Mercersburg Magazine - Fall 2016

Mercersburg A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

VOLUME 42

NO. 2

FALL 2016

Introducing HEAD OF SCHOOL

Katie Titus PAGE 10

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VOLUME 42

NO.2

FALL 2016

Introducing Head of School Katie Titus

A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

Mercersburg Commencement 2016

Relive the graduation—and the celebration—of the Class of 2016.

Page 6

Head of Our Class

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Mercersburg doesn’t choose a new leader often—but when it does, it chooses wisely. Meet Katie Titus, the first female head of school in the Academy’s history. Page 10

A Salute to Retiring Faculty

Read the stories of faculty fixtures Jack Hawbaker, Ray Larson, and Pete Williams, who have served Mercersburg for a combined 86 years. Page 18

Celebrating the Daring to Lead Campaign

40 You Should Know

The Prentiss Alumni and Parent Center at North Cottage is officially open for business. Historic North Cottage has been reinvented as a welcome center and reception area with archival displays and three upstairs guest rooms, and an addition on the east side is home to the Office of Advancement & Alumni Relations and Office of Strategic Marketing & Communications. The complex is named in honor of Regent Emeritus John Prentiss ’65 and his family, which has now sent five generations to Mercersburg (Campbell ’20—grandson of John and son of Ames ’89—joined the student body this fall).

Photo by Jillian Wilkerson Photo credits: p. 2 Jillian Wilkerson; p. 3 Bob Stoler; p. 4 (Whitmore/Jaiclin) Wilkerson, (South Africa) courtesy Michele Poacelli; p. 5 (Rutherford/new faculty) Stoler, (Anderson/ Rose) Stacey Talbot Grasa, (RoboCup) courtesy Julia Stojak Maurer ’90; p. 6–9 Bill Green; p. 10 Wilkerson; p. 12 Paul Rutherford ’06; p. 14 Mercersburg Academy Archives; p. 15 Stoler; p. 17–18 Wilkerson; p. 19–22 Archives; p. 23 Stoler; p. 25–27 Wilkerson; p. 28 (Macionis) Archives, (group) Wilkerson; p. 29 Lee Owen; p. 40–45 (all photos) Green; p. 47 Ryan Smith; p. 48 Wilkerson; p. 49 Stoler; p. 50 (Shields/Brown) Wilkerson, (all others) Green; p. 51 Wilkerson; p. 52 Steve Boyle; p. 53 Smith; p. 54 Rutherford; p. 55 (lacrosse) Smith, (track & field) Green.

Cover photo: Jillian Wilkerson

Inside the impact of the Daring to Lead Campaign and how it supports students, programs, faculty and staff, facilities, and the school’s bright future. Page 30

From the Head of School 2 3 Via Mercersburg Reunion Weekend 40 Arts 46 Athletics 51 Class Notes 56 Mercersburg magazine is published by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Mercersburg Academy 300 East Seminary Street Mercersburg, Pennsylvania 17236 Magazine correspondence: Megan_Mallory@mercersburg.edu Class Notes correspondence: classnotes@mercersburg.edu Alumni correspondence/ change of address: alumni@mercersburg.edu 800-588-2550 Read us online: www.mercersburg.edu/magazine

Director of News and Content: Lee Owen Editor: Megan Mallory Class Notes Editor: Tyler Miller Contributors: Shelton Clark, Hope McGrath, Tyler Miller, Zally Price, Kristen Uccellini, Wallace Whitworth, Jillian Wilkerson Design: Aldrich Design Head of School: Katherine M. Titus Senior Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications: Wallace Whitworth Assistant Head for Enrollment: Quentin McDowell Assistant Head for Advancement: Brian Hargrove

© Copyright 2016 Mercersburg Academy. All rights reserved. No content from this publication may be reproduced or reprinted in any form without the express written consent of Mercersburg Academy.

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

From the Head of School

Our Collective Pride

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love boarding school. But not because I had some transformative personal experience as a boarding school student; to the contrary, I grew up in rural Vermont attending small public schools. And yet despite the distance of my childhood from the ivied walls of a boarding school, I’ve come to realize how much my upbringing resonates for me as a boarding school educator.

Fair Haven, Vermont, was a quiet town with slate quarries as the local industry and a profound sense of pride in being a Slater that ran deep and spanned generations.

It was a time when, if you ever left, you returned to your roots to raise your family. It was a time and place, excuse the “Cheers” reference, where everybody knew your name.

As a child, it was clear to me that whether I was playing in my yard, having dinner with my best friend and her family, or riding my bike across town, the adults of Fair Haven all knew me and felt a collective responsibility for my growth and development. Whether it was my teachers, the parents of my friends, the parishioners of my church, or the local merchants, I was keenly aware that the adults in my life were watching. Most of the time that meant they were cheering for me from the sidelines or congratulating me on various achievements, but I also knew they were also ready to point out my missteps, mistakes, and poor judgment.

The sense of comfort the community provided allowed me to experience childhood in a safe environment where I felt supported and was therefore all-the-more willing to set lofty goals for myself.

Sadly, the Fair Haven of my childhood is not the same, as its sense of communal responsibility is disappearing. But that ethos is not disappearing in boarding schools. In fact, boarding schools work deliberately to foster a strong sense of community and generational connection in a way that celebrates our rich traditions while embracing the possibilities of the future. Mercersburg does this like no other school I have seen. The pride our students and alumni feel for their school is extraordinarily strong. Certainly the com-

pletion of the one of the biggest capital campaigns among schools of our size is indicative of that pride. And when I talk to members of the Mercersburg family about what makes this school unique, they inevitably refer to its people and the opportunities they provide—the teachers who challenged and supported them, the classmates who remain their closest friends years after graduation, and the programs that exposed them to perspectives and ideas they had never encountered.

The sense of community that Dr. Irvine imagined 125 years ago is very much alive, and each of us feels a collective sense of responsibility to foster his ideals of character and community in ourselves and in our students. I feel privileged to join Mercersburg at this time—to build on the extraordinary work of my predecessors while holding firmly to our ideals and the sense of community that makes this place so special. This is an exciting time to join the Mercersburg family and Stuart and I, and our girls, are grateful to be a part of its future.

Katherine M. Titus Head of School

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D a t es t o Rem em b er

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

Dec 18

Christmas Candlelight Service 4:00 and 7:30 p.m., Irvine Memorial Chapel

Jan 23

Hendrickson Organ Recital: Terrence Gaus-Woollen 7 p.m., Irvine Memorial Chapel

Feb 26–Mar 2 Irving-Marshall Week Mar 2

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

May 27

Commencement 10:30 a.m.

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

Students, Faculty Honored with Opening of Year Awards At the start of the 2016–2017 academic year, Head of School Katherine Titus announced the student recipients of the prestigious Michelet Prize and Culbertson Prize and the faculty recipients of the Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies and the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award.

Ryan Geitner ’17

of Hickory, North Carolina, was awarded the Michelet Prize, which goes to the student who, during the upper-middler (11th-grade) year, most distinguishes himself or herself in scholarship, character, and school spirit. The award is supported by an endowment established by Simon Michelet in memory of his son, Robert ’30, whose career at the Academy and at Dartmouth College was almost ideal in its quality and influence. The yield on the endowment is presented each year to the recipient on the assumption that it will be for use during the senior year.

Geitner is the president of Mercersburg’s senior class and is a prefect in South Cottage. She was president of the upper-middler class and a prefect in Fowle Hall in 2015–2016. Geitner is a section editor for the Mercersburg News and has previously served as a student representative to the Conduct Review Committee and has earned varsity letters in soccer, cross country, indoor track & field, and lacrosse.

Her twin sister, Emma Claire ’17, is a fellow member of the senior class and a Student Council officer (and a former class president in her own right). The Geitners’ grandfather, Clem Geitner ’59, and great-grandfather, the late R. Walker Geitner ’28, both graduated from Mercersburg; Clem Geitner is a past member of the Alumni Council and Walker Geitner served on the Board of Regents.

Ryan Geitner ’17 and Head of School Katie Titus

Patrice McGloin ’19 and Head of School Katie Titus

Patrice McGloin ’19 of Washington, D.C., was chosen for the Culbertson Prize. The award is supported by the F.M. Kirby Foundation of Morristown, N.J., which established an endowed program of scholarships to honor the late John H. Culbertson ’24.

It recognizes a student entering the 10th grade who gives evidence of exceptional promise and who has already demonstrated outstanding accomplishment.

During her junior (ninth-grade) year, McGloin earned varsity letters in volleyball and basketball (the latter as a member of Mercersburg’s 2015–2016 state-championship team) and received the Junior English Prize. She serves on the Conduct Review Committee and is a Writing Center Fellow and an officer for the John Marshall Literary Society. Her older brother, Philip ’14, preceded her at Mercersburg and attends Vanderbilt University, where he plays on the men’s basketball team. continued on page 4

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Will Whitmore is this year’s recipient of the Will Whitmore Marcus Jaiclin Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies, and Marcus Jaiclin has been chosen to receive the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award.

Both awards are presented on an annual basis to members of Mercersburg’s faculty.

The Ammerman Distinguished Teaching Award for Religious & Interdisciplinary Studies was established by Andrew Ammerman ’68 and his mother, the late Josephine Ammerman, while the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award was established by Allen Zern ’61 and his wife, Judith.

Ammerman is an emeritus member of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents, and Zern has served on the Board since 1995 and Gloucestershire in England, where his dissertation will focus on as a vice president of the organization since 2001. sports chaplaincy in the National Football League.

Whitmore came to Mercersburg in 2015 as the school minJaiclin is in his fourth year at Mercersburg, where he has taught ister, and is a member of the history and religion departments. mathematics and robotics and works with Mercersburg Outdoor He teaches two religion term courses—Nature & Meaning of the Education. This year, he can be found in the classroom teachUniverse and Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospels ing robotics, Algebra I, the Springboard course Rapid Application through Stained Glass—as well as Ancient Mediterranean World, Development, and term courses in single-board computers and a yearlong history course for ninth graders. The New Testament scripting. Jaiclin has traveled with Mercersburg students to compete course utilizes the Irvine Memorial Chapel’s stained-glass at RoboCupJunior International in each of the past two summers windows and the history of the Chapel itself as a framework for (in China and Germany). the course.

Jaiclin came to Mercersburg from Westfield State University in Whitmore previously worked at The Rectory School in Massachusetts, where he was an assistant professor of mathematConnecticut and The Pennington School in New Jersey. He ics. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a York at Buffalo, as well as a master’s and a Ph.D. from the State master’s of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and University of New York at Albany. is pursuing a Ph.D. on a part-time basis from the University of

All Around the Globe Over the summer, 84 Mercersburg students took part in 10 different travel experiences around the globe. The opportunities included exchange visits with partner schools in China (Nanjing Foreign Language School), France (CollègeLycée Saint-Joseph), Germany (Gauss Gymnasium), and Spain (Lourdes School); the annual tropical biology excursion to Costa Rica; and trips to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, Ireland, the New River Gorge of West Virginia, Nicaragua, and South Africa. (Pictured: Mercersburg students and faculty members Michele Poacelli and Erin Caretti at Angel’s Hope Orphanage in South Africa.)

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

Burg’s Eye View

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CAMPUS NOTES

Frank Rutherford ’70 was the featured speaker at Mercersburg’s 2016–2017 Opening Convocation in September. Rutherford his fifth decade as a faculty member at his alma mater; he teaches science and holds Mercersburg’s Archibald H. Rutledge Chair.

During his 40 years at the school, he has taught chemistry, physics, biology, environmental science, and economics; coached track & field, cross country, swimming, basketball, and field hockey; served as the director of instructional technology, registrar, faculty adviser to the Washington Irving Literary Society, and on the Alumni Rutherford Council; worked as a dorm parent and adviser; and taught in India with School Year Abroad.

Rutherford was a four-year letterman in track & field at Lebanon Valley College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. His master’s degree is from the University of Delaware. He and his wife, Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford, are the parents of three Mercersburg alumni: Matt ’03, Paul ’06, and Stephon Fullerton ’06.

Mercersburg opened the year with 441 students enrolled (in addition to three students participating in School Year Abroad—in France and Spain). Members of the student body reside in 29 different American states and are citizens of 48 nations of the world. There are 130 students in this year’s senior class (the Class of 2017).

Among the 11 new faculty members on campus this year are Ashira Anderson and Rebecca Rose, who make up the school’s inaugural class of Teaching Fellows. Anderson, who is teaching chemistry, and Rose, who will teach Latin and Greek, have received two-year appointments, which include teaching, coaching, and residential responsibilities in the dormitory.

Anderson, who grew up in Chicago and graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut, was a Posse Foundation Leadership Scholar. She is assisting with volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse.

Rose, a native of Croton-on-Hudson in New York’s Hudson Valley, is a graduate of Middlebury College, where she was a member of the varsity crew team and played in the Middlebury College Orchestra. Rose is an assistant cross country coach at Mercersburg.

Meet Our New Faculty Anderson

Rose

Eleven new faculty members were appointed prior to the 2016–2017 academic year. Front row (L–R): Carl Stensland (science), Leah Rockwell ’97 (global programs & initiatives), Lena Eckstine (admission), Katie Titus (head of school/mathematics). Second row: Jake Kennedy (admission), Rebecca Rose (classical & modern languages teaching fellow), Stuart Titus (English). Back row: Bryan Morgan ’07 (fine arts), Coleman Weibley (summer & extended programs), Ashira Anderson (science teaching fellow), Jeremy Thompson (science).

World Famous The Mercersburg trio of Conner Caruso ’16, Caroline Casparian ’16, and Suky Kuye ’16 placed second in the Rescue Mini division of RoboCup Junior International 2016, which was held June 30–July 4 in Leipzig, Germany. The students (who all graduated in May as members of the Class of 2016) were joined on the trip by robotics faculty members Julia Stojak Maurer ’90 and Marcus Jaiclin.

The trip was the eighth appearance for Mercersburg students at the international competition. Caruso is attending the University of Virginia, Casparian is enrolled at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and Kuye attends Rochester Institute of Technology.

Maurer, Caruso, Casparian, Kuye, Jaiclin

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123rd Commencement Honoring the Class of 2016 * May 28, 2016

Harper Tice ’16 and Elliot Hicks ’16, class marshals

“Though we can’t stay here forever, Mercersburg certainly can still be called home… Just because we leave does not mean that this is not home. Home is where your friends, family, and best memories are. And I can confidently say that two of the best years of my life were spent here.” — Chris Adusei-Poku ’16, Class Orator

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

By the Numbers 126 graduates, representing 20 states, the District of Columbia, and 17 nations Members of the graduating class matriculated at 87 different institutions

“We’re proud of Mercersburg. We’re proud of being Mercersburg graduates.

And in the future, Mercersburg will be proud of us, the Class of 2016.”

— John Huang ’16, salutatorian

Most popular college choices: U.S. Naval Academy (five matriculations), Muhlenberg College (four), Carnegie Mellon University (three), Cornell University (three), New York University (three), University of Pennsylvania (three), University of Pittsburgh (three), University of Virginia (three) Valedictorian: Lucas Lu, Lanzhou City, China Salutatorian: John Huang, Shanghai, China Schaff Orator: Caroline Brown, Boyce, Virginia Class Orator: Chris Adusei-Poku, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Class Marshals: Elliot Hicks, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania; Harper Tice, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Commencement speaker: Michael Davies ’85, Emmy-winning television producer and media executive and co-host of the NBC Sports Network TV show and podcast Men in Blazers Baccalaureate speaker: Jack Hawbaker, retiring faculty member

Lucas Lu ’16, valedictorian

John Huang ’16, salutatorian

Caroline Brown ’16, Schaff Orator

Chris Adusei-Poku ’16, Class Orator

Michael Davies ’85, invited speaker

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Class of 2016 Prizes for Distinguished Academic Performance CUM LAUDE SOCIETY

Gabriel Allgayer Leslie An Caroline Brown Haley Carter Conner Caruso Fernando Cervera Edward Foote Elisa Gan Christopher Grady Elliot Hicks Dylan Hoang Emily Hong Katherine Hu John Huang Jin Lim Lucas Lu Bea Morrow Stella Ryou Joana Santos Jessica Simonoff Jan Smilek Giang To Christina Wang Eli Wenzel Abby Wootton Adam Yang

FINE ARTS The Head of School’s Purchase Prize

Sarah O’Leary and Monk Phan The Austin V. McClain ’26 Prize in Fine Arts

Eva Bajko The Blue Review Award

Dilin Massand The Music Director’s Prize

Lexa Treml The Paul M. Suerken Prize

P.J. Flaherty The Senior Instrumental Music Prize

Caroline Casparian and Dean Patterson The Strings Music Prize

Michael Yu The Choreography Prize

ENGLISH The Harry F. Smith Prize

Elisa Gan

Bea Morrow and Jenna Walter The Stony Batter Prize

The William C. Heilman (1896) Prize

Madi Johnson

Caroline Casparian and Thomas Miller The Technical Theatre Prize

The Pratt L. Tobey Prize

Eli Wenzel The Gordon M. Macartney Prize

Courtney Levins

Giang To HISTORY The AP Comparative Government Prize

Madi Johnson

The Dr. Julius Shamansky Prize

Veronica Tatone

The AP European History Prize

Michael Makari

The Poetry Prize

Withney Barthelemy

The Elective Studies in History Prize

The John Mountain ’31 Prize

Bridget Scott

Bea Morrow

The Colonel Wills Prize

John Huang (first prize) Leslie An (second prize) CLASSICAL & MODERN LANGUAGES The John H. Montgomery Prize in Advanced Level French

Jessica Simonoff The H. Eugene Davis Prize in Spanish

Kari Anderson MATHEMATICS The Linear Algebra Prize

Gabriel Allgayer The AP Statistics Prize

Leslie An RELIGION The William Paul Buchanan (1916) Prize

Eli Wenzel (fourth prize) Christopher Grady (fifth prize) SCIENCE The Wilmarth I. Jacobs AP Physics Prize

Lucas Lu

The Rollin P. Gilbert AP Chemistry Prize

Elliot Hicks The William O. Allen AP Biology Prize

John Huang The Brent Gift AP Environmental Science Prize

Jan Smilek SPECIAL AWARDS U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis Certificate

Stephanie Downing Jake Girard Sydney Hirokawa Carlos Mancilla Lizzie Troy U.S. Military Academy at West Point Certificate

Andrew Zhugayevich

The Community Service Award

Haley Carter The Daughters of American Revolution Good Citizen Award

Fernando Cervera The Leonard Plantz Award

Elliot Hicks

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Class of 2016 Legacy Graduates 1. Roland Morris, son of Steve Morris ’83. 2. Sommer Hyatt, daughter of K.C. Hyatt ’81. 3. Miles Hearon, grandson of W. Carroll Coyne ’50 and stepgreat-grandson of the late George Manley (1913). 4. Harper Tice, granddaughter of the late Emory “Sonny” Parsons ’59. 5. Luke Mäkelä, grandson of the late Wayne Komara ’49. 6. Ria Giannaris, daughter of Paul Giannaris ’88. 7. Brooke Kinney, son of Brooke Kinney ’79. 8. Fernando Cervera, son of Fernando Cervera ’83. 9. Max Goodman, grandson of Albert Golden III ’65 and great-grandson of the late Albert Golden Jr. ’38. 10. Nick Furigay, son of Paul Furigay ’85. 11. Caroline Casparian, daughter of Carol Furnary Casparian ’79. 12. Abby Wootton, daughter of Matt Wootton ’89. 13. P.J. Flaherty, son of P.J. Flaherty ’85.

The Darrell Ecker Award

The William C. Fowle Award

Sarah Lyman

Conner Caruso

The Frank Hoffmeier (1896) Scholar/Athlete Prize

The Carol Amorocho ’81 Prize

Harper Tice

John Huang The Mary Jane Berger Prize The Irwin Cohen ’23 Scholar/ Athlete Prize

Chris Adusei-Poku

Caroline Brown

The Tim O. Rockwell Award

Dean Patterson

The Persis F. Ross Award

Lucas Lu The Yale University Aurelian Prize

Elliot Hicks The Francis Shunk Downs (1902) Prize

Caroline Casparian and Brian Nelson

The Head of School’s Prize

Fernando Cervera

“One thing I’ve discovered here is that we teach as we learn and we define as we create. I am still so far from being perfect, but I have improved every second that I have been here. This is truly a magical place.”

