGA lacrosse team, left to right, Abigail Herbert, Kristen Stafford, Francis Staadt, and Sarah Freymiller are all smiles after a third straight state championship.

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Culver Sports circle for the Eagles. Newell also delivered at the plate, being one of the leading hitters for the team, earning her the Most Valuable Player honor. Seniors Tess Strang (Urbana, Ill.) and Stephanie DeSutter (Aylmer, Ont.) and junior Taylor McSheffery (Granger, Ind.) also paced the team offensively.

Garrison photo.

Baseball

CMA Lacrosse celebrated its third State Championship in a row with a 15-9 victory.

Track & Field In CGA track, Waverly Neer ’11 (Russiaville, Ind.) earned two silver medals at the Indiana High School Athletic Association state meet. Neer finished second in the 1600 (5:00.48) and 3200 (10:53.82), scoring all 16 of the Eagles’ points as CGA finished 13th. Willow Smith ’10 (Rhinelander, Wis.) finished 11th in the 3200 and the 4 x 800 relay team of Kaye Sitterley ’11 (Mooresville, N.C.), Stephanie Burian ’10 (Portage, Ind.), Jenna Iwaniec ’09 (Culver, Ind.), and Smith finished 18th. The relay team also smashed its own school record by 11 seconds (9:47.54) at the Bremen Regional. The team won the Rochester Sectional and finished fifth at the regional. CMA track advanced two runners to the state track and field meet. Daniel Ching ’09 (Trout Valley, Ill.) finished ninth in the 300 intermediate hurdles (a school record of 38.98) and Alejandro Arroyo ’10 (Leon Guanajuato, Mexico) placed 11th in the 3200 (9:21.87). Ching advanced to the state meet by breaking his school record with a 39.58 at the Kokomo Regional. Arroyo qualified for the state with a second-place finish at Kokomo with a personal best time of 9:34.01.

Girls Tennis CGA tennis picked up another sectional trophy with 5-0 victories over Knox and

Rochester, but dropped a 3-2 decision to Penn in the first round of the regional tournament. The No. 1 doubles team of twins Jessica and Andrea Simon ’10 (Huntertown, Ind.) continued in the individual tournament, reaching the final four in Indianapolis before losing to the eventual state champion duo from Indianapolis Brebeuf.

Crew Crew’s Cameron Crowell ’10 (Winona Lake, Ind.) and Trevor Weaser ’10 (Plymouth, Ind.) were undefeated as members of the varsity four boat at the Indiana-Kentucky championship and the Culver Regatta. As members of the varsity eight shell, they helped guide their team to an 11-3 record. Finally, as a varsity double boat, they were 12-2, with their only losses coming to Cincinnati Country Day at the Midwest Scholastic (silver medal) and in the American Scholastic Championships. Crowell and Weaser also placed second in the Junior Quadruple scull at the Midwest Championships, missing first place by half a second. The CGA side enjoyed similar success, with members of the varsity eight boat going 15-2 and the novice eight finishing with an 18-6 record. The varsity four shell finished 7-0.

Softball The CGA softball team finished with a 1010 record with Brenna Newell ’10 (Frankfort, Ill.) stepping into the pitching

The CMA baseball team finished with a 9-11 record. With just four first-classmen, the team recovered from a shaky 1-7 start. The turnaround is reflected in the Eagles’ first round sectional victory over Mishawaka Marian, 4-3, after losing to the Knights, 13-3, earlier in the season. Max Terhar ’11 (Cincinnati) and Josh Wright ’10 (Crown Point, Ind.) led the team in hitting. Terhar batted .456 in 57 at-bats, while Wright finished with at .453 in 64 trips to the plate. Connor Kucera ’10 (Plymouth, Ind.) was the top pitcher with an ERA of 1.70 over 37 innings.

Golf The CMA golf team finished with a 14-5 dual match record. The team averaged 332.4 for 18 holes with a team low of 324. The low nine-hole team score was 152. Individually, Michael Grover ’09 (Culver) paced the team with an 18-hole average of 82.4. He also shot a 36 for the best ninehole score. Andrew Eiler ’11 (Rochester, Ind.) was second with an 82.8 average, carding the individual 18-hole low of 76.

Rugby The rugby team finished the season 3-9 while playing some of the top-ranked teams in the Midwest and the nation. Zach Deery ’10 (Nappanee, Ind.) was named the team’s top rookie and Gene Shmurak ’09 (Overland Park, Kan.) was the most improved. Blake Hunnewell ’10 (New York City) was named the most valuable back and Conor Casey ’10 (Lafayette, Ind.) the most valuable forward. – Compiled and written by Jan Garrison

Culver Alumni Magazine

17


And the bands play on . . .

“H

ow could you have a Garrison Parade without the bands?”

Naval Band. Drum & Bugle Corps. Naval Band and Drum and Bugle Corps together. Regardless of the combination, the military band – its horns, its drums, its intoxicating cadence – is an integral part of Culver Summer Schools & Camps. In July, Summer Homecoming Weekend was a chance to revel in the memories as band alumni returned to honor 105 years of Naval Band and the 90th year of the D&B – and some of those alumni played in both!

As alumni reunited with each other and interacted with current members of the Naval Band and D&B, there was an amazing interplay. Bearded Boomers and graying grandfathers became kids again as they tucked a bugle under their arm or wrapped their fingers around a drumstick; they marched to the beat of an ageless drummer. At the same time, D&Bers and Naval Bandsmen spoke passionately, reverently, and all-knowingly about the role they play and the importance of each note. “Nobody has what we have,” boasts Matt Scheffer, 12, of Valparaiso, Ind., a first-year D&Ber who plays the snare drum. Enjoying a Friday night picnic with D&B alumni, Matt likes to hear “how the D&B hasn’t really changed that much” over the years. He appreciates the tradition and the history.

Haberland photo.

Charles Greenman 12, a third-year trumpeter from South Florida, says the D&B has gone to lot of parades this summer. He enjoys representing Culver and understands the value of promoting the D&B and the summer camp program to the specatators lining the streets.

Much effort has been made by the Culver Summer Schools & Camps Board of Directors to restore the Naval Band to its glory days amid waning numbers in the wake. Those efforts – bolstered by scholarship initiatives and fund-raising efforts that have put new instruments in the hands of young musicians – have raised the Naval Band’s numbers to a robust 61 (up from 36 in 1999 when there was one trumpeter). It is music to alumni ears. Enrollment in the D&B has been more consistent, with 59 this summer.

18 Spring/Summer 2009

Between bites of hot dogs and sips of lemonade, the six D&Bers around the table reflect on the camaraderie. “It’s about keeping together. Sometimes we have bad days and don’t march well,” offers one of the boys. “But when we need to pull together and work together, we do it,” Charles adds. Alumni Craig Borchelt W’79, A’82 of St. Louis knows all about the camaraderie of the D&B. Thirty years later he’s seeing it almost daily on Facebook. A graduate of West Point and a member of the Army Reserve, he knows the importance of the band in the esprit de corps at camp and in the military.


Culver Current As a soldier, Craig is interested in hearing from those who have served in the same regiments he served in. As an alumnus, that’s also why it is important to get involved with today’s D&Bers. It’s about history and discipline; “it’s the same cadences, the same songs.” Brothers Ronald Auchter W’75, NB’79 (Houston) and Joe Auchter W’75, NB’80 (Goleta, Calif.) have a nephew in D&B. They observe there are more cabins than in their era (they remember their cabin number and their laundry number), and in their day the bugles had no valves. What hasn’t changed is the hard work, perseverance, and independence fostered by the D&B.

as well (as before), but we still knew them,” Ron admits. The Auchters and other alumni joined the Naval Band in concert Friday afternoon for a rousing rendition of “Anchors Aweigh.” After the concert, trombonist H.D. Hibbard, 16, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., says seeing how much alumni care makes being a part of the Naval Band seem that much more important to him. “I am just amazed how people really care for the Naval Band. It’s good to play with alumni and learn about the past,” H.D. says. “We want the Band to be better and better every year.” A common refrain. – Doug Haberland

Having practiced already for the Alumni Homecoming Parade, the Auchter brothers remember all the old songs. “We didn’t play them

The Culver Summer Schools Alumni Association honored outgoing president Kathryn “Kay” Ryan Booth SS’67 at its annual meeting in July by establishing the Kathryn Ryan Booth Award. The award will be given annually to a second-class girl for her leadership and commitment to the ideals, traditions, and mission of Culver Summer Schools & Camps. A resident of Harrison, N.Y., Booth was a member of the first Culver Summer School for Girls graduating class, the first female CSSAA president, and is the mother of two summer school alumni.

Photo by Laurie O’Brien/BunkOn e.

Frank Berall N’45 takes his place behind the bass drum purchased by his wife, Jenefer, in honor of her husband and his contributions to Culver. His personal mallet in hand, Berall and the drum made their debut at the July 25 Naval Band Concert. Berall is a past president and member emeritus of the CSSAA Board of Directors and the honorary commander of the Summer Alumni Homecoming Parade. With an estate bequest, Frank and Jenefer will endow the Louis J., Jeannette F., Frank S., and Jenefer C. Berall Chair of Science.

A group of Butterflies surround Julius Hegeler II W’39, thanking him for the renovations to Cabin No. 9, which were funded by the Julius W. Hegeler Foundation. For the extraordinary education he received and that of his two daughters who attended CGA, and in recognition of his 70th anniversary of his Woodcraft graduation, Hegeler also has established an endowment for the upkeep and maintenance of the new Indian Crafts Building and an endowment for the overall Summer School & Camps program. He also was on the reviewing line for the Summer Alumni Homecoming Parade. r/Development. Photo by Dale Spenne

Cynthia J. Dunbar W’86, SS’89 (far left) of Carmel, Ind., presented a photo she took in 1989 to the Naval Band in remembrance of the summer she and other ‘bandswomen’ were permitted to march with the Naval Band. The photo of Naval Band celebrating its Communications Relay victory ‘represents the dedication and teamwork that embodies the Culver spirit,’ Dunbar wrote, adding that her gift ‘honors . . . these young men who embraced us and brought us into the fold.’. Twenty years later, Dunbar and Catherine (Bowersox) Tomfohrde SS’89,’91 (Katy, Texas) returned to march with the Alumni Band at Homecoming, finding that ‘the bond is still there, if not stronger.’

Haberland photo.

Haberland photo.

s t r o h S r e m m Su

Culver Alumni Magazine

19


by Richard Davies

I

n many respects Allen R. Elliott was the epitome of the Culver man. His association spanned fifty-seven years, beginning as a cadet in 1904 to his election to The Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees in 1957, and ending with his death in 1961.

From his days as a cadet to Acting Superintendent during World War II, Colonel Allen Elliott played an integral role throughout his Culver career

Elliott was as involved with Culver as a cadet as he was later as a member of the faculty and staff. He came to Culver in 1904, graduating in 1908 as captain of Company D. As a cadet, Elliott served as a corporal and first sergeant of Company C before transferring to D Company. He took part in a number of activities during his cadet days; these included serving as vice president of the Class of 1908, manager of the Hop Club, and military editor of the Roll Call. He was on the D Company rifle team as well as a member of the Rifle Association. Elliott was a member of the Dramatics Club and acted in several school plays. He also participated in the Culver Minstrel Show, which led to an entry in the “Class of 1908 Prophecy” stating: Next we have Elliott, dear little Allen, Whose talented ways we know, He’ll travel around the big cities and towns and make People laugh at his big minstrel show. There were other more personal aspects of his life as a cadet: the 1908 Roll Call featured him as a ladies’ man; the First Class Alphabet noted that “E stands for Elliott, of ‘girl-fussing fame.’ ” That same Roll Call recorded that he received two letters during his first-class year from a certain Violet Lee [1A]. Elliott returned to Culver in 1910, beginning his service as a lowly teacher of infantry tactics, but ending his career at the Academy by being elected to The Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees in 1957. During his tenure Elliott served in many capacities – instructor in infantry tactics, tactical officer of Company E, post adjutant, executive officer, and as acting superintendent during the Second World War (1943 to ’45). After his retirement he served as secretary to the trustees before being elected to that board three years before his death in 1961.

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A devoted tactical officer, Elliott laid out his view of the role in a letter written in 1922: “In short, the tactical officer is the father of the company; there is a mutual understanding between the cadet and his tactical officer, a confidence and friendship without the familiarity which breeds contempt. Observance of military courtesy and etiquette is maintained but not allowed to interfere with the free exchange of ideas between the boy and the officers. “A parent recently wrote the following in a letter to the boy’s tactical officer: ‘I have had my boy in several schools before this, but Culver is the first one where I ever have received anything at the end of the month except bills [1].’” Elliott’s view of the tactical officer mirrors the contemporary thinking about the role of the counselor, especially in its view of the confident and friendly relationship between the counselor and the students. With such sentiments it is hardly surprising cadets and colleagues held Elliott in such high esteem. Elliott moved quickly up the ranks from an instructor in infantry tactics to that of tactical officer en route to assuming higher positions in the Culver administration. Elliott took seriously his role as a military man even while holding down civilian jobs at Culver. During the First World War he left Culver for military service in May 1917, serving for twenty-two months. During that time he was appointed as a captain and later promoted to major in the infantry. He was assigned to the Reserve Officer’s Training Camp and later transferred to the 334th Infantry in Kentucky before finishing his duty in the 77th Infantry at Camp Custer in Michigan. He was honorably discharged at Camp Custer on February 1, 1919, and returned to his duties at Culver. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve and was, for a time, a lieutenant colonel with Elliott, 1931 the 336th Infantry. In 1927 he spent six months at Fort Benning taking a course in the National Guard and Reserve Officer Infantry School. He attained the rank of full colonel in the Infantry Reserve in 1936. As a citizen-soldier, Elliott believed strongly in the positive role that the military could play in the education of young men. He developed those ideas in an article he wrote for The Nation’s School, “The Plus Values of Military Training.” Elliott made the case for a year of compulsory military service for American young men. Aware that the Axis powers all had compulsory military service, Elliott focused on Switzerland’s compulsory military program. He pointed out that Switzerland was a democracy basing its military program on democratic values. Elliott believed that “universal service in the United States should, of course, be based on the American way, the democratic way. The many advantages to her youth physically, educationally, and morally would far outbalance any disadvantages [2].”

