Mercersburg Magazine - Spring/Summer 2016

Mercersburg A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

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VOLUME 42

NO. 1

SPRING/SUMMER 2016

VOLUME 42

N O.1

A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Mercersburg

Saluting Douglas and Peggy Hale

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Irving-Marshall Week The Outlaws are back on top. Page 8

All Hale The story of Douglas Hale, Mercersburg’s sixth head of school.

Page 10

Peggy Hale: True Blue

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An appreciation of Mercersburg’s first lady of the past 19 years.

Page 20

The Classes of 1998–2016

Read 19 of the Mercersburg family’s success stories—one from each of the 19 graduating classes of the Hale era. Page 24

A History of Mercersburg’s Headmasters

You Should Know

Head swimming coach Glenn Neufeld went for a celebratory dip in the pool at La Salle University’s Kirk Natatorium in February after the Blue Storm girls’ swimmers and divers won the prestigious Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships for the first time since 1987. Look for more coverage (as well as a recap of Mercersburg’s first Pennsylvania Independent Schools girls’ basketball state title) in our next issue.

Photo by Steve Boyle.

Photo credits: p. 2 Chris Crisman; p. 3–4 Bob Stoler; p. 5 (Cum Laude) Jillian Wilkerson, (Ecker) Mercersburg Academy Archives; p. 6 (Levins) Steve Boyle, (Ghodsi) Bill Green, (Rader) courtesy Matt Rader ’96; p. 7 Wilkerson; p. 8–9 (all photos) Green; p. 11 Ryan Smith; p. 12 (Zhou) Green; p. 13 (bottom photo) David Rolls; p. 14 Peter Olson; p. 16 courtesy Peggy Hale; p. 17 Green; p. 19–21 Smith; p. 22 Martha Stewart; p. 23 Green; p.

29 Rolls; p. 30 courtesy Cincinnati Bengals; p. 31 Green; p. 32 (Reilly) Jillian Wilkerson; p. 33 Wilkerson; p. 35 Nebraska Sports Information; p. 36 Green; p. 37 (Jackson) Green, (Casparian) Stacey Talbot Grasa; p. 38–39 Archives; p. 40–42 Green; p. 44–45 Green/ Wilkerson; p. 46 Green; p. 47 (football) Green, (golf) Wilkerson; p. 48 (top photo) Green, (bottom photo) Stoler; p. 49 Smith.

On the cover: Portrait of Douglas Hale by Serge Strosberg (www.sergestrosberg.com)

Irvine. Edwards. Tippetts. Fowle. Burgin. Look back at the list of previous Academy headmasters, which is short on length—but long on tenure, accomplishments, and results. Page 38

From the Head of School 2 3 Via Mercersburg Arts 40 Athletics 46 Class Notes 50 Mercersburg magazine is published by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Mercersburg Academy 300 East Seminary Street Mercersburg, Pennsylvania 17236 Magazine correspondence: Lee_Owen@mercersburg.edu

Editor: Lee Owen Class Notes Editor: Tyler Miller Contributors: Zally Price, Debbie Rutherford, Douglas Smith, Wallace Whitworth, Jillian Wilkerson Design: Aldrich Design Head of School: Douglas Hale

Class Notes correspondence: classnotes@mercersburg.edu

Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications: Wallace Whitworth

Alumni correspondence/ change of address: alumni@mercersburg.edu 800-588-2550

Assistant Head for Enrollment: Tommy Adams Assistant Head for Advancement: Brian Hargrove

Read us online: www.mercersburg.edu/magazine © 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.

Green Inks

From the Head of School

A Full Heart “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” —A.A. Milne

T

his last school year before my retirement

becomes a clear and present requirement made all the

in June has been a most interesting one.

more difficult by how lucky I’ve felt to be part of a place

In a surprising but real way, this year has

like this. My best sense of how that goodbye should

felt just as exciting and fresh and anxiety-

occur is to register anew in this last magazine column

inducing as my first year of teaching did in 1973. That

my deep and abiding gratitude to every single person

rookie year was filled with all manner of questions from

who has been a part of my experience here—Board

friends and colleagues alike: “How did your first day

members, alums, faculty, staff, parents, and especially

in the classroom go?,” “How is your first year going so

students. It’s difficult to express fully the joy I have felt

far?,” or “What’s been the biggest surprise in this first

and continue to feel about being a part of this commu-

year of teaching?” I learned ever so much more about

nity, and it’s equally difficult for Peggy and me to thank

myself and my chosen profession that first year than I

everyone sufficiently for welcoming us so warmly nine-

could have imagined.

teen years ago and for allowing us to share this amazing

Strangely enough, all the same questions are coming back around in my retirement year, except “first year” is

enterprise with you. But we do most sincerely thank you… every one of you.

now always replaced with “last year.” Again, I’m learning

The ties that bind this community are strong and

much more about myself and feeling similar anticipa-

various and deep; in every imaginable way, the school

tion about the exciting possibilities which lie ahead. It

is well positioned to thrive in the future. There is little

all makes perfect sense, though, for what I was experi-

doubt that Mercersburg will continue to transform the

encing forty-three years ago was the wonderful newness

lives of young people for years and years to come. So

of things, and what I’m now moving toward in my retire-

with a full heart and a going-away lump in my throat,

ment year falls squarely into that same category. The

I say thanks again to all of you in this magical place…

principal difference, of course, is that in 1973, I was,

And Mightily Onward!

in effect, saying hello both to a new career and a new community whereas now I am saying goodbye to that same enormously gratifying career and to an already well-known, beloved community.

And while the learning more about myself will certainly continue into the future, the saying goodbye part

Douglas Hale Head of School

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

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D a t es t o Rem em b er

Mercersburg

Aug 29

New students arrive/Inbound begins

Sep 4

2016–2017 Opening Convocation

Oct 7–9

Family Weekend

Oct 28–30

Alumni Weekend

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

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

Daring to Lead Campaign Reaches $300 Million

D

eborah Simon ’74 and John Prentiss ’65, co-chairs of Mercersburg Academy’s Daring to Lead Campaign, announced during the spring meeting of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents in May that the campaign has met its ambitious $300 million goal—two months ahead of its scheduled close.

As of May 6, contributions to Daring to Lead stood at $300 million. To our knowledge, Daring to Lead is among only a handful of campaigns for independent secondary schools that have raised $300 million or more. Other campaigns to reach or exceed the $300 million mark include those by Culver Academy ($376 million in 2010), Phillips Exeter Academy ($352 million in 2010), and Phillips Academy Andover ($314 million in 2012).

“Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest days in Mercersburg’s 123-year history,” exclaimed Simon and Prentiss in a joint statement to the Board. “Surpassing our goal of $300 million is a magnificent achievement—one that all of us in the extended Mercersburg family can celebrate with great pride and exhilaration, because it has taken the full force of our entire school community to make this day a reality. The transformational effects of our collective achievement through Daring to Lead are already evident, and they will continue to be felt in perpetuity in every corner of our beautiful campus, not to mention the lives of every student—current and future.”

Simon is a vice-president of the Board of Regents. In October 2013, she and her foundation made a gift of $100 million to the campaign—the single largest gift in Mercersburg’s history and one of the largest ever to an American independent secondary school.

Prentiss, who is also a major contributor to Daring to Lead, is a longtime Regent whose tenure covers more than 30 years, much of it as chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee. The new Prentiss Alumni and Parent Center at North Cottage was named in honor of Prentiss and his family.

it! d i d We llion mi $300

President of the Board David O. Frantz ’60 remarked, “I remember well the meeting in the summer of 2013 where we decided that $300 million would be our campaign goal. We were all a little nervous. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But H.F. ‘Gerry’ Lenfest ’49, who with his wife Marguerite provided visionary leadership for the school over many years and served as honorary co-chairs of this campaign, challenged us to set the bar high and shoot for $300 million. He knew that we could do it, and, as usual, Gerry was spot on.” continued on page 4

Deborah Simon ’74 and John Prentiss ’65, Campaign co-chairs

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

worked harder and done more than Doug Hale. In fact, neither the premise for this campaign nor the campaign itself would have emerged and flourished without Doug’s remarkable vision, strategic planning, and astute management.

“He has built so much trust, admiration, and confidence throughout the Mercersburg family over his 19 years here. Our ability to surpass this astounding goal of $300 million demonstrates just how much all of us at Mercersburg cherish his selfless leadership and deep love for the school.”

“Nothing pleases me more than to see this monumental campaign surpass its goal before the end of my tenure as head of school,” said Hale. “Yes, campaign fundraising has consumed a lot of my time over the last two and a half years, but I can honestly say that I have loved every minute of it, partly because I believe deeply in what the money we have raised will ultimately achieve, but also the fact that Allen Zern ’61 and Stacie Rice Lissette ’85, Campaign the many events and meetings related to the campaign co-vice-chairs gave me the opportunity to reconnect and spend time with many Mercersburg friends that I hold near and dear.

“That we have raised $300 million together is gratifying beyond Campaign Co-Vice Chair, contributor, and Mercersburg Regent Stacie Rice Lissette ’85 echoed the sentiment of the Campaign words, and I truly want all of us who have contributed to this camSteering Committee and the Board of Regents that the ultimate paign—in any way—to celebrate this achievement with great pride, credit for the success of this campaign goes to Head of School but also immense gratitude that we at Mercersburg continue our Douglas Hale, who is retiring at the end of June after 19 years at grand tradition as a dynamic, hard-working, egalitarian community that can achieve truly amazing things—together.”

Mercersburg’s helm.

Look for more about the Daring to Lead Campaign in the next “This is Doug’s campaign,” said Lissette. “While so many of issue of Mercersburg magazine. us have worked tirelessly to make this day a reality, no one has The major outcomes of the Daring to Lead Campaign concentrate in these five areas: Scholarships and Financial Aid

Facilities

• 53 percent increase in financial aid budget since FY 08

• Prentiss-Zimmerman Quadrangle (renovated 2009)

• 36 new endowed financial aid funds

• Regents’ Field (opened 2009) • Nolde Gymnasium (renovated 2010)

Faculty Support • 11 new endowed faculty support funds • 4 new endowed faculty chair positions Academic and Residential Programs • 37 new endowed program support funds

• Lambert J. Gross ’33 Athletic Park (dedicated 2010) • Simon Student Center (opened 2013) • 1893 House (opened 2013) • Menard Family Faculty Homes (opened 2015) • Prentiss Alumni and Parent Center at North Cottage (completion anticipated summer 2016) • Hale Field House (completion anticipated late 2016) • New aquatic center (currently in design)

Annual Giving • Grew from $2.4 million in FY 12 to $3.0 million in FY 15 (25 percent growth) • Alumni participation increased 41 percent

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Introducing the Cum Laude Society (2016 Edition) Twenty-six members of the Class of 2016 have been formally introduced as members of Mercersburg’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society; fellow Cum Laude Society member Gabriel Hammond ’97 (back row/right, with Head of School Douglas Hale) was the featured speaker at March’s Cum Laude Convocation.

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

Darrell Ecker: 1921–2016 Darrell Ecker, who spent 25 years coaching and working at Mercersburg and was one of the first coaches of female athletic teams at the school, died February 27 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. He was 94.

Ecker arrived at Mercersburg in 1971 to work as the supervisor of Nolde Gymnasium. He was an assistant girls’ basketball coach from 1975 to 1980 and head coach from 1981 through 1986, and was an assistant and head softball coach from 1979 to 1986.

His 1983 girls’ basketball team went 18–1, which was the school

record for victories in a year until the 2015–2016 squad won the PAISAA state championship game—its 19th win of the season— on February 27, the day Ecker passed away.

The Darrell Ecker Award is presented at Commencement each year to a female athlete in Mercersburg’s senior class whose dedication, hard work, sense of fair play, outstanding achievement, contributions, and sterling leadership (on the athletic field and in school) serve as an inspiration to her fellow students.