— Lucas Lu ’16, valedictorian

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Stuart, Samantha, Natalie ’20, and Katie Titus at 1893 House

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

Head of Our Class MEET KATIE TITUS, MERCERSBURG’S NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL

By Lee Owen

IN

the fall of 1970, a young biology teacher and football coach named Donald Hubert arrived at Mercersburg with his wife and two young sons to join the faculty.

“I had a very strong attachment to the school, even though I was only there for one year,” Hubert remembers. “Mr. [William] Fowle, who was the headmaster, was such a perfect gentleman and a great leader. Here’s everyone in shirts and ties and we have all our meals together. It was grand and old-fashioned and traditional, and I loved those things about it.”

The Huberts went on to have a third child, who was born after the family had relocated to Vermont. She graduated from Fair Haven Union High School and attended Middlebury College, where she captained the women’s basketball team for two years (and still ranks seventh on Middlebury’s all-time scoring list).

Today, more than four decades after her father sat at the head of a table in Ford Hall, Katie Hubert (now Titus) sits as Mercersburg’s head of school. Like her immediate predecessor, Douglas Hale, she was also the valedictorian of her high-school class and played college basketball. Both have connections to Middlebury—Hale (who played basketball as an undergrad at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) earned a master’s from Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English.

In the 124 years since Mercersburg Academy was founded as a preparatory school, the United States of America has had 21 different presidents take office. Over the same period, Mercersburg has had just seven heads of school.

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So history would seem to state—without much room for debate—that when Mercersburg chooses a leader, it chooses wisely and for the long haul. New members are rarely added. But Katie Titus is next in line, and the first female to lead the school.

“It’s inspiring to be at Mercersburg,” Titus says as she considers the question of what it feels like to join Hale, Walter H. Burgin Jr. ’53, William C. Fowle, Dr. Charles S. Tippetts (1912), Dr. Boyd Edwards, and founding headmaster Dr. William Mann Irvine in such a select group. “To be honest, it’s slightly intimidating, too.

But I’m proud to be a part of this place.

“It means a lot and says a lot about Mercersburg that people— not just heads of school, but faculty and staff—stay here. People love this school. Even so many of the faculty who retire stay in Mercersburg. What does it say about a place when people come here and choose to stay? This has to be a place where people want to be.”

Titus spent the past 11 years at St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island, where she most recently worked as associate head for school life. At St. George’s, she previously served in the roles of dean of students, associate director of college counseling, mathematics teacher, dorm parent, dean on duty, and girls’ basketball coach.

She even tore a ligament in her knee while coaching at St. George’s—which St. George’s head of school Eric Peterson offers as a clear example of her dedication.

“Katie is incredibly hard-working and organized, and she is ‘all in’ when it comes to boarding-school life,” Peterson says.

“She’s determined. The breadth of her knowledge of and experience in boarding schools is very important. She has such great stamina and devotion to students and faculty, and she will bring that to the role of head of school.”

Titus and her husband, Stuart (who is teaching English

Titus working with Cam Pyle ’17 in her precalculus class

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at Mercersburg), have settled into 1893 House on campus with their daughters, Natalie ’20 and Samantha, and their two black labs, Ivy and Bean.

“Schools often talk about how they have a strong sense of community, and how as a student you can be your authentic self,” Titus says. “But those things are really true here. The kids are accepted here for who they are, and I love that about Mercersburg. I certainly felt that when I was here visiting, and it’s something I certainly want to continue to cultivate.

“I even felt that welcoming spirit when I walked into the room to be interviewed by the Search Committee for the first time. That moment is pretty daunting with 12 people sitting around a large conference table, but I felt at ease almost immediately. I could tell that there was this sense of camaraderie among the members of the committee—the Board of Regents and the faculty. That made it very comfortable for me, as an outsider, to enter that space. Every interaction I had after that continued to reinforce that, and I never looked back. I never once questioned that this was the right fit for me or for my family.”

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hile the Huberts left Mercersburg after a year following the death of Nancy Hubert’s father (“Family matters took precedence,” Hubert says), they did take a piece of Mercersburg with them.

A blue Mercersburg china plate, featuring a rendering of the Chapel, traveled with them at each stop.

“I had no idea they still had it,” Titus says of the Mercersburg plate. “I can remember using it as a platter when I was growing up. But we were visiting them in Vermont last Christmas and they gave it to us. It was just a great moment, connecting my parents’ experience with my future and our now collective connection to the history of this great school.”

Titus lived her entire life until college in Fair Haven, a town of 2,700 near the Vermont-New York state line. Her father had studied forestry in graduate school at Yale University after earning a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, and wanted the Hubert children to grow up in a more rural setting.

“One of the things that had a big impact on my development as a child is that my parents bought the land—we lived on 20 acres in this beautiful town—and they literally built our home,” she says. “Today, when you say that you’re going to ‘build your own home,’ that usually means you’re hiring a contractor. Not in this case. I have these vivid images of my mom sitting on top of one of the walls of the log cabin, probably six feet high, straddling the logs and hammering in these monster nails.

“So I grew up in an environment where doing it for yourself really was encouraged. There was always this push to be better

About Katie Titus • Grew up in Fair Haven, Vermont; was the valedictorian of her graduating class at Fair Haven Union High School, where she played field hockey, basketball, and softball.

• Earned a bachelor of science in mathematics with a minor in secondary education from Middlebury College, where she scored 1,045 points as a basketball player and was a two-year team captain.

• Holds a master of arts in educational leadership from Columbia University’s Klingenstein Center.

• 1996–2005: Began her teaching and administrative career at Pingree School in South Hamilton, Massachusetts (director/assistant director of college counseling, mathematics teacher, advisor). Served as head girls’ varsity basketball coach for seven years; also an assistant coach for field hockey, lacrosse, and softball.

• 2005–2016: At St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island, served as associate head/assistant head for school life, mathematics teacher, dean of students, associate director of college counseling, and dean on duty. Spent eight years as an assistant girls’ varsity basketball coach and one year as head coach.

• 2016: Appointed Mercersburg’s seventh head of school.

• Married to Stuart Titus; two daughters, Natalie ’20 and Samantha.

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in our family. I was always trying to keep up with my two older brothers, who are four and five years older than me.”

Donald Hubert coached football at Fair Haven Union High School while continuing his career in the classroom. All three of the Hubert children were athletes—and since his daughter couldn’t play football, she signed up for what she thought was the closest thing to it: field hockey. “There was an element of danger in field hockey, and it was fast-paced,” remembers Titus, who played field hockey, basketball, and softball all four years of high school. (During her first fall at Mercersburg, she has played on a faculty and staff “practice squad” that has scrimmaged against the Blue Storm varsity field hockey team.)

“Sports were really important to me,” she continues. “I remember my dad wearing a T-shirt with the famous quote ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.’ I wanted to find an outlet where I could constantly improve and compete. Academics were equally important to me. Growing up in that environment, we were always on the sidelines or on the field. When I was young it was about winning and losing, but what it really grew into was always striving to be your best self in everything you do.”

Titus sees a parallel between her small-town upbringing in the 1970s and 1980s and the experience and true sense of community that boarding schools can provide for adolescents and young adults.

“Growing up where I did, I could get on my bike and ride across town to my friend’s house, and nobody at home ever worried about me,” she says. “The community knew who I was, and I knew them. So there was no way I was going to get into any shenanigans because someone would first call me on it, and second, call my mother.

“In the same way, boarding schools are exactly the same sort of deliberately designed community in which we can all trust that we’re looking out for one another. We’re working collectively

On the Road with Katie Titus Meet Head of School Katie Titus at alumni events held in the following locations: • Boston (October 2016) • Washington, D.C. (November 30, 2016) • Hagerstown, Maryland (December 15, 2016) • New York City (January 20, 2017) • Chicago (2017) • Denver (2017) • Los Angeles (2017) • Philadelphia (2017) • San Francisco (2017) • South Florida (2017) • York/Hanover, Pennsylvania (2017) Tentative locations for events to be held in 2017–2018: • Asia • Atlanta • Baltimore • Boston • Charlotte • Chicago • Hagerstown, Maryland • Los Angeles • Naples/Sarasota, Florida • Philadelphia • Raleigh-Durham • San Francisco • Washington, D.C. • York/Hanover, Pennsylvania Schedule of events subject to change. For updates, visit www.mercersburg.edu/Page/Alumni/ Events-and-Reunions

An October 1970 Mercersburg News story about Titus’ father, Donald Hubert

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Titus speaking at Opening Convocation 2016

to foster the growth and development of young people. Isn’t that an amazing thing? From the faculty and staff kids who are running around campus all the way up to our seniors and postgraduates, we’re all committed to it.”

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ll three of the Hubert children graduated from Fair Haven Union, and while both of her older brothers completed a postgraduate year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, Titus headed directly to Middlebury College, about 30 miles north of home and a drastic change from her hometown—which she describes as “very similar to Mercersburg.”

“It was at Middlebury where I think I really started to develop myself as a leader. I was a junior counselor for the freshman dormitories and then I became a resident adviser [RA] in the dorm as a senior. Basketball and academics were very important, too. I looked up to my coach, Amy Backus (now the director of athletics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio), who was a very public figure there and was an incredibly poised and graceful leader as a basketball coach.

I had enormous respect for her and the way she operated not only as a basketball coach, but also as a woman. So that’s when I started to think about how I come across as a young woman who wanted to be successful in life and to be a leader and to be a model for other women. She had a real impact on me.”

Titus remembers being asked in first grade to draw a picture of herself in the profession she wanted to be when she grew up.

She drew herself as a teacher. As a mathematics major with a minor in secondary education at Middlebury, she planned to stay an additional year after completing work on her bachelor’s degree to obtain public-school certification as a teacher.

But Pingree School in South Hamilton, Massachusetts (north of Boston), contacted her about a one-year position available there teaching mathematics.

“It was an opportunity for me to really immerse myself fully into teaching before I had to decide if I really wanted to do it as a career,” Titus says. “One year turned into two, which turned into three, as these things often do. At the end of my third year, I explored other opportunities, like business and actuary work, because I enjoy statistics. I even gave my resignation at Pingree because I thought I needed something else.”

Titus even delivered the baccalaureate address, which is an honor reserved for the most senior faculty member who is leaving Pingree at the end of the year. The next day was graduation day, and she woke up with an epiphany.

“I went to see Alex Uhle, who was the head of school, and told him I thought I was making a big mistake. He said, ‘Katie, I know you are. And I’ve known that for a while. But I knew that you had to come to this on your own.’ It turns out they hadn’t filled my position yet, and they also were looking for

someone to take on a role as an assistant college counselor. He asked if I was interested in that, so I took that on and taught two math classes and kept coaching. And the rest is history.”

When Titus first arrived at Pingree, she was offered school housing—but was asked if she had any qualms about living in the same house with a male faculty member; her answer was “no,” given her experience growing up with older brothers. It turns out her new housemate would become her future husband, former Bates College football player and Pingree admission officer Stuart Titus.

“We became immediate friends,” she remembers. “There was an amazing friendship that blossomed over the first couple of years, which turned into a romance, and the next thing you knew [in 2000], we got married.” Stuart Titus eventually became Pingree’s director of admission and participated in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Aspiring Heads Workshop with an eye on one day becoming a head of school.

“I thought it was fascinating that Stuart was interested in being a head of school, and I was happy to support him and continue to teach and coach and work in college counseling,” Katie Titus says. “At that point I didn’t know enough about schools and independent schools in particular to even think it would be something I’d want to explore.

“And then the director of college counseling at Pingree decided to retire. I was offered the position as the director, and I took that on and loved it. One night, Stuart looked at me and said, ‘I’m not sure I want to be a head of school anymore.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s really interesting, because I think I might.’”

At that point, the Tituses were becoming parents for the first time; Natalie was born in 2002 and Samantha was born in 2005.

That same year, they decided to make a move to St. George’s. “We decided that, with young kids, it might make sense for us to explore boarding school,” she says.

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Katie Titus became the dean of students at St. George’s in her second year there, and worked her way up to assistant and later associate head of school life at the school. “She really grew here,” says Elizabeth “Beezie” Bickford, the dean of faculty at St. George’s, who worked alongside the Tituses for all 11 years they spent at the school. “Katie arrived here as a college counselor, and grew by virtue of her work ethic and desire to make this a good place.

“Katie and Stuart are both very thoughtful people. They both see the advantages of the school world and they both really enjoy working with kids. They challenge kids in healthy ways, and while they both have wonderful senses of humor, they aren’t only wellregarded because they’re funny or nice; they develop strong relationships with students because they take the time to get to know them. They’re both fun-loving and competitive and they’re always right in the mix of things.”

As she advanced in the administration at St. George’s, Titus completed a master’s in educational leadership from Columbia University, where she studied with Pearl Kane, the director of the Klingenstein Center at Columbia’s Teachers College.

“Pearl is a real legend in independent-school circles, and to have the opportunity to spend two summers with her—as well as the time she served as a resident scholar at St. George’s—is something that I value,” Titus says. “She’s a strong woman who has modeled for me how you can embrace leadership in ways that help others see their own value and their own strength.

“And through Klingenstein, I was also matched with a true mentor in Phil Peck, who is the head of Holderness School.

Phil is one of the rare heads of school who has worked his way up through the ranks within the same institution—which, sadly, doesn’t happen very often anymore. He is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, and has this gift of always making you feel like the most important person in the room. The time I’ve spent with him, learning from him and talking with him about my own growth and development, has been really important for me in affirming that I want to do this work.”

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he opportunity at Mercersburg presented itself when Hale announced in the spring of 2015 that he intended to retire at the close of the 2015–2016 school year.

That summer, Titus learned of the opening at Mercersburg and consulted with her St. George’s colleague and Middlebury College classmate Derry Mason, who spent nine years on the To watch a video replay Mercersburg faculty before he became the of the October 13 dean of students at St. George’s in 2013. installation service for Katherine M. Titus, scan “It was a closed search, which is done this QR code with your to protect the identity of the applicants and mobile device or visit in part to encourage sitting heads to apply,” bit.ly/2dOtOQz.

she says. “That didn’t matter to me. People at St. George’s knew I was applying. But I knew I could not be fully committed to the search if I couldn’t visit campus. I needed to see the place, even if it was just walking around by myself, just to see what the school was about.”

On the way to a meeting in Washington, D.C., with members of the search committee, Titus stopped on campus at Mercersburg and walked into the Irvine Memorial Chapel.

There she encountered Will Whitmore, the Academy’s school minister; as they talked, she discovered that the chapels at Mercersburg and St. George’s both share the same designer: the noted architect Ralph Adams Cram. “So, immediately, this place felt familiar,” she says. “And visiting with Will, who just appeared and gave me this great tour, really struck me in how this community welcomes a stranger in their midst. It made a real impression on me.”

Board of Regents Vice President Deborah Simon ’74—a member of the search committee—has been impressed with Titus from the beginning of the process.

“Katie is personable, tenacious, and has a vision of education that is fascinating,” says Simon. “We’re all very excited that she’s here, and Mercersburg will be served well by her leadership. She has already integrated herself into the day-to-day lives of students, and is very supportive of the faculty. In analyzing her priorities as head of school and what the school needs, she will make changes as needed without leaving behind our core values. She’s a very impressive person and will be great for our school.”

As she settles in at Mercersburg, Titus offers two main goals for her first year.

“The first is to get to know this place and our people—and that includes people that aren’t necessarily right on campus,” she says. “I will spend some time traveling to visit with alumni and parents, but really my most important charge is to get to know this place: the students, the faculty, and the staff.

“The second objective is to begin to envision what the process will be for Mercersburg’s next strategic plan. It will be a collective effort and very, very collaborative. What that will look like, when it will officially begin, and how we will tackle that is to be determined, but out of that process will come our vision for where Mercersburg will go in the next three to five years.”

IN

an effort to truly experience the school’s culture and life from different perspectives, Titus has intentionally scheduled a handful of days in each of the school’s three academic terms in which she is shadowing members of the campus community (students, faculty, and staff). As such, a visitor to Mercersburg in late September might have encountered the new head of school working out at 6:45 a.m. alongside

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members of the Mercersburg wrestling team, discussing history topics around a Harkness table in Lenfest Hall, socializing with students in the Simon Student Center, and cheering them on at a volleyball game.

“Mrs. Titus is really easy to talk to, and she was really interested in learning what it means to be a student here on a normal school day,” says Patrice McGloin ’19, one of the students Titus shadowed for a day during the first month of the year. “I felt like I was talking with, say, an older cousin rather than someone who is a different age than I am. She’s very interested in making this place the best it can be, and I can tell she’s willing to invest her time to figure out how to do that.”

Over the course of the year, Titus will shadow one student from each of Mercersburg’s four classes, as well as teaching faculty, members of the buildings & grounds department and employees of SAGE Dining Services in Ford Hall on campus, as well as other staff and administrators.

Titus is co-teaching a section of precalculus with Carl Stensland, who is also in his first year on the Mercersburg faculty. “She’s a really experienced teacher, so for me it’s been great to watch her in the classroom and learn from her,” says Stensland, who also teaches molecular biology and is Mercersburg’s head boys’ varsity soccer coach. “When you’re a student, maybe it’s normal to be a little intimidated when one of your teachers is the head of school, but she’s so approach-

Titus in the Simon Student Center with (from left) Allyson Chae ’17, Adam Cromwell ’17, Zach McDonald ’17, and Sam Ahern ’17

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able and engaging that I don’t think that lasted long. I think the students got over any nervousness pretty quickly.”

Titus was introduced as Mercersburg’s new head of school in the Chapel in December 2015 by Board of Regents President David Frantz ’60. After moving onto campus this summer, she and Stuart officially began as Mercersburg faculty members—and as Mercersburg parents, with Natalie enrolling as a member of the junior (ninth-grade) class.

“Especially with two daughters, it means a lot to me to be Mercersburg’s first female head of school,” Titus says. “It’s meaningful to hear that when Natalie was asked about how it felt to be the daughter of the new head of school, she just said, ‘I’m really proud of my mom.’

“There’s an enormous sense of responsibility and gratitude that comes from being the head of school at Mercersburg. This is a very healthy institution with an incredible team in place. The administrative team is unbelievable. Because of the hard work done by so many—and especially Doug Hale—I’ve been able to come into an environment where I have the luxury of spending more time on campus, with the students, in the classrooms, in the dorms, on the fields and in the performance halls.

“I just want to be with the students and the faculty and the staff, observing, talking, and listening. By being able to spend time here and be part of their lives, my own love for this place will only continue to grow.”

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SALUTE to RETIRING FACULTY

RAY LARSON:

Teacher by Nature

By Hope McGrath

THE PEOPLE in Russian playwright Anton Chekov’s short story, “A Day in the Country,” are experts in the natural world. We are told they gleaned their knowledge “in the fields, in the wood, on the river bank.” “Their teachers,” Chekov writes, “have been the birds themselves, when they sang to them.”

The same could be said of Mercersburg science teacher Ray Larson, who retired in May after 27 years on the faculty. An avid birder and devoted student of the natural world, Larson wore many hats during his boarding school career. In addition to teaching science and math, Larson also worked for six years in the Mercersburg’s Office of Alumni & Development (as it was then known). A longtime assistant dean of students (1996 to 2009), he served as dean of the dining hall for 10 years and chair of the science department for five years.

Along with his late wife, Marilyn (who passed away in 2001), Larson was a dormitory dean in Main Hall for seven years. Faculty secretary, duty dean, and Peer Group director also appear on his long resume. Even these duties couldn’t keep Larson busy enough: he is also an active member of Rotary International and has served as the school’s United Way coordinator for 24 years.

“That’s just who Ray is,” says Debbie Rutherford, associate head of school and a longtime friend and colleague. “He is always trying to be helpful, and he is one of those people who can step in and do lots of different things.”