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Elliott’s qualities led legendary Culver Superintendent Leigh Gignilliat to promote him into higher leadership positions. In 1931 he was appointed post adjutant; in 1936 he assumed the chairmanship of the Department of Health and Athletics, as well as continuing to serve as post adjutant. After assuming that chairmanship, Elliott came to realize “the weakness in the physical training and athletic programs of his own cadet days which failed to provide instruction or training in the ‘carry over’ sports in which both the average athlete and the boy with no leaning toward physical activity might fail to participate.” He felt that the old-fashioned athletic instruction did not give boys any “beneficial hobby both to provide healthful recreation and to keep down the increasing middle-age waistline. Under Elliott’s guidance, cadets in the first and second years were assigned to a particular type of instruction in swimming, golf, squash, badminton, and tennis – activities which they can enjoy when school and college days are over [3].” In 1938 he was appointed executive officer of the Academy, serving directly under the superintendent. He was responsible “as director of all non-instructional activities including the operation of finance, service of supplies and equipment, operation and upkeep of physical plant and grounds, and operation of the mess, uniform department, Academy store, and canteen. In this position Elliott was responsible for all foundation property and equipment. He also functioned as director of alumni activities. He continued with his duties as chairman of the Department of Health and Athletics [4].” Elliott maintained a good but spirited relationship with the flamboyant Gignilliat. In 1938 a Hollywood producer wanted to make a film about the Academy called “The Spirit of Culver.” Gignilliat spent a great deal of time with the producer and director in Hollywood to make sure that they captured the real spirit of the Academy. In the winter of 1939 Gignilliat learned that Culver had declined to premier the film, prompting an irate and spirited letter to Elliott voicing his displeasure at this decision: “For God’s sake, Allen! Have I gone haywire or Hollywood or is Culver going the ‘holier than thou,’ unimaginative, dry rot route, to win approval from such as never made Culver though they made the West, made history, though they may not have made a university club, or made their sons bond salesmen. “I am truly worried about something more than a picture and its premier. I am concerned about the ‘Spirit of Culver.’ “Perhaps I am out of step, and the time has come for me, not for a premier, but a final bow, yet until I make it, I shall strive to keep Culver non complaisant, conscious of the great medium of expression of our times, the movies, the radio, included, even though they seem academically undignified, for the moment . . . Perhaps because I have tried to put so much of that sort of thing into this picture; the spirit of all you people I have worked with, all the boys of Culver, the ones upstairs, their pictures, over and past the saluted gold stars, in a room just to the left of the Allied flags; perhaps because of all that I have thought that Culver should launch into this picture, that so nicely depicts fine young


American boyhood, and Culver’s product, not, surely not, with Hollywood ballyhoo but with a Culver benediction . . . “In the picture there is a scene in which they wanted the rehabilitated, once shell-shocked father of Bob Randolph III to appear in the flag ceremony at the Indianapolis war memorial as the . . . I wired the Dept. of Indiana for permission. They wired back ‘the American Legion of Indiana is safe in your hands, we leave everything to your judgment.’ Their confidence has not been betrayed [5].” In his reply, Elliott admitted that he had been wrong about the film and the actors when he finally viewed the picture: “I was most happily surprised with Freddie Bartholomew’s performance and admit that I was a hundred percent wrong in my judgment of him. I thought Tim Holt’s acting as an old cadet and officer in advising a rebellious new cadet was the high point of the picture. He was in my opinion, perfect. . . . I felt that the presentation of Culver was dignified and in keeping with the spirit of the place and that there was nothing in it that could possibly do us any harm. I feel that the picture will do us much good in the way of enrollment and that this good will be measured over a period of from five to ten years since lots of youngsters will see the picture and have the name of Culver pretty firmly fixed in their minds [6].” Gignilliat wrote Elliott again about the film expressing disappointment at the “flat reception of ‘The Spirit of Culver’ by the faculty and the corps of cadets [this] was one of the keenest disappointments that I have experienced in my school career. Naturally, therefore, when the review of it in The Vedette gave it no mead of praise to anything except Jackie Cooper’s capacity as a trap-drummer and neglected to mention even Tim Holt’s fine characterization as cadet captain, I felt very let down indeed [7].”

Legion, and in 1945 as secretary of the CEF Board of Trustees. In 1940, Elliott was appointed acting director of the Culver Summer Schools and permanent director in 1942. He was named acting superintendent in 1944 during Gregory’s active military service in Europe, serving until Gregory returned in 1945. From 1945 to 1953, Elliott served as director of the Culver Summer School as well as executive officer, associate secretary of the Culver Legion, and secretary of The Culver Educational Foundation board. In 1949 he suffered a heart attack; it slowed him down but he did not relinquish any of his duties. He announced his retirement from active duty in 1952, although he continued to serve as secretary to the board. In spite of his official retirement Elliott continued to play a role at the Academy. For example, Gregory sent out a memo in 1955 stating that while he was away for two weeks “all matters requiring decision from the Superintendent’s office [should] be referred to Col. Elliott in my absence [8].” In 1957, Elliott was elected as a member of the CEF board, a position he held until his death from a second heart attack in 1961. Elliott was one of the giants of Culver. The number of positions he held indicate something of his capacity to work and lead effectively. Shortly after his death Superintendent General Delmar Spivey wrote of his relationship with Elliott: “Speaking for myself, I shall miss Col. Elliott more than I can say. Since I came to Culver in 1956, his staunch friendship and sage counsel have been invaluable to me. The breadth of his experience, ranging from that of a cadet to that of Acting Superintendent and Board Member, has been always at my disposal, and I have availed myself of his wisdom and counsel.”

Elliott reassured Gignilliat that the reaction of faculty and cadets was much more positive at the second showing of the film.

Superintendent Leigh Gignilliat (seated at center) convenes with the key members of his staff in the spring of 1939. From left are Dean of Studies Col. W.E. Gregory, Commandant Col. Charles McKinney ’12 (standing), and Executive Officer Col. Allen Elliott ’08.

From the Culver Archives.

Shortly after this exchange Colonel William A. Gregory was installed as the new superintendent. Elliott was retained in his position as executive officer, as well as associate secretary of the Culver

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Veteran language instructor John Mars, the revered former superintendent, had yet another view of Elliott. He wrote that “beneath a somewhat dour appearance Colonel Elliott was not the stern, intimidating military officer he appeared to be while in uniform on campus or in the front office of the Academy.” He added, “For those who knew him well, he was a kind and compassionate gentleman with a quick smile Elliott, 1941 and a subtle sense of humor, which he reserved for his closest friends, Colonel McKinney, the commandant and next door neighbor, being the closest of all.” Mars also noted “although Colonel Elliott was a year or two older than Colonel McKinney, they had been cadets together when Culver was still in its first twenty years of existence and [they] remained the closest of friends for life.”

From the Culver Archives.

Expanding on that relationship Mars wrote that “Colonel Elliott’s daughter, Peggy, the proverbial apple of her father’s eye, once related to me an account of her father and Colonel McKinney carving a Thanksgiving turkey as if it were a human being on an operating table, her father being the chief surgeon and Colonel McKinney being his assistant to hand over the carving scalpel and operating utensils. I gather that the friends and family attending the dinner were convulsed in laughter. That the two gentlemen had probably been fortified by a libation or two could be assumed . . . however their behavior as administrators of the Academy and away from home was impeccable and always exemplary.”

The retirement of three veteran officers provided the cover for the May 1953 issue of the Culver Alumnus. The trio, which had accumulated 118 years of service to the Academy and Culver Summer Schools, included (left to right) Col. G.L. Miller, math instructor and Band counselor since 1913; Col. L.R. Kellam, a faculty member since 1918; and Col. Allen Elliott ’08, an executive officer since 1910.

In his eulogy, Chaplain Allen Bray said that “with his dry humor, warm heart, and resolute determination, Col. Elliott gave himself completely and irrevocably to something he considered greater than himself. Yet those of us who knew and worked with this man . . . know that [Culver’s] greatness was in fact derived from Allen Elliott and a few men of similar caliber. As cadet, instructor, administrator, and director, he brought his gifts to the altar of this Academy, and there offered both them and himself [9].” Culver Archivist Robert B.D. Hartman reveals another side of Elliott’s character. Thinking back to his own early days at the Academy, Hartman wrote of Elliott, whom he knew only at a distance: “I thought him to be visually formidable, if not severe – and [I felt] that he would not be warm to rookie instructors.” Hartman also said that as a young, new instructor, Elliott frightened him.

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Mars wrote, “For the entire period in which I knew Colonel Elliott and up to the time of his retirement, he had always been the number two administrator of Culver and Colonel Gregory’s most important confidant.” When Gregory left Culver for wartime service “Colonel Elliott became the Acting Superintendent. Esteemed by all, he was the logical choice, and the school prospered under his leadership.” Mars ended his reflection by adding that “behind almost every great man is a devoted and supportive wife, and Colonel Elliott’s wife, Margaret, was the perfect first lady. Her disarming graciousness was a notable contrast to the decorous reserve of her husband, and together they kept the Academy in smooth operating status until Colonel Gregory returned home from Europe [11].” After Elliott’s death, the young editors of The Vedette offered yet another view of the man: “Few members of the present student body knew personally Colonel Allen R. Elliott, who died last Sunday. Yet every Midshipman, Trooper, and Woodcrafter is indebted to Colonel Elliott for the opportunities he is enjoying this summer. “In a Culver career that spanned 51 years, Colonel Elliott participated in practically every major decision made since


the early days of the Summer and Winter schools. To a great degree Culver is the superior educational institution it is today because of Col. Elliott’s dedicated service. “On behalf of the entire Corps, The Vedette sends its most sincere sympathies to Colonel Elliott’s family. At the same time, The Vedette pledges on behalf of the Cadet Corps to live up to the high standards and ideals established by Colonel Elliott so that he will continue to live on at Culver in the years to come [10] .” Colonel Elliott epitomized what was and is best about Culver. He was first and foremost a devoted family man. Elliott and his wife, Margaret, had two children: “Buddy,” who died when he was nine, and Margaret, who would later marry Richard Gimbel, an English and language instructor and a Culver legend in his own right. Elliott was devoted as well to the school and gave his entire career to the institution. It is all together fitting that his daughter left funds, shepherded by Paul Gignilliat ’49, to create a portrait of her father to grace the halls of the institution that he adored. Like many other faculty and staff, Elliott helped to make Culver the national institution that it is today. Editor’s note: Richard Davies retired in May 2008 after 42 years with the Academies as a teacher, coach, and mentor. He came to Culver in 1966, leaving in 1968, and returning in 1974 as counselor of Troop A. Like Colonel Elliott, Davies had a varied Culver career. He served as a history and humanities instructor, crew coach, coordi-

nator of the Ninth Grade Program, director of the World Spirituality Series, and was the holder of the W.A. Moncrief Jr. Chair of America’s Democratic Heritage. He and Kathy Lintner also developed the Myth & Lit course, which garnered national attention. Davies is a graduate of DePauw University and earned a master’s degree from the University of Wales in Great Britain. He received his doctorate in history and the philosophy of education from Indiana University, and a second master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was a Klingenstein Fellow. He is the author of “Swords at Culver,” a novel integrating European and Native American lore with the campus as a backdrop. In retirement, he is working on a sequel and continues to research and write about Culver’s history. End notes 1. Letter to Mr. F.L. Brooke regarding role of tactical officer April 11, 1922, Elliott No. 1 File. 2. The Nation’s School, Vol. 34, No. 6, December 1944, pp. 28-29. 3. Memo May 20, 1938, Elliott No. 1 File. 4. Memo from Gignilliat to all Academy members, June 8, 1938, Ibid. 5. Letter to Elliott from Gignilliat, Feb. 19, 1939, Ibid. 6. Letter March 19, 1939, Ibid. 7. Letter March 17, 1939, Ibid. 8. Memo from Gregory, June 27, 1955, Ibid. 9. Quoted in the Culver Alumnus magazine, Summer 1961 [alu-sum-a961-0002.] 10. The Vedette July 1961, Elliott No. 3 File, Jan. 1948-to date. 11. Material about Colonel Elliott taken from a letter to Richard Davies from John Mars; Dec. 22, 2008.

From the Culver Archives.

The July 28, 1961, issue of The Vedette marks the death of Col. Allen Elliott.

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Artist Jack Williams

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Putting brush to canvas: Fulfilling a daughter’s wish

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hough Colonel Allen R. Elliott had served as acting superintendent of Culver Military Academy during World War II, his portrait does not hang in the Legion Memorial Building.