Ecker coaching basketball at Mercersburg

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MERCERSBURG’S COLLEGE ATHLETIC ROSTER Twenty-six members of the Mercersburg Class of 2016 are slated to continue their athletic careers at the college level: Jake Artz, St. Joseph’s University, baseball Matt Athanas-Linden, Muhlenberg College, boys’ soccer Ben Carter, Denison University, boys’ swimming Stephanie Downing, U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis (Navy), girls’ swimming Kane Doyle, Muhlenberg College, boys’ soccer Gabby Fraser, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, girls’ squash Saaman Ghodsi, Franklin & Marshall College, boys’ tennis Jake Girard, Navy, boys’ swimming Kate Hastings, University of Virginia, crew Elliot Hicks, Emory University, boys’ tennis Mason Kholi, Muhlenberg College, football Morgan King, California State University-Bakersfield, girls’ swimming Rina Kiyohara, Swarthmore College, girls’ swimming Courtney Levins, Marist College, girls’ swimming Dilin Massand, Occidental College, boys’ swimming Will Oakley, Kenyon College, baseball Sarah O’Leary, University of Pennsylvania, girls’ swimming Jake Rist, Catholic University of America, baseball Courtney Levins ’16 Joana Santos, Union College, girls’ basketball Luke Sevaljevic, Queens University [Canada], boys’ basketball St. John Smith, Gettysburg College, baseball Molly Taylor, Loyola University Maryland, girls’ basketball Lizzie Troy, Navy, girls’ swimming Tori Yoder, Frostburg State University, girls’ basketball Ruichi Zhou, New York University, boys’ golf Andrew Zhugayevich, U.S. Military Academy at West Point (Army), boys’ swimming

Saaman Ghodsi ’16

Matt Rader ’96: On With the Show Mercersburg native Matt Rader ’96 is the new president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). The organi z a t i o n , w h i c h i s approaching the beginning of its third century, produces the annual Philadelphia Flower Show—the largest and longest-running event of its kind in the nation.

Rader began at PHS in January, just a few weeks before the March opening of this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show. While this was Rader’s first Flower Show as president of the organization, his first visit came at age 10—when he still lived in the borough of Mercersburg.

Rader and his family (including his older brother, Scott ’91) traveled a lot during his childhood, whether to visit family in southern New Jersey or to other national parks and historic sites around the country. It was on one of those trips that he first visited the Philadelphia Flower Show. Between his work in Philadelphia’s park system (as executive director of the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust and the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District) and a longtime love of landscapes, Rader combined a love for Philadelphia, a passion for making things beautiful, and his experience in business into doing what he does now.

“This job puts it all together—parks, landscaping, and historic preservation,” Rader says. “PHS is a wonderful place and has a 189-year-old history and a wonderful tradition of using horticulture to make Philadelphia and nearby places beautiful.”

Rader adds that the beauty of Mercersburg has always inspired him. “Part of working in horticulture comes from a love of making beauty happen,” he says.

Rader earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural history from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Wharton School. He was previously a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Philadelphia, and has also worked for the Urban Land Institute and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

—Jillian Wilkerson

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Quentin McDowell Named Assistant Head for Enrollment Quentin McDowell has been appointed Mercersburg’s assistant head of school for enrollment effective July 1. McDowell succeeds Tommy Adams, who is departing Mercersburg to become head of school at Grosse Pointe Academy in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce Quentin’s appointment as the leader of our admission efforts,” Head of School Douglas Hale said. “Since joining the Mercersburg faculty in 2007, Quentin has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a thoughtful leader, a resourceful manager, and a strategic thinker.

He has distinguished himself during his time in the admission department, and I have no doubt that he will lead the department with his trademark enthusiasm and care.”

McDowell first arrived at Mercersburg in 2007 as a member of the history faculty.

In 2008 he became the Director of Summer and Extended Programs, a post that he held until July 2012, when he joined the admission office as senior associate director of admission and financial aid. He also served as the school’s head boys’ varsity soccer coach for eight seasons, winning the first Mid-Atlantic Prep League title in the program’s history (in 2014) and earning two Area Coach of the Year awards from the [Chambersburg] Public Opinion.

“I am both truly excited and incredibly humbled by this extraordinary opportunity,” McDowell said. “Clearly Mercersburg is a school that I love dearly, and I am thrilled to lead the admission team as we build on the fine track record that Tommy Adams, and those before him, have established over the years.”

Mercersburg’s incoming head of school, Katie Titus, said, “Quentin made quite an impression during the interview process. The admission landscape for boarding schools is

evolving and will require creative and strategic thinking to help lead Mercersburg into the future. It is clear that Quentin has the drive, energy, and vision that we will need to keep Mercersburg as the school of choice for families seeking a strong community where their children will find both a home and a transformative education. I look forward to working with Quentin and his team during this time of transition for the school.”

Hale also added that the school is truly indebted to Tommy Adams for his eight years of exemplary service. “I’m very happy for Tommy’s advancement to the position of head of school at Grosse Pointe Academy,” Hale said. “He has done nothing short of an excellent job on all fronts. Not only is our school always fully enrolled with great students, but also he has recruited and retained a talented staff, and he has continued to shape the department and its programs so that they stay abreast of changes in the marketplace. All of us wish him and his family great success in Michigan.”

IN OUR NEXT ISSUE • Meet incoming Head of School Katie Titus • Read about the successes of the Daring to Lead Campaign • Experience the thrill of Mercersburg’s 2016 girls’ swimming/diving Easterns championship and girls’ basketball Pennsylvania Independent Schools state title • Bid farewell to retiring faculty members Jack Hawbaker, Ray Larson, and Pete Williams • Salute the Class of 2016 with Commencement coverage

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Irving-Marshall Week February 28–March 3, 2016

FINAL SCORE

Irving 900 Irving declaimers (front row, L–R): Katherine Reber ’17, second-place winner Michaela Wotorson ’18, thirdplace winner Ellie Wilkie ’19. Back row: Caroline Casparian ’16, Cathryn Perini ’16.

Marshall 1100 Marshall declaimers (front row, L–R): Julia Mitchell ’18, Fiona Flanagan ’17, first-place winner Elma Hoffman ’17.

Back row: Thomas Miller ’16, Will Thompson ’17.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

First-place declaimer and Scoblionko Declamation Cup winner Elma Hoffman ’17

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Saluting Douglas Hale, Mercersburg’s sixth head of school

By Lee Owen

ALL HALE How many lives can a school touch in 19 years?

Start with the students, of course. More than 2,000 students have graduated from Mercersburg Academy since 1998, which was Douglas Hale’s first Commencement as head of school.

Then there are alumni, parents, faculty and staff members, Board of Regents members, community members, and countless others.

Nineteen years ago, Hale became just Mercersburg’s sixth head of school in its history as a preparatory institution—which now spans 123 years. Since then, he has served Mercersburg in all the roles of a head of school—as leader of its faculty, as its principal educator, as its biggest sports fan and artistic aficionado, and as a mentor to students, faculty, and staff. He retires from the school at the end of June.

“Doug gives you his trust,” says Debbie Rutherford, who has worked as associate head of school during Hale’s entire tenure at Mercersburg (and since 1991, six years prior to his arrival).

“He has complete confidence in us. There have been so many times through the years that I’ve heard him talk about the importance of getting good people, putting them in the right place, and letting them do their work. He doesn’t micromanage in any way, but is always there for consultation if you need it. He trusts that you’ll do the right thing.

“He leads by example; he doesn’t tell you what the lessons are, he just lives them and shows them to you. It’s the same with the students. If a student gets in trouble, he doesn’t hammer them by badgering them about why they did this or that. ‘The past is never past redeeming,’ he says. It’s about where we are today and how we’re moving into the future. And ultimately, it’s all about the students who come here.”

Hale and his wife, Peggy, arrived at Mercersburg in 1997. To that point, Doug Hale had spent his entire professional career at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee—a city where he was

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Douglas and Peggy Hale

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

was going into her senior year. This was the time for me to begin exploring the landscape outside of Baylor. I drew a 600 to 700mile circle around Chattanooga, which included a lot of the MidAtlantic, some of the Midwest, and some of the South.

“I had worked with search companies [in hiring teachers and faculty members] for 20 years. The search companies were telling me I really needed to think about the timing of this if I waited any longer; I was 46 years old when I ended up coming to Mercersburg. So I submitted my materials, and it seemed like almost immediately I was a semifinalist in five different searches.

One of those—and the one that interested me the most—was Mercersburg, though I will have to say that I was so busy with my work at Baylor and was initially thinking that the looking was mostly a dress rehearsal for the next year, given that Lauren was an 11th-grader.”

Timing can be a funny thing. Walter H. The Hales on the cover of the Winter 1997 issue of Mercersburg Burgin Jr. ’53, a Mercersburg alumnus who served as headmaster at his alma mater for 25 years (from 1972 to 1997), was retiring. Hale received interest from Mercersburg, “Mr. Hale has done so much for this school and was interviewing at a school in Colorado—“the school that we, the students, don’t even bother to most outside the circle,” Hale remembers—when Peggy Hale comprehend it all. He has earned such a received a call at their Chattanooga home from the president of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents, H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest ’49. Peggy high status among the student body that we called Doug, who of course at that point was on an interview at a

a standout college basketball player at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Their two children stayed south; son Douglas had graduated from Baylor in 1994, and daughter Lauren completed her senior year as a boarding student at Baylor in the Hales’ first year at Mercersburg.

The Hales were high-school sweethearts, and grew up 75 miles northwest of Chattanooga in McMinnville, Tennessee, a town which then had a population of approximately 9,000. In fact, other than when Doug completed graduate school at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont, the Hales had lived their entire lives in Tennessee before coming to Mercersburg.

“I’d been at Baylor for 24 years,” Hale says. “It would have been really easy for me to remain there another 15 or 20 years and complete my career there. But we had a son already away at college, and our daughter

consider it an honor to be randomly assigned to his [Ford Hall] dining table.

I remember this past winter when Mr. and Mrs. Hale hosted a holiday party for all the prefects and Peer Group leaders. They greeted every single one of us individually and by name, and even gave us all a gift, truly allowing us to feel their Southern hospitality.

It is these small, personal things that the Hales do that really helps us feel connected to them and makes our Mercersburg experiences that much more special.”

—BRIAN NELSON ’16, Student Council president

Ruichi Zhou ’16 takes a selfie with Hale at Commencement 2016

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

In 2000: H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest ’49 (at podium) announcing his $35 million gift to Mercersburg with Hale and (seated, from left) Sen. Arlen Specter and Sen. Rick Santorum

different school hundreds of miles away.

“Peggy called me at the hotel and said Gerry wanted me to call him that night, no matter what the time,” Doug Hale remembers.

“So even though I was tired and weary from a long day, I placed the call. I ended up talking with Gerry for about an hour, and we had a great conversation. Essentially, he told me, ‘Don’t you do anything until you have the chance to visit Mercersburg.’ He was

clearly in love with his alma mater and talked movingly about how that alma mater had shaped him.”

Hale didn’t know it, but he had just had his first interaction with a Mercersburg giant. Just a few years later, Lenfest—who by then had handed the reigns of the Board presidency to his schoolmate and friend Edgar Masinter ’48—would make a $35 million gift to his alma mater, which at that point was the

The Hales (center) with (from left) H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest ’49, Denise Dupré ’76, Marguerite Lenfest, Margery Masinter, and Edgar Masinter ’48

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“I was a member of the committee of faculty, students, parents, and staff who got to interview all of the final candidates for the head of school position way back when Doug was hired. We met with him at 5:00 in the afternoon after he had been through a full, hectic day filled with interviews and being on display. I asked him what he and Peggy were going to do that night after he had finished up with our group.

He said, ‘We’re going to go back to the Mercersburg Inn, I’m going to have a scotch and Peggy’s going to have a vodka tonic, and we’re going to put our feet up and stare at the fire because we are pretty well exhausted at this point!’

That struck me as a very human answer.

From that point on, I was hooked by their charm and by the fact that they were regular folks just like the rest of us.”

—JIM MALONE, faculty member

largest gift in Mercersburg history.

Another crucial person in Hale’s Mercersburg career crossed his path shortly after the conversation with Lenfest: future Board president Denise Dupré ’76, who would become the first female Board of Regents president in the school’s history, but at that time was a newer member of the Board, and traveled to Chattanooga to visit with some of Hale’s Baylor colleagues.

“In those days, it was a much different kind of search process from the process today,” Hale says. “I not only came to campus to interview and visit with faculty, students, administrators, and everybody, but they sent a Board member and several faculty down to talk with people at my school. And, quite accidentally, I ended up being on a plane with Denise going back [to Mercersburg].

“Here’s a woman who was part of the advent of coeducation at Mercersburg—and the things she tells me about are so similar to what Gerry had talked about. She spoke eloquently of how Mercersburg had also had a transformative effect on her life. Then I arrived at Mercersburg, and I heard similar things frequently from all kinds of people. And while I had also heard stories like this from people at Baylor, what felt different at Mercersburg for me was the level and degree of attachment and love for the place.”