Some of Larson’s contributions to life at Mercersburg are not well known. Jim Malone has worked with Larson in the science department for many years, and both men share a love of birding and ornithology. Now that Larson has retired, Malone has taken responsibility for the department’s budding bird collection. For many years, Larson had the federal and state permits that allowed him to salvage bird specimens used in the school’s hawk and owl biology class.

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“Did you know you had to have a permit to have a freezer full of dead hawks?”

Malone asks in faux surprise. It was one of the many batons Larson had to pass on when he retired. He also began the tradition of juniors (ninth graders) waiting tables in the dining hall the night of Baccalaureate.

The senior slide show—now a highly anticipated event where seniors get to see baby pictures of themselves and their classmates on the big screen before graduation—was another one of Larson’s ideas.

“Ray did it behind the scenes, as a surprise,” Rutherford remembers. “The kids didn’t even know he was gathering these pictures from their parents. He always tries to slip under the radar and do things for people.”

That desire to help others is what initially introduced Larson to teaching. In 1972, he joined the Peace Corps and spent the next three years teaching science in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). When he returned to the States, he took a job at Wasatch Academy, a boarding school in central Utah. His three sons— Kit ’97, Ben ’01, and Greg ’06—were born there. Although they enjoyed Utah’s rural beauty, Larson and his wife wanted to move closer to family.

“When I came in through the Davison Gate, I thought, ‘This has got to be the place,’” Larson remembers. “It was just so gorgeous. After spending a couple days meeting people, I came home and said to my wife, ‘This is where we should go.’”

Larson joined the faculty in 1989 as director of development and alumni affairs.

The next year, following a national search, his wife became Mercersburg’s academic dean. The campus, which Larson had

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found so beautiful, became their children’s playground.

“We wanted a place where our kids would be safe and where they could experience the out of doors while we were working,” Larson explains. “You want your kids to have a certain amount of freedom, and you don’t want to worry about them all the time. We never had to worry about where they were. We knew they were on campus somewhere.”

His oldest son agrees. “We had one big backyard to play in and discover,” says Kit Larson. “You always felt safe.”

The late Marilyn Larson

EXPLORING THE WORLD BEYOND While he and his family enjoyed the beauty and safety of campus, Larson also had many opportunities to explore the world beyond Mercersburg. He traveled with students to Germany and Austria with German teacher Peter Kempe, and he ventured to Ecuador and the Galapagos with Frank Rutherford ’70, a fellow science teacher and husband of Debbie Rutherford. But the summer trip to Costa Rica became an annual tradition for Larson and for Mercersburg.

Larson has helped lead student trips to Costa Rica for seven years. In addition to conducting group studies in ecology, natural history, and human geography, students go bird-watching, learn about cattle farming, ride horses, study turtles on the beaches of Ostional, and learn to live with noisy howler monkey neighbors. Students and faculty utilize the home and ranch of Susan and Edward Reilly (parents of Gussie ’08 and Cammie ’10) as a culminating experience for a for-credit course in tropical biology. Home to more than 500,000

different species, including more than 800 different species of birds, Costa Rica was the ideal outdoors classroom for Larson to explore his passion for birding and biology.

Science teacher Nikki Walker was with Larson when a group of faculty traveled to Costa Rica in 2008 to investigate the possibility of taking students to the Central American country. They were traveling companions on the next seven trips, which Walker continues to lead every June.

“Ray was always the first person up in the morning, binoculars up and looking at different species of birds,” Walker recalls.

“Or you’d get up and he’d have his spotting scope trained on a family of monkeys in the trees.”

This summer was the first time Larson did not travel with the group to Costa Rica.

Instead, he bought special Mercersburgemblazoned baseball caps for all the trip participants—just another example of his thoughtfulness “behind the scenes.”

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THE NATURAL WORLD While Costa Rica offered unique opportunities for exploration, Larson and his students found plenty to observe closer to home, even right on campus. He often took his classes outside, notebooks and pencils in hand, to observe, measure, collect, and— most of all—experience the concepts they were learning about firsthand. In 2012, Larson and Frank Rutherford began taking interested students to Slaughter Beach, near Lewes, Delaware, to witness the age-old phenomenon of the arrival of the migratory Red Knots and the mating of the horseshoe crabs. Migrating from South America, the Red Knots are shore birds that stop along the eastern coast of the U.S. to feed on horseshoe crab eggs and refuel for their long trek to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. Both species are in decline, and the trip is a chance for students to study these animals and learn about a unique millennia-long relationship. Encouraged and hosted by a Mercersburg family with a home near the Delaware Bay, Mercersburg students help survey the horseshoe crab population on the beach and learn about coastal ecology.

For Frank Rutherford, that excursion is typical of Larson’s devotion to hands-on, outdoors learning. “He loves to take kids out of the classroom—into nature—and get them involved in the natural world.”

Over the years, Larson has taught physical science, biology, and Algebra II, as well as term courses in astronomy and biology.

Students have responded well to his experiential approach to learning, even those who lacked confidence in their scientific abilities. “Ray had that capacity to work with the kids who were sometimes not the

“ Ray loves to take kids out of the classroom—into nature—and get them involved in the natural world.”

—FRANK RUTHERFORD ’70, FELLOW SCIENCE TEACHER

best science students to start with,” says Frank Rutherford. “But he always got them interested in science because he liked to go outside, see birds, and observe everything.”

Walker agrees: “Ray believes that all kids can learn science and can benefit from learning science. He is great with kids who might not otherwise find science their first love, and he tries to bring out the interest in those minds.”

In his last year before retirement, Larson t aught juniors and upperclassmen— “completely different worlds,” as he calls them—but both exciting and challenging groups. “I always thought teaching ninth graders was fun. You have an opportunity to make a big impact on how they are going to go about learning science in high school, and you can help guide them along the path to figuring out their world and that the process can be fun.”

Lower-middler Anna Mele ’19 was lucky to experience Larson’s teaching in her ninth-grade year. “I was always so excited to go to biology class,” she says. “He set high standards for us and encouraged us to reach them.”

Larson received the Zern Excellence in Teaching Award for the 2002–2003 academic year. While the recognition was rewarding, he also enjoyed hearing how scientific education had informed his students’ lives after Mercersburg.

“The best part is seeing students five, 10, or 15 years [after graduation] and, like any parent—and that’s what we are here, we’re parents—realizing the progress they’ve made since they left here,” he says. “This is really just a jumping-off place. They come back at reunions, and you hear about what they are doing, and you have a sense of pride in what you and the school do on a daily basis.”

For a teaching career that has spanned 44 years, Larson has influenced a remarkable number of lives. He still keeps in touch with some of his former students from Utah, not to mention a legion of Mercersburg alumni. But he rarely needs to wait for Reunion Weekend to see someone he knows. Just recently he ran into former students in the grocery store and in a local bookstore. These “unplanned encounters,” as he calls them, remind him how many connections Mercersburg has all over the world.

“When we used to travel in the summer, I would always take a couple Mercersburg T-shirts with me. I’d say, ‘I wonder how long it will take before someone recognizes the name of the school,’” Larson says.

“Inevitably someone would come up to you and say, ‘I know that place.’”

It’s not surprising to Walker that former students have such positive memories of Larson and their time in his classroom.

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“The students realize that he cares about them, even more than he cares about their grades,” she says. “He cares about them as people.”

For Larson, it is a special treat when former students tell him about their experiences getting outside and experiencing nature.

“I ran into one student the other day who told me she is regularly checking on the night sky. She said, ‘I wouldn’t have done that before your class.’ It was nice to hear,” he says with a smile.

ON TO THE NEXT ADVENTURE Larson’s final few weeks before retirement were “bittersweet,” he admits. They provided numerous opportunities to reflect on the many people he has met and worked with at Mercersburg.

“I am forever indebted to the many colleagues that I have had the privilege to work with during my career. Each, in his or her own way, has made me want to become a better teacher,” Larson says. “My students have managed to keep me thinking young, and they have always reminded me about the importance of patience and humor.

“Coming to the dining hall every morning, seeing the staff and talking with them about their families, and seeing the students—it was a fun way to begin your day. It was a good ride.”

About Ray Larson • Holds a bachelor’s degree from Kean College (now Kean University) in New Jersey and a master’s from Eastern Illinois University.

• At Mercersburg since 1989; originally began his Mercersburg tenure as director of development before moving into the science classroom.

• In addition to his teaching duties, has worked as the assistant dean of students as well as a dormitory dean, dean of the dining hall, faculty secretary, director of the Peer Group program, duty dean, and United Way coordinator for the school.

• Served in the Peace Corps in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

• He and his late wife, Marilyn (Mercersburg’s academic dean from 1990 to 2001), have three sons: Kit ’97, Ben ’01, and Greg ’06.

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The ride is taking a different course now. Larson is taking Master Gardener classes through Penn State University and serving on the board of the Tuscarora Wildlife Education Project (TWEP). “I’ve already started to fill up my dance card,” he laughs.

His plans are anything but set. He hopes to visit Costa Rica again, but next time in the winter when the birds of North America have migrated south. He is planning a cruise through the Panama Canal. And he wants to visit his sons in Austin and College Station, Texas, and Gig Harbor, Washington, and of course see his grandchildren, Quinn, Collins, and Lucas. But he isn’t planning a typical route.

“I toy with taking my motorcycle across [U.S.] Route 30 to California,” Larson says. He would ride west, making stops along the way, and then link up with the Pacific Coast Highway. From there, he would follow the coast to Seattle.

In some ways, Larson has never stopped traveling. He made a 27-year stopover in Mercersburg, but there’s more he wants to see.

“I’ve kept my passport up to date, and I’m ready to go. It’s really an interesting world out there.”

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SALUTE to RETIRING FACULTY

JACK HAWBAKER:

Changed for Good WHEN JACK HAWBAKER delivered the Baccalaureate address to the Mercersburg graduating class of 2016, he underscored the message of community and connection: “I’m a firm believer that while we each chart our own destiny, we are influenced in so many ways by those around us.”

This sentiment has certainly held true for Hawbaker’s own life. A native of the town of Mercersburg, he can point to many examples when Mercersburg Academy and the people connected with it have positively influenced him. A student is even responsible for uniting Hawbaker with the woman who would become his wife.

Now, after teaching for 31 years at the Academy, mentoring more than 150 advisees, and working with countless other students in the Jazz Band and Concert Band, his classes, and the dorm, Hawbaker officially retired at the end of the 2015–2016 academic year and joined the ranks of faculty emeritus. But despite his departure, he says, his connection to both the school and the community will continue to remain strong.

Hawbaker describes himself a “townie.” Growing up in Mercersburg, he remembers seeing Academy students around town when he would head to the movies on a Friday night. At that time, Mercersburg Academy was still an all-male institution.

“There was a hangout place that is now the James Buchanan Pub, but it was then Jack McLaughlin’s Drug Store,” Hawbaker remembers. “The Mercersburg boys all hung out there, and I have to confess, as a townie, I didn’t go in there much. I was just intimidated by those guys.”

Hawbaker doesn’t remember stepping on the Mercersburg campus much during his youth. “There used to be a golf course here on campus, a nine-hole golf course,” he says. “My dad loved to play golf, so we’d come in sometimes and hit golf balls. But other than that, I don’t know that I was on campus too much until I started singing in the [Mercersburg Area] Community Chorus in the Chapel. I took my SATs in what was then the Jacobs Room in the lower level of Boone Hall.”

By Megan Mallory

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Hawbaker performing with the Jazz Band, Magalia, and the Octet in spring 2016

As Hawbaker made his way through the Tuscarora school system as a student, he encountered someone who would influence his future career choice and, by chance, would also later become his colleague at Mercersburg. “Richard Rotz [Mercersburg’s current director of music] was my high-school band director,” Hawbaker says. “When I was in 10th grade, he came to James Buchanan High School. He would write music for the band, and I was just so impressed by that. I was really involved in the band, and up until that time, I thought I wanted to be an architect. I always tell Richard that if it weren’t for him, I would have been an architect, and he says, ‘Oh, can you ever forgive me?’”

Rotz remembers Hawbaker as an enthusiastic, hardworking student who loved music and singing, and he says Hawbaker carried these same qualities into his later life. As a colleague at Mercersburg, Rotz describes Hawbaker as “a man of many talents.

He loves his students and always wants to do what’s best for them.

He has also fulfilled many roles at the Academy. He’s a great organizer, and that’s one of his greatest gifts.”

Hawbaker began his teaching career just after he graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1973. A band director position opened up at James Buchanan Middle School, and Hawbaker applied. He taught at the middle school for 10 years before moving up to teach at James Buchanan High School for two years. Then, in 1985, he got a call from Taylor Camerer, who was the music director at the Academy.

“They were doing the show The Music Man, and it has a barbershop quartet in it that’s a pretty pivotal part of the show,” Hawbaker remembers. “They had a student who was singing the lead tenor, but the director and the student both kind of came to the consensus that it wasn’t working. So, Taylor called me about a month before the show and said, ‘Could you come in and work with us and do that?’” Hawbaker said yes and joined the production.

This was Hawbaker’s first inside glimpse at what went on at the Academy. “I was just really impressed with the friendly, clearly respectful and open way the students and faculty related with each other,” he says. “Students didn’t seem at all reluctant to say whatever, and faculty seemed to make them comfortable in doing that, and I really liked that.”

In the fall of that year, Hawbaker became one of those faculty members. He joined the fine-arts department to direct the Concert Band and the Jazz Band and also to provide technical assistance for the theater. “When I came here, one of my goals was to try to bridge what I saw as a little bit of a gap and create good relationships with the town and the school,” he says. “I don’t know if I’ve been successful in that, but I hope the gap is not as much.”

As part of his faculty role, he also lived in Fowle Hall and adapted easily to boarding-school life. His dorm dean at the time might have said he adapted a little too easily. “I loved going down the hall and just walking into kids’ rooms and talking to them and visiting,” he remembers. “And in those days, I think as a school,

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we were much more rigid about study hall.

Study hall was from 8 to 10 p.m., and it had to be deathly quiet. I’d forget that sometimes, and I’d go in and I’d be talking to a kid and the dorm dean would come down the hall with a full head of steam ready to blast somebody, and he’d walk in the door and see me and say, ‘Oh, it’s you,’ and then turn around and leave.”

Hawbaker adjusted so quickly to dorm life that by his second year, he had become the dorm dean in Fowle Hall. “I was really honored, given that I’d only been there three or four months at the time when they asked if I’d do that,” says Hawbaker, who was the Fowle dorm dean for seven years and did dorm duty for all 31 of his years at Mercersburg.

Even as Hawbaker heads into retirement, it is life in the dorms that he says he will miss most. “One of my hesitations about retiring is that there is something invigorating about being in the dorm,” he says. “Their energy is contagious, to me at least. They are just so enthusiastic, and I just like being there with them and being able to talk to them and joke with them. I describe it as playing Peter Pan because you never have to grow up.”

While Mercersburg community life may have kept Hawbaker young, it also played a key role in many of Hawbaker’s major life moments. For instance, Sam Hopple ’89, a prefect in Fowle Hall at the time, stepped in to play matchmaker for Hawbaker just after Hawbaker met Karen Kipp, the woman who would become his wife.

“I had been away at a conference, which is where I met Karen,” Hawbaker says. “When I returned to the dorm, I was hanging out with my prefects in my office, as we did all the time. I told them I had met this young lady and she had given me her phone number. Sam grabbed the number out of my hand, picked up my phone, dialed the number, and handed me the phone. Karen and I made the first date and the rest is history.” The Hawbakers married in what is now the Irvine Memorial Chapel in 1990, and Sam served as an usher at their wedding.

In 1992, Hawbaker welcomed his first son Kip into the world, and the Mercersburg community helped him celebrate. Kip’s birth coincided with a Jazz Band concert.

“We had our final Jazz Band rehearsal Thursday evening, and [Karen and I] went to the hospital Thursday night,” he says. “I

About Jack Hawbaker • Other than college, has spent his entire life living and teaching in the town of Mercersburg: 12 years in the Tuscarora School District and 31 years at Mercersburg Academy.

• At Mercersburg since 1985; spent seven years as dorm dean of Fowle Hall; directed the Jazz Band and Concert Band and taught music history, music theory, computer music composition, and guitar & drums; served as both dean of the dining hall and director of community service at the time of his retirement.

• Chosen as Baccalaureate speaker for the Class of 2016. As Hawbaker says, “That, for me, was the perfect pinnacle of things. I was so honored to have been asked to do that and so enjoyed it.”

• Married his wife, Karen, in the Chapel in 1990; their two sons, Kip ’10 and Kyle ’14, are Mercersburg alumni.

was at the hospital all day Friday, I was at the hospital all day Saturday, and I came back just in time to start the concert. No one had actually seen me, but they knew that it had happened. So, when I stepped out on stage, there was just thunderous applause, and I got to announce Kip’s birth.” Both Kip and Hawbaker’s younger son Kyle are now Mercersburg graduates (class of 2010 and 2014, respectively). Kip lives in Florida, and Kyle is a junior at Temple University.

With all of these memorable moments, the decision to ultimately retire was a tricky one for Hawbaker. “I did think about it last year, but in my advisee group, I had six kids.

Four of them were seniors, and two of them were 11th graders who were still going to be here, and in the back of my mind, I didn’t want to leave them behind. This final year, though, it ended up that I had nine advisees, and they were all seniors, so I could retire without leaving anybody behind.”

“Jack has a genuine love for these students, and how he supports them, I think, is very commendable,” says Jim Brinson, a colleague of Hawbaker’s in the fine-arts department. Whether Hawbaker was organizing senior presentations, photographing sports or other events, serving as dean of the dining hall, or organizing the communityservice program, Brinson says, “I think he just excelled at all of those tasks. Whatever Jack really gets into, he gives 100 percent.

He likes this community, and he likes to be a part of it. I can’t think of any time when I was not struck by the dedicated way Jack would approach whatever task the school assigned him.”

When Hawbaker thinks back over his time at Mercersburg and the lessons he has tried to impart to students, he says, “My impact, I hope, is that students will feel like I helped them feel good about

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“ I wish for you to be happy, be healthy, be safe, and above all, be yourselves.”

—JACK HAWBAKER’S WISH FOR ALL MERCERSBURG STUDENTS

themselves and what they could accomplish. I always tell my students, ‘I don’t suffer any delusions that it’s going to be important in your life that you know what a one, four, and five chord is, but what is important is that you understand your capacity to learn what it is.

You understand how it is that you learn. You have confidence in your abilities to learn and do whatever it is you’re going to need to learn to do.’”

As for the future, the Hawbakers plan to travel, and they took a fall trip to New England to experience the region’s beauty and to connect with former Mercersburg colleagues who now live in the area.

And he’ll still be a friendly face on campus from time to time, too. “I’m still going to stay somewhat connected with the school,” Hawbaker says. “I’m going to drive for medical appointments and things, and frankly, anything else where they could use me. I certainly plan on coming over and watching games and watching some of my boys from Tippetts.”

As Hawbaker said his official goodbyes to the school in his Baccalaureate address in May, he gave the entire graduating Class of 2016 honorary membership in the “HawbSquad,” a term his advisees coined for themselves.

“My relationship with the HawbSquad has been the heart and soul of my existence here, and a few years ago I started a daily routine,” he says. “Each day, usually as I lay down to go to sleep, I say to myself—sometimes out loud, but usually just a thought: ‘Guys, I wish for you to be happy, be healthy, be safe, and above all, be yourselves.’ To me, being yourself is being happy with who you are and standing up for what you are.”

That is Hawbaker’s wish for all Mercersburg students.

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SALUTE to RETIRING FACULTY

PETE WILLIAMS:

A Coach for the Ages

By Shelton Clark

FINDING OUT WHAT MAKES a quiet leader like former Mercersburg swim coach Pete Williams is an elusive thing. In an age of relentless self-promotion, what of the person who has achieved much but courteously demurs when asked to list one’s own accomplishments from his or her curriculum vitae? What word does one use to describe such a person? Anachronistic? Polite? Modest?

Perhaps his former colleagues, who have used the words “humility” and “balance,” come closer to defining Williams’ 28-year tenure at the school. Williams, who began his Mercersburg career in 1988, and his wife, Peggy, have retired to the same San Antonioarea house they left when Williams accepted the job at Mercersburg.