His daughter, Peggy Gimbel, who died in 2004, made a provision in her will to have a portrait done of her late father. Her wishes came true during this past year when Fine Arts instructor Jack Williams was commissioned by Paul Gignilliat ’49 to paint a portrait of this legendary Culver figure. Williams looked to several formative sources in the production of the Elliott portrait. The influence on his own artistic heritage comes from two traditions that are often viewed as contradictory. He first studied at The Paier College of Art in his hometown of New Haven, Connecticut, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1986. At Paier, he studied portraiture under Joe Funaro, who was a student of Deane Keller, who taught drawing and painting at Yale University for over four decades and painted hundreds of official portraits for the university and other clients. Williams met Keller in the 1980s after the latter had suffered a stroke. At their first meeting, arranged by Keller’s wife, Keller examined one of Williams’ paintings, declaring the portrait “promising.” (Keller is featured prominently in the recent film “The Rape of Europa.” As an Army officer serving in Italy during World War II, Keller played a key role in the recovery of priceless masterpieces of Italian art that the Nazis had looted.) As Keller’s last student, Williams feels a particular responsibility to transmit Keller’s technical legacy, which Keller recorded toward the end of his teaching career. Years

ago, Keller’s wife provided Williams with a manuscript, and Williams followed Keller’s instructions during the production of the Elliott portrait. Williams also likes to recall Keller saying to him that “it is a poor teacher whose students do not exceed him.” As a teacher, Williams wants his own students to exceed him. In his drawing and painting classes at Culver, Williams makes a point of citing his connection to Keller and the heritage that Keller represents; a heritage that Keller’s son traced to the French NeoClassical painter Jacques Louis David, who, in turn, was influenced by the Italian Renaissance artists. Williams teaches these traditional methods to his Culver students, some of whom attend informal lessons after school. Using Keller’s methods helped Williams solve several technical problems that arose during his work on the Elliott portrait. Another of the influences on Williams’ approach to painting comes from Leland Bell, with whom he studied while pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Parson School of Design in New York City in the late 1980s. Through Bell, Williams encountered a Modernist approach to painting that blends abstract art with a figurative subject called post-abstract figuration. For Bell, painting – regardless of subject matter, style, or genre – was the organization of colored forms on a flat surface. The purpose of this organization, Bell said, quoting French painter Andre Derain, was “to give life to a dead surface.” Williams’ work is the product of his struggle to reconcile the two traditions that he has inherited from his professors, traditions that collectively span the history of Western art

and that merge seamlessly in the work of the Masters, old and new. Williams subsequently earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English at Southern Connecticut State University. In 1992, he took a year off to teach fine arts and English in Athens before returning to Connecticut. Between 1998 and 2003 he earned a law degree, taking night classes at Quinnipiac University while studying painting and drawing during the day at The Lyme Academy of the Fine Arts. Williams joined the Culver faculty in 2002, but left Culver in 2004 to earn a master’s degree in Art History from the University of Notre Dame. That accomplished, he returned to the Academies’ Fine Arts Department in 2006. When Williams began work on the Elliott portrait he applied the technical means that Keller described in his manuscript but also sought the two- and three-dimensional rhythms that Bell espoused. Williams wanted the painting to be consistent with the other portraits of past heads of school in the Legion Memorial Building. He studied each one, at times removing his shoes and climbing on the polished cabinets beneath the paintings to better examine them. He concluded that the portrait should show threequarters of Elliott’s figure and that the colonel should be standing. For this reason, Williams’ first task was to locate and purchase a vintage U.S. Army uniform like the one Elliott was wearing in the reference photo provided. The photo only shows Elliott’s head and shoulders, so Williams employed a stand-in. Over several weeks, Williams purchased various articles of clothing and the necessary insignia for

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his model, who posed for color studies and reference photos wearing the more-or-less complete uniform of a U.S. Army officer, circa 1945. Several versions followed, each rejected on various grounds, some technical, and some aesthetic. At one point, Colonel Warren Foersch, CMA’s current deputy commandant, noted that the Sam Browne belt worn in the portrait was too high on Elliott’s waist, so Williams repainted it one-inch lower. Trustee Paul Gignilliat ’49, who generously funded Williams’ work on the portrait and the splendid frame, recommended that Elliott be portrayed wearing his cap because Elliott’s public persona was rigidly formal, he recalled.

Second World War. For Williams, however, the color and tone of the sky merely solved the problem of emphasis. During the process, Williams studied the works of great English portraitists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, both of whom darkened the skies in many of their portraits to establish contrast with the subjects’ heads. Williams spent two years and over two hundred hours working on the various versions of the portrait. Painting in oils on a Belgian linen canvas, Williams employed the layered method of over and under painting he learned from studying Keller’s manuscript and copying some of Keller’s portraits at Yale.

In the final incarnation, Williams placed Elliott outside to accommodate the cap, Williams said he welcomed the opporwhich no officer would wear indoors. tunity to paint Elliott’s portrait because Prior to starting the final version of the portrait, artist Jack Williams The colonel holds a slim folder and pair it gave him the chance to serve Culver completed several tonal and color studies. In this preparatory painting, of calfskin gloves, his right arm deliberby portraying a man who gave his life the arrangement of light, middle, and dark shapes of the composition ately set at an angle to proportionately to this institution. Part of Culver’s misachieved the sort of movement that his teacher Leland Bell espoused divide the space around the figure. sion is to encourage students to find head as the focal point of the painting. To Likewise, Elliott’s left leg extends slightly to something to give meaning to their lives. achieve the appropriate level of tonal conestablish a degree of tension with the edge of Williams finds meaning in painting and trast, Williams darkened the sky behind the canvas and thus achieve a sense of teaching Culver students how to paint. the colonel. rhythm. The position of the right arm and Elliott found his meaning in helping shape left leg also helps estabDean of the institution that he loved. The final lish a pyramidal shape Faculty Kathy painting of Elliott reflects all of the tradito the colonel’s figure. Linter noted tions and techniques which Williams has This effect and the location that the darkreceived from Keller, Funaro, Bell and his of the strongest contrast of ened sky beloved Italian Renaissance painters. In the dark and light emphasize the introduced end, this portrait commemorates a lifetime an historical of service that Allen Elliott gave to this instiaspect by providtution, it fulfills the wish of his beloved ing the metaphor daughter, and gives him his rightful place in of a gathering storm the lineage of Culver superintendents. – the coming of the – Richard Davies

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A growing number of alumni from the 1970s and ’80s are using Facebook to connect and re-connect with Culver friends and classmates

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o surprise that Facebook has hit Culver, right? The popular social networking site celebrated its fifth anniversary in February and has more than 200 million users worldwide (as of May 2009). It is adding nearly five million users a week. Facebook is where you hang out with friends online. Users write on each other’s “walls,” post pictures and videos about special moments like a birthday or new child, chat about their favorite movies and songs, and update their status pages. No big deal. However, look closer and you will find that the vibrant – and growing – Culver community on Facebook is dominated by

graduates from the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Yes, a group of people who actually remember the first moonwalk in 1969 and gas selling at twenty-five cents a gallon are on Facebook. There are more than 350 people in the Class of 1978 Culver group, and the numbers are increasing weekly. You have a collection of individuals – successful doctors and lawyers, businesspeople, innovative entrepreneurs, financial wizards, creative marketers, stay-at-home moms and dads, race car enthusiasts, starving artists, budding musicians – all re-connecting with friends and classmates. The common bond is their experience at Culver.

By Donald Kojich ’78

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Why do you think there has been such a connection with Culver grads on Facebook? “Most people graduate from high school where they grew up, and even if they leave their hometown will still have connections with it and the people they graduated with due to ties with family or friends. At Culver when one graduates, everyone is scattered across the globe. Connections are much harder to maintain, and you find that you can’t just go back at any time to see the old friends who became your family during those important adolescent years. So, to be presented with this vehicle (Facebook) that has joined us all back together in cyberspace – pictures and all – is a real gift. It is a connection to our past that we never had before, and in some cases may be a rekindling of friendships that are the oldest ones we’ve got. These are the people who knew us when . . .”

– Marie Hoerner Hagberg ’78 “I think that we all lived together and shared some very good and bad experiences. We also had our cliques or groups that we hung out with. We were all immature kids dealing with some adult situations. Our friends were our support group. The people we looked to for support and friendship. And truthfully we only used a small portion of the whole group, because we were cliquish and small-minded. Now as adults we have all gotten past that and have the opportunity to reach out to the rest of the whole group.”

– Larry Klein ’78 “I think Culver graduates have close bonds from living together at a young and emotional stage of growing up, and now we can revisit our friendships and reconnect to that part of our lives. Culver was a community as well as a school to me. It was the longest that I was ever at one school, so for me, it was the longest friendships that I made during my school years.”

– Kathyrn (Knoerzer) Klein ’78 “We’re so spread out across the country and around the world that it’s nice to have this one-stop place to get together. Plus, the Culver experience was so unusual; I think we all relate to it in one way or another!”

– Becky Banfield ’80 “Culver is special to me because there is a bond of friendship there that has never been matched in my life. The faculty cared also and showed it by their actions and words.”

– Nancy Child Moss ’77

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Dogged Determination

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t all started last fall with the persistence of Sara Bramfeld Gedrimas ’78. She made it her mission in life to get the community off the ground.

“I was asked to get on Facebook by the 1978 class president, Julie Hanna,” Gedrimas recalled in an e-mail. “I was already a member of Facebook and had seen what an easy way it was to keep up with how and what people are doing. It was very simple to set up the group and I found about five people from my class who were already on FB. “Getting more members has been far tougher, although easier as time has gone by. Our age group is a bit more suspicious than the younger classes of the Internet and worried about privacy. I started inviting everyone for whom I had an e-mail and look all the time for new Culver members. After a bit, we all decided other classes would make it more fun, and there were plenty out there who seemed happy to join our Culver Group. I changed the name to Culver Academy Alumni 1978 and Thereabouts.” The response to the efforts has been incredible.

‘...we all shared a very unique and powerful experience: the great institution that is Culver. We were all teenagers, away from home, and equals at a time in our lives when that was really important.’

“I have most enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and even more importantly, making new ones,” Gedrimas wrote. “I especially love seeing the joy and sometimes complete transformation of people’s attitudes and memories. I have witnessed people going from feeling unaccepted and disconnected from everything about Culver to absolute joy with finding that they are and have always been a part of that community. They find the friends they still have even if they haven’t spoken for thirty or more years. They remember the often wonderful things they themselves had accomplished. I get to experience the sometimes joyous, sometimes solemn, sometimes sad, and often hilarious memories that had been forgotten. The funny and kind and intelligent conversations that were brought about by Facebook and this Culver group can not be overstated in my mind.” “I initially joined FB to keep up with my kids,” said Marie Hoerner Hagberg ’78. “It gave me a way to see current pictures of them and to find out what they were up to after we moved away. Facebook has been great for both reconnecting with old friends and making new friends who shared the Culver experience during our era. It has also been fun getting a snapshot of who people are now with status updates and witty wall posts flying back and forth.”


Online community

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ven though the initial goal was to create a community for the Class of ’78, plans changed quickly. Culver is one of those unique communities where you get to know many people in the classes before and after you. Soon the Culver group was adding members from other classes as quickly as the stock market was dropping from November to March. It became a place where you could find out what happened to that person who sat next to you in Bob Hartman’s European History class, the person who had the role opposite you in Harvey Firari’s latest theatrical production or the person who you enjoyed a late night Mountain Dew (or two) with in West Barrack. “I had actually been trying to get a social network group for the Class of 1977 for quite awhile and even created a group on NING (another

social network) with a very small bit of success,” said Tom Rogers ’77. “Then I was having dinner with Charlie ‘Tuna’ Lewis ’77 and reiterated my interest in starting a FB group for the Class of 1977, and he told me about Sara doing this, too. Sara seemed to have way more energy than should be allowed in a human, because she did all the legwork that I wanted to get done for our group.” “Inspired by Sara Bramfeld’s 1978 group and Lou Stejskal’s 1985-90 group, I decided to start a Facebook group for Culver students and alums from 1980-84,” said Becky Banfield ’80. “Our icon is a picture of The Shack. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. In six months, we’ve grown to almost three hundred members, including alumni, former teachers, and even some older and younger Culver alums.”

Facebook.com/culveracademies Culver is on board – on Facebook – and it is opening up a whole new exchange between alumni and the school, alumni and alumni, and the school/alumni with the entire electronic world we live in. “It’s a new evolution in communication,” said Bill Hargraves III ’77, the Academies director of strategic communications, “and we either get on the train or it will run us over.” Culver has long used the traditional communications platforms (Culver Alumni Magazine, newsletters, promotional mailings, correspondence, etc.) that are one-way and “count on the reaction of the audience,” Hargraves said. Those days are over – or at least Culver is no longer relying solely on those traditional methods of reaching out to its various constituencies. Facebook and other social media provide two-way communication, a chance to talk with alumni and parents. “The people we communicate with now have a voice,” Hargraves said. Sharing information on Facebook that enlighten a wide range of individuals is a baby step for Culver, but it is an important first step. Social networking “won’t go away. It is only going to increase,” Hargraves said. The very nature of Facebook promotes the exposure of news and information about Culver to those not directly associated with the schools and summer camps (your “friends” on Facebook). “This allows our brand to extend, in some cases without us even knowing about it,” Hargraves said. “Facebook is a significant way of Culver connecting with alumni and with others.”