Hale also sensed something else at Mercersburg of which he wanted to be a part.

“The conversations I had with leaders at Mercersburg made clear that they wanted the school to be on the ascendancy and to assume its rightful place as one of the great boarding schools in the country,” he says. “There was a nice combination of love and desire for the place, but more importantly, the keen desire to

Hale with Deborah Simon ’74 at the announcement of Simon’s $100 million gift to Mercersburg in 2013

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Mercersburg Academy, 1997–2016 MAJOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS All dormitories renovated (2000s) Smoyer Tennis Center/Frantz Tennis Pavilion (2001) Class of ’38 Observatory (2003) Masinter Outdoor Education Center (2004) Davenport Squash Center (2004) Burgin Center for the Arts (2006) Regents’ Field (2009) Prentiss-Zimmerman Quadrangle renovated (2009) Nolde Gymnasium renovated (2010) Simon Student Center (2013) 1893 House (2013) Menard Faculty Family Homes (2015) Prentiss Alumni and Parent Center at North Cottage (summer 2016) Hale Field House (anticipated completion late 2016)

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Two largest gifts in school history received: H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest ’49, $35 million (2000); Deborah J. Simon ’74 and her foundation, $100 million (2013) • Formal exchanges established with Gauss Gymnasium/Worms, Germany (1998), Colegio Alemán de San Felipe/San Felipe, Chile (2006), Nanjing Foreign Language School/Nanjing, China (2011), Collège-Lycée Saint Joseph/Thônes, France (2012), Lourdes School/Valladolid, Spain (2016) • Chinese added to the language curriculum (2002) • Full top-to-bottom review of academic and residential programs by the entire faculty (2008–2010)

TWO SUCCESSFUL CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS Mightily Onward (2004; $125 million raised) Daring to Lead (2016; $300+ million raised)

• New senior capstone experiences created (2013)

THEN & NOW

1997–1998

2015–2016

Total enrollment

390

441

Applications received

350

586

New students enrolled

173

155

Total financial-aid budget Percentage of students receiving financial aid

$1.7 million 37 percent

$6.1 million 50 percent

U.S. states represented among student body Nations represented among student body

28 30

31 42

Faculty size Percentage of faculty with advanced degrees Faculty breakdown by gender

64 58 percent 69% male, 31% female

106 76 percent 58% male, 42% female

95

170

Endowment

$64 million

$251 million

Percentage of seniors accepted at Barron’s “Most Competitive” or “Highly Competitive” colleges

63 percent

82 percent

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101

Approximate number of courses offered

Students named AP Scholars by The College Board

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“We were very much in the country, though I went to high school in town,” Hale remembers. “Growing up, it was really about being outside all day long, every day that was possible. We had fruit trees and an enormous garden with lots of potatoes, tomatoes, and corn and such. We did a lot of hunting—rabbits, quail, fishing in streams and ponds and rivers. Like many others around us, we were small farmers; we always A young Doug Hale kept a hog for butchering, chickens for eggs and cooking, and we had a smokehouse and a cellar with meat and canned foods. It was that kind of life in a big, loving, rowdy, and sometimes rambunctious family— The beginning a typical, mostly happy, mostly healthy, life growing up in Home, to that point, had been Tennessee. Hale was one of 10 middle Tennessee.” siblings; his family lived about five miles outside of McMinnville When Hale was 7 years old, his father, Thurman, died tragiand had what he terms “a typical small farm life.”

have it recognized for being the excellent place that it is. That ambition for the school expressed by such capable leaders made me want to be a part of that enterprise; people were sold on this community and could speak so convincingly and genuinely about it.

“Mercersburg felt stimulating and fresh and challenging, and it was a place we could make a new home for ourselves. Once Peggy had seen the school and met some of the people, she had a very similar experience to the one I had. It became clear that if chosen, we would come.”

Hale (#44) playing basketball for the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in the 1970s

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cally in a fall; he was helping an older couple top a tree (trimming it from the top to keep it from growing into power lines).

The accident came on a hot August summer day, and whether the fall was caused by heat stroke or something else, the Hales— led by the family matriarch, Doug’s mother Beatrice, suddenly faced a much different and uncertain future.

The young Doug Hale responded by throwing himself into schoolwork, chores, and another passion: basketball. At McMinnville Central High School, he led the Bulldogs to the Tennessee state tournament and eventually earned a scholarship to play for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“I was a tall and skinny kid,” Hale remembers. “We had a basketball goal, or something resembling a goal, nailed to the broadside of our smokehouse at home. It was one of the ways we occupied ourselves. If the basketball went flat, we would shoot hoops with something else; tin cans or sock balls. And while it started out as play for me, as I got older and started playing more, it became clear that I was pretty good at it. It became a great love of mine, and eventually I figured out that this might be a way for me to be able to pay for college.”

Hale—who entered UTC at almost 6-feet, 4-inches, and weighed 160 pounds—arrived on campus and almost immediately was put on a weight-gaining plan. He blossomed into one of the star players for the Moccasins, and excelled in the classroom as well; he earned the Dayle May Award for the varsity athlete at the school with the highest academic average.

The future English teacher started out as a mathematics major, with a goal of becoming a certified public accountant.

“But I realized pretty quickly that I was more interested in English and history,” he says. As his college career continued, Hale remembered the impact several of his teachers had on him, and he was having a ball teaching swimming and water safety at a local club through the Red Cross. “I was really interested in coaching, and I got a great kick out of working with people,” he remembers. “Teaching would give me an opportunity to stay involved with all of that.”

Hale went to work as an English teacher and basketball coach at Baylor straight out of college. He and Peggy married and started a family, and within only a few years, Hale was asked to serve as head of Baylor’s lower school (which included seventhand eighth-grade students) and eventually assistant headmaster and finally headmaster.

“The profession of teaching is a bit like the professions of ministry and medicine,” Hale says. “Those three careers, at their core, are about trying to make things whole. If you think about it, teaching is the ultimate pay-it-forward profession. I think about being a hurt, confused, gawky preteenager and then teenager, and there were people who were clearly supporting me and affirming me and keeping me on the right track.

Hale with incoming Head of School Katie Titus

“I loved working with and for Doug. I look to him now for his wisdom and experience; any chance I can get, I call him for advice.

When Doug makes decisions, they are clear—he never makes one too quickly or rashly. His level of thoughtfulness has always been something I’ve admired.”

—CHRISTOPHER TOMPKINS, former assistant head of school for enrollment; now head of school at Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock, Arkansas

To watch a tribute video for the Hales which was commissioned

by Mercersburg’s Board of Regents, scan this QR code or visit www.vimeo.com/161671256.

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“Perhaps one of the most maddening—as well as wise—habits of speech Doug possesses is his penchant to utter, ‘It is what it is,’ at the culmination of some pronouncement about a matter gone awry or at some unfortunate news. And as I always reminded my students, it’s not just what you say but how you say it that matters. And Doug’s signature Tennessee drawl made each ‘It is what it is’ particularly poignant and somehow more palatable. A reminder that, in fact, most variables in life are out of our control, the cause and effect of events well beyond our grasp much of the time. So how else to respond, save in this wise way. Not always what faculty members or students wanted to hear, but an utterance of pure and deeply felt truth by a kind and knowing leader.

So the ‘it’ of Doug’s retirement is indeed just that. The movement from one moment, one experience, to the next. And this, I expect, will be no problem for one who knows so well the nature of life’s ever-evolving flow.”

—MATTHEW CARETTI, former faculty member

Douglas Hale portrait by Serge Strosberg (www.sergestrosberg.com)

“That’s what great teachers do. And people sense it—I did.

I ended up being a teacher mostly because of the teachers who taught me. In some ways, I wanted to be like them. I wanted to replicate the kind of people that they were for me.”

The move north, and a home built in Pennsylvania Officially, Hale has applied for just two jobs in his professional career: his initial teaching position at Baylor and the headmaster position at Mercersburg.

“Mercersburg has the wonderful qualities of being very democratic and open and equal,” Hale says. “When we arrived it was clear this place had a great foundation to work with; there was a beautiful physical plant with fabulous buildings and a work ethic in its people that was remarkable. And while I inherited many wonderful things, the right people also came along at the right time for us.

“My work with our Board of Regents has been joyful and productive. They have given me incredible and enormous amounts of trust and support. It’s clear that nothing the school has accomplished in the 19 years I’ve been here could have been accomplished without their buy-in and support.”

By any measure, Mercersburg’s growth in the Hale era has been historic; under Hale, the school’s enrollment has risen from 390 to 440, the size of the faculty has increased from 64 to more than 100 (with 76 percent of faculty now holding advanced degrees), and the school’s endowment has nearly quadrupled in size. Mercersburg has raised more than $425 million in a pair of enormously successful capital campaigns: Mightily Onward

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and Daring to Lead. The school’s two largest gifts—Lenfest’s aforementioned $35 million gift and the $100 million gift from Board of Regents Vice President Deborah Simon ’74 and her foundation—have come during Hale’s tenure. More than 100 members of the student body were named AP Scholars in Hale’s final year at Mercersburg. The school now awards more than $6 million in financial aid to its students each year.

Then there are the buildings and facilities—among them the Burgin Center for the Arts, the Simon Student Center, the Davenport Squash Center, the Smoyer Tennis Center and Frantz Tennis Pavilion, the newly renovated Nolde Gymnasium and soon-to-be-completed Hale Field House, fully renovated student dormitories, new on-campus faculty homes, and much more.

Yet as the old saying goes, not everything that counts can be counted.

“Doug has really moved us into the 21st century as a school,” says Board of Regents President David Frantz ’60.

“A lot of people look at this campus and talk about the structures. But the structures are driven by our program.

Doug’s enduring legacy will be this great program and the students and faculty and staff that we have here, and that financially we can support students and provide financial aid for those that need it. It’s an incredible step and that’s where his legacy will be.”

“Doug’s love of place has made the campus a dream that could have only been imagined a few years ago,” Simon said during an event celebrating Hale in January in Philadelphia—where the Hales will settle in retirement. “His commitment to teaching the arts and dreaming big has brought changes throughout the campus we love. His vision to teach teachers to teach, to help students with financial aid, and his care and concern for members of his staff are part of the vision. Doug is an ally, a counselor, a mentor, and a friend.”

In retirement in Philadelphia, the Hales will enjoy the cultural opportunities of one of America’s great cities and be closer to family (Lauren Hale, her husband Bill, and their daughters live in New York City). They’ll also only be a short drive away from the campus they called home for almost

two decades, and where their impact will live on as long as the Alma Mater is sung with full hearts and loud swelling cheers.

“What I’ll miss most is the daily contact with really smart colleagues here and with young people who are breathtaking in their talents and their passions and their liveliness,” Hale says. “I’ll miss the visits with alumni, Board members, and the parents—it’s amazing to hear their stories. I’ll mostly miss the people.

“We’ll also miss the complete sense of community and harmony here. It doesn’t mean that we won’t have that in a different way in Philadelphia, but being surrounded by that every day, all the time, has been pretty wonderful.”

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Peggy Hale: True Blue

By Debbie Rutherford, Associate Head of School It was a magical January night with the snow gently falling outside in Philadelphia, a city Peggy Hale has come to love. Inside the Rittenhouse Hotel, an extraordinary celebration for the Hales was underway. The lights went down, and the confident, downto-earth voice of the omnipresent narrator filled the packed room to tell the story of Doug Hale and Mercersburg.

Once again, Peggy Hale managed to delight and surprise us.

We should have seen it coming. There was Peggy on the screen in the warmth of 1893 House, genuine, sincere, and elegant as the main narrator, and keeping us all wondering what joy and fun was coming next. Her light, beautiful Southern drawl connected past to present—Tennessee to Mercersburg.

After the video ended and the lights went up, Doug expressed his gratitude to Peggy and described her as his “greatest champion and supporter as well as [his] staunchest critic when she has felt that was needed,” and admitted that she always got it right.

To know the depth of meaning and delight that Peggy Hale has brought to Mercersburg is to understand the truth of Doug’s words. Peggy and Doug are partners and, as she described it in her own words, “I hitched my star to his, with no regrets.” And we are thankful because individually and collectively, she has been our greatest champion and supporter; that is just who she is.