Though he himself made the 1968 U.S. Summer Olympic Team, was an 11-time college All-American at Michigan State University, and later coached plenty of championship swimmers—including several Olympians from a number of countries, among them Pakistan, Croatia, the Philippines, and Lebanon, in addition to the U.S.—Williams notes that the majority of those swimmers he coached were not quite at that level but would benefit from the lessons swimming had to offer.

When asked about what he took the greatest pride in during his career, Williams answers, “Probably teaching swimmers how to set goals, and then how to focus on the little things that it takes to attain those goals—focusing on the process rather than the outcome, and how that translates to other things in their lives,” Williams says. “If you make the goal, you still have to reset it. If you don’t make the goal, you analyze what you would do differently to get to that goal. Goal-setting is an important part of life, not just in athletics.

There’s a transfer there, so it’s not all just about if you won a gold medal. There’s a lesson and more of an experience than someone who went through the same process, did the goal-setting and didn’t attain that gold medal but was involved in the process. Getting to be a part of that process with all levels of swimmers, whether they won a gold medal or not.”

Former colleagues agree. Barb Thorne, who served as an assistant coach under Williams, says, “It didn’t matter if you were the best or the worst on the team. Pete found a way to connect and bring out the best in everyone.”

Not that there weren’t plenty of awards to be won. His boys teams won five Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships titles (colloquially known as “Easterns”), but he is quick to add that 2016’s girls’ team, for which he served as associate coach alongside head coach Glenn Neufeld, won Mercersburg’s first Easterns title in the girls’ event since before he arrived at the school.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

In 1988, Williams and his family were living in Texas, and he was the swim coach for the U.S. Olympic Team’s modern pentathlon athletes. Competitors in modern pentathlon have to balance five disciplines: fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, and a combined pistol shooting/running event. Apropos, since Williams had to juggle his commitment to the U.S. Olympic Team in Seoul and his brand-new job at Mercersburg. “I was there for the faculty orientation, and then I was gone for the second and third week of school,” he says. “My older daughter [Jeanie Williams McGaughy ’92] had to fill me in [on life at Mercersburg],” he adds with a laugh.

Younger daughter Rosie Williams Udodj ’95 “had a couple years [before enrolling at Mercersburg] to adapt to the Pennsylvania routine.”

Balance. That word keeps popping up in conversations with Williams and his former colleagues. Williams points to the discipline of his swimmers, and time commitments that often included morning and afternoon practices. “The training is part of their academic day,” he explains. “Division I schools have a certain number

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“ Pete is a world-class, professional swim coach who studied his craft and worked endlessly towards improving his swimmers and himself…

He was more than a coach to the swimmers who swam for him; he was a mentor, a friend, and an adviser.”

—BARB THORNE, LONGTIME MERCERSBURG ASSISTANT SWIMMING COACH

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Williams in 2007 with 1936 Olympic silver medalist John Macionis ’34

of hours that you’re allowed to train. There were some places where you could train more [than Mercersburg], and some where you couldn’t train as much. We were in the middle of what I always talked about, the good balance between academics and athletics.”

“Pete’s balance of structure and trust in his athletes to grow from and respond to both adversity and success was artistic,” says Williams’ longtime faculty colleague Mark Cubit, who, as a successful former boys’ basketball coach (and a player and assistant coach at Syracuse University under the legendary Jim Boeheim), himself knows a few things about coaching. “While creating a safe, somewhat predictable environment, he enabled so many of his athletes to grow with the same humility and steadiness he exuded even during the unavoidable challenges of adolescence.”

Williams also reflects on his time at Mercersburg with gratitude for community. “Mercersburg has a really strong community,” he says. “The swimmers were, to a certain extent, a community within the community. Their friends weren’t exclusively swimmers, but during the season especially, it was a pretty strong bond—working together every day, holding it all together to balance between the academics and the athletics. They tend to stay friends pretty much throughout life. When they come back for their reunions, they get together as swimmers as well. I think it’s a fairly unique experience. It’s not like in a public school where you come back and maybe live in the same ZIP code all your life. Once they leave

Williams with Mercersburg swimmers at a special presentation in February 2016

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[Mercersburg], they scatter all over the world, but come back for 10-year or 20-year reunions. They’re a little more spread out, but they have a pretty tight community bond.”

Time and again, colleagues share what Williams may have inadvertently left out: Williams’ own role in that community.

“Pete, as we well know, practiced economy of speech—most especially when he was the topic,” Cubit says. “Only by my own curiosity and initiative would I discover the enormous success my friend found in the pool and beyond. His success, like all great coaches, transcended the pool in the short time athletes spent with him here at Mercersburg. He has moved on, but I too have been coached by Pete. As such, I can still feel his wisdom in the precious quiet we will continue to share.”

“He was more than a coach to the swimmers who swam for him; he was a mentor, a friend, and an adviser,” Thorne says. “I coached with Pete for 23 years and I was very lucky to get to work with someone like him. He is a world-class, professional swim coach who studied his craft and worked endlessly towards improving his swimmers and himself. I learned so much from Pete, but he also let me be myself as a coach and he encouraged my strengths and recognized their value. Pete could easily have coached at the college level, but he enjoyed working with high-school-aged students who he could help shape as swimmers and people.”

About Pete Williams • Grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Michigan State University, where he was an 11-time NCAA AllAmerican and held the NCAA record in the 400-yard individual medley.

• Qualified for the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team and has been part of four Olympiads as an athlete, coach, or official.

• Came to Mercersburg in 1988, and spent 26 years as head coach, during which his teams won five Eastern Interscholastic Swimming Championships titles and set three national interscholastic records.

• During his tenure, 10 Mercersburg swimmers qualified for the Olympic Games.

• Longtime head of Mercersburg’s physical-education department.

• Williams and his wife, Peggy, have two children (both Mercersburg alumni): Jeanie Williams McGaughy ’92 and Rosie Williams Udouj ’95.

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A Defining Moment.

An Enduring Impact.

In the fall of 2013, Mercersburg launched the most ambitious Campaign in its 120-year history—and one of the largest ever attempted by an independent school.

The Daring to Lead Campaign built on Mercersburg’s historic strengths and reflected grand aspirations for the future. It sought unprecedented investments in financial aid, faculty support, program support, and the campus. It endeavored to make Mercersburg a place not only of boundless possibilities but of new and exciting realities.

And it succeeded because of our community’s commitment, generosity, and spirit.

Envisioning the Future In 2012, Mercersburg benefited from a growing endowment, an expanded academic program, updated campus facilities, a tremendous faculty, staff, and student body, established and effective leadership, and a generous and engaged alumni and parent community.

Recognizing a singular opportunity to “pull into the passing lane” among peer schools, as Campaign Co-Chair John Prentiss ’65 later described it, the Board of Regents committed to a comprehensive fundraising campaign. Its $300 million goal was based on fulfilling the priorities outlined in the school’s strategic plan and campus master plan.

More than twice the size of any previous Mercersburg campaign goal, $300 million was ambitious—but it was achievable thanks to the collective effort of the Mercersburg community. A $100 million gift from Regent Deborah Simon ’74 and her foundation publicly kicked off Daring to Lead in October 2013.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in my time at Mercersburg, it is that people believe in setting audacious goals,” then Head of School Douglas Hale said at the Campaign’s New York City launch a few months later. “This Campaign is about taking that leap to the next curve of excellence that Mercersburg has done all along in its history.”

Decisive Outcomes Through Daring to Lead, Mercersburg has been better equipped to remove financial barriers so we can enroll any student who should be here; recruit, retain, and champion the best faculty anywhere; invest smartly in innovative academic and residential programs that change students’ lives; create facilities that deliver these programs in the best possible ways, fulfill our master plan, and anticipate how programs might grow and change; and build our endowment to ensure greater financial stability, flexibility, access, and affordability.

“Our community rose to the occasion because this Campaign was grounded in an egalitarian tradition that stretches back to the days of William Mann Irvine. As in all things, Mercersburg demonstrated its humility and unwavering confidence as we worked together to accomplish this feat.”

—Campaign Co-Chair John Prentiss ’65, P ’89, ’92 “The Daring to Lead Campaign’s name and scale reflected Mercersburg’s aspirations: to not only become a better version of itself but to challenge us to consider how we can shape secondary education across the United States.”

—Campaign Co-Chair Deborah Simon ’74

The numbers on the following pages reflect both the quiet and public phases of the Campaign: from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2016.

When the Campaign ended June 30, 2016, more than

7,000 members

of the Mercersburg community had contributed to the effort, propelling Daring to Lead to

$301

million

Financial Aid Mercersburg has always been committed to attracting exceptional students who bring tremendous energy, talent, and value to our community.

Daring to Lead secured dedicated gifts of more than $77 million for financial aid, substantially increasing access for the best students, including those from middle-income families who may have never considered an independent school.

Gifts from the Campaign have enabled Mercersburg to remove financial barriers for the best and brightest students and their families. New scholarships are allowing us to recruit and enroll young people who will benefit most from the Mercersburg experience.

New endowed financial aid funds:

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Increase in financial aid budget:

Number of financial Number of financial aid recipients in aid recipients in 2015-2016: 2007-2008:

$2.25 184 million

225

(53 percent)

“Coming to Mercersburg has allowed me to really explore each of my interests in great depth and learn so much more about myself. I’ve met a remarkable group of people and have had an extraordinary academic experience. I know that what I’ve accomplished and learned here will give me a solid foundation for my future. The people I’ve met and things I’ve been able to accomplish have actually changed my life.”

—C.J. Walker ’17, recipient of the W. Thomas Morris ’44 Scholarship and John H. Culbertson ’24 Scholarship

Faculty Support Our community has always taken pride in a teaching corps that leads its profession, embraces innovation at every turn, and serves as coaches, advisers, mentors, and dorm parents. Our faculty excel at developing students’ critical thinking skills, nurturing curiosity, inspiring dreams, and helping students reach their fullest potential.

Daring to Lead secured dedicated gifts of more than $35 million to recruit, retain, and support the best teachers anywhere and to keep them on the leading edge through year-round professional development opportunities that will ensure they are in the vanguard of education.

Gifts from the Campaign guarantee that Mercersburg remains a career destination and boasts the very best faculty of any boarding school by funding teaching positions and awards, graduate coursework and other academic training, professional conferences, and domestic and international travel.

“When I consider how I started at Mercersburg, using very traditional methods, I am amazed by the progress we have made. The collegiality of my peers, the quality of the materials made available to me, the abundant professional development opportunities, and my eager, bright students—all these elements have taken our program to heights and in directions I would never have dared to hope for.”

—Tom Thorne P ’06, ’07, language faculty

What Daring to Lead has done: • Created 12 new endowed faculty support funds • Created four new endowed faculty chairs • Established a new sabbatical program for faculty to rest, rejuvenate, and pursue off-campus professional development • Established a new Summer Faculty Institute that utilizes outside resources and experts • Launched a Fellows training program to shape the next generation of faculty • Increased the school’s matching retirement contribution for faculty and staff

Program Support Mercersburg’s academic and residential programs are designed to equip every student with the 21st-century skills to be a successful global citizen. These collaborative, interdisciplinary learning opportunities represent a breadth and depth of experiences that produce well-rounded students.

Daring to Lead secured dedicated gifts of more than $24 million to build and drive our core academic and residential mission, with an emphasis on advancing technology and providing meaningful learning experiences that stretch beyond the classrooms, laboratories, and playing fields of campus.

Gifts from the Campaign have enabled Mercersburg to forge new and innovative academic and residential programs that foster self-discovery and self-definition with intentionality for every student. New classes, new capstone programs, and new classroom resources promote fundamental academic proficiencies, thoughtful global perspectives, problem-solving skills, and superior technological literacy.

“I have had the opportunity to design and team-teach a senior capstone Springboard course focused on art and math that includes hands-on experience with the same software program that animation studios use. Students’ final projects have ranged from computer character modeling to furniture design to virtual prototyping of products to designing and producing a small line of handbags. I love this course because it teaches students how to work independently and also how to work on a team, to work within a discipline, and to see the connections between disciplines.”

—Amy Kelley, math faculty

What Daring to Lead has done: • Created 36 new endowed program support funds • Increased opportunities for visiting artists, scholars, and speakers • Expanded student enrichment opportunities and program innovation • Provided flexible support for future program development • Increased endowed support for Community Engagement and Mercersburg Outdoor Education • Funded standardized test preparation and the senior capstone programs Springboard and MAPS

Facilities Mercersburg has always strived to ensure that its facilities serve students and reflect current and future program needs.

Extraordinary spaces on campus allow the fullest potential of our academic and residential curricula to be realized.

Thanks to careful planning, every student’s experience is enhanced by state-of-the-art buildings that are designed with both form and function in mind.

Daring to Lead secured dedicated gifts of more than $56 million to create program-driven spaces that serve our students and enhance the Mercersburg campus.

Simon Student Center (2013)

Menard Family Faculty Housing (2015)

The student center serves as the hub of campus residential life.

Four new duplexes have provided eight more faculty homes on campus.

Prentiss Alumni and Parent Center at North Cottage (2016)

Hale Field House (2016)

North Cottage has been reinvented as a dedicated space for alumni, parents, and friends of the school.

The field house will provide year-round indoor space for athletic practices, training, and competitions.

Other facilities completed during Daring to Lead: 1893 House (2013) Softball field (renovations) (2011) Lambert J. Gross ’33 Athletic Park (2010) Nolde Gymnasium (renovations) (2010) Prentiss-Zimmerman Quadrangle (2009) Regents’ Field (2009)

Aquatic Center (estimated 2017-2018 groundbreaking) The aquatic center will offer a 50-meter Olympic-sized pool.

The Mercersburg Annual Fund The Annual Fund provides nearly 10 percent of Mercersburg’s operating budget every year not covered by tuition and endowment income. Gifts from alumni, current and past parents, businesses and organizations, and friends of the school support annual operations.

Daring to Lead secured dedicated gifts of more than $33 million to meet current and emerging budget priorities through the Annual Fund—gifts to underwrite the current school year and provide every member of the extended Mercersburg family with the chance to partner in our mission.

The Annual Fund is the primary way most donors supported Daring to Lead. Some 6,877 donors participated in the Annual Fund throughout the Campaign, investing in every aspect of the student experience and touching every part of campus.

“This place is incredible. When you look at Mercersburg, you realize that’s not just happening because of good fortune or something like that. It’s happening because there is an army of alumni, parents, and friends out there who just really love this place and care about it and are willing to stand behind that with their means. And it’s just an incredible generosity that’s always been the case with this school.”

—Mike Sweeney P ’07, ’13, ’19, math faculty

First-time Annual Fund donors: 2,771 Gift range: $1 to $200,000 Alumni Annual Fund participation in 2007-2008: 27 percent Alumni Annual Fund participation in 2015-2016: 49 percent (commitments) Parent Annual Fund participation in 2007-2008: 50 percent Parent Annual Fund participation in 2015-2016: 61 percent William Mann Irvine Society members in 2015-2016: 688 (those who gave $1,893+ or an associate level amount) Torchbearers in 2015-2016: 3,077 (those who have given for 3+ years)

$301 million given and pledged  $117 million received to date (39%)  $100.5 million pledged over multiple years (33%)  $83.5 million committed in deferred/estate commitments (28%)

Endowment Commitments: 57.5%

Scholarships and financial aid: $77,476,690 Faculty support: $35,571,997 Academic and residential programs: $24,584,490 New and renovated facilities: $56,724,220 Annual giving: $33,663,466 Unrestricted endowment: $35,378,487 To be designated: $37,607,546

TOTAL: $301,006,896

To be Designated: 12.5%

Support Allocation

Annual Fund/ Operations: 11.2% Campus Improvements: 18.8%

During the public phase of Daring to Lead…

1,196 alumni, parents, and friends 9,388

volunteered for Mercersburg attended Mercersburg events on and off campus

108

“It’s clear that the Daring to Lead Campaign was a game-changer for Mercersburg. We are an elite institution, and elite institutions continue to press for excellence. As we envision what a Mercersburg education means for young people now and in the future, every member of the Mercersburg family will have the opportunity to continue to partner with us in preparing our students for success wherever their journeys beyond Mercersburg may take them.”

—Head of School Katie Titus

7,012 New donors: 2,873 New endowed funds: 107 Total donors:

149 Number of $1 million+ gifts: 34

Alumni: 60%

Sources of Support

Number of $100,000+ gifts:

Number of new million-dollar donors: Number of estate gifts:

135

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Current and Past Parents: 20% Friends, Businesses, and Others: 20%

A complete report on the Daring to Lead Campaign will be mailed to all members of the Mercersburg community later this fall.

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

Reunion Weekend

June 9–12, 2016

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

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L–R: Jim Pfautz ’48, Head of School Douglas Hale, Denise Dupré ’76, Phil Yates ’66

AWA R D S ALUMNI COUNCIL SERVICE AWARD

Denise Dupré ’76

Established by the Alumni Council in 1957, this award is presented each year in recognition of an individual’s service to Mercersburg.

Denise served Mercersburg as a member of the Board of Regents from 1995 to 2012, including her last seven years as president. Over the years, she has been a member of the Mightily Onward Campaign steering committee, the Daring to Lead Campaign executive committee, several class reunion committees, and the head of school search committee for both Doug Hale and Katie Titus; chair of two strategic planning committees; and a class agent.

Denise is the founder and managing partner of Champagne Hospitality, a hotel design and development company. She has worked extensively in the hotel and restaurant field, including roles in marketing, consulting, and operations.

She has also held teaching positions at Cornell University’s School of Hospitality Administration, Boston University’s School of Hotel Administration, and Harvard University. She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College and

completed graduate work at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

Denise and her husband, Mark Nunnelly, have four children and live in Dover, Massachusetts.

ALUMNI COUNCIL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Philip Yates ’66

Established by the Alumni Council in 1997, this award recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves in their profession and who have outstanding records of service to their communities and others.

Phil is a senior adviser at Irving Place Capital, with 35 years of experience focused on investment opportunities in the packaging industry. Previously he was chairman and chief executive officer of Graham Packaging Company.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Syracuse University and is a former trustee of York College and York Country Day School and a former director of the Agricultural and Industrial Museum of York County. He also

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serves on the board of directors of Multi-Packaging Solutions and is a member of the Tocqueville Society of the United Way of York County.

Phil served Mercersburg as a volunteer solicitor during the Mightily Onward Campaign and as a volunteer for several class reunions, including as chair of his 50th. He and his wife, Natalie, have two children, including Elizabeth ’96, and live in York, Pennsylvania. Phil’s late father, John, was a member of the Class of 1935.

CLASS OF ’32 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD

James Pfautz ’48

Established by Mercersburg’s Class of 1932 at its graduation, this award recognizes former students who have distinguished themselves by virtue of their character, service, and achievement. It is the highest honor Mercersburg bestows.

Jim retired as assistant chief of staff for intelligence at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1985, having attained the rank of major general. Throughout his career, he held increasingly advanced command positions in France, Egypt, Vietnam, and the United States. He flew 188 combat missions in Vietnam and is a command pilot with 6,000 flying hours.

Jim’s military decorations and awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm.

After retirement from the Air Force, Jim served as chairman of the Critical Intelligence Problems Committee in Washington, D.C., co-founded a company that perfected the functionality of focusable flashlights, and held positions with other private companies.

Jim attended the Shrewsbury School in England through the English-Speaking Union after his graduation from Mercersburg.

He went on to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, American University, and the National War College.

Jim served on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council and as chair of his 25th and 40th reunions, and was a member of the Mercersburg Military Homecoming Committee in 2012. He was the 2008 recipient of the Alumni Council Achievement Award. Jim has two daughters and two sons and lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

FIND MORE PHOTOS AT

www.mercersburg.edu/alumniphotos

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

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Reunion Weekend 2016 Class Photos

Loyalty Club Front row (L-R): James Powers ’64, Richard Abrams ’64, Martin Myers ’36, Ted Dobb (guest of Martin Myers), Burt Alimansky ’60, Jim McClelland ’55. Row 2: John Butterfield ’56, Bill Baumann ’65, Stu Horner ’53, Tom Heefner ’57, Fred Schaff ’50, Peter Crow ’60, Lou Bertrand ’61.