Facebook and other social networking avenues (such as Twitter) are not without their downsides, however. Hargraves said posting information to the Academies and Summer Schools’ Facebook pages require additional (human) resources and a planned strategy to support those pages. “It is important for us to sustain this initiative,” Hargraves said. But on the positive side, “the better we provide information at a consistent level, the more people are aware (of Culver’s Facebook presence) and able to interact. We begin to hear from people that we hadn’t heard from before or who Culver had lost contact with.” With social marketing, Hargraves said the forms of communication are limitless. Culver’s Facebook friends are growing by the scores daily, and “what other platform can provide that kind of growth?” Hargraves said. (As of this writing, the Academies had 1,984 friends on Facebook and Summer Schools & Camps 721.) The initial choice for content on Facebook was to provide updated information on campus events and highlight them with videos, pictures and information before and after. The content will expand as needed. Looking ahead, Facebook can include Culver experts in academics and leadership who can share their experiences and expertise, making the Culver experience come to life for prospects. “If we position it correctly, people will respond,” Hargraves said. “We’re excited about connecting.” The Governance Committee, a collaborative campus group, was created to oversee Culver’s exposure and content on Facebook. The 16-member committee is comprised of representatives from across the campus. – Doug Haberland Culver Alumni Magazine

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Facebook has also been beneficial in catching up with what is going on in our lives. We have discovered that Nancy Child Moss ’77 loves to cook; Becky Banfield ’80 enjoys Cuban food; Eliza Brodnax Shallcross ’78 has written two books; Mike Hackbert ’77 still has a passion for music, and Laura (Vanderkolk) Spensley ’78 and her husband John Spensley ’77 are huge college hockey fans. The list of interests and activities goes on and on. We have also learned that some of our classmates have lost their jobs in this economy, struggled with health-related issues, or are going through a divorce or the death of a loved one. We have provided words of encouragement or kept them in our collective thoughts and prayers. This is now the Culver Experience 2.0 – the updated version. “When I first began this group, I had not realized how strong the bond is between Culver alumni (definitely not only Academies’ graduates) and those who love Culver,” Gedrimas said. “Being an old hand at this now, I will say what I have decided about that phenomenon; I have given it much thought. We might not have all been friends at Culver or even attended at the same time. However, we all shared a very unique and powerful experience: the great institution that is Culver. We were all teenagers, away from home, and equals at a time in our lives when that was really important.

Some of the ’70s alumni who convened at Fogo de Chão in Chicago were, left to right, Larry Klein ’78, Margaret Church ’78, Alex Claney ’79, Don Kojich ’78, and Julia Westland ’78.

and ’80s held a get-together in Chicago in late March. The entire event was organized and publicized on Facebook. Hotel reservations, menus, and travel arrangements were finalized via the social network. Classmates converged on the Windy City for the weekend from as far away as Florida, California, and New Jersey. Blankenship’s bar – The Dirty Martini – located in the River North area was the rendezvous point the first night. Many friendships were rekindled over the weekend at the House of Blues and other watering holes and eateries. More than once conversations were started by saying that “I recognize your picture from Facebook.”

‘The entire event was organized and publicized on Facebook. Hotel reservations, menus, and travel arrangements were finalized via the social network.’

“The group consists of real friends reunited in a way that e-mail could never allow. The kindness and concern and plain old liking we all have for each other defies any explanation I can give. But I have seen it, and continue to see it, every day.”

“I’m not sure who I initially had as friends on Facebook, but once Sara Bramfeld joined it became one big reunion with Culver people,” said Nancy Moss. “I don’t mean we were all friends to begin, but I can tell you I’ve made new ones who are precious and renewed old ones I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

Destination: Chicago

A

Photo courtesy of Thomas Toole ’78.

The hot topics for discussion online fluctuate as frequently as the spring weather along Lake Maxinkuckee. Recent discussions focused on the burning of the Little Gym in November 1977 to fondest memories (tic) of former superintendent Colonel Ben Barone. Recently, Dan Brooks ’79 posted several questions, such as which individual at Culver influenced your life the most, what Culver classmate you would most like to see again, and which individual did you have a secret crush on while at Culver. All questions sparked some interesting debate and answers.

multi-class mini-reunion in Chicago was the culminating event. Through the efforts of Kent Blankenship ’78 and Gedrimas, more than seventy-five graduates from the ’70s

The beauty of this event was that it brought Culver grads together from multiple classes. That is actually one of the great things of the Culver experience. You become friends with people who are both older and younger than you were. While in school, you might not have had much in common with them, but now years – and yes, decades later – you might be in the same profession or have similar interests.

In Chicago we either reacquainted – or just acquainted – ourselves with a group of people we went to high school with more than three decades ago. The bond was that we all experienced being away from home at fifteen or sixteen and trying to find ourselves in the sometimes brutal world we all called “high school.” Social networking has enabled people from all over the world to communicate and stay in touch in real time. The remarkable aspect is that it has brought a community of people back together who once knew each other during those high school years. For scores of people, Facebook has brought Culver back to being that touchstone experience that we remember from our most formative years.

Editor’s note: Donald Kojich is the associate vice president for marketing and communications at the University of Illinois Foundation. He has written and presented nationally about the use of Web 2.0 communications strategies. Almost all of the information he acquired for this article was gathered electronically.

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Spring/Summer 2009


Culver Class News

Alumni Class News Class news published in this issue was received and processed prior to June 15, 2009. Alumni Class News for the Academies and Culver Summer Schools and Camps are combined and listed under the graduation year.

on campus in May for his 60th reunion.

Haberland photo.

Carl J. Metzger of Springfield, Va., enjoyed his 60th reunion in May, especially time with classmates and singing with his quartet from his cadet days, Three Hics and a Cup, comprised of Gil Therien, Paul Corkins, and Pete McKinney. The Class of 1949 set a 60-year reunion attendance record with 30 returnees.

1941

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David B. Huston reports from Tucson, Ariz., that his beloved wife, Betty, died in April 2009. C. Richard Walker of Holland, Mich., enjoys keeping up with current events and what occurs at Culver. He and his bride of 64 years, June, have 12 grandkids and two great-grandchildren.

1947

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William H. Kyle continues to enjoy the sunshine and some golf in Palm Desert, Calif.

1948

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Despite being on oxygen 24/7, John H. Oliver spent 26 days on an Amazon River trip in 2008. He and Joanne (a sister of Bill Barnes ’48) have been married 55 years. They live in Lake in the Hills, Ill., where John breeds Beagles and boards dogs nine months of the year.

1949

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John S. Kitts-Turner and wife, Vicki, travel in their motor home a few months each year. At home in Alachua, Fla., Jack plays bassoon with the community band, composes, and arranges. He also accompanies Vicki to gem and trade shows “to carry her stuff.” John was

L. James Paul writes from Plainfield, Ill., that his wife of 56 years, Phyllis, died in December 2008 of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. They have six children and 16 grandchildren. Time, distance, and health precluded John W. Webster of Irvine, Calif., from attending his 60th reunion.

1950

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60th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 Penny and Jerry Peabody’s return to campus in December 2008 for brother Terry Peabody’s Graduate of the Year ceremony “rekindled our appreciation for Culver and the fine work it does in identifying and developing young people and shaping them into leaders.” The couple lives in Mercer Island, Wash., and granddaughter Helen Hansen will be a freshman this fall. F. James Voss Jr. is playing a lot of tennis and doing physical rehab with his son in Albuquerque, N.M. Earl S. Worsham and his wife, Margit, are semi-retired in Gatlinburg, Tenn., but travel extensively. In June 2008 they took their 16-member family, including grandchildren, to South Africa for a month, starting in Cape Town and ending at Kruger National Park. The couple also fly fish each year in Argentina, chase salmon in Norway,

and are active with the United Way and philanthropic ventures at home.

1959

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John Findling, who studied the Modern Olympics as a member of the history faculty at Indiana University-Southeast, was quoted in the July 5, 2009, Parade Magazine Sunday newspaper insert, which is distributed nationally. In an article titled “Does it pay to host the Olympics?” about Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Games, John said, “It’s very high risk to host the Olympics because of the huge investment involved.”

1960

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50th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 Robert A. Funk underwent a six-artery bypass in July 2008, and was hospitalized in October with an infection. Bob is now taking it easy in McClellan, Calif. James R. Harding of Wicomico Church, Va., has authored a novel, “First Posting,” the story of a soldier’s wife in the 1890s as she adapts to the constant changes and challenges of life in the frontier West. Jim spent 30-plus years in the military, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, and earned a master’s degree from Harvard University. When he’s not writing, he enjoys sailing the Chesapeake Bay and south to the Florida Keys. Larry and Kay Covington Kolito spend their winters in Palm Springs, Calif., returning in May to the north shore of Lake Tahoe.

1961

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Arthur W. Campbell (N) is a law professor at California Western, teaching criminal, copyright and entertainment law. Art sits on the board of directors for San Diego’s Appellate Defenders, Inc., and Federal Defenders, Inc.

Culver Alumni Magazine

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Culver Class News 1969 R. Jeffrey Blair continues to teach English as a foreign language at Aichi Gakuin University in Nagoya, Japan. In April, he transferred to the General Studies Division of the four-year university after 13 years at the junior college.

Gary Mills photo.

Stephen E. Wesner is the senior ministry consultant at Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. He and his wife, Celeste, live in Roswell, Ga. Their daughter recently graduated from college and their son will be a college freshman this fall. The Golden Anniversary Class of 1959 is in-step and looking good in the Alumni Garrison Parade

He also plays polo throughout southern California. A Washington, D.C., trial attorney during the 1970s, he left courtroom work to write his first book and to teach at Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, Catholic, and American universities. He is the author of “Law of Sentencing,” considered the national authority and cited more than 300 times in judicial opinions and law reviews. Art’s poetry has been published nationally and internationally.

1962

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Rene V. Murai continues to practice law in Miami with his business boutique firm. He and his wife, Luisa, live in Coral Gables.

1963

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J. Joseph Mapes of Vicksburg, Mich., has re-opened his Bank Street Bingo Hall in Kalamazoo, Mich. He closed the hall in 1999, but after several unsuccessful sales and leases he got back “in the game.” Joe has seven games operating weekly, run by such organizations at the Air Force Sergeants Assoc. and the VFW.

1964 George “Joe” Hoerter Jr. has retired from the Boeing Company and is living in southern California, with his wife, Eureka. Joe does some consulting and part-time teaching to engineering grad students at the University of Southern California. Retired Judge Thomas F. Zachman is doing consulting work for the Supreme

34 Spring/Summer 2009

Court of Ohio Judicial College. He and his wife, Jane, were on safari in Africa earlier in 2009 and have trips planned for the summer and winter. They live in Ripley, Ohio.

1967 Florrie Binford Kichler (SS), publisher and founder of Indianapolis-based Patria Press and president of the 3,500-member Independent Book Publishers Association, has been selected by Book Business Magazine as one of the top 50 women in book publishing. The inaugural list recognizes women who are making a significant contribution to the book industry. Founded in 2000, Patria Press publishes the award-winning Young Patriots Series of historical fiction for children ages 8-12. The company’s 14 titles have won 10 national awards for excellence. Florrie lives in Indianapolis with her husband, Mark, a son, and daughter.

1968

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Platt W. Hill operates two retail nurseries in St. Charles, Ill. He and wife, Barbara, have a son in the Marine Corps and another who recently graduated from Bradley University. Thomas P. Matlock of Naples, Fla., lost his wife, Barbara, to cancer earlier this year. They had been married for 32 years. David L. Schwaiger manages a Veterans Administration outpatient mental health clinic in Sheridan, Wyo. Dave is enrolled in a psychiatric nurse practitioner program funded by scholarships from the VA and the state of Wyoming.

1970 40th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 In April, the Longwood University rugby football club, coached by John R. Graham, Ph.D., made its second appearance in the last three years in the College Division III national finals, finishing third. Last fall, John coached both the Longwood men’s and women’s teams to the Virginia Rugby Union championships. He lives in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

1972 Todd Parchman and his wife, Bryn, have produced a full house of lacrosse AllAmericans. Daughter Kallie was named a U.S. Lacrosse Academic All American in addition to making one of the all-area teams here. It is the family’s third U.S. Lacrosse All American: Jack ’04 played for the U.S. Air Force Academy, Andy ’07 is Academic All American at Harvard University, and Kallie is also an Academic All American.

1974

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Society for New Communications Research Senior Fellow and publishing futurist Danny O. Snow has been elected to the board of directors of the Independent Book Publishers Association, the largest association of independent publishers in the United States. IBPA represents more than 3,500 publishing companies coast to coast. Snow, a Harvard graduate and founder of Unlimited Publishing LLC (Bloomington, Ind.), is also a journalist focusing on new


Culver Class News publishing technologies and new media. He is widely quoted by print, broadcast, and online news outlets worldwide.

1975 35th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 John J. Bollman’s daughter, Brennan, gave the commencement address for the Class of 2009 at the University of Notre Dame graduation on May 17. The class valedictorian, Brennan was in good company; she shared the stage with President Barack Obama. Her speech can be viewed on YouTube. Brennan will be heading to Harvard Medical School this fall and brother Barrick ’08 will be a sophomore at ND.

1977

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After years of dreaming, Andrea Meridith Ciske (SS) launched her own business, aciskedesign.com, a card company that keeps you connected and communicating. Andrea works out of Dexter, Mich. In May, William F. Eyre (W’74) of Chicago was awarded his doctorate in Inter-disciplinary CERIAS program by the Purdue University Department of Communication. Bill has been working in Information Security at the U.S. Senate since May 2008.

1982

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Gary Mills photo.

Malcolm K. Beyer III (N’79) has racked up 4,000 miles on his GEM (neighborhood electric vehicle). It’s capable of about 30 mph, and Malcolm lives three miles from

work, which explains his low mileage. Next year, he plans to buy an electric Smart car or Mini. Malcolm lives in Boca Raton, Fla. Deca-Medics, Inc., owned by Thomas E. Lach (H’79), received the grand prize of the Create the Future Design Award in March for its LifeBelt®-CPR product. The Columbus, Ohio-based corporation specializes in the development of innovative resuscitation products. The LifeBelt®, which has not yet been approved by the FDA, reduces the force required, making it easier to perform high-quality CPR compressions in the event of cardiac arrest. LifeBelt was among a record 1,091 entries in the contest, sponsored by NASA Tech Briefs magazine. Thom and his father, Ralph D. Lach, M.D., founded the firm in 1994.