“I know this may sound ridiculous, and it isn’t accurate, but from the moment I stepped into the Mercersburg world, everyone made me feel like they had waited all their lives for me to get here,” Peggy says. “I was immediately affirmed by all.” That affirmation led immediately to her loyalty to all things Mercersburg.

Peggy Self Hale grew up in McMinnville, Tennessee, in a supportive family of six children, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, married Doug—her high-school sweetheart—and, with Doug, raised two beautiful children, Lauren and Douglas. (She is now the very proud grandmother of Zoe and Susannah.) Peggy started her career working with two elementary schools as a librarian but really wanted “her own chicks,” and she soon began teaching mainly first- and fifth-grade classes at Lookout Mountain Elementary School, where, according to Doug, she was a star in her own right. Peggy adored her students and loved her colleagues and describes teaching there as “the best experience; I can’t imagine teaching anywhere else.”

Doug’s hiring at Mercersburg coincided with Peggy’s own readiness to move into other ventures. Even though Peggy was ready for a next step, it was a leap of faith to venture into the unknown. Doug had been looking at several schools, and the name Mercersburg meant “absolutely nothing,” Peggy says.

“Pennsylvania seemed like the outer limits of Mongolia or the arctic North.” She left behind Lauren (a senior at Baylor School), Douglas (in college nearby), and her family and friends in her lifelong home of Tennessee. But, in fact, Mercersburg made it easy, according to Peggy. And once Peggy is “in,” she is “all in.”

“What freed me and was so liberating was that when Doug was hired, nobody wanted to put me in a role; there were no expectations,” Peggy says. She came into the unknown and, with the usual gumption and grace, settled in and absorbed the community. Peggy was free. Free to go to law school, plan her

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At North Cottage in 2006: Doug, Lauren, Douglas, and Peggy Hale

daughter’s wedding, attend her granddaughters’ birthday parties, travel on behalf of the school with Doug, or work for a judge in Chambersburg. And she did all of that and more.

Peggy looks back and describes a “surreal feeling” that has hit her many times during her Mercersburg experience. “Am I really in law school?” she thought for the entire first month at Dickinson School of Law. Or “Is this girl from Tennessee really in China?”

As Peggy tells it, all that she had experienced and done before prepared her for all that she has experienced and does now. She recalls the first time she helped host an event at Baylor when Doug was the head of the lower school at age 27. “I just stuck out my hand and said ‘Hi,’” she remembers, not knowing if she was going to make it through. She often thinks about those days at such a young age and the mentoring by Carol Barks, spouse of Herb (Baylor’s former head of school), and how that has had an impact on her now.

Peggy says, “Running field trips for a class of fifth graders is all you need to know to plan the wonderful experiences and excursions for the spouses of the Board of Regents.” This group of “Mudders” (as they call themselves) looks forward to coming to meetings at Mercersburg or other venues such as Philadelphia, New York, or Florida to rekindle their friendships several times a year and to enjoy their Mercersburg connections. Peggy says

it has turned into a “big sharing circle.”

Peggy has touched us all. Her sense of Mercersburg as a welcoming home has translated into her graciously making us feel at home in North Cottage or 1893 House. In the words of Jim Butler, our director of dining services, “Peggy Hale is gracious, genuine, and appreciative, and even though we are in her home, she makes us feel at ease and at home. I still have former employees who ask about Peggy and say that is one of the parts of their work here that they miss the most. Peggy defies the stereotype of ‘headmaster’s wife,’ but plays the role thoroughly and completely.” So it is no surprise, then, when Peggy says that one of her favorite parts of preparing for a big event is talking with the staff in her home, and hearing the stories of their lives and families.

Peggy is a lover of words and people, art, and the world. She listens and is unafraid when she doesn’t know about something to ask, “Tell me about that; I don’t think I have ever heard about that.” She guilelessly pulls us into a fascinating and fun-filled exchange. Peggy realizes that what makes it easy to be in a role which requires so much interaction with people is talking to them and hearing their stories. Peggy soaks it all in—from the poet laureates of the United States at dinner in her home before an evening lecture, to the Board of Regents and their spouses, to alumni from around the world returning on Reunion Weekend

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“Peggy Hale is such a sweet and caring person. During Board meetings, she never forgets to thank me for my efforts in planning the meetings, which I appreciate very much. In addition, she never misses an opportunity to ask how my children are doing and to exchange a story or two about her granddaughters.”

—DE-ENDA ROTZ, associate director of alumni and parent relations

full of their own personal Mercersburg stories, to a student who has suffered an enormous loss, to parents, friends, faculty, staff, teaching candidates, and more.

What will Peggy miss about Mercersburg? “The smalltown opportunities: walking to the bank and the post office, hearing chimes from the church, and the rural beauty of the campus,” she says. Peggy believes she will never live in any place more beautiful. She “never has driven onto campus and not noticed the campus, the Chapel, the flowers, and the beauty.”

What will we miss about Peggy Hale? We will miss seeing things through her eyes and her voice; hearing her exclaim “Oh, I love that!” about a piece of art, a book, a story a friend has just told; the face of a wide-eyed child in front of Santa at the December holiday party she joyfully holds in Traylor Hall each year; or telling us about her granddaughter naming her big toe her “toe thumb.”

When Peggy came to Mercersburg, she did not have her plan charted out, but she came with a sense of freedom and possibility, and gracefully, imperceptibly wove her way into the place. No doubt that she is one of those “golden threads” I heard Gerry Lenfest ’49 talk about in a meeting with students and faculty years ago. And Peggy will also tell you that this could have never happened without the help and care of all who surround her and this place.

Peggy loves to write things down when she hears or reads something that impacts her. Recently, in reading The Gap of Time by Jeannette Winterson (recommended to her by a former Board spouse and now lifelong friend), Peggy was struck by these words: “The important things happen by chance, only the rest is planned.” This chance encounter between Peggy and Mercersburg has lasted 19 years, and has brought many important things to Peggy’s life—and to ours.

We will miss her dearly but know that she is forever a golden thread woven into the fabric of the lives of those fortunate enough to have shared the Mercersburg part of the Hales’ “sacred journey” with Peggy and Doug.

The Hales at the May 2016 “Hale-a-bration”

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The Classes of 1998–2016 Over the past 19 years, more than 2,000 students have graduated from Mercersburg Academy.

Each one has a story. ¶ On the following pages, you’ll meet one person from each of the 19 graduating classes of Douglas Hale’s tenure as head of school. Some are employed by Google and ESPN, Amazon and LinkedIn; working in medicine or finance or for a 2016 presidential candidate; playing in the National Football League; or focusing their sights on this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero. ¶ As we celebrate the Hale era, let’s give them all a loud swelling cheer.

AMY JONES SATROM ’98 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

At Mercersburg: Received the Head of School’s Prize at Commencement,

where she was the Schaff Orator for the Class of 1998… a member of the varsity swimming, softball, and track & field teams… president of the Irving Society her senior year… a member of The Fifteen and Mercersburg’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society… served as a dormitory prefect in South Cottage… younger brother, Tyler ’02, also graduated from Mercersburg.

After Mercersburg: Served as brigade commander while attending the United States Naval Academy (the highest-ranking position for a midshipman)… after earning a bachelor’s degree in oceanography, spent a postgraduate year at the University of Cambridge as a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar, where she earned a master’s in sustainable development… served five years on active duty in the U.S. Navy as a certified nuclear engineer, completing Navy Nuclear Power School and serving on the USS Pinckney and USS Abraham Lincoln… works at Amazon, where she serves as senior manager over the company’s home division for U.S. retail; she previously managed inventory planning for sporting goods and built the environmental, health and safety organization for operations across North America… before coming to Amazon, worked in energy consulting and general management for UBS and Raytheon… spent

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Matt Danziger ’99 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

At Mercersburg: Declaimed for the Irving Society… served as

a prefect in Keil Hall… played varsity soccer and tennis and managed the varsity basketball team… was a tour guide for the Office of Admission… served as a class marshal for the Class of 1999 at Commencement… one of four brothers to attend Mercersburg, joining David ’95, Mike ’96, and twin brother Andy ’99.

After Mercersburg: Earned a bachelor’s degree in international

studies with a concentration in economic policy from Colby College… also played soccer at Colby… worked as an analyst at JMP Securities and Matthes Capital Management, both in the San Francisco Bay Area, before joining LinkedIn in 2012 as director of investor relations… has participated several times in and volunteered for the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, a 200mile bike ride across Massachusetts that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research over the past 35 years.

On Mercersburg: “The foundation of learning that was set while I was at Mercersburg made college very easy to maneuver through.

I remember seeing a number of kids in college who didn’t know how to study or balance or manage their time—things that, after Mercersburg, were very normal to me. I attribute a lot of that not just to the structure of the Mercersburg experience, but to how we were given responsibility as students.”

“I gave tours for the admission office, and I was one of the students asked to give a tour to Doug Hale when he was among four or five candidates being considered for the head of school position. It’s interesting to look back now after almost 20 years—I vividly remember that day. Back then, as a teenager, I didn’t

two years as a member of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council before being elected to the Board of Regents in 2013.

On Mercersburg: “Mercersburg was a home away from home for me and provided the best extended family anyone could ask for.

Whether in the classroom, the swimming pool, or as a student leader, I was always encouraged to strive to be my best. I was able to find a framework of support and growth that continuously pushed me, enabling my success at Mercersburg and beyond.”

“As a student, I felt and understood that Doug and Peggy Hale believed in me. Whether it was a warm embrace, words of encouragement, a visit to the swimming pool, dinner at their home, or an encounter after our Senior Prank, we all felt the love and vision brought to the school. Having a new headmaster for

really appreciate the tenure of the faculty members who had been there in one place for 20 or 30 years—but now, having worked in the professional world, I realize what a big deal it is to commit yourself to one place for so long.”

“Doug Hale has had the ability to help people see the right way for the school and he’s done it with such grace and in such a way that we’re saluting him. He’s done such a great job for the school for the last 19 years.”

our senior year was definitely daunting, but Doug eased the transition—he gave back about as much attitude as we gave out (all in a loving way, of course) and found effective ways to communicate and inspire us. Doug was instrumental in establishing the first-ever Senior Trip as well as preserving some of our age-old traditions—even tolerating our Senior Prank!

And now, as a member of the Board, I have had the privilege of watching Doug work seamlessly with the Board, the staff and faculty, and the students to bring his vision of community, integrity, and transformation—both inward and outward—to fruition. The vitality that Doug and Peggy have instilled in Mercersburg will live on through the environment they have built and through the Long Blue Line.”

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MOLLY MALONE ’01 VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA At Mercersburg: Valedictorian of the Class of 2001 and winner of

Andrew Miller ’00 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA At Mercersburg: Earned the Head of School’s

Prize and delivered the Schaff Oration at Commencement 2000… served as editorin-chief of the Mercersburg News… won first place at Declamation 1999 as a declaimer for the Irving Society (for which he also served as president)… a member of The Fifteen and the Cum Laude Society… was a dormitory prefect in Fowle Hall… active in several arts groups, including Stony Batter Players, the Jazz Band, and the Chorale… recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award … one of 14 members of his extended family to attend Mercersburg; the list also includes his father, Doug ’68; younger brother, Sam ’03; and great-grandfather, Linn S. Steiger (1905).

After Mercersburg: A graduate of Harvard University, where he earned degrees in history (with honors) and in earth and planetary sciences… completed an MBA from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business… an Eagle Scout; received the Silver Antelope Award from the Boy Scouts of America’s Northeast Region and the Silver Beaver Award from the organization’s Boston Minuteman Council… spent several years with ARES Corporation before moving to McKinsey & Company, where he is a Philadelphia-based associate… served on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council from 2005 to 2011.

the Head of School’s Prize… served as president of the Marshall Society and as captain of the cross country and track & field teams… a member of the Cum Laude Society and a Senior Class Officer… worked on the staff of the Mercersburg News and Blue Review… received the Persis F. Ross Award for contributions to the school’s outdoor-education programs… a dormitory prefect in South Cottage… daughter of longtime faculty members Jim and Sue Malone… her younger sister, Jessica ’03, also graduated from Mercersburg.