Class of 1966 Front row (L-R): Houston Marshall Jr., John Dyke, Bill Armour, Larry Way, Rob Robison, John Stenger, Harry Shriver, David Scoblionko. Row 2: Thomas Steiger, Bill Hackett, Brock Vinton, Bill Gordon, Steve Mallory, George Wagner, Geoffrey Decker, Norm MacKay. Row 3: Joe Kyle, Tom Maccubbin, Art Ambrose, David Norman, Jack Seto, Dave Birchenough, Bob Fairbanks, Chris Spurry. Row 4: Bill Goodfellow, Edward Steidle, Phil Yates, Tom Trunzo.

Class of 1971 Front row (L-R): Tom Wohlsen, Jaime Thompson, Bill Rockey, Lynn Anderson, Paul Dickman, Dan Whiteman, George Alter.

Row 2: Mike Broder, Bob Bonham, Edward Vinson, Joe Rendina, Dave Garber, Paul Murray, John Lent. Row 3: John McClure, Scott Cummings, W. Larry Gluck, Charlie Bell, Michael Granet, Wayne Inge.

Class of 1976 Front row (L-R): Jeff Driggs, Anna DeArmond Boykin, Kirk Berkowitz, Shelley Weinberg, Jim Reid, Doug Comer, Jane White Yocum. Row 2: Sarah Hill Ellig, Jennifer Russell Rose, Jim Garber, Greg Morris ’75, Ted Baldwin, Ann Bruch, Brian Dewey.

Row 3: Lorelle Pottick Gantt, Dianne Kluglein Magiera, Ann Shabb Warner, Judy Rakowsky, Denise Dupré, Wendy Kelly, Jack Reid, Bill Whitaker ’75, Debbie Ross Cipriano ’75.

Row 4: David Wright, Doug Lawrence, Bill Flanagan, Leslie Lewandowski, David Ryan, Page Lansdale, Tony Tito ’75.

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Class of 1981 Front row (L-R): Greg Zinn, Jay Yarid, Maggie Worthington Tyndorf, Dave Wagner, Nick Fuhrman. Row 2: William Van Deventer, Martin Lysons, Karen Craig Ryland, Nancy Corwin Sanders, Sally Anne Epstein, Agnes Schrider. Row 3: Jim Jenkins, Ed Gardiner, Doug Burbank, Mark Montgomery, Josh Turner, Dave Flanagan, Carter Ferrington.

Class of 1986 Front row (L-R): Beth Rockwell Willander, Betsy Evans, Margaret O’Brien, Suzanna Aguilar Dann, Elizabeth Steinhauser Bray, Julia Clark MacInnis. Row 2: Rick Makoujy, Shawn Meyers, Jonathan Becker, Matt Simar, Jon Winebrenner, Paige Walton Diskin.

Row 3: Rick Hedstrom, Travis Fore, Bill Taylor, Barry McCann, Mary Curtis Blair, Nancy Gallagher Jones. Row 4: James Bachman, Nick Rausch, P.J. Schaner.

Class of 1991 Front row (L-R): Kevin Poirot, Tom Pantzer, Mario Santiago, Pablo Coballasi, Lizzie Mascola Martin, Sassan Emral Shaool. Row 2: Shala Pulgar, Christopher Holbert, Astrid Haggerson McLendon, Lynn Murphy, Jeri Stelson Weaver, Laura Linderman Barker, Sarah Heard Green, Kelley Keeler Short, Shani O’Neil Calhoun, Tara Brendle Owens. Row 3: Bower Himes, Peter Murray, Eric Mercer, Jay Cross, Tom Ryan, Chris Frisby, Helen Barfield Prichett, Harry Byrd, Amy Lanigan. Row 4: Harry McCullough, Jay Sternberg, Adam Klein, John Eldridge, Jared Brody, Vishal Datta.

Class of 1996 Front row (L-R): Lori Esposit Miller, Ingrid Schmidt, Darcie Zimmerman. Row 2: Charles Kemmler, Jeremiah Smith, Josh Smith.

Row 3: Shiang Liu, Nate Jacklin, Jason Huntsberry.

Class of 2001 Front row (L-R): Ann Marie Bliley-Ester, Carson Higby-Flowers, Adrienne Herr-Paul, Julian Böcker. Row 2: Christopher Ryals, Maureen Smeltz Ryals, Ryan Fay, Garth Semple. Row 3: Heidi Anderes, Mike Flanagan, Jamie Hughes, Chris Balaban.

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Class of 2006 Front row (L-R): Charles Han, Irene Macias, Rachael Hendrickson Lynch, Ashley Hill, Shelby Hoffman, Mary O’Malley. Row 2: Nicole Hammond, Beth Culp, Anjali Patel, Pamela Aquino, Jessie Tippen Larson, Roxanne Leyshon, Maddie Deupree Banta, Lee Banta, Vincent Rey. Row 3: Elissa Thorne Shashai, Christopher Caranante, Teddy Zimmerman, Jacob Hoffman, Greg Larson, Mike Crump, Andrew Johnson, Chris Nuth. Row 4: Chester Tippen, Paul Rutherford, Conor McPartland, Justin Mellott, Matthew Spencer, Thanawut Aung-Aphinant, Santiago Rubino, Patrick Corey, Josh Light.

Class of 2011 Front row (L-R): Stephanie Stine, Bethany Pasierb, Mackenzie Kyner, Sarah Wilson, Georgia Baker, Katherine Blanchard, Debora Adjibaba, Kayla Cherry, Youjung Jun, HanhLinh Ho Tran, Kevin Hackett, Will Levangie. Row 2: Stephanie Sasse, Ana Kelly, Susie Klein, Liza Rizzo, Camille Hodges, Shayna Rice, Claire Sabol, Julie Garlick, Annette Hull, Bailey Blake, Paige Summers Andersen, Christian Brockway. Row 3: Barrett Helzel, Giovanni DeSantis, Chris Weller, Linc Kupke, Harrison Yancey, Laken Lynch, Joey Roberts, Harrison Brink, Chuck Mellott, Nathaniel Bachtell. Row 4: Collin Greene, Matt Cook, Roberto Solis, Eli Littlefield, Nick Stanton, Matt Timoney, Sam Rodgers, Eugene Sa, Peter Flanagan, Blackburn Warner, Michael Howland.

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Da te s t o Rememb er Feb 10–12 Stony Batter Players: Fiddler on the Roof

Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Feb 20

Winter Student Dance Showcase 7:30 p.m., Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Feb 19

Apr 1

Spring Pops Concert 8 p.m., Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Winter Student Music Recital 2 p.m., Boone Recital Hall, Burgin Center for the Arts

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

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

Eva Bajko ’16

Mary DiLalla ’19

Conner Caruso ’16

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Dance director: Denise Dalton

Ellie Gregg ’18 and Summer Zhang ’18

(L–R) Anna Mele ’19, Emma Maurer ’18, Brian Nelson ’16, Ella Jane Reinhard ’19

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

Band

Concert Band

String Ensemble

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Jazz Band

Octet

Magalia

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Katherine Reber ’17 and Thomas Miller ’16 in Shakespeare Scenes

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

Kelsey Shields ’16 and Caroline Brown ’16 in The Rules of Comedy (senior production)

Fiona Flanagan ’17 and Zach McDonald ’17 in Shakespeare Scenes

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Athletics Dat es t o Rememb e r Feb 10–12

Mid-Atlantic Prep League Boys’/Girls’ Basketball Tournament (at Nolde Gymnasium/Plantz Courts, Mercersburg)

Feb 24–25 Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships

(at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

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

Feb 18

MAPL Indoor Track & Field Championships (at Hale Field House, Mercersburg)

National Prep Wrestling Championships (at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

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

Winter/Spring 2016 Varsity Athletics Roundup WINTER SEASON Boys’ Basketball Captains: Luka Sevaljevic ’16, Carlos Austin ’17, Elliot Hicks ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Sevaljevic Most Improved Player Award: Eli Riley ’18 John Prevost ’54 Basketball Award: Hicks Head coach: Sean Crocker (1st season) Record: 6–14 (1–4 MAPL) Highlights: Sevaljevic, who is playing at Queen’s University in his native Canada this year, earned All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League and All-Independent-Parochial School League honors while averaging a team-leading 17.0 points per game as well as six rebounds and four assists per contest… he was chosen to play in the Buffalo Wild Wings Roundball Classic for area all-stars in Hagerstown… Austin and Hicks were named honorable-mention Area All-

Stars by the [Chambersburg] Public Opinion… the team defeated Hun to capture its first MAPL victory in almost three years… Hicks averaged 10.3 points per game and scored a team-high 27 points on a Senior Night win over Broadfording Christian Academy… Hicks earned Academic AllMAPL honors.

Girls’ Basketball Captains: Sarah Lyman ’16, Molly Taylor ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Taylor Most Improved Player Award: Isiuwa Oghagbon ’17 Head coach: Katie LaRue (5th season) Record: 19–4 (4–1 MAPL); PAISAA and IPSL champions Highlights: The Blue Storm set a school record for wins in a season and won its first state title, defeating Baldwin, Friends’ Central (on a lastsecond shot by Taylor), Abington Friends, and Shipley to capture the Pennsylvania Independent

Schools Athletic Association crown… Taylor averaged 16.5 points and 4.1 assists, and is playing at the NCAA Division I level at Loyola University Maryland… she and Oghagbon were Public Opinion first-team Area All-Stars and Lyman and Tori Yoder ’16 joined them as All-MAPL and All-IPSL selections… the Public Opinion also named Lyman to its AllStar second team and chose Joana Santos ’16 and Sam Goldman ’17 as honorable-mention selections… Santos is playing at Union College and Yoder at Frostburg State… Lyman, Taylor, and Yoder played in the Buffalo Wild Wings Roundball Classic… the Storm defeated St. Maria Goretti in the IPSL championship game… LaRue (who is now the director of athletics at Madeira School) was the Public Opinion’s Area Coach of the Year; she will be succeeded as head coach by Paul Sipes, who spent the past 11 years as head coach and athletic director at Wakefield School in Virginia… Santos was named Academic All-MAPL.

Boys’ Squash Captains: match captains selected Thomas Flanagan ’38 Boys’ Squash Award (most outstanding player): 2015–2016 Team Most Improved Player Award: Dylan Hoang ’16 Head coach: Chip Vink ’73 (16th season) Head-to-head record: 19–4 Highlights: The Storm’s 19–4 mark was the program’s best since the opening of the Davenport Squash Center in 2004…

Mercersburg finished 24th out of 120 teams (and seventh in the Division III draw) at the U.S. High School National Squash Championships in Connecticut, defeating Milton Academy (Massachusetts) and Potomac School (Virginia); Saaman Ghodsi ’16 went a perfect 4–0 at the national tournament… the

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team began the year 10–0, with victories in the annual Tom Flanagan Invitational and the St. Paul’s School Invitational near Baltimore… the Storm also defeated the U.S. Naval Academy JV team, which used several varsity players in the match due to injuries… Kionne Hendrickson ’18 won the “C” flight at the season-ending MAPL tournament and was named All-MAPL… Presman played in the 2015 U.S. Junior Open Squash Championships as an individual…

Gabby Fraser ’16, who was the Storm’s top girls’ player for two seasons, competed with the boys’ team; she is playing at Hobart & William Smith… Ghodsi was an Academic All-MAPL selection.

Girls’ Squash Captain: Jung Hee Ryu ’16 Thomas Flanagan ’38 Girls’ Squash Award (most outstanding player): Emma Hicks ’19 Most Improved Player Award: Ryu Head coach: Wells Gray (13th season) Record: 1–14 Highlights: Ryu and Kelsey Shields ’16 led the team in individual match victories with six wins apiece… the Blue Storm defeated Madeira, 9-0, to claim seventh place in the annual Tom Flanagan Tournament held in the Davenport Squash Center on campus… four of the team’s defeats came

by 5–4 scores… in addition to Ryu, Shields, and Hicks, other top players included Eliza Smith ’18 and Lauren Jones ’18… Shields was chosen to represent the team on the Academic All-MAPL squad.

Boys’ Swimming & Diving Captains: Jake Girard ’16, Dilin Massand ’16 Harrison S. Glancy ’24 Award (most outstanding swimmer): Girard Tom Wolfe ’85 Award (most improved swimmer): Eric Oh ’18 Most Improved Diver Award: Michael Yu ’16 Head swimming coach: Glenn Neufeld (2nd season) Head diving coach: Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (8th season) Easterns finish: 6th Highlights: The Storm finished 10 points ahead of Germantown Academy for sixth place at the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships; Mercersburg placed ahead of all the other MAPL schools with the exception of boys’ champion Peddie… Andrew Zhugayevich ’16 (who is swimming at Army) posted the top individual finish at Easterns (2nd, in the 200yard freestyle) and was sixth in the 100 free; other Easterns finalists included the 400 free relay team (Zhugayevich, Girard, Ben Carter ’16, Logan Cort ’18/3rd), the 200 free relay quartet (Zhugayevich, Girard, Carter, Eric Oh ’18/3rd),

and Girard (200 individual medley, 6th)… Yu and Xavier Dreux ’18 both placed in the Easterns diving competition… top individual finishers at the MAPL Invitational included Zhugayevich (50 free/2nd), Carter (100 butterfly/3rd), and Alistair Matsuda ’17 (100 breaststroke/3rd)… other college swimmers include Carter (Denison), Girard (Navy), and Massand (Occidental)…

Matsuda and Tyler Russell ’18 earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

Girls’ Swimming & Diving Captains: Sarah O’Leary ’16, Courtney Levins ’16 Neidhoefer Swimming Award (most outstanding swimmer): Lindsay Tanner ’17 Most Outstanding Contributions (Diving) Award: Lexa Treml ’16 John Preston ’47 Award (most improved swimmer): Levins Thomas Hartz ’72 Award (perseverance): Lizzie Troy ’16 Bruce F. Vanderveer ’31 Award (greatest influence): O’Leary Head swimming coach: Glenn Neufeld (2nd season) Head diving coach: Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (8th season) Easterns finish: 1st Highlights: Mercersburg’s Easterns championship was its first in the girls’ event since 1987… the Storm (471 points) finished in

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front of Episcopal Academy (467), Germantown Academy (351), and Peddie (286)… three school records fell during the year: they were set by Tanner (100 free, 51.30), O’Leary (50 free, 23.28), and the 200 medley relay team of O’Leary, Tanner, Morgan King ’16, and Danielle Pong ’17 (1:44.83)… Tanner’s 100 free record was set at Easterns, where she placed second in both the 100 and 200 free and was part of the Easternswinning 200 free relay (with O’Leary, King, and Lauren Ferner ’17)… other Easterns finalists included Levins (100 breast/2nd, 200 free/6th), Stephanie Downing ’16 (500 free/2nd, 200 IM/3rd), O’Leary (50 free/3rd, 100 free/5th), King (100 fly/4th), Pong (100 breast/5th), Ally Armbruster ’18 (500 free/5th), and the 200 medley relay (Downing/Levins/King/Pong, 2nd) and 400 free relay (O’Leary/Downing/ Tanner/ Lizzie Troy ’16, 2nd) squads… Treml and Meghan Scott ’19 both scored crucial diving points at Easterns… Downing (100 backstroke/200 IM) and Tanner each won two events at the MAPL Invitational… college swimmers include Downing (Navy), King (Cal State Bakersfield), Rina Kiyohara ’16 (Swarthmore), Levins (Marist), O’Leary (Penn), and Troy (Navy)… Tanner and Treml were named Academic All-MAPL.

Boys’ Indoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Jude Ikekhua ’16 Most Improved Team Member Award: Alex Nanos ’17 Head coach: David Grady (12th season) MAPL finish: 5th Highlights: Ikekhua set a school record in the 300-meter dash (38.08) in February at the Woodward Relays, which were held at Georgetown Prep (Maryland); his record-setting time eclipsed the mark set by Tawfiq AbdulKarim ’14 (who still holds four other school records)… at the MAPL Championships, Ikekhua (400m/3rd, 55m/4th) and Will Oakley ’16 (high jump/5th, 55m hurdles/6th) made the finals in two events apiece; other MAPL finalists included Nanos (pole vault/5th) and Cole Kissam ’18 (1600m/6th)… the team placed second at the Maroon & Black Relays at Episcopal High School (Virginia), with first place finishes in the long jump (the team of Jake Artz ’16 and Alex DeGrange ’17) and high jump (Ikekhua and

Suky Kuye ’16)… Ikekhua is joining the team at the University of Chicago… Nanos and Ikekhua were Academic All-MAPL selections.

Girls’ Indoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Finley Stewart ’17 Most Improved Team Member Award: Lara Dix ’19 Head coach: David Grady (12th season) MAPL finish: 4th Highlights: At the MAPL Championships, Stewart won the 55m dash and finished third in the 400m, while Ryan Geitner ’17 took third in the 1600m…

Sydney Hirokawa ’16 broke the school record in the 1000m (3:30.15, by eight seconds) at the Woodward Relays, and joined Geitner, Campbell Drennan ’18, and Laila Tijani ’18 to place fourth in the 4x800m relay… four Storm relay quartets placed at the Maroon & Black Relays: the 4x400m (Stewart, Hirokawa, Dix, Laila Tijani ’18/3rd), 4x800m (Ryan Geitner, Jane Kistler ’17, Campbell Drennan ’18, Emma Claire Geitner ’17/5th), distance medley relay (Kistler, Drennan, Ryan Geitner, Hirokawa/5th) and

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sprint medley relay (Stewart, Dix, Tijani, Alyssa Magazine ’17/5th)… at the same meet, Stewart ran the fastest 55m (7.38) and teamed with Rahama Sadiq ’17 to place second in the relay version of that event... Stewart earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

Wrestling Captains: Carson White ’16, Fernando Cervera ’16, Brian Nelson ’16 Fred Kuhn Award (most outstanding wrestler): Stefano Antoniazzi ’16 Ronald D. Tebben Coaches’ Leadership Award: Nelson Coaches’ Award (most improved wrestler): Chris Kroese ’17 Head coach: Nate Jacklin ’96 (8th season) State/IPSL finish: 12th/1st Highlights: The Storm captured the IPSL title for the first time since 2013 by defeating St. James… Mercersburg went 3–1 with wins over Hill, Peddie, and Lawrenceville at the MAPL duals; the win over Hill marked the seventh in the last nine meetings between the teams… overall, the

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groundballs and Andrew Dillard ’17 recorded 142 saves in goal… Adams and Schulkin earned AllMAPL honors… Cremins, Nelson, and Schulkin were All-IPSL selections… Cremins and Archie Levis ’17 represented the team on the Academic All-MAPL squad.

Girls’ Lacrosse

team posted a 12–7 dual meet record (its best since 2011)… five wrestlers were PAISAA state placewinners: Antoniazzi (285 pounds, 5th), Laird (195, 6th), Min (126, 6th), Nelson (132, 7th), and Chris Kroese ’17 (145, 7th)… Antoniazzi, Laird, and Min all qualified for the National Prep Championships… Antoniazzi was a secondteam Public Opinion Area All-Star; Kroese, Laird, Min, Nelson, and Joseph Yonke ’19 (120) were honorable-mention selections… Antoniazzi, Laird, Min, Nelson, and Yonke were All-IPSL choices as well… Cervera and Nelson were Academic AllMAPL honorees.

SPRING SEASON Baseball Captains: Chris Adusei-Poku ’16, Jake Artz ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Brandon Thomas ’17 G. Brent Gift Award (most improved player): Eli Riley ’18 Henry B. Swoope Jr. ’23 Award (sportsmanship/ good fellowship): Adusei-Poku Head coach: John Lowery Jr. (1st season) Record: 24–5 (9–1 MAPL); MAPL champion Highlights: Mercersburg has now won outright or shared the MAPL crown in each of the past six seasons; the Storm swept a doubleheader from Lawrenceville to clinch the title on the final league weekend of the year… the team built an 11-game winning streak in April and May that

included wins over Westtown and Penn Charter in the PAISAA Tournament, and ended only with a semifinal loss to Malvern Prep… six players were All-MAPL choices: Riley, Thomas, Jake Artz ’16, Miles Hearon ’16, Will Oakley ’16, and Jake Rist ’16… Riley and Hearon were secondteam Public Opinion Area All-Stars, and Thomas was an honorable-mention selection… Hearon, Oakley, and Carlos Mancilla ’16 garnered All-IPSL honors… college players this year include Artz (St. Joseph’s), Oakley (Kenyon), Rist (Ball State), and St. John Smith ’16 (Gettysburg)… AduseiPoku and Riley were named Academic All-MAPL.