1983

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Patrick J. Moynihan of Salem, S.C., has returned as president of The Haitian Project and its Louverture Cleary School in Port Au Prince. Patrick previously served as president from 1996-2006, guiding the school through a period of tremendous growth, as the campus expanded to support the education of 340 students. His efforts to help build a thriving support community led The Haitian Project to add staff, volunteers, and board members from seven dioceses across the United States. Hildy J. Teegen has been named dean of the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Prior to coming to the school in September 2007, she was director of the George Washington University’s Center for International Business and Research in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of Texas-Austin in Latin American studies and international business and finance, Hildy received her doctorate in international business from the same school.

1984 Fifty-six members of the Class of 1979 returned in May, setting an attendance record for the 30-year reunion class.

Donald S. Anderson has opened a new hotel in Alexandria, Va. Located in

historic Old Town Alexandria, the Lorien Hotel & Spa combines old-world quality with modern style and offers a luxurious retreat close to the many monuments and attractions of Washington, D.C. Stacey R. Scaravelli is working full time for RMC Consultants, an environmental remediation firm. She works for several business and environmental non-profits, and recently purchased a new home in Denver. Bob and Cymber Quinn Conn launched a high tech start-up in 2008 (Sixis, Inc.) which was named Start-up of the Year by a national entrepreneurial organization. Cymber has since retired and spends her time playing healing music on her Celtic harp for patients in various environments. She is also turning five acres of sugar cane land into an organic garden, and performed the wedding ceremony in 2006 for Pamela Laurence Hyde ’84 and her husband. The Conns have been living on the Big Island of Hawaii (Hakalau) for almost five years.

1987

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Shallan and Jackson W. Hazlewood (W) are parents of a daughter, Mayble, born March 27, 2009. The family lives in Boulder, Colo.

1988

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A daughter, Mary, was born April 7, 2009, to Lauren and David D. Ledbetter (N’85) of Rome, Ga.

1989

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Jonathan L. Neville and Susannah (Bowles) Neville ’91 welcomed their first child, Evelyn, on Nov. 19, 2008. The Nevilles live Carpentersville, Ill.

1990 20th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 Andrei M. Rakic, M.D., has completed a one-year fellowship program in pain management at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. He completed a residency in anesthesiology at the med center in June 2008 and was voted by the faculty to receive the Robert D. Dripps Memorial Award for outstanding graduating resident. Culver Alumni Magazine

35


Culver Class News Trevor also coaches AAU Basketball for the Spiece Gymrats and is president of Runners Basketball Club, a non-profit youth development program. He and his wife, Sheleah, have built a home in Brownsburg, Ind. Kuan-Yu Chen is studying for a master’s degree in biblical counseling at Calvary Theological Seminary in Leawood, Kan., in preparation for becoming a Christian minister. Haberland photo.

Emily K. Swain DiPanni, husband Doug, and their 1-year-old daughter, Madeleine, live in Warwick, R.I. With children in tow, the Silver Anniversary Class of 1984 marches in the Alumni Garrison Parade.

Brockton L. Herschberger is now an Army captain and stationed out of Fort Bragg.

Andrei will be joining the medical team at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Ill., where he will be practicing anesthesiology and pain management.

Michelle L. Jackson received her master’s degree in teaching (Spanish) and is an adjunct professor at Vincennes University. Her daughter, Autumn, is 2.

1994

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Patricia Slemmons Mong and her husband, Chip, are parents of a daughter, Whitley, born March 12, 2009. She joins brother Chase at home in Indianapolis. The maternal grandfather is Bill Slemmons ’56. A daughter, Elsie, was born April 5, 2009, to Greg and Katherine A. Hutchinson Turner of Asylstrasse, Horgen, Switzerland. They also have an 18-month-old son, Connor.

1995

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15th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 Corey D. Labadie is an Army Specialist with the 82nd Airborne Apache Helicopter Maintenance stationed in Afghanistan. Brad and Lindsey (Martin) Pick are parents of a daughter, Ainsley, who arrived April 15, 2009. Brad works for the Academies’ Development Office and Lindsey is in the Alumni Office. Blake and Laura (Burlin) Putnam (SS’93) announce the arrival of a daughter, Alexandra, born May 7, 2009, in Vail, Colo. She joins sister Chloe (3) and brother Thomas (23 months). Andy Dabasinskas and Tracy L. Voreis are parents of a son, Paxton, born March 30, 2009. The couple live in Centennial, Colo.

36 Spring/Summer 2009

1996

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Dr. Jeremiah Depta and his girlfriend, Sadie Lynne Bukach, are parents of a son, Robert, born March 19, 2009. Jeremiah is currently chief medical resident at the Cleveland Clinic and his cardiology fellowship will begin in 2010. They live in Cleveland. Peter C. Uher and his wife, Jessica, are parents of a son, Landon, born Dec. 30, 2008. They live in Ann Arbor, Mich.

1997 Nicholas L. Borden and his wife, Lindsay, will celebrate their first anniversary on Nov. 1, 2009. They are living in Naples, Fla., and Nick is the founder of Naples Payroll Co. Allison L. Aley Hodgson (SS’95) is a full-time mom in Reston, Va., raising 1-year-old Cole. She has her hands full, and loves it. Husband Charles is in the restaurant business.

1998

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Margaret “Meg” Roudebush married Jess Tedder on March 14 2009. Luis Gutierrez ’98 was a member of the wedding party. Meg and Jess live in Cincinnati, where Meg is a general manager in her family’s property management business.

1999 Trevor H. Borom has been promoted to assistant varsity basketball coach at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis. He is the inschool suspension supervisor at Ben Davis.

Tiffany S. Kyser has been included in the NCAA’s “Some of Us Go Pro in Something other than Sports” Hall of Champions. She is part of the Indiana exhibit at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. A graduate of Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Tiffany was the Women of Excellence winner and received IUPUI’s Women’s Leadership Award. She is a graduate assistant with the Norman Brown Diversity and Leadership Program at IUPUI. Nicole A. (Rosenbaum) Perdomo lives in Miami with husband Eduardo and teaches second grade at a private school. She and her husband spent a month in Europe this summer.

2000 10th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 Eli Jones and Jenny (Clemons) ’01 live in Lexington Park, Md., with their son, Aiden, who was born Aug. 14, 2008. Eli will graduate in December 2009 from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. Being accepted at the school is a rare honor, says his proud wife, since Eli is a civilian aerospace engineer and private pilot. He has been working for the Navy since 2005.


Culver Class News 2001 Lauren S. Corcia (SS’99) graduated in May with an MBA from Southern Methodist University. A chance meeting in Panama with Culver alumnus Carlos Effio ’96 has put Eduardo E. Tapia on the team of president-elect Ricardo Martinelli. Through Carlos, Eduardo met Demetrio “Jimmy” Papadimitriu ’91, who was Martinelli’s presidential campaign chief. Eduardo volunteered to help with the campaign, and now finds himself as part of the Martinelli team which took office July 1. Jimmy has been named Minister of the Presidency. “If things continue, you’ll have two Culver grads serving Panama with the values and morals instilled in us from our days at CMA,” Eduardo wrote.

2002 Mason T. Jennings has graduated from Third Phase (land warfare), which trains, develops, and qualifies SEAL candidates in basic weapons, demolition, and small unit tactics. The last five weeks of the nine-week training was spent on San Clemente Island. Mason is now in SEAL Qualification Training. John A. Kapecki (N’00) has completed his professional degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. John spent a year in France and traveled extensively prior to entering the five-year program. He worked for Weiss Architects, an established Chicago architectural design firm, prior to the recent recession. Currently, he is involved with a few architectural design competitions with his peers. 2nd Lt. Theodore J. Lauzen (N) has begun training as a naval aviator in Pensacola, Fla. He graduated in January with Honors from Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico, Va. Ted was 10th in a class of 233 officers and was named to the Commanding General’s Honor Roll. He graduated magna cum laude in 2007 from Duke University.

2004 Rodrigo V. Ampudia of San Diego has been racing professionally in the Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) series since 2006. CORR races trucks in three classes over an

FROM THE CSSAA PRESIDENT A summer of shared successes Culver’s 84th Summer Homecoming Weekend was a success. The alumni battalion that passed in review was the most impressive I have seen in many years. The highlight was the Naval Band alumni leading the way with “Anchors Aweigh” and in perfect step as they went by. One Culver The CSSAA has forged a strong leadership group and the continuity of leadership is one of our most important products. Our alumni leadership and the current summer staff have a strong culture of service and commitment to our current campers and students, while preparing now for the program’s long-term success. Staff members and everyone else who plays a role in getting students to Culver, including many of you as volunteers, are to be commended for continuing the strong enrollment trends we have seen, particularly in a challenging economic environment. This summer, the 1,359 campers represented the third-highest enrollment since 1994. Culver’s alumni, parents, and staff are building a financial resource base that will ensure the security of these efforts. Shared goals implemented by the administration and the board pack a powerful punch for the Academies. As a result, the CSSAA Board and Culver Summer Schools & Camps are in the best shape in decades. Here is a short list of many of the shared successes: • Woodcraft Camp renovation and landscaping

provided over $250,000 to the summer camp operating budget and its endowment • Replacement of the Naval Fleet • Endowed scholarships for nearly one third of the Naval Band • Modernization of the facilities for the Indian Lore program • Creation of a new Seamanship and Navigation program In the coming months, we will be presented with more opportunities to help Culver prior to the close of the Batten Leadership Challenge in early 2010. This amazing program matches every gift now coming to Culver for annual giving and endowment support. I urge you to participate at the level with which you are comfortable. At the CSSAA annual meeting, one new director was ratified, Rogelio Sada H’85, ’88, of Monterrey, Mexico. We also elected your new president, Phil Sbarbaro W’59, N’63, of Vienna, Va. Our transition has been smooth, and I know he will be a dynamic leader for you and Culver. See you July 23-25, 2010, for the 85th Homecoming.

• Improved summer staff training

Kay Ryan Booth

• A dynamic Board Treasury Fund that has directly and indirectly

Kay Ryan Booth SS’67 Harrison, N.Y.

eight-weekend season. Rodrigo finished the 2007 season in third and competed in two of the three classes in 2008, finishing third in

one and 10th in the other. Live broadcasts of CORR races are carried by NBC and the SPEED network.

Culver Alumni Magazine

37


Culver Class News Elliot R. Lauzen (N) graduated in May from Harvard University with a pre-med degree. He plans advance studies in genetics. Elliot played varsity football at Harvard, walking-on as a freshman. A wide receiver, he captained the JV team and led the squad in receptions and receiving yards. He and his brother, Hans N’06, were counselors in Woodcraft Division IV during summer camp 2009. Army 2nd Lt. Jeremiah Shenefield is in the process of completing the Infantry Officer Basic Course. He has already completed the Basic Officer Leader Course 2 and the Mechanized Leaders Course. Jeremiah graduated in May 2008 from Virginia Military Institute, majoring in history and playing rugby all four years. Josephine B. Zizic (W’99, SS’02) has graduated cum laude from Robert Morris University. JoJo received the School of Business’ Outstanding Hospitality & Tourism Management Award as a junior. She played Division I lacrosse and graduated as the highest scoring senior.

2005 5th Reunion • May 20-23, 2010 Homecoming • July 23-25, 2010 Makoto K. Blair has transferred from the University of Hawaii to Sophia (Jochi) University in Tokyo. Makoto is a third-year student majoring in anthropology and is a member of the basketball team. Sarah B. Newnam, a senior co-captain for the Dartmouth College women’s hockey team, was featured earlier this year in the school’s athletic newsletter. Sarah played defense for the Big Green, which had appeared in two NCAA tournaments, won an ECAC Hockey League regular season and tournament championship, and an Ivy League title when the article appeared in February. She was all-Ivy Second Team as a junior. Sarah graduated this past spring and has moved on to New York City as a sales and marketing representative with Morgan Stanley.

38 Spring/Summer 2009

Christiannah O. Oyedeji graduated from Emory University in May, but has realized her true calling is small business and entrepreneurship, not medicine. During her senior year, Christy worked on raising capital and creating a business plan for Knapsac Textbook Rental. She presented her plan at the finals of the Miller Coors Urban Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition, and attended the first Kairos Society Summit held in New York City.

2006

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Hans M. Lauzen (N) is a sophomore at the University of Southern California majoring in business and a member of the ROTC unit. He is co-captain of the Trojan track team. Last summer, Hans placed third in the U.S. Junior National Modern Pentathlon Championships and represented the United States at the junior world championship. The modern pentathlon is an Olympic event involving running, swimming, fencing, shooting an air pistol, and horse riding. He and his brother, Elliott N’04, were counselors in Woodcraft Division IV during summer camp 2009. University of Massachusetts-Boston hockey forward Kristen L. Smith was featured in April in the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News. A transfer from Ohio State, Kristen was enjoying Division III hockey and the big city. She finished the season second in goals (16) and tied for third in points (22).

2007

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Logan B. Gomez (W’02) is now driving No. 24 for Alliance Motorsports in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Gomez has been the only Indiana native in the IndyCar developmental series the last two years and one of two this season, according to an article in the Gary Post-Tribune. Logan has made 33 career starts in Indy Lights, with 18 top-10 finishes, seven topfives and a victory at Chicagoland Speedway in the last race of 2007. Alexandra E. Harper is spending nine weeks of her summer in Nicaragua working with

children with disabilities under Gettysburg College’s Heston Internship Program. Alex is a starter on the women’s rugby team that finished runner-up in the Division III national championship in November, and she was named Player of the Match. In early April, John-Patrick F. Rappleye was selected as a roster player for Bowling Green State University’s national rugby playoff game. Pat is a sophomore on a senior-dominated team. His Academies coach Darrell Knowlton said just making the roster on a team that carries over 50 players is quite an accomplishment. Zachary M. Zygowicz is studying aviation at Metro State College in Denver. A private pilot, Zach enjoys flying in colorful Colorado, snowboarding, and mountain biking.