After Mercersburg: Earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Dartmouth College before completing a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of British Columbia (where she has

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Bill Schindler ’02 ATLANTA, GEORGIA

At Mercersburg: Came to Mercersburg as a postgraduate student from

taught anthropology courses)… her dissertation examined fishing rights, oral history, and cultural connections to water with the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe in the Pacific Northwest… works with First Nations in Canada and Native American tribes in the U.S. as an applied anthropologist, with a focus on title, rights, and use and occupancy of traditional territories… currently serves as a research manager with The Firelight Group, which works with Aboriginal communities across Canada to conduct evidence-based research as part of environmental assessment processes, litigation, negotiations with government and industry, and community-planning objectives.

On Mercersburg: “As the child of two faculty

members, I grew up on campus, so Mercersburg shaped me from the day I was born. I learned from an early age the joys of pursuing knowledge in all forms, and by the time I was a Mercersburg student I knew I would be supported no matter where my intellectual and creative interests took me. This was particularly important in the highly competitive college-preparatory environment, where at times the individual student’s needs can get lost in the pressure to get into the best colleges. I was well-rounded when I entered college, and the training in writing that I received in my English and history classes was particularly useful in both my undergraduate and graduate careers.”

“Mr. Hale’s first year at Mercersburg was also my first year as a Mercersburg student, so the Class of 2001 always felt a kinship with him as the first class he was with for all four years. I have always appreciated how supportive Doug and Peggy were of faculty children, checking in with us after we graduated and remaining a part of our lives. They understood the unique situation we were in as children of faculty members, and the ways Mercersburg was more than just a school for us.”

Cumberland, Maryland… performed as a declaimer for the Marshall Society… dormitory prefect in Fowle Hall… played varsity baseball… as part of his year-end Mercersburg senior project, spent a week with the Hagerstown Suns minor-league baseball team and ended up making his broadcasting debut (a marker of things to come).

After Mercersburg: Graduated from Pepperdine University, where he

broadcast athletic events on radio and the school’s television station and served as the public-address announcer for baseball games… worked for the Peninsula Oilers of the Alaska Baseball League during two of his college summers; served as color man on team’s radio broadcasts and later was the team’s assistant general manager… spent eight years as a sports talk-show host and producer for radio stations on the Hawaiian island of Maui—including KMVI, Maui’s ESPN Radio affiliate… did play-by-play for numerous Hawaii high-school sports events, for the prestigious Maui Invitational college basketball tournament, and for the independent-league baseball team Na Koa Ikaika Maui (which means “The Strong Warriors of Maui”)… moved to Atlant a in 2014; has worked on-air for Atlanta sports-radio station 92.9 The Game and broadcast various athletic events for Kennesaw State University (including on the WatchESPN app).

On Mercersburg: “Being at Mercersburg really shaped me in learning how to deal with people—and Doug Hale has a lot to do with that. As a postgraduate student, it was almost as if I had an extra year to grow up when I was there, and it helped me a lot. The academics at Mercersburg were really strong, but outside of that, I really learned how to relate to other people and to be independent.”

“Mr. Hale is a class act. When I first arrived as a student, I had a beard—I didn’t know it was against the dress code. And I felt I should have been able to keep it. I eventually ended up in his office and we talked about it—and even though we ultimately agreed that the beard would have to go, he handled it so diplomatically, which really impressed me. I’ve always appreciated the way he dealt with a situation that probably seemed so small to most people, but was a big deal to me at the time. I consider him a friend. And that was the beginning of me really feeling accepted at Mercersburg.”

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VANESSA YOUNGS ’03 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK At Mercersburg: Served as a senior class officer (director of student

issues) and as a dormitory prefect in Tippetts Hall… a member of the varsity track & field and girls’ squash teams… chosen for The Fifteen… sang in the Chorale… a member of the Marshall Society… received the Yale University Aurelian Prize at Commencement… a second-generation Mercersburg graduate; her father, Clarence ’68, and younger brother, Travis ’06, also attended the Academy.

After Mercersburg: Graduated from Lafayette College with a bachelor’s

degree in anthropology/sociology and minors in economics and business; ran track at Lafayette as well… also holds a master’s degree in urban policy and management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy… worked as a senior analyst for the City of New York’s Office of Management and Budget before serving as a White House Intern with the National Economic Council…

Dr. Maggie Gindlesperger ’04

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

At Mercersburg: A member of the varsity softball and track & field

teams… sang in the Chorale and Chapel Choir… studied abroad for two summers in Spain… involved with Stony Batter Players… served as a library proctor… member of the Marshall Society.

After Mercersburg: Earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a

minor in Spanish from Pennsylvania State University before completing her master’s and doctorate from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology… studied abroad in Costa Rica and Peru during her undergraduate and graduate studies… completed her clinical neuropsychology internship at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan… currently completing a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at the Florida Hospital for Children and Florida Hospital Medical Group in Orlando… has twice served as a mentor for senior students involved in Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for Global Studies (MAPS).

On Mercersburg: “My first introduction to Mercersburg was the summer before I enrolled. I attended a summer theatre camp at Mercersburg and fell in love with the place. Mercersburg provided me the opportunity to practice independence within a home-type environment. I

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Carl Gray ’05 NEW YORK, NEW YORK

since 2012, has worked as an analyst for Moody’s Investors Service… has served on Mercersburg’s Board of Regents since 2014… was a member of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council before joining the Board.

On Mercersburg: “Mercersburg really gave me a lot of confidence. My mother, Gwynne, always talks about how when we went off to Mercersburg, some of her family and friends would ask how they could send us away. Her response was that they had given us the training we would need for life— and so sending us to Mercersburg was a kind of test to make sure we stuck to our values. For me, going to Mercersburg only strengthened my values, because what I found was so aligned with what my parents had taught me.”

“Doug’s positive outlook and joyful spirit has been a strong example of leadership for me both when I was on campus and even now. He has taken Mercersburg from ‘Pennsylvania’s best kept secret’ to national headlines by encouraging alumni to talk about Mercersburg at least once a day. I’ve taken up that challenge and hope other alums will do the same as we think of Doug and our time at the Academy.”

performed best in my high-school career with a varying level of autonomy and Mercersburg provided this with guidance and mentorship that helped to shape me into the person I am today. It was a great support system and Mercersburg always inspired me to want to be and to do more.”

“Serving as a mentor for MAPS students has been very fulfilling. I work with graduate students on their research now and the work completed by both of the Mercersburg students I have worked with—Camille Gotera ’15 and Madi Johnson ’16—has been at that same level. I find it amazing to be able to favorably compare the work of a high-school student with that of a doctorate-level graduate student.”

“I was very fortunate to be able to attend Mercersburg while Doug Hale was the head of school. I believe that the leader of a school sets the tone for the present and future course. Doug created an environment for students where there is a free exchange of ideas and where students can immerse themselves in history and art. He has valued and grown connections with alumni to such an extent that when I visit Mercersburg, I feel like I am coming home.”

At Mercersburg: Received the Head of School’s Prize at Commencement… president of the Student Council… a member of the varsity cross country, swimming, and track & field teams… was a declaimer and officer for the Marshall Society… active in Stony Batter Players… worked on the staff of the Mercersburg News and was a dorm prefect in Fowle Hall… serving on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council.

After Mercersburg: Graduated from the Sewanee: The University of

the South with a bachelor’s degree in English and political science, and studied at the University of Oxford… worked as an advance associate for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign; was later a staff and press assistant for U.S. Representative Ben Chandler and a protocol officer for the U.S. Department of State before joining Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign as a senior finance associate for the New York City/Tri-State team.

On Mercersburg and Doug Hale: “Doug leaves an invaluable mark on Mercersburg’s history through his steady leadership through two landmark capital campaigns. His progressive vision laid the foundation to propel and grow the Academy for decades to come. I will always remember his strong sense of community and his embrace of new ideas and best practices.”

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Vincent Rey ’06 CINCINNATI, OHIO At Mercersburg: A three-sport varsity

athlete; led the Blue Storm football team to the 2005 Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship… also competed for Mercersburg’s wrestling and outdoor track & field teams… was a football and wrestling teammate of another future professional athlete, classmate Josh Edgin ’06 (now a pitcher for the New York Mets)… a member of the Marshall Society… graduated from Bayside High School in Queens, New York, before attending Mercersburg as a postgraduate student.

After Mercersburg: Played four years

of football (starting 35 games at linebacker) at Duke University, where he was a two-year team captain and was named a University Scholar Athlete by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame… finished his college career with 330 tackles, which ranks 12th on Duke’s all-time tackles list… signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent and worked his way from the practice squad to the starting lineup; has been with the team since 2010 and led the Bengals in tackles in each of the past two seasons… has appeared in 82 regular-season games and five playoff games… is the only player in Bengals franchise history with three sacks and an interception in the same game… has been nominated for the NFL’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award and Walter Payton Man of the Year Award… involved with the United Way, Lighthouse Youth Services, and the Aruna Project.

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CLAIRE ATKINS ’07 WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT At Mercersburg: Served as a dormitory prefect in Swank Hall… a varsity letterwinner in soccer and indoor/outdoor track & field… was an officer and declaimer for the Marshall Society… a member of the Fifteen and the Cum Laude Society… was an editor for the Mercersburg News… recipient of the school’s Community Service Award… has served on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council since 2013.

After Mercersburg: Graduated magna cum laude from the

University of Southern California with a degree in broadcast and digital journalism… received the Chick Hearn Memorial Scholarship (named after the late legendary Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster)… works as a producer for ESPN; chief responsibilities are with the programs College Football Live and College Basketball Live… previously worked for CBS Sports Network and Sports Illustrated’s SI Wire as well as NFL.com and MLB Advanced Media.

On Mercersburg: “During my final semester at Mercersburg, I

decided I wanted to do my Senior Project on women in sports journalism. After writing dozens of letters to various sportscasters, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Michelle Bonner responded, inviting me up to headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. I’ll never forget that day in the newsroom, learning how a show at the mecca of sports is made and meeting the talent I had grown to idolize. Eight years later, I find myself working in that very same newsroom, but this time I’m the one creating the shows. I’m extremely grateful to Mercersburg for not just preparing me for my future, but allowing me the opportunity to pursue my dreams.”

“I will miss Mr. Hale’s spirit. Maybe it’s the Southerner in him, but Mr. Hale was never one to shy away from being the Blue Storm’s #1 fan. Whether he was on the sidelines of a soccer game or throwing jabs at Peddie during lunch announcements, you always knew that Mr. Hale was in your corner.”

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Augusta “Gussie” Reilly ’08 WASHINGTON, D.C.

Montana, as their headquarters for a summer trip to study tropical biology… has been a member of Mercersburg’s Alumni Council since 2013.

At Mercersburg: Vice-president of the

Marshall Society… a member of the varsity field hockey, lacrosse, and diving teams… co-sports editor of the Mercersburg News… served as a Blue Key, as a Peer Group Leader and Inbound leader, and as a Burgin Center usher… active in community service… her younger sister, Cammie ’10, also graduated from Mercersburg.

Af ter Mercersburg: Graduated from Washington College (where she co-captained the field hockey team) with a bachelor’s degree in politics… interned for The Atlantic and (during a summer while attending Mercersburg) in the press office of then-Senator John Kerry… has worked as a staff assistant for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at the White House as an advance associate, and since 2014 has been an international conference officer for the U.S. Department of State… for the last several summers, groups of Mercersburg science students have used her family’s cattle ranch in Costa Rica, Rancho Rio

On Mercersburg: “I continue to point to Mercersburg as the most influential period of my life. As a student, Mercersburg prepared me to take on a college workload with confidence and also best prepared me to arrive at college comfortable with the concept of living away from home and managing my own time effectively. Most college students are experiencing their first time away from home and learning to juggle work, fun, activities, etc. I had been doing that since age 14—and not to mention that my mom and I had moving in and out of a dorm room down to a science.”

“Mercersburg is responsible for shaping me into the person I am today.

It made me the independent, confident person I am today. The diverse community of teachers, peers, and friends provided me with a world view that I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere else. To this day, my closest friends are my Mercersburg friends.”

“I know that Mercersburg is small in comparison to a lot of other boarding schools, but I will always be amazed at how Mr. Hale remembered the students’ names and connected with them on a more personal level. He always took the time to say hello and briefly chat with students he crossed paths with. He always took the time to ask how I was doing and how my family was doing—it was those small touches that made Mercersburg so special. The greatest part is that nothing has changed. At alumni events, Mr. Hale warmly greets us all with the same familiarity. He created and was able to sustain the environment that is so special to me and many others. I wish him all the best and hope he knows how truly grateful I am to him and to Mercersburg for being my second home.”