Boys’ Lacrosse Captains: Tom Cremins ’17, Nick Nelson ’17 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Nelson Most Improved Player Award: Alex DeGrange ’17 Nelson T. Shields IV ’70 Lacrosse Award (spirit/ teamwork/sportsmanship): Cremins Head coach: Michael Conklin (2nd season) Record: 9–8 (2–3 MAPL) Highlights: The team posted its first winning record since 2006… among the victories was the Blue Storm’s first win over MAPL rival Peddie in almost a decade… the Storm also defeated Blair… the team defeated St. Maria Goretti to advance to the semifinals of the Metro-Independent Lacrosse League Tournament, where it fell to The Heights School… Nick Schulkin ’17 was the team leader in goals, (70), assists (31), and points (101)… Colin Adams ’17 added 44 goals and 22 assists… Nelson had a team-high 85

Captains: Ria Giannaris ’16, Bridget Scott ’16, Amanda Broyles ’16, Madi Johnson ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Scott Most Improved Player Award: Johnson Head coach: Katherine Dyson (3rd season) Record: 4–11 (0–5 MAPL) Highlights: Elizabeth Fitzgerald ’18 and Ryan Geitner ’17 earned All-MAPL honors, and Fitzgerald also garnered All-IPSL recognition… the team defeated Madeira, West Shore (twice), and FCA Freedom for its victories, and was a perfect 3–0 when reaching double digits in goals… top scorers on the season included Fitzgerald, Broyles, and Geitner… Sam Goldman ’17 was the team leader in saves… Giannaris and Geitner were chosen to represent the squad as Academic All-MAPL members.

Softball Captains: game captains selected Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Mallory Sipes ’16 Most Improved Player Award: Ava Paul ’18 Head coach: Doonie Brewer (1st season) Record: 3–12 (0–10 MAPL) Highlights: Sarah Lyman ’16 earned both AllMAPL and All-IPSL honors… Sipes joined her on the All-IPSL team… two of the Blue Storm’s three victories came against IPSL opponents (St. Maria Goretti and the Maryland School for the Deaf ), and the third was over local foe McConnellsburg… Caroline Casparian ’16 and C.J. Walker ’17 were Academic All-MAPL selections… Lauren Hoffman is Mercersburg’s new head coach for the 2017 season; she played varsity softball and ice hockey at Union College and has been a head coach at the high-school level in her native New York state.

Boys’ Tennis

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Captains: Elliot Hicks ’16, Saaman Ghodsi ’16, Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Hicks Most Improved Player Award: Shayan Ghodsi ’18 Head coach: Eric Hicks (22nd season) Dual match record: 5–5 (2–2 MAPL) Highlights: The team finished second at the MAPL Tournament behind Lawrenceville…

Hicks became the first Mercersburg player to win the top flight at the event, and Shayan Ghodsi also won the #3 flight to earn AllMAPL honors… Hicks finished his career with a total of 64 victories in singles and doubles combined; he is second behind Matt Diller ’05 (71 wins) for career victories for a Mercersburg #1 player… his 12–2 singles record was the best in a single season for a top Blue Storm player since Javier Arregui ’99 (who went 15–1)… Hicks and both of the Ghodsi brothers were named All-IPSL after the Storm captured its fifth-straight IPSL crown… Hicks (who was also Academic All-MAPL) is playing at Emory and Saaman Ghodsi is playing at Franklin & Marshall.

Boys’ Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Andrew Zhugayevich ’16 Edward J. Powers ’37 Award (most improved athlete): Gabriel Allgayer ’16 Head coach: Nikki Walker (1st season) State/MAPL/IPSL finish: 8th/4th/1st Highlights: Allgayer was the MAPL champion in the 1600m and 3200m and teamed with Alex Solganik ’17, Jake Girard ’16, and Jan Smilek ’16 to win the 4x800m relay—a feat the quartet duplicated at the PAISAA State Championships… Allgayer took second in the 3200m and Zhugayevich took second in the 400m and sixth in the 200m at the state meet, which also featured a third-place performance by the 4x400m relay squad (Zhugayevich, Adam Yang ’16, Jude Ikekhua ’16, Mason Kholi ’16)… All-MAPL selections included Allgayer, Zhugayevich, Girard, Smilek, Solganik, and Folarin Adewunmi ’17 (high jump)… the Storm cruised to the IPSL title behind three event wins apiece from Allgayer and Zhugayevich and two each from Carlos

Austin ’17 and Alex Nanos ’17… Ikekhua and Nanos earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

Girls’ Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Finley Stewart ’17 Edward J. Powers ’37 Award (most improved athlete): Campbell Drennan ’18 Head coach: Nikki Walker (7th season) State/MAPL/IPSL finish: 3rd/3rd/2nd Highlights: Team members set four school records; Isiuwa Oghagbon ’17 is the new record holder in the discus (125’ 01”) and shot put (39’ 1”), while Tori Yoder ’16 grabbed the school mark in the triple jump (35’ 10 ¾”), and Stewart broke the 400m record (58.37)… Stewart was the PAISAA, MAPL, and IPSL champion in the 100m; she also swept the 200m and 400m at the MAPL and IPSL meets while placing second in the 200m and third in the 400m at the state event… Oghagbon won state championships in the shot put and discus (while placing third in the javelin), and Yoder was third in the long jump, fourth in the triple jump, and sixth in the high jump… the 4x800m relay team (Drennan/ Ryan Geitner ’17/Emma Hicks ’19/Molly Taylor ’16) took fifth and the 4x400m relay squad (Taylor/Stewart/Julia Tilden ’19/Sydney Hirokawa ’16) was sixth at the PAISAA meet…

Stewart and Emma Claire Geitner ’17 both made the Academic All-MAPL team.

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Class Notes Faculty emeritus and former school minister Lawrence Jones (far left) and his wife, former faculty member Cindy Jones (far right), in Vermont with former Headmaster Walter H. Burgin Jr. ’53 and his wife, fellow former faculty member Barbara Burgin. Pretzel pie was served (though, it being Vermont, the pie was made with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream).

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Henry Bridges’ wife, Daisy, passed away October 14, 2015.

’47

John North and his wife, Ethel, received the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Heritage Award in recognition of their contributions to preserving the cultural and maritime heritage of the Bay. John coauthored the book Chesapeake Log Sailing Canoes: A Study in Tradition, Speed, and Elegance.

Hugh Miller’s wife, Stella, died June 1, 2016.

’48 ’52

Arnold Regardie has published Prelude to Disaster: How Imperial Japan’s Diplomatic Treachery Led to America’s Greatest Military Disaster—Pearl Harbor.

The book, available on Amazon, commemorates the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and is a true account of diplomatic exchanges between Japan and the United States in the months leading up to the attack.

’55

Dave Clutz was recently interviewed by a PBS affiliate

about the 137th New York infantry regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg and its commander, Colonel David Ireland.

George Photias’ wife, Frances, passed away July 30, 2015.

John Reinhardt was re-elected to his fifth term on the Madison County [New York] Board of Supervisors last fall. He continues to serve as chairman of the finance, ways, and means committee and vice chairman of the government operations committee.

Steve Schultz’s wife, Barbara, died April 13, 2016.

’61

John Hench’s Books as Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II has been translated into Mandarin by the Commercial Press of Beijing and published in paperback by the original publisher, Cornell University Press. “I’m currently finishing up a project concerning a British soldier, Sandy Cleland, who essentially read his way through World War II,” John says. “It’s based on Sandy’s letters to his parents from bases in the UK, India, and Burma, in which he names 203 books that he read and often describes why he did or did not like them and tells where he obtained them.” John and his wife, Lea, also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July and vacationed with their entire

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Class notes are also available online at www.mercersburg.edu/classnotes.

Serge Grynkewich ’66 ran into five Mercersburg students and faculty members David Bell and Grace Abel while visiting a museum in Nanjing, China, in June. “We had very little time—just a quick photo and we were on our respective ways—but it was great to connect,” shares Serge, who lives in the Philippines. “I may not have made it to my 50th reunion, but Mercersburg and I did reunite in the lanes of the Confucius Temple.” (L–R: Grace Abel, Bill Le ’17, Serge, David Bell, Emma Morris ’17, Coco Campbell ’17, Mira Vance ’18, and Ross Brown ’16.) family in August on the shore of Lake Champlain in Saint-Armand, Quebec.

’66

Donald B. Freedman, father of Skip Freedman and Richard Freedman ’69, died March 8, 2016. He was co-benefactor of the Donald B. Freedman M.D. Scholarship Fund.

’67

After a career in the engineering and construction industries, Harold Allen has semi-retired and is working as an independent consultant in the St. Louis area.

Jim Anderson reports that he continues to work as a sales engineer for Daparak, a small pump distributor and rep firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, with no immediate plans to retire.

Bill Fairweather retired from the Central Intelligence Agency in 2010 as a senior intelligence service officer after a 30-year career and returned to his hometown

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Marriages 1

2

3

4

1. Abby Kuskin ’01 married Tyler Jorgenson August 22, 2015, in Brooklyn, New York.

2. Sarah Heine ’04 and Thomas Seagroatt on their wedding day, August 30, 2014, in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

3. Jessica Malarik ’99 and Gregory Fair on their wedding day, September 5, 2015, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

4. Jess Miga ’05 married Andrew Brauzer July 18, 2015, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

of Akron, Ohio. His wife of 26 years, Lori, passed away March 17, 2009; he married Donae Ceja May 23, 2015.

Bill is the proud grandfather of a boy and a girl.

Phil Knudsen reports that he continues to work in civil litigation and play the drums with several bands. His wife, Alice, is director of institutional research at Mills College; daughter Lexi is an art teacher; and son Duncan is a geologist.

Chuck Kraus retired in June after 35 years in the urology practice and is building a home in Thompsonville, Michigan, with his wife, Judy.

John Rowlinson has published The Boys of ’66: The Unseen Story behind England’s World Cup Glory on the 50th anniversary of the English victory at the 1966 World Cup. “Different days for sure,” says John. “The players were not paid a king’s ransom and did not live

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5

5. Erica Adam ’04 married Scott Nemeroff November 14, 2015, in New Orleans.

Bill Fairweather ’67 and Donae Ceja, May 23, 2015.

Bob Naething ’74 and Cindy Harvel, December 31, 2013.

Faculty members Shelley Akers and Zach Swope, August 6, 2016.

behind locked gates and PR firms!” John adds that he hopes to attend the Class of 1967’s reunion next year. “My memories of Mercersburg remain strong, from the time Headmaster William Fowle and his wife picked me up in January from the Greyhound station in Baltimore—a great act of kindness on their part— to Graduation Day, and then a 14,000-mile road trip across the country, armed only with an English accent and the school yearbook!”

grandfather of Karli Richards Stenger ’97 and Nathan Richards ’99, died May 13, 2016.

’68

Jim Hayes writes, “Following the ’Burg, I got an engineering degree and have been designing and building ever since. I sure hope to stop someday and stay in one place and make sawdust. I turned out to be a pretty good cook. Who would have thought, after burning Chef Boyardee in a hot pot all those years ago.”

Sybil Stockdale, mother of James Stockdale and grandmother of Elizabeth Stockdale Reiners ’02 and Bond Stockdale ’09, passed away October 10, 2015.

’70

Robert N. Richards Sr., father of Robert Richards and

’73

Cabell Williams’ father, George, passed away January 13, 2016.

’74

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1972 classmates Tom Lansdale, Rich Haskell, and Peter Lebovitz enjoyed a golf outing in July at Silvermine Golf Club in Connecticut.

Anna Neavling Bierce ’76 with her twin sons, Thomas and Peter, aboard the educational schooner The Spirit of South Carolina in Charleston Harbor. “My daughter, Cassidy, and my sons are sailors at heart, having each spent four months at sea their junior year of high school,” says Anna. “I only went to the ’Burg for my senior year, but it was and always will be my favorite year of school—even college.”

2016. He now works part-time for Cubic Global Defense as a simulation training specialist on the Romanian Armed Forces Joint Training contract. J.D. lives in Budapest, Hungary, with his wife, Barbara, and son, Tobi.

Agnes Schrider and her family live in Afton, Virginia, where she is a wellness consultant/coach for the areas surrounding Charlottesville. Agnes also does long-distance consulting and presents wellness workshops regionally.

’82

Steve Ricks and Rich Katz ’83 met up for a great afternoon of powder skiing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, over Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend.

’85

1975 classmates Rick Jenkinson, Barry Brogan, and Bill Dumke enjoyed a day of spring skiing in March at Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire.

After spending a few years as a widower, Bob Naething married Cindy Harvel December 31, 2013. Bob is enjoying life as deputy senior commander of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, and as deputy commander of U.S. Army North. “We stay busy with both disaster relief for the United States and Homeland Defense,” says Bob. “Never a dull moment these days in either area.” Bob adds that he has mostly healed from injuries sustained over four-plus years of deployments to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. “I am enjoying my three wonderful grandchildren—all between the ages of 1 and 6—and my three kids are doing great as well.”

’76

John Ebito works for the Nebraska Department of Transportation and serves as a coach for Lincoln Select Swimming.

’78

Sheila Sachs Strauss, mother of Marc Strauss and grandmother of Max Strauss ’12 and Sam Strauss ’15, passed away February 25, 2016.

Todd Friedman ’83 (left) traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona, in March and met up with Duncan White ’82 (center) and Peter Greene ’82 (right). “Always time to get together for lunch with two former fellow Mercersburg swimmers,” says Todd. “Had not seen them since the early ’80s.”

’79

Marilynn Roth Kanenson, mother of Marcy Kanenson and widow of Bill Kanenson ’47, passed away May 26, 2016.

’81

Edward E. Gardiner, father of Ed Gardiner and Whitney Gardiner ’89, died December 26, 2015.

Last July, the Virginia General Assembly elected Alexander Iden for an eight-year term as a circuit court judge of the 26th Judicial Circuit (which includes the independent cities of Winchester and Harrisonburg and counties of Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Shenandoah, Page, and Rockingham). Alex’s investiture occurred July 1, 2015, in his hometown of Berryville, Virginia, where he is the resident judge for Clarke County.

After more than 32 years of government service, J.D. Koch officially retired from the U.S. Army in January

Marca Armstrong Ewy is vice president of marketing and sales enablement at Cree in Durham, North Carolina. Her daughters attend the Ravenscroft School with the daughter of her Mercersburg classmate Les Thomas.

Heidi Erb Anderson works in development at Dartmouth College and blogs at heidiinthevalley.wordpress. com.

Daniel Henderson’s father, Melvin, passed away November 9, 2015.

Sue McLain visited campus in February to speak with students about her public health work with the eradication of Guinea Worm Disease in Africa.

Peggy Raley Ward gave a TEDx Talk in October 2015 in Wilmington, Delaware.

’90

Treva Ghattas’ brother, Todd, passed away July 10, 2016.

’91

Jeremy Cross is co-founder of Battle Road Brewing Company and is opening a brew pub in Maynard, Massachusetts.

Former faculty member Russell Spinney lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Nicole—a landscape

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Births/Adoptions 1

2

3

4 7

6 5 8

1. Isabela Patricia (born April 16, 2016) and Sarah, daughters of Andrea Sancho-Baker ’01 and her husband, Joseph.

5. Pierce Thomas, son of Maureen Smeltz Ryals ’01 and her husband, Christopher Ryals ’01, born November 16, 2015.

2. Giavanna Nicole, daughter of Stephanie Gaither Iammartino ’02 and her husband, Ronald, born July 10, 2015.

6. Iain Gregory Moynihan, son of Leigh Swiger Moynihan ’06 and her husband, Gregory, born March 8, 2015.

3. Lukas Friedrich Anton Teroerde, son of Mark Teroerde ’04 and his wife, Katerina, born May 20, 2016.

7. Alexis Imler Gray ’05 and her husband, David, welcomed a son, Archer Imler Gray, December 31, 2015. (Grandparents Joseph ’72 and Mary Imler and aunt Ariel Imler ’09 are thrilled.)

4. Henry William, son of Irene Papoutsis Mulkerin ’99 and her husband, Andy, born October 28, 2015.

8. Hye-Joo Yun, daughter of Paul Yun ’98 and his wife, Moon-Kyung Kim, born March 6, 2016.

To Eric Petersen ’86 and his wife, Tracy: twin daughters, Paige and Sloan, June 22, 2016.

To Chip Nuttall ’92 and his wife, Alice: a son, Whitley James, January 4, 2016.

To Chris Senker ’97 and his wife, Kim: a daughter, Lily Morgan, November 2, 2015.

To Rebecca Lowe ’99 and her husband, Paul Buckle: a son, Edward Christopher Buckle, April 17, 2016.

To Janelle Sunderland Grange ’05 and her husband, Kevin: a son, Damien Ray, October 12, 2015.

To Jess Stojak Schafer ’07 and her husband, Brook: a son, Wyatt James, June 13, 2016.

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Ann Quinn ’84 met up with Mark Pyper ’83 while visiting Utah in June.

Harrison Brink ’11 holds his first winner’s check as a professional golfer at Monroe Country Club in Monroe, North Carolina, in March. Harrison plays on the Swing Thought Tour.

Aaron DeLashmutt ’94 celebrated his 40th birthday on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with a hard-shell crab feast alongside several of his Mercersburg classmates. L-R: Brian Moore ’94, Rob Jefferson ’94, Keith Pulley ’94, Aaron, Ben Graham ’94, and Drew Young ’94.

’99

Ambika Behal was featured in the TEDx Talk “Reimagining Versions of Mythology” in October 2015.

A collection of works by Eddie Kang titled “Big City Life Loveless” was the featured exhibit at the Sandra Gering Gallery in New York City in July and August.

Rebecca Lowe and her husband, Paul Buckle, welcomed a son, Edward Christopher Buckle, April 17, 2016. Teddy joins half-sister Chloe and half-brother Johnny. Rebecca, Paul, and Teddy have relocated to Northern California; Rebecca remains at NBC, having signed a six-year extension to her contract to host the English Premier League and to be part of the hosting team for the next four Olympic Games (including the Rio Olympics this past August).

Jessica Malarik married Gregory Fair September 5, 2015, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Julie Kaufman Nussdorfer and her family were in attendance.

Kent McGlincy’s father, Kent, passed away June 23, 2016.

Jenn Flanagan Bradley ’99 and her sons, Tres and Beau, visited Baltimore in April to watch her cousin, Jack Flanagan ’14, play lacrosse for the Boston College Eagles against Virginia Tech. architect—and their two children, 3-year-old son Sequoia Sage and infant daughter Maya Luna. Russell has been appointed head of the history department at Santa Fe Preparatory School. “I have taught both in the U.S. and Germany,” he says, “but what I am most excited about are the project-based learning experiences that I started developing at the ’Burg in the mid-1990s and have continued to develop to this day in different school settings.” In his spare time, Russell works with the nonprofit organization The Story of Place Institute on an urban youth community service program. He is also founder and coorganizer of the Emotions Studies Network for the German Studies Association and is working on a volume on the history of emotions in German studies from 1500 to the present.

’92

Vaughn L. Kiger, father of Adrian Kiger and Miles Kiger ’98, died February 26, 2016.

’94

Reema Datta continues to hold yoga workshops for asana, meditation, mantra, pranayama, and wisdom teachings throughout the country and internationally, including earlier this year in India and Switzerland.

’97

Jordan Blackman has launched a podcast at brightblack.co/podcast “for game biz pros who want to stay at the top of their game.”

Caron Friend-Neild, mother of Rachel Neild Seitz, died April 15, 2016.

’01

Heidi Anderes was featured in Bravotv.com’s new series Going off the Menu that premiered in April. Heidi appears in Episode 6—“Put a Spork in It”—that takes place in Denver. Find the episode at www.bravotv. com/going-off-the-menu.