2008

Gold Medal h

Hockey center Nicholas A.P. Dowd has made a verbal commitment to skate for the St. Cloud State hockey team in 2010 or 2011. Nick skated for the Wenatchee (Wash.) Wild of the NAHL last season, where he was noticed by the Huskies. He had scored 49 points on 16 goals and 33 assists in 43 games with the Wild. Nick was a seventh-round (198th overall) pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the June 2009 NHL Draft. Defenseman Sam Zabkowicz ’05 also plays for St. Cloud. Jonathan J. Juricic (H’05) is a student at Villanova University, where he made the Dean’s List. He was sworn in as a member of the NROTC Unit there, a member of the Color Guard, and of the “Whiskey Unit” Honor Drill Team. Jon spent a month of the summer at CORTRAMID training one week each for submarine duty, on a missile destroyer, Marine duty at Camp Lejeune, and flight school. Richard O’Neill, Andrew Urban, Anthony Monge, and Mike Coughlin traveled together throughout Europe during the summer of 2009.


Culver Passings

Passings in Review Death notices published in this issue were received and processed prior to June 15, 2009. Full obituaries are limited to alumni who have died within three years of the publication of this issue.

The Office of Alumni Relations has received notice of the deaths of the following alumni, but sufficient information for a complete obituary was unavailable. The city listed may be the last known address and not necessarily the place of death. Marcus J. Leschin ’30 (Co. F) Feb. 20, 2008 (Kansas City, Mo.) Walter C. Goodman ’40 (Co. D) Jan. 20, 2008 (Las Vegas) David W. Dennis ’41 (Artillery) Aug. 23, 2008 (Old Lyme, Conn.) Manford D. Hine ’43 (Troop) Nov. 23, 2008 (Greenville, Ohio) Robert A. Brown ’45 (Artillery) Dec. 11, 2008 (Huntsville, Ala.) Bruce M. Listerman W’51 March 17, 2009 (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) Robert M. Redman N’51 March 2009 (Dana, Ind.) Thomas R. Burns ’56 (Co. D) May 8, 2009 (Indianapolis) Thomas H. Barret ’57 (Co. C) March 24, 2009 (Conroe, Texas) Byron M. Humphrey ’58 (Co. C) March 2009 (Nice, France) Robert O. Haass ’60 (Co. D) Oct. 3, 2008 (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) Thomas B. O’Rourke W’75 Jan. 19, 2009 (Royal Oak, Mich.) Michael P. Gordon W’89 July 31, 2007 (Northfield, Ill.)

Richard S. Smith ’28 (Co. D) of Wickenburg, Ariz., died April 14, 2009. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in language and agriculture. He operated the Jersey Dairy at the Sahuaro Ranch. He was also in the 5th and 7th Cavalry and the Merchant Marines. Mr. Smith raised Thoroughbred racehorses at the Sahuaro Ranch until it was sold to the City of Glendale in 1977. He is survived by his wife, Sharon. William B. Weisell ’32 (Band) died in Bloomington, Ind., on March 3, 2009. Mr. Weisell graduated from Columbia College in New York and the law school at Columbia University. An Air Force veteran of World War II, he became the senior partner in the Indianapolis law firm of Locke, Reynolds, Boyd and Weisell. He was a leader in many civic and community organizations: president of the Washington Township School Board in 1961-62, an advocate for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and president of the Indiana State Symphony Society from 1974-79. Mr. Weisell is survived by two children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Asbury W. Lee III ’33 (Co. C), a retired U.S. Army colonel, Pennsylvania banker, and civic leader, died Feb. 10, 2009, in Clearfield, Pa. Graduating from Culver with a second lieutenant’s commission, he attended St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md., and completed his undergraduate studies at the Wharton School of Commerce and Finance of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his military training at the Army Reserve Center in DuBois, attaining the rank of first lieutenant, Infantry. Called to active duty, Mr. Lee was awarded the Silver Star while serving as a major in the North African campaign. In 1944, as commander of a tank battalion of the First Armored Division, he took part in the Anzio invasion in Italy and was wounded in the attack on Rome. He

also received a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and other decorations. He retired from the military in 1945, joining the Clearfield Bank & Trust Company as a trust officer. Mr. Lee became president of the bank in 1959 and chairman of the board of directors in 1975. In 1976, he served as president of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association. In 1957, he was appointed to the newly-formed Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority, and he was reappointed by five Pennsylvania governors. During his 32-year business career, he served with many civic organizations including the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross, and local hospital and library boards. He also served on the board of the DuBois Educational Foundation of Penn State University. He is survived by a daughter, five sons, including Robert E. ’59 of Glen Allen, Va., and William F. ’63 of Brooklyn, N.Y., a sister, 13 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Marshall A. Jensen NB’34 died May 26, 2009, in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. Mr. Jensen graduated from Hobart College and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His first job was as an engineer on the construction of Kingsley Dam, a project conceived by his grandfather and other Nebraska irrigation pioneers. He was a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps and instructed pilots during World War II at Mather Field in Sacramento and at San Marcos, Texas. After the war, he was a heating and air conditioning engineer in Stockton. In 1949, he returned to Minden, Calif., to farm. He moved to San Diego in 1972 and worked as an engineer until his retirement. Mr. Jensen is survived by his wife, Gene; a daughter, son, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. An amateur sportsman, former Naval officer, dairy farmer, and oilman, A. Rufus King ’35 (Co. A) died March 21, 2009, in Culver Alumni Magazine

39


Culver

IDNR/Outdoor Indiana magazine

Passings

This photo and another appearing on page 45 were part of an article in the May/June issue of Outdoor Indiana magazine on the Culver Summer Schools & Camps sailing program. The R.H. Ledbetter was featured on the cover of the monthly magazine.

Wichita Falls, Texas. Mr. King graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1939 and served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a gunnery instructor. At the age of 14, he won the Grand American Handicap Trapshoot against a field of over 800 international contestants. At SMU, Mr. King was the Southwest Conference golf champion. He also won the Colorado State Amateur and the Colorado Open Championship by the age of 22. In 1949 he was the runner-up in the U.S. Amateur Championship. The following year he was invited to compete in the Masters and the U.S. Open. He won the Texas State Amateur Tournament in 1960. Mr. King was a partner of R.A. King & Sons and King Oil, Inc. He owned several other businesses, including Wichita Frozen Food Lockers and Wichita Van Lines. He and several dairymen formed the North Texas Milk Association to ensure the quality and fair price of milk being sold in the community. This organization helped build the American Association of Milk Producers. He was a board member for var-

40 Spring/Summer 2009

ious organizations including the First Wichita National Bank. Mr. King is survived by two sons, six grandchildren, including Duggins King ’89 of New York City; and 12 great-grandchildren. John K. Norwood W’36 of Concord, Mass., died March 11, 2009. Mr. Norwood received his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and his master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. He spent most of his career as a teacher at the Sewickley Academy in Sewickley, Pa. He is survived by a brother, Henry of Wayland, Mass. Edward S. Smith ’36 (Co. B) died April 4, 2009, in Hillsboro, Ore. Born in China, Mr. Smith was fluent in French, German, and Spanish by the time he enrolled at CMA. He played baseball at Stanford University before serving as a major in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war he moved to Portland where he oversaw the development of the export division at Omark Industries, one of the largest employers in

Oregon with offices and manufacturing facilities worldwide. Mr. Smith became chief executive officer and chairman of Omark, serving until his retirement in 1985. He was a board member of Key Bank, Good Samaritan Hospital, Lewis & Clark College, and Georgia Gulf Corporation, among other community involvements. Surviving are his wife, Joan; three children, a sister, brother, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Kenneth F. Kahn ’37 (Troop) of St. Clair Shores, Mich., died April 20, 2009. While attending Wayne State University Law School, Mr. Kahn was the first reserve officer and law student called to active duty in the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in the military intelligence division as a liaison with the British in Jamaica. In 1944 he joined the faculty of the Japanese Language School of the War Department. Following graduation from law school in 1947, Mr. Kahn joined his father’s practice, specializing in commercial and corporate law. In 1986, Mr. Kahn received the


Culver Passings President’s Cup for outstanding service to members of the Commercial Law League and State and Federal Bar associations. He was a former president of the Culver Club of Detroit, the Grosse Pointe (Mich.) Reserve Officers Association, and the Grosse Pointe Hunt Club. Mr. Kahn is survived by his wife, Rosemary; two sons, two daughters, eight grandchildren, including Stephen Kahn ’90 of Chantilly, Va.; and six great-grandchildren. Ralph Falk II ’38 (Troop) of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., died May 28, 2009. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he was commissioned immediately as an ensign and then a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Mr. Falk trained soldiers for landings on the beaches of Normandy and Italy and later participated in the battle of Sicily. After the war he received an MBA from the University of Michigan. He joined Baxter International in Jackson, Miss., eventually becoming chairman and serving on the Board of Directors of Baxter International Inc. The original Baxter Laboratories was co-founded by his father. Mr. Falk was also on the board of overseers when Dartmouth began its medical college. His passion for racing cars was surpassed only by his love of deep powder skiing and the mountains of Utah. He was a founder of the Snowbird Ski Area. His wife, Dana, and three daughters survive. Jack Tootle ’38 (Co. A) died April 11, 2009, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Mr. Tootle was the vice president of Tootle Dry Goods for 23 years. He had attended the University of Missouri. He was a member of the AlbrechtKemper Museum of Art, the St. Joseph Museum, and the Pony Express Museum. Mr. Tootle was a former Eagle Scout, Boy Scout Master, and charter member of the Mackinac Yacht Club. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn; three children, including son John ’72 of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; and two grandchildren. Norman J. Collins ’39 (Artillery) of Columbia, S.C., died May 10, 2009. He was a graduate of Northwestern University and received his graduate degree in banking at the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Collins was senior vice president and chief credit officer at South Carolina National Bank Corporation in Columbia and Florida

National Bank in Jacksonville, Fla. He also was an adjunct professor with the School of Business at the University of South Carolina as well as the School of Banking of the South at LSU. He was a former board chairman of Anderson College and a state and national president of Robert Morris Associates. Mr. Collins was a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Surviving are his wife, Trudy; a son, daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

George W. Tate ’39 (Co. C) of Charlotte, N.C., died March 21, 2009. Mr. Tate began his career with an early Chrysler franchise in the Charlotte area and later worked in the real estate business. He attended Davidson College until enlisting in the U.S. Army. Mr. Tate was captured in Italy in 1944 by the Germans and remained a prisoner of war until liberated at the war’s end. He is survived by three children, a sister, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Retired Warsaw, Ind., businessman and civic leader W. Matthew Dalton ’39 (Artillery) died Feb. 4, 2009, in San Diego. The retired Chairman of The Dalton Foundries, Inc., Mr. Dalton attended Butler University and the Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School. He was founder and chairman of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation as well as the Kosciusko Leadership Academy. He served as chairman of the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce (1983), chairman of the Indiana Committee on Youth Employment (197982), and the Kosciusko County Council (1980-84). He also had been a trustee for the Indiana Vocational Technical College, member of the Warsaw Community School Board, founder and chairman of the Industrial Division of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, and founder of Warsaw Junior Achievement. Surviving are his wife, Fran; two sons, a daughter, a stepson, three granddaughters, four stepgrandchildren, and one great-grandson.

Philip S. Church Sr. N’40 of Morehead City, N.C., died Nov. 24, 2008. Mr. Church attended Hobart College before entering the Army in 1942. He served in the Pacific and was wounded on Okinawa. He settled in Ohio, working at WLWD-TV in Dayton, and then managing radio stations in Bellefontaine and Urbana. In 1966 he entered the cable TV business and was awarded franchises in several Ohio cities. After selling the cable businesses, Mr. Church retired to Morehead City in 1978, where he was involved in communications consulting and was active in local politics. Surviving are two sons, a daughter, and five grandchildren.

Charles S. Price ’39 (Co. D.) died April 29, 2009, in Southmont, Pa. He attended Brown University and was a World War II Army veteran, serving in North Africa and Italy. Mr. Price became president of Cambria Equipment and retired in 1990. He served on the committees of the Chamber of Commerce, Jaycees, Greater Johnstown Committee, and United Way. He served on the board of directors for Memorial Hospital for 30 years and as chairman for 10 years. He sat on the boards of the Johnstown Bank and Trust and Citizens Cemetery Association. Surviving are three children, including son Charles III’ N’64 of Johnstown, Pa.; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, William ’39.