Magdalena Kala ’09 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS At Mercersburg: Valedictorian of the

Class of 2009… served as editor of The Mercersburg News… a member of the Cum Laude Society and The Fifteen… was a dormitory prefect in Swank Hall, president of Mercersburg Model United Nations, head Chapel Usher, and a member of the Marshall Society… played varsity squash… was a National AP Scholar… in addition to delivering the valedictory address at Commencement, received the Harry F. Smith Prize in Senior English, the Brent Gift Environmental Science Prize, and the Community Service Award.

After Mercersburg: Graduated with

honors from Harvard University with a degree in economics… a founder of Yaply.org (a nonprofit that helps students from Kala’s home country of Poland navigate the college process); also involved with the Harvard Club of Poland… works as a private-equity associate with Bain Capital in Boston… pursuing an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in the fall… elected to membership on the school’s Board of Regents in 2015.

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JOHN HENRY REILLY ’10 MERCERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA/BALTIMORE, MARYLAND At Mercersburg: Elected president of Stony

Batter Players… was the Class Orator at Commencement… named an AP Scholar… sang in the Octet and Chorale… worked as managing editor of the Mercersburg News… served as a prefect in Keil Hall… played lacrosse… a member of The Fifteen.

After Mercersburg: Graduated from St.

John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland; is pursuing a master of science in education from Johns Hopkins University… has worked as a campus campaign coordinator for Teach for America and as a camp counselor at Kanuga Conferences in western North Carolina… taught mathematics at Glenmount Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore before returning to Mercersburg in fall 2015 to teach science… is living again in Keil Hall—this time as a faculty member… his father, Jack ’62, is a fellow Mercersburg alumnus.

On Mercersburg and Doug Hale: “In

spring 2015, I was a relatively traumatized 23-year-old finishing my first year of teaching Baltimore middle-schoolers amidst the Freddie Gray uprising. Along with this experience, I learned my job would not be available the next year: $36 million was being cut from the school system, and my job was part of that. So I wandered in an un-navigable haze of disbelief and depression, and soon found myself trying to snap out of this haze in order to look impressive as I was interviewed by Doug Hale.”

“Finally, the question I dreaded came: why was I was leaving Baltimore City Schools and Teach For America after only one year, when my commitment was at least two? I dreaded this question because I found myself asking it each day. I thought I had found my calling; after a year from hell,

I was beginning to find a place within the microcosm of urban teaching. Yet as soon as I found this place, there was no longer room there for me. Why?” “I gave the best explanations I had: how it was not my decision or even my principal’s, how all the new teachers in the middle school were being cut, how I wanted to stay there and teach underprivileged children but now could not. I wanted to look honest and professional while simultaneously hiding how I felt lost, confused, anxious, and heartbroken. As a student, I had always looked up to Doug, and felt I owed him an honest answer without any sugarcoating.”

“So I expected Doug to do what every interviewer does: stare me down and try to figure me out. But instead, Doug stood up and walked across the room as I spoke, telling me to go on. He pulled a framed paragraph that hung next to his desk and brought it back.”

“He told me that my experience sounded horribly painful, and said that he always looked to this passage from Rainer Maria Rilke during hard times: I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.

Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

“It was the most meaningful response anyone had offered me about my situation.

Instead of some trite cliché, Doug told me something real. He helped me realize my life was not being shattered, but that instead it

was just beginning. He seemed to know what to tell me in a time when I deeply needed consolation.”

“I remember leaving Traylor Hall and looking out onto the campus I had known and loved through my adolescence, feeling an unfamiliar serenity: even if I did not get this dream job, even if I spent the coming months frantically scrambling and clamoring for a means to feed myself, it was all part of the process. Mercersburg is a school that did not just prepare me for college; it prepared me for life—with all its twists and turns, with all its joys and disappointments, with all its questions unanswered.”

[Editor’s note: Reilly officially joined the Mercersburg faculty in September 2015.]

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Matt Cook ’11 MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA At Mercersburg: Elected president of the

senior class… ran on the cross country and track & field teams… a member of the Irving Society… served as a dormitory prefect and a Burgin Center usher… gave tours and helped with admission events as a Blue Key… involved in the Asian Club, Voices 4 Justice, and 220… his sister, Leah ’15, and cousin, Stephanie Stine ’11 (as well as their grandfather, the late Bill Cook ’51), also graduated from Mercersburg.

After Mercersburg: Earned a bachelor’s

degree in computer science from Harvey Mudd College; worked as a researcher in the school’s Lab for Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics (LAIR) while an undergraduate… interned at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory… also worked as a counselor and teacher’s assistant in Mercersburg’s summer ESL program… works as a software engineer at Google… an avid runner; completed the 2016 Boston Marathon, as well as the 195-mile Hood to Coast Relay as part of a 12-person team.

On Mercersburg: “Mercersburg helped me understand the importance of community.

At Mercersburg, it can be easy to take for granted the amount of care we receive, with its culture of community through all your peers going through the same experience, and our teachers who spend their entire being to teach and support us in every aspect of life. It was through that experience that I realized having people around that genuinely care for me wasn’t just something that was ‘nice to have,’ but it was paramount to my general wellbeing and success. While at Harvey Mudd, and since then, I have made sure to surround myself with supportive friends and mentors.”

“Mr. Hale has made Mercersburg an amazing place to learn and thrive, and it has always been a joy to talk with him. My first interaction with Mr. Hale was sitting at his table in the dining hall for the first time; I thought it was pretty crazy to be a student getting to eat a family-style dinner with the headmaster—and then I was more shocked when he already knew my name! Mr. Hale will definitely be missed at Mercersburg, and I wish him the very best.”

Max Strauss ’12 CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA/ BOCA RATON, FLORIDA At Mercersburg: Student manager of varsity

football and boys’ basketball teams… Irving Society member… known as “Blue Man” for painting himself to cheer on classmates (and as “Red Man” during Irving-Marshall Week)… while living on campus, founded and ran ProInterviews.com, a website which featured interviews he conducted with hundreds of professional athletes.

After Mercersburg: Graduated this spring from

the University of Miami with a degree in sport administration… fraternity brother of Sigma Alpha Mu… spent summer and fall 2015 as a communications intern with the Washington Redskins of the NFL, and nearly two years as a communications intern with the University of Miami athletic department… invited to work Super Bowl 50 in February 2016 for the NFL… has also worked with NFL Media (NFL Network) and the Miami Dolphins; the Orange Bowl, Miami Beach Bowl, and St. Petersburg Bowl; and other events, including the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, the Miami Open tennis tournament, and Fight Night DC; and with the athletic department at Louisiana State University, where he began his college career.

On Mercersburg: “I visited Mercersburg for the first time when my dad [Marc Strauss ’78] came back for his 25-year reunion, and I fell in love with the place, applied, came here, and fell in love with it even more.”

“I think what separates Mr. Hale from a lot of people in leadership positions is that he’s very positive and he’s very passionate. He believes not only in the faculty here, but also the students just as much. If he is determined to make something better, he’ll do it. He always wanted to know if I was doing well or if I was struggling.

If I needed some advice, he was the man to go to—and he still is.”

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SARAH FIRESTONE ’13 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA/MERCERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

siblings won the NFL’s Punt, Pass & Kick national competition in their respective age groups as kids.

At Mercersburg: Earned varsity letters all three years she

attended Mercersburg in soccer, basketball, and outdoor track & field… holds Mercersburg and Mid-Atlantic Prep League records in the javelin (152 feet, 1 inch)… finished second in the javelin at the 2013 Penn Relays—the highest finish for a Mercersburg athlete at the prestigious event since 1936… a state champion in javelin (twice) and discus at Mercersburg… served as a dorm prefect in Swank Hall and as a Marshall Society officer… was a section editor for the KARUX yearbook and a Burgin Center usher… received the Darrell Ecker Award at Commencement… older brother, A.J. ’10, also attended Mercersburg and played football at Wagner College; both

After Mercersburg: Will compete for a spot on the U.S.

Olympic Team as a javelin thrower at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in July… just finished her third year at the University of Nebraska… holds the Nebraska school record in the javelin (184 feet, 3 inches); won the 2015 Big Ten championship in the event and finished third in 2016; also in 2015, finished eighth at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships and 17th at the NCAA Championships and was an honorable-mention All-America selection… a member of Nebraska’s Tom Osborne Citizenship Team and Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and a Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award recipient.

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Jiajie “Tommy” Zhou ’14 NEW YORK, NEW YORK/SHANGHAI, CHINA At Mercersburg: Valedictorian of the Class of 2014 and recipient

On Mercersburg: “Being editor-in-chief of the Mercersburg

of the Head of School’s Prize at Commencement... a member of The Fifteen and the Cum Laude Society… editor-in-chief of the Mercersburg News… president of the Green Team (a campus environmental organization)… served as a dormitory prefect in Tippetts Hall… a member of the Marshall Society… played basketball and soccer… also received the Robert H. Michelet Prize and the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award.

News was the first time I had that kind of leadership position.

In college, I’m doing the same thing—trying to learn how to balance work and resources between team members. That was all taught to me here at Mercersburg. And I wouldn’t have believed that I could have been editor-in-chief of the newspaper as a foreign student.”

“Mr. Hale has left such a strong mark on the school. My senior year, as part of a fundraising campaign by the Green Team, he agreed to wear a chicken costume to school if students donated the most money on his behalf. Because he agreed, we raised more than $1,800 in two days, and provided free LED light bulbs to 92 families of students at the local elementary school. He unconditionally supported us, even in what was an outlandish student project. He is so approachable, and his door is always open. He has been a father and a friend to us all.”

After Mercersburg: Attending Columbia University, where he is

majoring in economics and mathematics… serves as president of Columbia’s Multicultural Business Association and as a junior ambassador for the Columbia College Student Ambassadors… worked as a research assistant this spring for Columbia’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing… spending the summer as a financial-services advisory intern for EY in Hong Kong; has also interned with CITIC Securities and Deloitte China.

Zhou presents Hale with his painting of Hale in a chicken costume (see above for story)

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ALEX JACKSON ’15 EVANSTON, ILLINOIS/GREENCASTLE, PENNSYLVANIA

At Mercersburg: Valedictorian of the Class

of 2015… received the Head of School’s Prize at Commencement… served as an officer for and a key member of Stony Batter Players… named to The Fifteen and the school’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society… a National AP Scholar… declaimed on two different occasions for the Marshall Society… worked as a Writing Center Fellow… earned varsity letters in cross country and track & field, and was a member of the swimming team… worked on the staff of the Mercersburg News… also played in the Jazz Band… his younger sister, Grace ’18, will enter her third year at Mercersburg in the fall.

After Mercersburg: Just completed his first year at Northwestern University, where he is majoring in theatre… enrolled in the school’s Musical Theatre Certificate Program… pursuing a minor in dance and in Chinese language and culture… works as a graphic designer for Northwestern’s School of Music.

On Mercersburg: “Attending Mercersburg gave me a lot of skills that have been helpful to me as a student and in adjusting to college life. I know how to be self-sufficient and have good standards for scholarship and academic writing. Plus, I’m used to living untethered from my hometown and family. However, what was most important about my time at Mercersburg was learning how to cultivate good relationships with those around me.

Mercersburg allowed me to connect to my peers, coaches, and teachers in ways I would never otherwise been able to.

These relationships greatly enriched my time at Mercersburg and gave me skills to make quality relationships in the rest of my life.”

“What has always impressed me about Mr. Hale is how truly genuine and generous he is. In a world where judgment lies around every corner, I have always admired how he seems to exude his true self. This is such a gift to have in a person and especially in a leader.”

“When it comes down to it, I have to thank Mr. Hale for providing me with a Mercersburg experience at all.

Without Mr. Hale’s commitment to financial aid and expanding opportunities, I never would have walked on Mercersburg’s campus. So in the end, I have to thank Mr. Hale from the bottom of my heart for giving a boy from a small town in Pennsylvania chance after chance to rise up and prove what he is truly capable of.”

Caroline Casparian ’16 COLD SPRING, NEW YORK At Mercersburg: Served as a Peer Group

leader and as vice president of Stony Batter Players… played varsity field hockey and softball… was a declaimer for the Irving Society… president of the Green Team… played in the Jazz Band… created a ceramics piece that was chosen for the 2016 National K–12 Ceramics Exhibition.