Abby Kuskin married Tyler Jorgenson on August 22, 2015, in Brooklyn, New York. Ashley Frankel Way served as a bridesmaid and Shelane Jorgenson Williams (no relation to Tyler) also attended. The couple lives in Los Angeles, where Abby works in residential interior design and Tyler works for an architecture firm.

’03

Ashley DeMeza is co-founder of Dot Squirrels, an interactive development shop based in Culver City, California.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

’04

Alyse Blackburn is serving in the Peace Corps in Guyana.

Mark Teroerde and his family live in Switzerland, where Mark is head of sales and marketing at Telf AG.

’06

Pamela Aquino is working for Intersection, a tech and media company in New York City.

’08

Chris McClintick’s article, “Gould Goes out on Top: End of a Doubles Dynasty,” was the cover story for the February 2016 issue of Squash magazine.

’09

Ovie Onobrakpeya graduated in May from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. Sigrid Wilson graduated from the Australian Maritime College in December 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in ocean engineering.

’10

’12

Eric Brown graduated from the University of Delaware and is completing a two-year fellowship in Alabama with the Equal Justice Initiative, a private nonprofit legal organization that represents indigent defendants who have been denied fair treatment in the judicial system.

Lane deCordova graduated magna cum laude from Bucknell University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with concentrations in marketing, innovation and design, and theater. She was a four-year dancer with the Bucknell Dance Company and performed in numerous plays and musicals.

Lane is a first-year analyst with Morgan Stanley and was selected to be a panelist in Vault’s Summer Internship Kick-Off Event in New York City.

Aric DiLalla has moved to Denver, where he is working as a digital media contributor for the Denver Broncos.

’13

Kara Alvarez has been selected as queen of the 80th annual Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins, West Virginia. She received her crown in October from the state’s governor, Earl Ray Tomblin.

Zach Olivos is pursuing a master’s degree in physiology at Georgetown University.

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Sarah Firestone placed seventh in the javelin at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in July, and intends to make another run at the Summer Olympics when they are held in Tokyo in 2020. She won a silver medal for Team USA at the 2016 North American, Central American & Caribbean U-23 Championships in El Salvador, and also qualified for the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships for a second-straight year. Sarah is in her senior year at the University of Nebraska.

Phoebe Moore graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in May and is working as an admissions counselor at Chatham Hall, an all-girls’ boarding school in Chatham, Virginia.

Clare Wilkinson is a geology major at Washington and Lee University and has been awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, a premier award for undergraduate students pursuing research careers in science, math, and engineering. Clare was one of just 252 undergraduate students selected from across the country for the honor.

Miranda Lang was chosen as the American University College of Arts and Sciences’ Woman of the Year by the American University chapter of Her Campus, an online magazine for collegiate women. Miranda was honored for her work with fundraising and a donation drive for a D.C. women’s shelter.

New on the Alumni Council

Marca Armstrong Ewy ’85

Jennifer Barr Weiss ’99

Alexis Imler Gray ’05

Marca is vice president of marketing and sales enablement at Cree. A graduate of Thunderbird School of Global Management and Mount Holyoke College, she has more than 25 years of experience in global marketing and product management.

While at Mercersburg, Marca was captain of the varsity field hockey and tennis teams. She served as a dorm prefect and performed with the Chorale and Magalia. She was also chair of the student council during her senior year and recipient of the Robert H. Michelet Scholarship Prize.

Marca has been a longtime class agent and most recently chaired her 30th reunion committee. She and her husband, Kevin, have two daughters and live in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jenn is the lead consultant for Barr Weiss Consulting. Previously she was managing director of talent at Scholar Academies, a network of charter schools serving students in high-need communities. Jenn’s professional experience includes time with Teach for America, KIPP, and D.C. public schools. She received her bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and master’s degree from American University.

While at Mercersburg, Jenn was a member of the softball, basketball, and field hockey teams.

She has been an event volunteer for Mercersburg and was a member of the Daring to Lead Campaign Washington, D.C., Host Committee.

Jenn’s grandfather, Philip Jones, was a member of the Class of 1936. She and her husband, Adam, live in Fairfax, Virginia, with their two children.

Alexis is an analyst for MarkWest Energy Partners, having formerly worked for Consol Energy in the Pittsburgh area. She graduated from Duquesne University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in economics, and received a master’s degree in applied economics and statistics from Clemson University.

Alexis was a prefect at Mercersburg, a member of the Student Council, co-president of Model UN, and captain of the varsity cross country team. She has been a class agent since graduation, a regular Annual Fund volunteer, a reunion committee member and chair, and a member of the Daring to Lead Campaign Pittsburgh Host Committee.

Alexis’ family connections to Mercersburg include her sister, Ariel ’09, and father, Joe ’72.

She and her husband, David, live in Houston, Pennsylvania, with their son, Archer.

Mercersburg is grateful to Susan Corwin Moreau ’85, Dave Dupont ’80, P ’12, and Gussie Reilly ’08, who completed their service as members of the Alumni Council in June.

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New on the Board of Regents David Flanagan ’81, P ’11, ’14 Dave is manager of media and community relations for the New York Independent System Operator, a private, not-for-profit company responsible for operating competitive wholesale electricity markets and managing New York State’s transmission grid. A graduate of Syracuse University who has worked in the energy industry for the past 20 years, he is a former director of public affairs for the New York State Public Service Commission, and he managed marketing and business development initiatives for Couch, White LLP and Juice Energy.

Dave played lacrosse, squash, and soccer at Mercersburg and was a member of the Chorale and the Octet. He has served as a Mercersburg event volunteer and class agent and as a member of the Alumni Council, White Key, his reunion committees, and the Daring to Lead Campaign Steering Committee.

Dave’s family connection to Mercersburg spans four generations, with more than 20 alumni and two current students among the extended Flanagan family.

Dave and his wife, Lindy, have two children, Peter ’11 and Jack ’14, and live in Delmar, New York.

Samuel Goldsmith ’07 Sam earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University, concentrating on urban studies. He is employed by WeWork, a company that provides shared workspace, services, and community for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, and small businesses. Prior to joining WeWork, Sam was an associate at Tishman Speyer in New York City.

Sam was captain of the swim team at Mercersburg, ran cross country, and played tennis. He was a prefect in Main Hall and a member of the Senior Class Council, the Green Team, and the Fifteen. He also served as a tour guide and was a three-year Lenfest Scholar. Sam was a member of the Daring to Lead Campaign New York City Host Committee and has served as a Mercersburg phonathon volunteer.

Sam’s mother is Cynthia Roe Goldsmith ’75. He lives in New York City, though he has recently relocated to Buenos Aires to drive WeWork’s expansion in the Latin American region.

Dean Hosgood III ’98 Dean is the director of global environmental health and a faculty member in the department of epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, he received his master’s degree and doctorate from Yale University. Dean has served as a molecular epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute and a researcher at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dean played soccer and tennis at Mercersburg and served on the Student Council. A former president of the Alumni Council, he has served as a Mercersburg event host committee member, volunteer solicitor, reunion committee member, Daring to Lead Campaign Steering Committee member, and chair of the recent Head of School Search Advisory Committee.

Dean’s family connections to Mercersburg include two sisters, Emily Weiss ’08 and Ceara Weiss ’20, and a brother, Connor Weiss ’13. He and his wife, Sara Smiley Smith, have two children and live in Hamden, Connecticut.

Mercersburg is grateful to John Prentiss ’65, P ’89, ’92, who completed his service as a Regent in June after 26 years on the Board.

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Obituaries ’37

William W. Schildecker, January 20, 2016. (Keil, Marshall, Cum Laude, baseball, tennis, Les Copains) Bill attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and served in the U.S. Army as a doctor, earning the rank of major and receiving a citation for meritorious service. He spent his career as a physician and was affiliated with Bert Fish Medical Center. He was the 1997 recipient of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council Achievement Award. Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Jeanne, and two sons (including Steven ’65). Survivors include a son (Charles ’68), five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Richard B. Strode, May 7, 2016. (Marshall, Glee Club, Camera Club) Dick graduated from Lehigh University and served as a lieutenant in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. He began his career as a chemical engineer and later became vice president of C.H. Marshall. Dick is survived by his wife, Charmian, two daughters, a son, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

’39

John C. Eliason, February 5, 2016. (Irving) John served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. He worked as an inspector at Bendix Radio and later as the parts manager at Eliason Motors before assuming ownership of the dealership. He was preceded in death by two wives, Margot and Jane; a son; two brothers; a sister; and a nephew, James ’82. Survivors include a son; two brothers, including Walker ’46; two grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

H. Paxson Gifford, June 21, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Secretary, Senate, YMCA Cabinet, track & field, football, Class Day Committee) Pax is one of eight Mercersburg athletes in the prestigious Penn Relays Wall of Fame; along with teammates Jack Watt ’39, Austin Kellam ’40, and Bob Ufer ’39, he set a world interscholastic record in the 440-yard relay at the 1939 Penn Relays. Pax graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was a naval flight instructor during World War II. He also worked for Consolidated Refining Company.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Emily, and second wife, Dolores, as well as a sister and a brother. Survivors include three children, two grandchildren, three stepchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

Richard P. Klopp, January 17, 2016. (Keil, Marshall, valedictorian, Cum Laude, Band, Blue and White Melodians, Chemistry Club, Fifteen, Orchestra, Rauchrunde, Stony Batter, YMCA Cabinet, baseball, wrestling, Michelet Scholar, Senate, Class President, Class Day Committee) Dick, the son of the late Adam Klopp (1913) and nephew of the late Roy Klopp (1911), graduated from Cornell University with a degree in chemical engineering. He served as a lieutenant in the Army during World War II and was later chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Catalytic, spending 34 years with the company. Dick was benefactor of the Richard Klopp ’39 Scholarship and the Richard P. Klopp ’39 Endowed Scholarship Fund at Mercersburg.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Louise, and brother-in-law, Russell Henry ’46, and is survived by a brother, a daughter and son, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

John B. Sauder, March 30, 2016. (Irving) John attended Drexel University and served in the Army Air Force during World War II. He worked at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and later operated a dairy farm in Pennsylvania for 27 years. Prior to his retirement, he was employed at Grove Manufacturing. John is survived by his wife, Thelma; five children; 11 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and a number of nephews. He was preceded in death by two sons, two sisters, and an uncle, Beverly Foltz (1902).

’40

Oscar E. Fox Jr., May 2, 2016. (Keil, Marshall, Chemistry Club, Les Copains, track & field, cross country, Glee Club, Commencement Stage Honor) Oscar graduated from Lehigh University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and Western Maryland College with a master’s degree in education. He was an officer in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. Oscar began his career as a plant superintendent, production manager, and quality control manager at York Corporation/York Borg Warner. He later became president of Carew and Steeline Engineering and served as assistant director of resident instruction at the York campus of Penn State University. Oscar had a passion for running and completed marathons on all seven continents. He also established the Mercersburg Academy Chapel Maintenance Fund. He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy; two daughters; a brother; and two sisters. Survivors include a son, John ’68; a daughter; three grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and eight step-great-grandchildren.

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Sam W. Maples Jr., March 18, 2016. (Main Annex, Irving, Football Band, Blue and White Melodians, Choir, Glee Club, Orchestra, Concert Band, Les Copains, tennis, swimming, soccer, Class Day Committee) Sam graduated from Williams College with a degree in physics and served in the Army Signal Corps. He managed Kemp’s, a family-owned department store in Frederick, Maryland, and later taught at West Frederick Junior High School and served as a guidance counselor at Governor Thomas Johnson High School and Monocacy Middle School. Sam was a former member of the Mercersburg Board of Regents. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Peggy; a son; and two brothers, Thomas ’39 and James ’44. Survivors include his wife, Mary Ellen; a son and daughter; six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter; and two stepchildren and two step-grandchildren.

Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as director of the National Fish Hatchery and Development Center, and as manager of several fish hatcheries, before spending time in the real-estate industry.

Harry’s survivors include his wife, Mary Lou, four children, seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and a sister.

Edwin L. Wilson, June 27, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, Class Officer, Senate, Rauchrunde, Les Copains, News Board, track & field, Ode Committee) Edwin graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and served as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II. He later joined Wilson Jewelers, the family business in Syracuse, New York. Edwin was preceded in death by a brother, Jerome; survivors include three nephews.

Richard L. Kaplin, March 9, 2016. (Main, Irving, Press Club, baseball, soccer, El Circulo Español, Stamp Club, Camera Club) Richard served in the Navy during World War II and, along with his brothers, managed their families’ business and real estate investments in the Toledo area. He was preceded in death by a son and two brothers, including Maury ’41. Survivors include his wife, Barbara; a daughter and a son; and a brother.

’41

James E. Cochran, December 13, 2013. (Main, Irving, Marshal of the Field, swimming) James received a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Yale University. He is survived by his wife, Betty, three children (including Bill ’71), and three grandchildren.

John C. Walker, June 20, 2016. (Main, Irving, Debater, Glee Club, Stony Batter, football, Dance Committee, Memorial Committee) Johnnie served as a pilot in the U.S. military during World War II and graduated from Princeton University. He worked in sales for Miles Laboratories and Midland Electric Company and in marine sales and insurance with the Dick Bertram Agency. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joanne, and a sister. Survivors include a son, a daughter, a granddaughter, and two great-grandsons.

’42

Wayne Carter, January 15, 2016. (Marshall, track & field) Wayne lived in Dublin, New Hampshire.

C. Russell Schaeffer Jr., March 31, 2016. (Marshall, football, track & field). C.R. graduated from Western Maryland College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and served in the Army during World War II. He was a surety bond underwriter and manager for 40 years. He was preceded in death by his wife, Phyllis; a son; and two cousins, Stanley Smith ’42 and Samuel Bare ’52. Survivors include a son, a grandson, and four cousins (Dave Schaeffer ’37, David Bare ’62, Mac Schaeffer ’65, and Lloyd Schaeffer ’70). His brother, William ’45, passed away May 23, 2016.

’43

Harry Bishop, December 25, 2015. (Marshall, football, baseball) Harry served in the Army during World War II. He attended Cameron College and the University of Oklahoma, specializing in ichthyology, and worked for the Oklahoma Game and Fish Department and the Red River Fisheries. He later worked for the Department of

Walter F. Conover Jr., June 11, 2016. (Main, Irving, Camera Club, Senate, cheerleader, Chemistry Club, Chapel Usher, Dance Committee, Entertainment Usher, baseball, Class Day Committee) Walter was a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during World War II and owned Nassau-Conover Motor Company. He was preceded in death by his wife, Frances; a sister; and a brother, George ’37. Survivors include two daughters; a son, Walter “Mike” Conover III ’65; six grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

’44

Sidney D. Perkins, January 6, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, El Circulo Español, Chess Club, basketball, baseball, soccer) Sidney graduated from Penn State University with an engineering degree and worked as an oil and gas producer and farmer. He was preceded in death by a daughter and is survived by his wife, Barbara; a son and two daughters; three grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; and a sister.

George F. Von Kempen II, October 17, 2013. (Main, Irving, Rauchrunde, Choir, Glee Club, Radio Club, track & field) George graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in cinema and enlisted in the Navy, receiving an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He spent 45 years in rental and property management, establishing the Von Kempen Real Estate Company and serving as president of the Deltoeds (an organization of independent brokers). Survivors include several nieces and nephews.

’45

John W. Colston, February 27, 2016. (South Cottage, Irving, Senate, Choir, Rauchrunde, Laticlavii, Concert Band, Glee Club, football, baseball, swimming, Class President, Cum Laude) John graduated from Princeton University and was a former member of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council. Survivors include his wife, Rosemary; a brother, Hugh ’55; a sister; three children; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Moir A. Rennie, April 6, 2015. (Main, Marshall, Glee Club) Moir received a degree in biology from Colby College and served in the Navy. He worked as a research biologist at the Sterling Winthrop Institute. Survivors include his wife, Jessie; a son and a daughter; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

William S. Schaeffer, May 23, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, football, wrestling, track & field, head waiter, Senate, Chapel Usher,

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

Stony Batter) Bill served in the Army Air Corps prior to enrolling at Brown University. He later joined 3M Company, where he spent a 34-year career. Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Caroline; a daughter; and two cousins, Stanley Smith ’42 and Samuel Bare ’52.

Survivors include a son and a daughter, four grandchildren, and four cousins (Dave Schaeffer ’37, David Bare ’62, Mac Schaeffer ’65, and Lloyd Schaeffer ’70). His brother, C.R. ’42, passed away March 31, 2016.

Malcolm L. Stephens Jr., January 30, 2016. (Main Annex, Irving debater, Camera Club, Gun Club, tennis) Malcolm attended Princeton University and served in the Army before earning a law degree from Stetson University. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Barbara. Survivors include his wife, Georganna; three children and three stepchildren; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; a sister and a nephew.

’46

Edgar P. Cardwell Jr., April 15, 2016. (Main, Irving, Stony Batter, Lit Board, Chess Club, Chemistry Club, soccer) Ed earned bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Virginia and served in the Army and Army Reserve. He later received a master’s degree in trade regulation from New York University and entered private practice in New York City. He also worked for the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C., retiring as deputy general counsel for administration. Ed was preceded in death by his first wife, Janet. Survivors include his wife, Merle; two sons; and four stepchildren and eight grandchildren.

John D. Gold Jr., April 14, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, football, swimming, Stony Batter, Les Copains, cheerleader, Class Poet) John graduated from Lehigh University and worked as a securities analyst on Wall Street with Merrill Lynch and Manufacturers Hanover. Survivors include his wife, Marianne; two daughters; four sons; and six grandchildren.

Walter Masland, July 24, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, Gun Club, Caducean Club, baseball) Julian W. Rittenhouse, February 2, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, El Circulo Español) Julian studied mechanical engineering at the University of Delaware and served in the Army before assuming joint leadership of the family automobile dealership, Rittenhouse Motor Company, with his brother and brother-in-law. He was preceded in death by a sister and is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, as well as a son and daughter; two grandsons and a granddaughter; seven greatgrandchildren; and a brother.

A. Fletcher Sisk Jr., March 22, 2016. (Main Annex, Marshall, Chemistry Club, Gun Club, Stamp Club, Projection Crew, soccer) Fletcher attended Washington & Lee University and served in the Navy. He worked for A.W. Sisk and Sons and later became an insurance broker.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, and is survived by a sister, two sons, and three grandchildren.

Charles R. Smith Jr., June 1, 2014. (Marshall) Rufus graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the Army, rising to the rank of colonel and serving in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He received two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars, and three Air Medals, and also served as a civilian Congressional liaison

for the Army Materiel Command. He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy, and is survived by five children and 10 grandchildren.

’47

H. Wellington Bramhall Jr., December 29, 2013. (Irving, football, Stony Batter, track & field) “Well” was a river pilot on the Delaware River for 36 years. He is survived by his wife, Roberta; four children, including Howard III ’68; 10 grandchildren; and two brothers.

John H. Kaltenthaler, May 9, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Band, Les Copains, Choir, Blue and White Melodians, Assembly Orchestra, Concert Band, Octet, Glee Club, football) John served in the Army during the Korean War and worked for IBM. A passionate squaredancing enthusiast, he called square dances for more than 50 years in 11 countries and in 47 of the 50 states. He is survived by his wife, Frederica; four daughters; and two granddaughters.

L. Hart Sebring, February 24, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, football, baseball, wrestling, Choir, Senate, El Circulo Español, Glee Club, Librarian, Concert Band, Octet, Blue and White Melodians, Dance Committee, Class Day Committee, Memorial Committee) Hart was the son of the late George Sebring (1920) and father of L. Hart Sebring Jr. ’72. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School. He was a retired naval officer and lived in Fairfax, Virginia. His wife, Martha, passed away March 30, 2016.

Robert Staley, August 9, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Irving declaimer, football, basketball, baseball, Senate, Senior Club, KARUX Board, circulation manager, Varsity Club, House Committee, Rauchrunde, Memorial Committee, Class Day Committee) Robert served as a second lieutenant in the Army and spent a career as a high-school English teacher. He was preceded in death by a son and his brother, Mercersburg emeritus faculty member Ernie Staley. Survivors include his wife, Marion; two sons and three grandchildren; and a cousin, David ’48.