Businessman, civic leader, and co-founder of the World Affairs Council, Edgar K. Orr ’40 (Band) died June 9, 2009, in East Grand Rapids, Mich. Mr. Orr and others formed the World Affairs Council after World War II, a small organization meant to educate themselves and the public on world issues by having discussions and inviting speakers of note to address open meetings. The non-partisan, educational group brought a parade of informed figures through Grand Rapids, according to his published obituary. Mr. Orr spent two years at the University of Michigan before entering the U.S. Army Infantry as a second lieutenant. During World War II, he was stationed at the Panama Canal and later the Galapagos Islands. After his discharge, he entered the Babson Institute of Business Administration. Mr. Orr raised funds for the Community Chest and served on the board of D.A. Blodgett Home. In 1951, he was honored with the Jaycees’ Distinguished Service Award for community service. Surviving are his wife, Nancy; four children, among them Tracy Pickett ’79 of Grand Rapids, Mich., Stephen ’72 and his wife,

Culver Alumni Magazine

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Culver Passings Carol (Cassiday) Orr ’72, of Washington, D.C., and Greg ’74; and 12 grandchildren. William R. Kennedy Jr. ’40 (Co. C), PG’41 died May 11, 2009, in South Bend, Ind. Mr. Kennedy grew up at CMA, where his father, Lt. Col. William, was a math instructor and tactical officer from 190544. Mr. Kennedy retired from Carleton Financial Computations in 1986. He had previously worked at Bendix Corporation in Mishawaka, Ind., and for the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, Calif. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and graduated from the John Herron Art School in Indianapolis in 1944. He taught high school in Wisconsin, at John Herron, and at Monticello College in Alton, Ill. Mr. Kennedy is survived by his wife, Eunice; a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren, among them Sarah Seniff ’01 of Indianapolis and Allison Kennedy ’10 of Niles, Mich. He was preceded in death a brother, Jack ’39. Charles M. Flood ’41 (Co. B) died March 27, 2009, in Kerrville, Texas. Mr. Flood owned and operated businesses in Central Texas, East Texas, and the Hill Country. He attended St. Edward’s University in Austin. During World War II, he was a glider pilot and flight instructor stationed in Marfa, Texas. Surviving are his wife, Betty; a son, daughter, three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, a stepdaughter, stepson, and their children. Dr. Robert H. Kuhn ’41 (Troop) died April 21, 2009, in Pickerington, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati Medical School and spent more than 40 years practicing family medicine in Columbus. Ohio. He was honored with the 2004 Physician of the Year Award from Mount Carmel Health. Dr. Kuhn owned Bedlam Ranch Arabians and bred and showed his horses. Surviving are five daughters, a brother, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Robert D. Teasdale ’42 (Co. A) of Fullerton, Calif., died Nov. 20, 2008. An electrical engineer, Mr. Teasdale worked for Hughes Autonetics and Aeroneutronics in California and Magnetic Metals in Philadelphia. He served two years in the Army before earning a degree in electrical

42 Spring/Summer 2009

and computer engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he was a Westinghouse Scholar. He received a master’s degree and his doctorate from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mr. Teasdale also graduated as valedictorian from the John Marshall Law School in 1951. He also taught graduate engineering at Georgia Tech, Cal Tech, and UCLA. He is survived by two daughters, two sons, and eight grandchildren, including Lindsey Marie Teasdale SC’00, Ida Teasdale ’04, Claire Teasdale ’06, Mari Teasdale ’06, Kevin Teasdale W’08, and Melissa Teasdale SS’06,’09. (Editor’s note: This obituary is being re-published to include more complete information.)

Peter D. Kleinpell H’43 of Naples, Fla., died April 14, 2009. He served with the Marine Corps in China after World War II. After the service, he earned a bachelor’s and MBA from the University of Michigan. He operated a travel agency in Ann Arbor, Mich., and became involved with the family lumber business in Flint. Mr. Kleinpell and his wife, Nancy, traveled extensively, spending several summers bicycling through the low countries of Europe. He served on the Flint School Board, Hurley Hospital Board, and was City Manager of Flint. He also was involved with the Flint City Club, Flint Shakespeare Club, and Flint Institutes of Arts and Music, among other activities. In addition to his wife, also surviving are two sons, two daughters, a sister, two stepsons, a stepdaughter, eight grandchildren, and five stepgrandchildren. Roy H. Schreffler ’43 (Troop) died May 22, 2009, in Knox, Pa. Mr. Schreffler was a licensed psychologist in Delaware and Pennsylvania. His public school positions included teaching sciences, providing speech therapy, and serving as a school psychologist and supervisor of special education. In 1966 he joined the faculty at Clarion University in teacher education/special education and attained the rank of professor. He retired from Clarion University in 1988 and was awarded the Baumgartner Honor Award for special education service in 1996. He was an Army veteran of World War II, serving in France, Bastogne, and Germany. Mr. Schreffler obtained his bachelor’s degree from Juniata College, a master’s degree

from Penn State, and his doctorate at Penn State in 1968. Along with his positions with public schools and professional organizations, Dr. Schreffler participated in numerous musical organizations, including the Philipsburg Little Symphony Orchestra and the University of Florida Orchestra. He is survived by his wife, Brenda; four daughters, two sons, a brother, Robert ’42 of Chester, Va.; two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren. Richard A. Spierling ’43 (Band) of Lancaster, Pa., and formerly of Port Jefferson, N.Y., died Feb. 27, 2009. Mr. Spierling retired after 36 years from the Port Jefferson School District in Long Island, N.Y., where he taught history, English, photography, and driver’s education. An avid traveler and photographer, he especially enjoyed his trips to Africa and his returns to the Culver campus. His photography has appeared in the Alumni magazine and in his class newsletter, The Bugle. Mr. Spierling served during World War II in the 1252nd Army Engineer Corps. After the war, he graduated from Swarthmore College with a bachelor’s degree (history) and a master’s degree from New York University. He is survived by his wife, Arlene. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Frank N’35 and John ’48. George A. Mullineaux NB’44 died Feb. 2, 2009, in New Albany, Ind. Mr. Mullineaux was a pioneer in modernizing ambulance service and was a charter member and past president of the Indiana Ambulance Association. He founded Medic Ambulance Service, which became one of the largest ambulance services in the state. Mr. Mullineaux was a graduate of the Indiana Embalming College and then joined the family business, eventually becoming partowner of Mullineaux Funeral Home in New Albany and the Motaz-Mullineaux Funeral Home in Jeffersonville, Ind. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and a colonel in the Indiana Guard Reserve. Survivors include his wife, Eileen; three sons, including Mark NB’67 of Sellersburg, Ind., and Bill NB’77 of Indianapolis; and two grandchildren, including Troy Mullineaux SC’84. He was predeceased by a brother, Thomas NB’47.


Culver

Haberland photo.

Passings

Henry H. Crimmel ’46 (Co. B) died May 26, 2009, in Salt Lake City. Dr. Crimmel taught philosophy at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., retiring in 1999. He received SLU’s J. Calvin Keene Award for “high standards of personal scholarship, effective teaching and moral concern.” He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Indiana University and a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Dr. Crimmel served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, receiving the Bronze Star for meritorious service in the Korean War. He enjoyed outdoor pursuits and at the age of 65 summited 14,000-foot Mount Rainier in Washington State. Survivors include a daughter, son, brothers John ’48 of Naples, Fla., and Clyde ’50 of Callawassie Island, S.C.; a sister, and four grandchildren. Miles P. Englehart ’46 (Co. D) of Hillsboro, Ore., died Feb. 1, 2009. He attended Northwestern University and, after serving in the Army in 1951, returned to Portland to work for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. He succeeded his father in 1958 as general agent for the

state of Oregon. He was active in the Life Underwriters Association, the Portland Junior Chamber of Commerce, serving as president, and as president of the Portland Japanese Garden Society. After his insurance career, he was associated with Windermere Realty Group in Portland. Mr. Englehart is survived by two daughters, a son, a brother, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Peter K. Oppenheim W’41, ’47 (Co. C) of San Francisco died Nov. 14, 2008. Mr. Oppenheim worked for Bank of America for over 30 years, beginning his career as a foreign exchange trader in Los Angeles in 1957 and holding positions in San Francisco and in New York City until he retired as vice president and head of business development for Latin America and the Caribbean in 1987. An expert in international banking, he taught at several graduate banking schools and authored multiple articles and publications on international banking, including the American Bankers Association’s textbook series. He was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he also earned a master’s degree in international relations. Mr. Oppenheim is survived by his wife, Elda.

Richard M. Zimmermann N’46, ’47 (Co. C) died April 30, 2009, in West Bend, Wis. Mr. Zimmermann worked in the family business, Hoge-Warren-Zimmermann Company for 43 years, retiring in 1992 as president and chairman of the board. He was a vice-president of the National Roofing Contractors Association, an officer and president of the Gypsum Roof Deck Association, and active in many other organizations aligned with his work. He received a degree in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Upon graduating, he entered the Army as a first lieutenant during the Korean War. He was stationed in Germany as an artillery officer and then reassigned to an engineering section in Frankfurt. Mr. Zimmermann learned to speak fluent German and became friends with many of the German workers who invited him to participate in their parties and songfests, according to a published obituary. He and his wife, Connie, traveled the world during their 54 years together. Mr. Zimmermann also contributed to many civic endeavors, including serving as president of the Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Library Board. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a

Culver Alumni Magazine

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Culver Passings Talent broker Samuel Cohn ’47 represented Newman and Streep Samuel C. Cohn W’41, ’47 (Troop), a powerful agent who dominated New York’s talent business during his heyday, died May 6, 2009. Starting in 1975, Mr. Cohn spent more than three decades with International Creative Management representing an array of actors, directors, writers, playwrights and composers. Over the years, his clients included Paul Newman, Woody Allen, Meryl Streep, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Lily Tomlin, Nora Ephron, Bob Fosse, Robert Altman, and Mike Nichols, according to a Los Angeles Times obituary. In 1993, Time magazine called Cohn “the first super agent of the modern age.” A New Yorker profile noted that in 1981 ten feature films and nine Broadway or offBroadway plays opened that were written, directed, or produced by one of his clients or in which a Cohn client had a major acting role. He was known for also getting Columbia Pictures to pay a record $9.5 million for the movie rights to the Broadway musical “Annie.” He was inducted into the Academies Fine Arts Hall of Fame in November 2004. A die-hard New Yorker, in his prime Mr. Cohn reportedly saw at least 100 movies and 75 plays a year, in addition to spending nights at the opera and at concert halls. Following graduation from Culver, he majored in English and German literature at Princeton. He matriculated at the law school at Yale, served for two years in the U.S. Army, then returned to Yale to complete his law degree in 1956. He began his career in the entertainment industry as a lawyer for CBS, and then worked for the New York firm Marshall, Bratter, Greene, Allison & Tucker. In 1971, Cohn joined Creative Management Associates as a vice president. In 1975 he helped to create International Creative Management (ICM) by facilitating the merger of Creative Management Associates and The International Famous Agency. Mr. Cohn relinquished his management role at ICM in 1999, but he continued working as an agent until retiring in February. He is survived by his wife, Jane; a daughter, son, and four grandchildren.

daughter, Vivian Bennett ’79 of Slinger, Wis.; a son, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a brother, John S.M. II NB’44. Richard H. Dunn ’48 (Troop) died May 26, 2009, in Delray Beach, Fla. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; four sons, and a daughter. Harvison Hunt ’48 (Co. A) of Baltimore, named best All-Around Athlete of his Culver class, died May 15, 2009. He was a retired mechanical engineer, transit consultant, and decorated Vietnam War veteran. Mr. Hunt earned his degree in mechanical engineering from the Naval Academy. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force, he flew 120 combat missions

44 Spring/Summer 2009

over Vietnam. His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, five Air Medals, and two Meritorious Service Medals. Discharged as a lieutenant colonel, Mr. Hunt earned a master’s degree in business from American University. He was the vice president in Baltimore for Kaiser Engineers, an international architectural and engineering firm working with transit projects. Since 1999, he had owned and operated Hunt & Associates, a safety and security firm. Surviving are his wife, Bonnie, two sons, a daughter, brother, and two grandchildren. Richard R. Johnstone N’48 of Rapid City, S.D., died March 13, 2009. A graduate of South Dakota State University, Mr. Johnstone served in the Navy during the

Korean War aboard the USS Philippine Sea as a radar operator. He was the president and owner of South Side Plumbing in Minneapolis from 1959-73. At the same time, he was president and owner of Minnesota Mechanical Company in Minneapolis. From 1973 to ’78 he was president of H. Conrad Manufacturing in Minneapolis, and from 1978-89 was the CEO/president of N.U.E. Company, a commercial woodshop. Mr. Johnstone retired in 1989 and moved to Rapid City. Since 2000 he had worked for Mountain States Security and for the Airport Express Shuttle. His many volunteer involvements included Minneapolis Society for the Blind, Boy Scouts of America, Humane Society of the Black Hills, and SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). He is survived by his wife, Peggy; a daughter, son, and four grandchildren. Donald K. Winks H’48 of Upper St. Clair, Pa., died April 11, 2009. A former Eagle Scout, Mr. Winks graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical transportation. He retired from PPG Industries after a 35-year career in engineering and purchasing. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. Mr. Winks is survived by his wife, Mary Frances; a son, daughter, two stepchildren, and six stepgreat-grandchildren. William H. Cavender ’52 (Co. D) of London, Ohio, died Oct. 17, 2008. He was an avid golfer and fisherman. Surviving are three sons, a daughter, two stepchildren, and several grandchildren Otto Helweg N’53 of Maumelle, Ark., died unexpectedly in Denver Nov. 2, 2008. A graduate of the Naval Academy, Mr. Helweg held a degree in engineering and master’s degrees in divinity, business administration, and educational science. During his career he served as dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture at North Dakota State University, was acting director of the California Water Resources Center, and chairman of the civil engineering department at the University of Memphis. After his naval service, he and his wife, Virginia, spent a year as volunteer teachers in a mission high school in Tehran, Iran. After completing work on a master’s degree


Culver Passings

Malfred J. Hamerin NB’54 of Indianapolis died May 14, 2009. Mr. Hamerin was owner of the former Patio Lounge in Broad Ripple in the early 1970s and, after retirement, he worked for Connor Prairie as an interpreter. He earned a degree in finance from Indiana University. He was a member of the 500 Festival Association and was executive director of the Indiana Rose Festival. Surviving are his wife, Virginia; two sons, a daughter, a brother, and four grandchildren. Robert B. Wilson W’51, ’54 (Band) died May 18, 2009, at his East Dundee, Ill., home. Mr. Wilson was the retired president of Elgin Corrugated Box Co., and the success of the business was chronicled in the book “Thriving on Chaos” by Tom Peters. Mr. Wilson was a graduate of the University of Chicago, where his adviser was Norman Maclean, author of “A River Runs Through It.” Drafted into the Army in 1959, Mr. Wilson served in West Germany and was a civilian employee of the Army Intelligence Corps and involved with rounding up Nazi war criminals. He began his career in the packaging industry in New York in the early ’60s and joined Elgin Corrugated as CEO and vice president in 1981. He became the president in 1991 and retired in March 2009. Surviving are three children, including Natalie Weidemier ’95 of Chicago and Michael W’90 of San Francisco; two grandchildren, and his partner, Shirley Solberg.