After Mercersburg: Will attend the State

University of New York at New Paltz this fall… is one of nine members of her immediate and extended family to attend Mercersburg—the list includes her mother, Carol Furnary Casparian ’79; brother, Nick ’11; sister, Liz ’13; and younger brother, Xander ’20, who is enrolling at the school in the fall.

On Mercersburg: “Being here has definitely

made me a lot more independent. I’m now a lot more outgoing and I can do things I’m not sure I would have been able to do before.

Mercersburg has definitely improved my leadership qualities and helped me become more of a ‘grownup.’”

“My siblings and I have been talking about how Mr. Hale gave them their diplomas, and how it will be weird that he won’t be the person to present a Mercersburg diploma to my little brother. He’s so familiar to all of us and has been such a great headmaster.”

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The History of Mercersburg’s Headmasters

BY DOUGLAS SMITH, SCHOOL ARCHIVIST

As Mercersburg prepares for a new chapter in its history on the occasion of Douglas Hale’s retirement and Katie Titus’ appointment as head of school this summer, it is appropriate to pause and appreciate the foundation and achievements of each of Mercersburg’s previous headmasters. We have been very fortunate as an institution to have such stability in the leadership of the Academy. Doug Hale is just the sixth head of school in Mercersburg’s 123 years as a college-preparatory school, a fact that has helped the Academy maintain a clear and concise vision throughout the decades. The school’s original three basic principles of “Hard Work, Fair Play, Clean Life” still ring true throughout all aspects of life on campus.

Dr. Boyd Edwards 1928–1941 Dr. Edwards came to Mercersburg from The Hill School, where he was headmaster. He was a close friend of Dr. Irvine and had been on campus many times to speak to students as a minister. Dr. Edwards circled the wagons and the school pooled its resources to combat the tough times. Faculty and staff were forced to take pay cuts—yet Dr. Edwards remained loyal to his employees and refrained from widespread staffing layoffs, because he knew just how scarce jobs were. The school fought off its debt and made progress in strengthening its academic programs. By the time he departed, the Academy was undoubtedly on stronger footing than when Edwards arrived, and was prepared for another era of growth and prosperity.

During World War II, like in every other segment of American life, Mercersburg contributed to the war effort. Many alumni and students were called to arms, and the school was temporarily used a training ground for various armed forces. Like the rest of the country, it was a time of perseverance at the school, and transitioned into a time of prosperity following the war.

Dr. William Mann Irvine

Dr. Charles S. Tippetts ’12 1941–1960 D r. T i p p e t t s w a s t h e school’s first alumnus to come back and take the helm as headmaster. He focused on the campus and infrastructure of the school. Irvine Hall, which was the first building built during his tenure, was a state-of-the-art scholastic building that filled a glaring need in the campus’ physical plant dating back to the Main Hall fire 20 years before.

He continued to build and expand the campus with the completion of what became Tippetts Hall. The school was consistently full, and the spirit of philanthropy blossomed. The Annual Fund was started and Mercersburg began to grow its endowment.

This era was a very prosperous and strong time period for the school that set a tone for the years to come.

The culture of the boarding-school world was strong in the early 1960s, and the school was in need of a new voice that could strengthen its traditional values and curriculum. After Wilmarth I. Jacobs served as interim headmaster from the fall of 1960 to the spring of 1961, the school turned to the New England-educated Bill Fowle to carry forth this new direction.

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Dr. William Mann Irvine 1893–1928 It can safely be said that there is no figure in the history of the Academy that is owed a greater debt by the Mercersburg of yesterday, today, and tomorrow than Dr. Irvine. When Irvine took over the school in 1893, the country was mired in its worst recession to date, and the school had a $5,000 debt and meager facilities and enrollment. But within four years, the school was debt-free, and within 10 years, Mercersburg had become the fourth-largest boarding school in the nation. His personal drive to create the Mercersburg Academy we know today was untiring and astounding. The growth of the school grounds was also remarkable. Nolde Gymnasium, Traylor Hall, Keil Hall, Laucks Hall, ’Eighty-eight Dormitory, (New) Main Hall, and the Annex (now Swank Hall) all were built during his time, and of course the crowning jewel was the Ralph Adams Cram-designed gothic masterpiece, the Chapel.

By the time of Irvine’s death, the school had seen Medal of Honor recipients, Olympians, and sons of presidents all pass through its halls. Each was taught hard work, fair play, and clean living as modeled by Dr. William Mann Irvine.

In 1927, the Academy suffered a series of catastrophic events that led to the most trying time in the school’s history. Main Hall caught fire in January and burned to the ground. This event, coupled with debt following the completion of the Chapel, put the school on unstable fiscal footing. Then, in early June, Dr. Irvine collapsed during Step Songs and died later in the week. Within two years, the country would enter the Great Depression and the entire nation found itself in a turbulent period. The Academy turned to an old friend for guidance.

William C. Fowle

Walter H. Burgin Jr. ’53

1961–1972

1972–1997

Fowle came from the Hotchkiss School, where he had been everything from a coach to an assistant headmaster. He brought a wealth of knowledge on how to operate a boarding school and went right to work on updating the Academy.

An honor system, dorm proctors, and the trimester system (all still active today) were among Fowle’s contributions to Mercersburg life. Fowle was a man of athletic strength and integrity; as a multisport athlete at Williams College, he was a great example of the all-around student that the Academy strived to mold. The endowment continued to grow and important campus buildings continued to be built. Ford Hall, Fowle Hall, and Boone Hall, among others, were all created—and more importantly, the school broke racial and gender lines during his 11-year tenure. Fowle spanned two generations and served as a bridge for the Academy to a new era.

At the time of Fowle’s departure, society was negotiating nothing short of a social revolution and Mercersburg Academy was certainly not immune to its reach. Across the country, boarding schools were evaluating and incorporating updated and augmented plans to deal with an ever-changing world. The Academy found a new voice and vision—from a familiar face—to lead the institution into its next phase.

The school turned to one of its own when it hired Burgin, an alumnus and former faculty member (1958–1964) who was teaching at Phillips Exeter Academy when Mercersburg called him to take over. With his deep and personal love for the Academy and his knowledge of the boardingschool world as a whole, it was clear he was the right man for the job. He took on the position at a delicate and crucial time in the school’s history.

Burgin worked to create a culture of acceptance and understanding where teachers and students could learn to work together. He bolstered the residential-life curriculum by introducing the adviser system and Peer Group program to the school, along with regular dormitory duty for faculty members. He also greatly improved the living quarters for faculty by upgrading the apartments in each dorm. The endowment continued to grow, the magnificent Lenfest Hall was built, and the Academy celebrated its 100th birthday during his tenure. Burgin took the school from a difficult time with a struggling enrollment in the early 1970s to an institution that was mature and strong at all levels when he retired and handed the reigns to Douglas Hale in 1997.

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Arts

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Da t es t o Reme mb e r

Sep 4

Band/Chorale performing at Opening Convocation 2:30 p.m., Irvine Memorial Chapel

Nov 5

Fall Dance Concert Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Oct 7–9

Stony Batter Players: You Can’t Take It With You Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Nov 12

Fall Student Art Show Opening Reception Fall Pops Concert Cofrin Gallery/Simon Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

Oct 28–30 Stony Batter Players: Proof

Hale Studio Theatre, Burgin Center for the Arts

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

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

The Complete History of America (abridged)

The ensemble

Olivia Keller ’19 and Eli Wenzel ’16

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

The Real Inspector Hound

Clare Liss ’18 and Thomas Miller ’16

Caroline Casparian ’16 and Dean Patterson ’16

Addie Dumm ’18, Ava Paul ’18, Thomas Miller ’16, and Katherine Reber ’17

Into the Woods

Magalia

Octet Ava Paul ’18

Zach McDonald ’17 and Katarina Johansson ’16

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Dance director: Denise Dalton

“The Purification of Silence” (choreography

by Dalton)

Chelsea Miao ’17, “XY” (self-choreographed)

Bea Morrow ’16, “Signs of Life” (self-choreographed)

Alex DeGrange ’17, “uNraVelinG” (self-choreographed)

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

Kate Vela ’16, Shark

Julia Mitchell ’18, Portrait of Jeff (Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Gold Key)

Kent Hall ’18, Wordlight

Sarah O’Leary ’16, Irene (Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Gold Key, American Visions Award nominee)

Caroline Casparian ’16 (chosen for 2016 National K–12 Ceramic Exhibition in Kansas City, Missouri)

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

Octet

Chorale

Band

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Jazz Band

String Ensemble

Magalia

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Athletics Da t es t o Rememb e r

Aug 21

Preseason football registration

Aug 30

All other fall athletic practices begin

Oct 7–9 Family Weekend (most varsity teams vs. Lawrenceville) Oct 28–30 Alumni Weekend (most varsity teams vs. Hill) Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu

Fall 2015 Varsity Athletics Roundup Boys’ Cross Country Captains: Gabriel Allgayer ’16, Jan Smilek ’16 James D. Fallon Jr. Award (most outstanding contributions): Allgayer Most Improved Runner Award: Adam Cromwell ’17 Head coach: David Grady (9th season) IPSL/MAPL/state finish: 1st/4th/4th Highlights: Allgayer won his second-straight Mid-Atlantic Prep League individual crown, and is just the second runner in school history to win multiple MAPL titles, joining James Finucane ’08 (2006 and 2007)… Allgayer placed second at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools State Championships, earning AllState honors for the third-consecutive year after placing seventh in 2013 and fifth in 2014…

Allgayer crossed the finish line first in six of the eight races he entered for Mercersburg this year, successfully defending individual titles at the MAPL Championships, IPSL Championships, Paul Short Run, and Mercersburg Invitational… in addition to being named All-MAPL (and Academic All-MAPL), he also earned All-IPSL honors alongside teammates Smilek, Chris Doyle ’17, and Cromwell… Smilek earned a varsity letter all four years, while Alexander Wood ’19 earned a varsity letter as a ninth grader.

Girls’ Cross Country Captains: Ryan Geitner ’17, Kate Hastings ’16, Sydney Hirokawa ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Geitner Most Improved Runner Award: Finley Stewart ’17 Head coach: Betsy Cunningham (13th season) IPSL/MAPL/state finish: 1st/4th/10th Highlights: The Blue Storm won its third IPSL team title (and its first since 2012), besting St. Maria Goretti by six points at Black Rock Park

in Hagerstown; Hastings (second), Hirokawa (fourth), and Geitner (seventh) were named AllIPSL, and Stewart (ninth) and Anna Mele ’19 (10th) joined them in the top ten… Hastings was the team’s top finisher in four events, while Hirokawa was the pacesetter in three events…

Hastings and Hirokawa both recorded top-15 finishes at the MAPL Championships… at the Mercersburg Invitational, the Storm finished ahead of MAPL rival Hill… Geitner earned Academic All-MAPL honors… Mele was a varsity letterwinner as a ninth grader.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Field Hockey Captains: Bridget Scott ’16, Maya Miller ’16 Carol Anderson Field Hockey Coach’s Award (most outstanding player): Caroline Brown ’16 Shelley Beck ’72 Award (most improved player): Rachel Marsh ’18 Rebecca “Becki” Peace ’75 Award (most inspirational player): Emily Hong ’16 Head coach: Alicia Hawk (6th season) Record: 3–12 (1–4 MAPL) Highlights: The team sent the six members of its senior class off on a high note by knocking off Hun, 1–0, in the season finale on the strength of a goal by Lauren Jones ’18… Brown and Ria Giannaris ’16 lettered all four years…

Jones, who scored the game-winning goal in all three of the Blue Storm’s wins, has now earned All-MAPL honors in both of her years at Mercersburg (and still has two years left to play)… in addition to Hun, other victories for the Storm came against Middleburg and Southern Huntingdon… eight different players scored goals for the Storm, including Miller (who was the team’s regular goalie)… Brown and Jones were chosen Academic All-MAPL… Elizabeth Heidecker ’19 and Mary DiLalla ’19 garnered varsity letters as ninth-graders.

Football Captains: game captains selected Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Jake Rist ’16 Most Improved Player Award: Colin Adams ’17 Head coach: Dan Walker (13rd season) Record: 0–8 (0–5 MAPL) Highlights: Rist and Brandon Thomas ’17 were named honorable-mention All-MAPL selections… Adams had the top offensive singlegame performance of the year with 357 yards passing and four touchdowns against Peddie; Alex DeGrange ’17 and Nick Nelson ’17 each caught a pair of TDs against the Falcons…

Thomas was the Storm’s leading tackler in six of the team’s eight games; he recorded 12 tackles on two different occasions, against Lawrenceville (when he recorded four tackles for loss) and Kiski (when he also recovered two fumbles)… Adams and Mason Kholi ’16 split time at quarterback; Kholi threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns against Hill… Chris Adusei-Poku ’16 and Conner Chang ’18 were named Academic All-MAPL… Noah Litzinger ’19 and Ryan Wiley ’19 earned varsity letters as ninth graders.