Thomas M. Varden, July 27, 2016. (Marshall, Football Band) Tom was the son of the late James Varden (1915) and the nephew of Frank Varden (1910). He served in the Army during the Korean War. Tom lived in Thousand Oaks, California, and managed his family’s farm before retirement.

’48

John C. Tanger III, January 7, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, class officer, Les Copains, El Circulo Español, Senior Club, Varsity Club, football, track & field, Marshal of the Field) Jack, the nephew of the late Charles Tanger (1903), graduated from Amherst College and followed his grandfather and father as owner of J.C. Tanger Hardware and Tanger’s Warehouse. John was a former member of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council. He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara, and a sister. Survivors include three children (including John IV ’72) and a step-granddaughter.

Charles R. Wiley, December 23, 2015. (Colonial Cottage, Marshall, Lit Board, Chemistry Club, Stony Batter, Gun Club, soccer, wrestling, baseball) Chuck was a member of the Merchant Marine and coowned and operated the Annapolis Ulmer Sails loft with his wife,

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Beryl. He later spent a successful career in real estate, became a certified yacht surveyor, and founded Anchor Marine Enterprises.

Chuck was preceded in death by his wife and is survived by four daughters, a son, six grandchildren (including Katherine Alt ’11), and a great-grandson.

G. Thomas Williams Jr., May 8, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, KARUX Board, Press Club, El Circulo Español, Chess Club, track & field) An Army Corps of Engineers veteran who served in the Korean War, Tom graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. He co-founded a firm that later became WTW Architects. Tom was preceded in death by his first wife, Ann, and is survived by his wife, Darcy; a son and daughter; a sister; several stepchildren, including Matthew Salathe ’91 and Peter Salathe ’91; and several grandchildren and step-grandchildren.

’49

William M. Hodsdon, June 16, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Les Copains, Stony Batter) Bill, the son of the late Merrill Hodsdon ’24, attended Drew University and earned master’s degrees in theology and social work from Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania. He ran his own psychotherapy practice for many years. Bill was preceded in death by a brother and is survived by his wife, Gail; three daughters and four grandchildren; and four stepchildren and several step-grandchildren.

Frederick H. Stierheim, November 16, 2015. (Keil, Irving) Fred attended Penn State University and West Virginia University and was president of Kinross Enterprises. He lived in Pittsburgh.

’50

Charles O. Conrad Jr., April 16, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, Chemistry Club, football, baseball, track & field) Charlie received a bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon College and worked in pharmaceutical sales with A.H. Robins and Organon. He is survived by his wife, Sandra; three daughters and a stepson; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Philip S. Feigel, April 5, 2013. (Marshall) Phil attended Long Island University on a basketball scholarship. After serving in the Air Force, he entered the plumbing-supply business. Phil was preceded in death by his wife, Alice, and a daughter. Survivors include his wife, Gwen; a son; and six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Thomas R. Gillogly, February 15, 2016. (Marshall) Tom attended Ohio State University and spent 26 years with Brockway Glass.

He worked for Shirley’s Pharmacy and Shriver’s Pharmacy after his retirement and is survived by his wife, Martha; a daughter; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Edward T. Hager II, February 23, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, Fifteen, Honor Oration, Cum Laude, Les Copains, Laticlavii, Stony Batter, Caducean Club) Ed graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Baylor College of Medicine. He specialized in internal medicine and built a geriatrics practice in Santa Monica before leaving medicine to work on the Pacific Stock Exchange. Ed was the benefactor of Mercersburg’s John Howard Montgomery Fund and a benefactor of the Class of 1950 Endowed Scholarship Fund. He

was preceded in death by his wife, Andrea. Survivors include three children, as well as a great-niece (Marlee Hager ’05).

Ellsworth M. Shafto Jr., May 24, 2011. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, swimming, Rauchrunde, Laticlavii, track & field) Ellsworth attended Columbia University and served in the Army during the Korean War. He worked on Wall Street as a municipal-bond trader. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert ’50, and is survived by his wife, Gloria, as well as five children and 10 grandchildren.

William B. Shugars, June 23, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Choir, Glee Club, Senior Club, football, tennis, track & field, Marshal of the Field) William graduated from Franklin & Marshall College and the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. He was a dentist in the Air Force and served in the Air Force Reserve. William was a dentist at several hospitals and clinics and was also the former owner of Behms Restaurant. He was preceded in death by his wife, Leah, and is survived by a son, two daughters, and six grandchildren.

J. Richard Soars, January 2, 2016. (Keil, Marshall, basketball, Senate, Fifteen, Les Copains, Chapel Usher, Stony Batter, varsity football, Varsity Club, varsity wrestling, track & field, Marshal of the Field, Entertainment Usher) Dick graduated from Cornell University and served in the Army before entering the pulp and feed mill manufacturing business. He spent most of his career working as vice president of advertising and marketing for Sprout Waldron & Co., the family business. Dick was a benefactor of Mercersburg’s Soars Family Scholarship Fund. The son of the late Harold Soars ’21, he was preceded in death by a brother and a nephew, Sandy ’67. Survivors include his wife, Jean; four children and 12 grandchildren; a brother, Lewis ’48; multiple nieces and nephews, including Robert Soars ’66 and Elizabeth Soars Fink ’79; and a cousin, Ann Bruch ’76.

Ronald G. Walske, May 3, 2014. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, class president, KARUX Board, Senate, Chapel Usher, Stony Batter, Chess Club, Varsity Club, swimming, Marshal of the Field, Yacht Club) Ronald served in the Navy and was an investment banker. He is survived by his wife, Joan; three sons, including Marc ’77; two daughters; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

’51

Leard R. Altemus Jr., January 18, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Rauchrunde, Choir, Glee Club, Stony Batter, Caducean Club, Gun Club, Club Secretary, Paideia, football, baseball) Reed attended Bucknell University and Thomas Jefferson University Medical College. He was preceded in death by a son and is survived by his wife, Mary Fran; a son; two daughters; and a grandson.

James C. Hughes, February 4, 2016. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, El Circulo Español) James attended Rutgers University and lived in Tempe, Arizona.

Donald N. Pharo, January 9, 2016. (Main, Irving, Stony Batter) Donald attended Penn State University and served in the Army. He worked as a farmer, a partner and general manager of Keystone Dehydrators, and part-owner of Newburg Florals and a Holiday Inn. Donald was preceded in death by his wife, Dolores, and two

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

brothers, including Robert ’46. Survivors include a son, a brother, and a granddaughter.

Theodore M. Sandson, July 1, 2016. (South Cottage, Irving, News Board, El Circulo Español, Caducean Club, Jurisprudence Society, track & field) Ted earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and served as a newspaper editor in the Army before helping to turn his family-run grocery store into a chain of Shop ’n Saves. He is survived by his partner, Buddy Georg.

James E. Turney Jr., March 6, 2016. (South Cottage, Irving, Band, Les Copains, choir, Glee Club, Concert Band, Blue and White Melodians, Football Band, wrestling, tennis, track & field) Jim, the son of the late James Turney ’23 and nephew of the late George Turney ’25, served as a public information officer in the Army and earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northeastern University, a master’s degree in management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in management from California Coast University. He was involved in various computingrelated jobs during his career and taught at Austin Community College. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Joan, and his second wife, Audra. Survivors include a brother, John ’61; three daughters and a stepdaughter; four grandchildren and a great-granddaughter; and a cousin, Michael ’58.

David R. Young, February 25, 2016. (Marshall) David graduated from Penn State University with a degree in geography and served in the Navy before working as a mining supervisor. He later studied marketing and advertising at Franklin & Marshall College and worked in advertising for Raybestos Manhattan, U.S. Gauge, and Bethlehem Steel. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; a brother; a son and daughter; and four grandchildren.

’53

Frederick L. Morefield, May 22, 2016. (Keil, Marshall, Debating Team, News Board, KARUX Board, Lit Board, Fifteen, Rauchrunde, Stamp Club, Laticlavii, Chemistry Club, Caducean Club, Gun Club, Jurisprudence Society, Higbee Orator, Cum Laude, football, track & field) Fred received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He worked in the international petroleum industry before moving to health care, including roles as chief financial officer of the New York City public health system, vice president of the international division of Shared Medical Systems, and chief executive officer of Healthcare Data Exchange. Fred was a recipient of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council Service Award and the Class of ’32 Distinguished Alumnus Award, a benefactor of the Morefield Family Endowment Fund, and a former benefactor of the Class of 1953 Scholarship Fund. He was preceded in death by a son, Raimo ’74, and a brother, John ’52. Survivors include his wife, Betty; a son (Hans ’88) and a daughter; and six grandchildren, including Noora ’05.

David G. Nevin, August 14, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, Band, Ode Committee, Honor Oration, Student Council, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Class Day Committee, choir, Christian Service Group, Glee Club, Octet, Blue and White Melodians, Football Band, Dance Committee, Stony Batter, Projection Crew, Senior Club president, Paideia, Cum Laude) David attended Williams College and the

University of Pittsburgh and owned Information Technology Access.

Survivors include his wife, Janet, and brother, Hugh ’50.

’54

Edwin D. Albaugh Jr., June 20, 2013. (Irving) Edwin, the stepson of the late Horace Opel ’37, worked as an editor and writer for The Baltimore Sun, Washington Star, and U.S. News & World Report. Survivors include his partner, Becky Griffin; his former wife, Annemarie; a son and daughter; a grandson; and a brother.

Louis E. Ceccoli Jr., January 20, 2016. (Marshall, wrestling) Louis graduated from Villanova University and was a sales manager for CCH in New York City. He is survived by his wife, Carol Ann, as well as a son and a sister.

Harry D. Johnston, March 15, 2016. (Irving, Caducean Club, Concert Band, Blue and White Melodians, Football Band, Assembly Orchestra) Harry graduated from Washington and Jefferson College and the University of Health Sciences. He was a general medical practitioner for nearly 46 years and is survived by his wife, Darlene; a son, Harry ’94; two granddaughters; one sister; and two nephews.

Jay E. Rathfon, June 6, 2016. (Marshall, track & field) Jay received a degree in engineering from Bucknell University and worked for Bell Telephone and Herre Brothers. He later became vice president of operations with Community General Osteopathic Hospital and president of operations at DST Health Solutions. Survivors include a daughter and son, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

’55

Joel A. Claster, October 8, 2012. (Main Hall, Marshall, KARUX Board, Laticlavii, Glee Club, Jurisprudence Society, track & field, Stamp Club) Joel graduated from Dickinson College and Dickinson Law School and practiced law with his father and uncle. He was preceded in death by a son and is survived by a sister, a daughter, two grandchildren, and his companion, Beth Starr.

Robert M. Jelley, May 10, 2015. (Marshall, football, International Club, Laticlavii, Sunday Evening Art Class) Robert received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and an MBA from Boston University. He worked for the federal government as a computer specialist. Survivors include his wife, Jeannette; two daughters; three grandsons; and two stepbrothers.

Robert C. Schmoyer, April 8, 2016. (Laucks, Marshall, Glee Club, Concert Band, Christian Service Group, soccer, Varsity Club) Bob attended Ursinus College, Lehigh University, and Villanova University. He lived in McCormick, South Carolina. Survivors include his wife, Mary Alice.

’56

Thomas H. Foster, June 29, 2016. (Keil, Marshall, KARUX Board, Press Club, Concert Band, football) Tom graduated from the College of William & Mary and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. He later received an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and worked in sales and marketing for many years before forming his own company. Tom was preceded in death by his first

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wife, Joy, and his second wife, Judith. Survivors include three sons, six grandchildren, and a sister.

Ralph R. Umsted Jr., February 22, 2016. (Irving, wrestling) Ralph graduated from Florida Southern College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and served in the Army and Army Reserve during the Vietnam War. He worked as a commercial sales manager for the Philadelphia Electric Company and later owned his own antiques store. Ralph is survived by his wife, Christena; a son; two daughters; and 11 grandchildren.

’57

John S. Zulick III, April 28, 2016. (Main, Marshall, Band, El Circulo Español, News Board, Choir, Glee Club, Octet, Football Band, Blue and White Melodians, Ode Committee) Jack was the son of the late Arthur Zulick (1914). He attended Dartmouth College and received a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a first lieutenant in the Army and worked as an architect. John was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn, and two sisters. Survivors include four children, nine grandchildren, and three sisters.

’58

Daniel C. Bennett, December 26, 2014. (South Cottage, Marshall, Senior Club, Stony Batter, football) Daniel lived in Palm City, Florida.

Ralph L. Cox II, August 26, 2006. (Irving) Ralph graduated from Findlay College. Survivors include his wife, Dora; three sons and a granddaughter; a brother (Springer ’61); and his mother.

’59

Thomas R. Hodet Jr., October 24, 2005. (Irving, soccer) Thomas was a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Survivors include his wife, Susan; a daughter and son; a granddaughter; a brother; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Henry B. Swoope IV, January 30, 2016. (Marshall, wrestling, Stony Batter) Hank followed in the Mercersburg footsteps of his father, William ’27; uncles, Henry Jr. ’23, Hewit ’26, and Charles ’31; and grandfather, Henry (1900), who was the benefactor of the school’s Swoope Carillon. Hank graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and worked in the science and microbiology industries for Scientific Products and Mallinckrodt. He went on to serve as senior vice president of sales and marketing for Baltimore Biological Laboratories and general manager for Precision Mechanical. He also worked on numerous startup ventures and served as president of the family businesses, Mid-Pen Coal and Middle Pennsylvania Coal Company. Hank was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes Jane. Survivors include a son and daughter, five grandchildren, and three brothers.

’60

Henry R. Winner, July 15, 2016. (South Cottage, Irving, football, golf) Hank graduated from Williams College before working as a corporate executive for Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company in New York City. He lived in Boca Raton, Florida. Survivors include a brother, two sisters, and three nieces.

’63

Geoffrey E. Russell, March 26, 2016. (Tippetts, Marshall, Blue Key, El Circulo Español, Paideia, Publicity Chairman, Gun Club, KARUX, swimming) Geoff graduated from the University of California and enjoyed a career in insurance defense litigation, mediation, and arbitration. Survivors include two cousins.

’66

William R. Reinert, December 31, 2015. (Marshall, Chapel Usher, French Club, Boys’ Club, Ski Club, Music Appreciation Club, Caducean Club, Stony Batter, Gun Club, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse) Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Denison University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio State University. He worked as director of mushroom research for the Campbell Institute for Research and Development and later for Precision Farming Enterprises and Morning Star. Bill is survived by his wife, Nori; two sons and a daughter; and a grandson.

C. Richard Stoeppler, December 12, 2015. (Marshall, baseball) Richard worked as a manager for hotels in Chicago, El Salvador, Cancun, and Guatemala. Survivors include his wife, Estela, and five children.

’67

Robert W. Reiniger, April 25, 2015. (Irving, Blue Key, French Club, Boys’ Club, Ski Club, Paideia, Jurisprudence Society, Caducean Club, WMER, Press Club, Glee Club, Varsity Club, football, wrestling, track & field, lacrosse) Bob graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture. He won a fellowship to study rose and orchid propagation in Europe for 18 months and later worked for many years at Reiniger Bros., the family’s greenhouses started by his father and uncle. Survivors include his wife, Carol, and a daughter.

’71

Louis R. Armstead, May 19, 2016. (Irving, Paideia, Dance Committee, Irving vice president, football, wrestling, Ski Group, track & field, Explorers Club) Lou graduated from Jacksonville University with a degree in fine art and owned and operated a real-estate franchise until his retirement. He was preceded in death by a brother. In addition to his wife, Sherry, survivors include a son; several grandchildren; four stepchildren; and a niece (Rachael ’02).

Daniel L. Harbour Jr., March 25, 2006. (soccer) Dan earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian history from Ithaca College and an associate’s degree in computer field service from Portland Community College. He served as the first president of the DeLaveaga Disc Golf Club and worked in telecommunications software testing. Dan was preceded in death by a sister and is survived by his wife, Karen; a sister; three nieces; a cousin; and his mother.

Daniel L. McCarty, May 28, 2016. (Marshall, basketball) Dan owned his own plumbing business. He is survived by three brothers and a number of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2016

’72

William W. McCune Jr., May 2, 2011. (Marshall, Caducean Club, Jurisprudence Society, Spanish Club, Boys’ Club, Stony Batter, Bridge Club, Class Council, News, Lit, Explorers Club, Film Club, Ski Club) William was the son of the late William McCune ’35. He attended the University of Vermont and Northwestern University and worked at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico.

’75

Robert M. Raley, February 3, 2016. (dorm prefect, field hockey, basketball, track & field, Film Club, Gun Club, Photo Club, Ski Club, Varsity Club) Robert studied business management at the University of Delaware and worked for his family’s various businesses. He was later employed by Arch and Godfrey Construction and started an Internet client services business, M Group S.A. Survivors include his fiancée, Marisol Ordonez Zamora; a son; two sisters (Suzette Raley Hopkins ’81 and Peggy Raley Ward ’85); and two nieces, including Natalie Hopkins ’09.

Gary A. Strohm, January 25, 2016. (track & field, Explorers Club, Ski Club) Gary received a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

His career included service as vice president of Ingram Micro and eCommerce. Survivors include a brother, Randall ’77.

’76

James M. Brewer, April 8, 2016. (Proctor, Student Council, Honor Committee, track & field, football, cross country, Dormitory Committee, KARUX, News, Blue Review, Stony Batter, Varsity Club, Film Club) Jim received a degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He worked as an engineer for Doucet Engineering and is survived by his wife, Lisa; three children; three sisters; and his parents, as well as a nephew, Matthew Englehart ’05.

’86

Eric E. Swartz, December 25, 2015. (Fowle, squash, soccer) Eric received a bachelor’s degree in political science from George Mason University and went on to earn a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law. He worked for the Institute for International Banking Law and Practice, the National Rifle Association, and as a judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Survivors include his wife, Kimberly, and two daughters.

’89

Zania M. Pearson, June 14, 2016. (South Cottage, Marshall, basketball, track & field, football manager) Zania attended Howard University and worked in the press office and media-resource unit for the U.S. Department of State. In those capacities, she prepared news clips for worldwide distribution and provided support to highlevel government officials. Survivors include her daughter, Valencia Whitehurst ’08; her partner, Furard Tate; and her mother and brother.

’93

Justin C. Young, April 5, 2016. (Marshall, Blue Key, baseball, diving, soccer, skiing) Justin attended the University of Kansas and the University of Akron and graduated from Ohio Technical College.

He is survived by his partner, Jillian Newland; two sons; two sisters and two brothers; and his parents.

Former faculty/staff/friends Rosamund P. Bell, former faculty member, July 17, 2016. She served on the faculty from 1964 to 1980, and was the Academy’s dean of girls. She also worked as alumni secretary and in the library and was the widow of former faculty member Frank Bell, who died in 1996. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College and served in the Naval Reserve’s WAVES program during World War II. The Bells lived and worked at Williams College and The Hotchkiss School before coming to Mercersburg. Survivors include three children, including Betsy Bell ’64 (who studied at Mercersburg as a summer-session student) and Board of Regents member Charlie Bell ’71; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; and a stepbrother, Michael Purdy ’79.

Denis Campbell, former history faculty member (1968–1976), July 11, 2016.

Grace J. Culbertson, benefactor of the John H. Culbertson ’24 Scholarship Fund, widow of the late John H. Culbertson ’24, and grandmother of Jake Culbertson ’10, March 13, 2016.

John T. Hall, former dramatics/oratory (1960–1962), January 29, 2016.

faculty

member

Webster C. Johnson, former mathematics faculty member (1980–1984), January 15, 2016.

Allan L. Owen Jr., father of faculty member and Mercersburg magazine editor Lee Owen, May 18, 2016.

Wanda Sweeney, former Mercersburg dining services staff member (1984–1992), June 24, 2016.

William I. West, grandson of founding headmaster Dr. William Mann Irvine, uncle of William N. West ’84, and step-uncle of Kendra Flowers ’95, February 26, 2016.

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