Rayburn R. Smith ’55 (Co. C) of Plymouth, Ind., died June 1, 2009. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he served four years in the Navy and then earned his MBA at the Harvard Business School. A sister, Betsey, survives.

Rafael Muniz ’61 (Troop) died Sept. 6, 2008. He is survived by his wife, Maria Luisa, three sons, among them Eduardo ’00 Mexico City and Rafael ’90 of Houston, and two grandchildren. A brother, Jose ’63, is deceased.

Dallas businessman E. Pierce Marshall ’56 (Artillery) died June 20, 2006. A graduate of Pomona College, he began his career at General Motors as an engine test engineer, followed by a tour with the U.S. Navy. Mr. Marshall then worked for the New York investment banking firm of Loeb Rhodes, an experience he later used in the securities brokerage business. In 1969, he moved to Houston to manage various investment projects with his father, including various roles at Koch Industries, International Oil & Gas, and Marshall Petroleum. In 1981, after his father-in-law’s death, he was elected chairman of the Electron Corporation (an iron foundry concern). Later, he was appointed president and led the company through a successful turnaround, saving over 300 jobs in Colorado and Oklahoma. In 1993, Mr. Marshall ceased his securities brokerage business, delegated his responsibilities at Electron, and assumed operational responsibilities at Marshall Petroleum. Mr. Marshall is survived by his wife, Elaine, two sons, and a brother, J. Howard III ’53 of Pasadena, Calif.

Attorney Benjamin B. Cassiday III ’69 (Troop B) died June 2, 2008, in Honolulu. Mr. Cassiday had practiced law in Hawaii since the 1970s. He was known for representing former state House Speaker Daniel Kihano on federal corruption charges. According to published reports, he also represented his second cousin, auto dealer and land developer James Pflueger, in civil and criminal cases related to environmental damage caused by a Kaua’i real estate development. The Cassiday family traces its roots in Hawaii to the arrival in 1811 of a British sea captain. Mr. Cassiday is survived by his father, Ben Jr. ’40, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general; a sister, Carol Orr ’72 and her husband, Steve Orr ’72 of Washington, D.C., and an uncle, Paul Cassiday ’46 of Honolulu.

John A.D. Curtis Jr. H’57 of Mishawaka, Ind., died Feb. 27, 2009, after an extended illness. Mr. Curtis was an independent overthe-road trucker for over 30 years. He attended the Lincoln Technical Institute in Indianapolis, where he developed his skills as a mechanic. He was an avid drag car driver, racing funny cars, motorcycles, jet cars, and even a semi, on tracks across the country. Mr. Curtis is survived by his wife, Shirley Takace; two daughters, a son, three sisters, and three grandchildren. Samuel E. “Ed” Wilhite ’60 (Co. A) died Feb. 19, 2009, in Ojai, Calif. He graduated from Yale University and received his law degree from Stanford. Most recently, he was the Naval Company II counselor during the 2008 summer session and was remembered at a July 5 memorial service. Surviving is a brother, Jim of Palm Desert, Calif.

Jan G. Schab ’79 (Troop) of Niles, Ill., died Jan. 12, 2009. Mr. Schab is survived by his wife, Deborah; his mother, Harriet; a brother, and sister. Augusta W. Woods ’89 (Atrium) of Tampa, Fla., died Jan. 29, 2009, after a brief illness. She graduated from the University of Tampa with a degree in finance. She is survived by her mother and stepfather, Harrison and Thomas Giddens, and a brother, Frederic III N’86. She was predeceased by her father, Frederic Jr. ’54.

IDNR/Outdoor Indiana magazine

from UCLA, he spent five years among the Kurds in Western Iran. He consulted with many countries in hydrogeology, including a special consultant to the government of Rwanda, where he spent 2007 working to bring potable water and the gospel to villages, schools, and hospitals. Mr. Helweg wrote over 100 reference papers and three books. He received a number of honors for his work in both engineering and volunteer work, including the Hoover Medal in 1997. The Hoover Medal has been described as the equivalent to a Nobel Prize by the engineering community. He is survived by his wife and three sons, among them Otto NB’82 of Seattle and Mark ’87 of Raleigh, N.C.

Culver Alumni Magazine

45


Culver Clubs International

Culver Clubs name five new regional vice presidents

FROM THE CCI PRESIDENT Culver Clubs keeping Maxinkuckee memories alive As the Woodcrafters and Upper Campers wrap up yet another successful summer, I am reminded of majestic Lake Maxinkuckee. I can picture myself being there during the summer months with friends and family and I continue to be awed by that beautiful lake. I hear similar stories from both summer school and Academies alumni all of the time. The memories hatched on her banks seem to have a lasting impact on those who have had the privilege to walks her shores. I am happy to report that the Culver Clubs are doing their part to keep those fond memories alive in minds of alumni. We are in the midst of yet another successful year. We are on track to have over 60 quality events in different cities throughout the country. As the lives of all Americans get filled with more and more activities, time becomes a more precious commodity. Therefore, we have tried to focus on the concept of quality over quantity in the hopes that we can host an event once or twice a year in each major metropolitan city that would attract alumni from all age groups and interests. This is still a work in progress, but we are well on our way thanks to the tireless dedication of our volunteer leaders. Our club leaders are outstanding. They have committed the time and energy

46 Spring/Summer 2009

to help their alma mater and I want to thank each and every one for their hard work. We would not be enjoying these successes without them. Thanks to their selflessness, the clubs will have a long and successful life. We will always be in need of more alumni support for Culver Clubs. Having too many volunteers is never a problem any organization faces. Your contributions to Culver Clubs do not have to be solely in the form of club leadership. We often get inquiries from alumni as to how they could sponsor an event or host an event at their home. Other alumni have used their professional life connections to find speakers or venues for events. These are all welcomed and offer yet another way for you to give back to the school on the lake that fostered all of those fond memories. Sincerely,

Kevin Henderson W’87, ’91 Culver Clubs President

CCI is excited to report the appointments of five new regional vice presidents. Regional vice presidents are the vital link between regional clubs, CCI President Kevin Henderson ’91, and the Director of Culver Clubs Lindsey Pick ’95. Their responsibilities include serving as a resource to each club in their region by sharing ideas of other clubs and communicating with club presidents on at least a quarterly basis. Additional responsibilities include ensuring that each club maintains strong and effective leadership, overseeing the progress of each club’s yearly events, and assisting with the filling of chair positions for each club’s steering committee. Together with the CCI president and the director of Culver Clubs, the regional vice presidents assist in the planning of CCI’s annual goals. Please join us in welcoming our new regional vice presidents to their important posts. Gregg Vier ’91 – Northeast Region April Ronchetti-Little ’88 – South Region Nick Borden ’97 – Southeast Region O’Neal Turner ’00 – Western Region Lindsey Pick ’95 and Kevin Henderson ’91 – Midwest Region

Culver student teams up with Culver Clubs For her senior service project, Caitlin Miclot (Austin, Texas) is organizing a Culver Alumni Global Day of Service for Sept. 26, 2009. Caitlin hopes that Culver alumni, family, and friends will gather with their local Culver Club to organize and work on a service project that benefits their local community. Culver seniors and first-classmen are required to complete a service project as a part of their leadership curriculum. This is the first time a Culver student has attempted to organize an alumni Culver Club


Culver

Photo provided.

Clubs International

Members of the Cincinnati Culver Club gathered to support the varsity crew at the Midwest Championships on May 9.

event and we hope many clubs will take advantage of this opportunity to connect (and re-connect) with alumni, family, and friends and leave a positive imprint on our communities by showing how, in that one day, Culver can make a difference. If you would like to get your local club involved with this project, please contact Caitlin at miclot2@culver.org.

Chicago Culver Club off to the races Save the date for a Day at the Races at Arlington Race Track on Sunday, Sept. 6, hosted by the Chicago Culver Club. The Chicagoans continue to host monthly Happy Hours at Potters Lounge in the Palmer House Hilton. The last event attracted more than 50 alumni, parents, and friends.

Cincinnati Culver Club active The Cincinnati Culver Club continues to be very active hosting bi-monthly luncheons. In May, club members hosted a lunch for the crew when it was in town for the Midwest Championships and also supported the rowers. Special thanks to Irene and Dave Robinson ’61 for hosting an evening on the Ohio River as part of the club’s cocktail and hors d’oeuvre river cruise.

Charlotte Culver Club gathers at Lake Norman

Photo provided.

Many thanks to the Alan Simonini ’71 family who opened their lovely home on Lake Norman to our Charlotte Culver Club in June. The event was attended by about 30 people; the adults all hung out on the cabana and had some margaritas while the kids swam in the lake. The dinner was Southern barbecue, and we all appreciated the hard work of the Simoninis to make the day a wonderful experience. We are all looking forward to our next event in the fall.

On Aug. 8, the Georgia Culver Club hosted its annual afternoon cookout to celebrate the send-off of local students heading off to Culver Academies and to welcome home those who had attended Culver Summer Schools & Camps. The party was catered by Five Star Culinary Services, owned by Richard Lea ’88, and was hosted by Christine and Bill Hunt ’88.

Culver Alumni Magazine

47


And one more thing... Faculty Distinguished Service Monument B

hearts of thousands of men and women whose youthful lives were shaped by these caring, dedicated teachers and mentors.

added to the monument. The monument is a gift of Kimberly and Miles White ’73 and was dedicated May 8, 2009.

Faculty and staff members who pass the 25-year mark in subsequent years will be

Faculty and staff members are listed by length of service. Those listed in italics are deceased.

Haberland photo.

elow are the names of the 125 individuals – names that represent 4,185 years – who have served Culver for more than 25 years. Each name has been etched in granite, and is etched in the memories and

Bert H. Greiner Hugh G. Glascock Walter M. Hand George H. Crandall Sr. John F. Grant E.V. Boblett Abraham S. Stoutenburgh Frederick L. Hunt Leigh R. Gignilliat Ralph H. Mowbray Frank L. Brooke Marvin V. Bennett J. Seddon Fleet William R. Kennedy Robert Rossow C.S. Young Franklin W. Bates Hillard W.Walmer Arthur J. Hewes Lee Roy Kellam George L. Miller William G. Johnston Robert H. Shanks Henry V. Davis William E. Gregory Charles F. McKinney Sr.

Homer A. Obenauf Charles C. Mather Judd T. Stinchcomb Lewis J. Stone James H. Bishop John W. Henderson Hugh H. Harper Allen R. Elliot George O. Johnson Ervin R. Nelson Cecelclere Brown Clarence A. Whitney Wallace E. Leland Donald M. Marshal Walter G. Roberts Charles S. McMinn Edward T. Payson Donald C. Sutherland C. Warner Williams Kenneth Hesgard E. Kemp Moore Milan D. Baker John W. Bays William J. MacQuillan John F. Roos Walter W. Strait

Richard W. Gimbel Edward Stephenson Frank W. Walaitis Arthur G. Hughes Burton L. Curry Alfred J. Donnelly Ernest B. Benson Russell D. Oliver Patrick H. Hodgkin A. Coke Smith III William A. Strow Martin A. Uebel John F. Edgell Raymond C. Jurgensen Charles C. Maull Jr. Myron E. Benner Melvyn A. Estey John R. Mars James V. Miracle Harvey Firari Marshall L. Brown John W. Chadwick Albert A. Paré Gordon Uyttebrouck Charles E. Bayless Alan M. Bunner

Channing E. Mitzell L. Kingsley Moore Raymond K. Walmoth Mary Frances “Mai-Fan” England David L. Nelson David L. Burke Robert B.D. Hartman Alexander D. Nagy Frederick D. Lane J. Frederick Lintner Ronald H. Noel Carl V. Steely Colin W. Stetson Darrell H. Beach Phillip K. Mallory Gerald R. Thomas Bruce L. Holaday John L. Babcock Joan M. Bess Larry A. Bess Richard G. Davies William E. Browne James A. Brugh Michael E. Chastain J. Allan Clark

For a story about the dedication see page 10 48 Spring/Summer 2009

Michael F. Deery Cathy Mitzell Duke Jose M. Garzon John R. Gouwens Frederick A. Haase Joseph M. Horvath Janet Stannard Kline Tony T. Mayfield Nancy Nowalk McKinnis Patricia A. Montgomery David B. Powell Warren K. Reiss William G. Roth Emily Payson Ryman David R. Sampson Julie A. Thornburg Thomas R. Thornburg Jill B. Tulchinsky Guy B. Weaser Laura J. Weaser Janice A. Weaver Stephen D. Winet



Photo by Gary Mills.

The Culver Legion would like to welcome...

CULVER MILITARY ACADEMY • CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY CULVER SUMMER SCHOOLS & CAMPS


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