Golf Captains: Roland Morris ’16, Ruichi Zhou ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Zhou Most Improved Player Award: Shayan Ghodsi ’18 Head coach: Doug Smith (3rd season) Head-to-head match record: 14–0 IPSL finish: champion Highlights: The team had one of the finest seasons in Mercersburg golf history, finishing undefeated in head-to-head play for the first time since 1994… the Blue Storm captured the inaugural Keystone Cup by 13 strokes over Hill and 16 strokes over Kiski… the Storm finished fifth at the PAISAA State Championship (the lone event during the season from which it did not emerge victorious)… Morris carded the team’s lowest round on four separate occasions, including a 34 over nine holes at the IPSL Championships to lead the team to its

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Boys’ Soccer Captains: Matt Athanas-Linden ’16, Elliot Hicks ’16 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Athanas-Linden Most Improved Player Award: Miles Hearon ’16 Schweizer Soccer Cup (hard work/determination): Hicks Head coach: Quentin McDowell (8th season) Record: 8–4–2 (2–1–2 MAPL) Highlights: Athanas-Linden and Kane Doyle ’16 were first-team All-MAPL selections, while Hicks and Alvaro Valentin ’16 earned honorable-mention honors… Hicks, Ryan Klaff ’16, and Kane Doyle ’16 were chosen for the Four Diamonds All-Star Game for top area players… a year after winning its first MAPL championship, the team defeated Blair and Hun and tied Lawrenceville and Hill in league play, falling only to Peddie… the comeback win over Blair was one for the ages, as Mercersburg trailed 2–0 with three minutes left before scoring twice to force extra time and getting the game-winner from Athanas-Linden… the team alternated wins and losses for its first six contests before going 5–1–2 over its final eight matches… Gnim Bazim ’17 and Jinmook Kang ’17 represented the Storm on the Academic All-MAPL squad… Carl Stensland, an assistant coach at Eastern Connecticut State University, has been named head coach for the 2016 season.

Girls’ Soccer

fifth-straight league title; Morris, Brown, Zhou, and Mike DeNunzio ’16 were named All-IPSL… Zhou and Ross Brown ’16 fired the team’s low round twice apiece… Zhou and Mitchell Smith ’16 earned varsity letters all four years… Brown earned Academic All-MAPL honors.

Captains: Madi Johnson ’16, Sarah Lyman ’16, Maddie Surmacz ’17 Mary Curtis ’86/John VerStandig ’66 Award: Johnson Most Improved Player Award: Yulia Lee ’17 Hendrickson-Hoffman Coaches’ Award (spirit): Lyman Head coach: Jason Bershatsky (8th season) Record: 1–13 (1–4 MAPL) Highlights: Johnson, who earned varsity letters all four years, was chosen All-MAPL and All-IPSL, while Lyman (the team’s leading scorer) also earned All-IPSL honors and was named honorablemention All-MAPL… despite attending Mercersburg and being from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, Lyman played for the Maryland team in the Four Diamonds All-Star Game; she was selected for the Pennsylvania team but was one of a handful of players to switch teams when the Maryland allstars lost several players due to scheduling issues…

Katie Brennan ’19 and Anna Clare Miller ’19 earned varsity letters as ninth graders; Brennan scored the game-winning goal in the Blue Storm’s victory over MAPL rival Blair… Joana Santos ’16 and C.J. Walker ’17 represented Mercersburg on the Academic All-

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

MAPL squad… Kristen Pixler, who has served as a Mercersburg assistant for the past three years, has been named head coach for the 2016 season.

Girls’ Tennis Captains: Kelsey Shields ’16, Molly Widdoes ’17 Most Outstanding Contributions Award: Shields Most Improved Player Award: Widdoes Head coach: Mike Sweeney (12th season) Record: 10–2 (4–1 MAPL) MAPL finish: T-2nd Highlights: The Blue Storm posted its best MAPL record in the program’s history, and won 10 of 12 head-to-head matches—an eightwin improvement from 2014… included in that victory total was the Storm’s first team win over Hill since 2001… Shields and Widdoes, who were the squad’s #1 and #2 singles players and formed the #1 doubles tandem, earned AllMAPL honors… top singles records were posted

by Alexandra Zhukova ’18 (6–1, mostly at #4), Eliza Smith ’18 (7–3, mostly at #6), Widdoes (9–4, mostly at #2), and Emma Hicks (9–5, mostly at #3)… Allyson Chae ’17 and Gabbie Albert ’18 went 7–1 in doubles play (mostly at #3), while Hicks and Widdoes were a perfect 4–0 in matches they played together… Hicks was a varsity letterwinner as a ninth grader… Shields was named Academic All-MAPL.

Volleyball Captain: Mallory Sipes ’16 Erin Carey ’91 Memorial Volleyball Award (most outstanding player): Tori Yoder ’16 Most Improved Player Award: Sipes Head coach: Katie LaRue (1st season) Record: 7–9 (3–4 IPSL) Highlights: Yoder earned All-IPSL honors after leading the team in kills (164), blocks (31), aces (36), and digs (109)… Sipes had a teamhigh 159 assists from her setter position and added 28 aces… Rebecca Li ’17 posted 102 digs… Patrice McGloin ’19, who earned a varsity letter as a ninth grader, notched 38 kills and 25 blocks; Sarah Pape ’16 chipped in 40 kills to rank second on the team in that category… even though the MAPL does not sponsor volleyball, league members Blair and Lawrenceville visited Mercersburg for a tri-match in October; the Storm swept Blair and fell in four games to Lawrenceville… Paul earned special academic recognition.

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Class Notes grandchildren. Van has many fond memories of Mercersburg, including playing basketball under Leonard Plantz, with whom he kept in touch for some years.

’53

Clifford Meyers’ wife, Julia, passed away October 19, 2015.

’59

John Fillman is alive and well and living in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He was incorrectly listed as deceased in the obituary for his cousin, John Fox ’55, in the Fall 2015 issue of Mercersburg. The obituary also named John Fox as having established the David Lloyd Fillman ’56 Scholarship Fund; however, David Fillman was its creator.

Chris Frisby ’91 and fellow Alumni Council member Jim McClelland ’55 at the Co-Op on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina.

’44

Martha J. Reed, wife of Harold Reed and mother of Thomas Reed ’85, passed away November 11, 2015. She was also the sister-in-law of the late George Reed ’52.

’45

’67

Jane R. Coates, mother of Raymond Coates, Randall Coates ’68, and Thomas Coates ’77, passed away February 12, 2015. She was also the grandmother of Alexander West ’98, Lindsey Coates Brown ’99, and Lauren Coates ’03, and the widow of Raymond Coates ’46.

’71

Larry Gluck is medical director of the oncology and apheresis programs at Greenville Health System in South Carolina. He received the Founders Award for

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Leadership from the Cancer Support Community in May 2015.

’72

Anthony F. Balzebre, father of Frank Balzebre and grandfather of Tony Balzebre III ’03, passed away July 20, 2015.

Rich Haskell and his daughter, Gillian, ran in the 2015 New York City Marathon, raising funds for the Red Cross.

’73

Tim Fleming continues to practice law in State College, Pennsylvania, starting his 32nd year as a criminal defense and family law specialist. Tim has two children, Kelsey Fleming (Turns)—married on June 20, 2015—and Brad Fleming, an Iraq War veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division. Tim lives in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, with his dog Tibby. He recently completed 20 years of service on the Board of Trustees and Alumni Council of Cardigan Mountain School, where he graduated from in 1970 before attending Mercersburg. In addition to traveling and staying close to many friends in New England, Tim still enjoys photography, fly fishing in Central Pennsylvania, and his law practice.

’78

Julie Hill, wife of Tom Hill and mother of Ashley Hill ’06, passed away July 24, 2015.

Nancy D. Greenfield, wife of Bruce Greenfield and mother of Mark Greenfield ’75, passed away April 12, 2015. She was also the grandmother of Hannah Greenfield ’06.

’47

Thomas Chidester’s wife, Emily, passed away November 3, 2014.

’51

Charles “Van” Allen continues part-time employment in medical administration at the Gould Medical Group in Modesto, California, where he practiced internal medicine and oncology from 1964 to 2000. He has published Keeping Score: Collected Essays, a collection of 130 columns published in The Modesto Bee from 2000 to 2014. He and his wife, Suzanne, enjoy an active retirement with their three children and four

Joe Huber ’64 and Rab Summers ’64 hold their trophies after finishing first in the Spring Island Member/Guest Championship in South Carolina.

Louise Huber and Nita Summers finished second in the women’s division.

Three Mercersburg generations at drop-off day for new students in Fowle Hall: Chris Spurry ’66, Beth Spurry ’89, and Olivia Keller ’19.

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MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE FALL 2014

Marriages 1

4

2

5

8

3

6

1. Karen Craig ’81 married John Ryland ’82 September 14, 2013, in Cooperstown, New York. School minister and faculty member Larry Jones performed the ceremony, and Abigail Ryland ’12 served as maid of honor. Also participating was James Craig ’52, father of the bride. Pictured are Dee Dee Maucher ’82, Larry Jones, Abby Ryland ’12, John and Karen, James Craig ’52, Nicole Samii Holdener ’81, and Tom Hornbaker ’84. Not pictured: Jamie Craig ’86 (brother of the bride), Chip Baldwin ’84 (cousin of the bride).

2. At the wedding of Ryan Colby ’07 and Karin Brown, July 18, 2015, in St. Joseph, Michigan (L–R): Abby Colby ’12 (Ryan’s sister), Chuck Roberts ’07, Ryan, faculty member Jeff Cohen.

3. Bill Carey ’72 and Jeong Ok “Terry” Shin on their wedding day, October 14, 2015.

Carol Powers ’99 and Jonathan Morse, September 5, 2015.

Alec Harris ’00 and Ellyn Turer, November 21, 2015.

Mo Sabri ’00 and Matthew Olson, August 17, 2013.

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4. Lizz Harvey ’07 and Mieka Melbourne on their wedding day, October 10, 2015, in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

5. Bruce Krebs ’69 and Jo-Ann Andriko on their wedding day, August 20, 2015.

6. David O’Brien ’08 married Lindsey Russell September 19, 2015, at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. His brother, Patrick O’Brien ’11, and classmate Jay Whyel ’08 were groomsmen, and the father of the groom is Ridgley O’Brien ’73. Luke Griffin ’08 was in attendance as well.

7. Katie Sabri ’07 and John Dawes ’05 on their wedding day, June 6, 2015, in Alexandria, Pennsylvania.

8. Leland Kass ’95 married Timothy Fitzpatrick September 12, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sarah Olwell ’04 and Nathan Kibildis, July 25, 2015. Liz Rohrbach ’08 and Christopher Andrews, September 5, 2015.

Jake Hoffman ’06 and Tanya Bygraves, November 15, 2012.

Andrew Mauro ’09 and Maggie Black, September 6, 2015.

Stephanie Fejes ’07 and Phil Cohen, July 11, 2015.

Paige Summers ’11 and Ryan Andersen, July 31, 2015.

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Heath Vink ’99 (son of faculty member Chip Vink ’73) and his wife, Leslie, live in Baltimore, Maryland, with their 4-year-old son Hudson, 2-year-old daughter Hadley, and son Holden Dewitt (born October 17, 2015).

’81

Richard DiLalla’s mother, Barbara, passed away November 21, 2015. She was also the mother-in-law of Ann Marks DiLalla ’82 and the grandmother of Aric DiLalla ’12, James DiLalla ’17, and Mary DiLalla ’19.

’83

Ted Smith’s wife, Julia, passed away September 15, 2015.

’84

Janet Shaffer has returned to the staff of Duke Integrative Medicine as a licensed acupuncturist.

Sassan Emral Shaool ’91 visited classmate John “Please come visit when you’re in Durham,” she says.

Eldridge ’91 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where John “The food, trails, weather, and art are great.” is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Pictured from left are John, John’s son Quinn, Sassan’s son William West’s aunt, Jacqueline Martin, who was Judah, John’s son Marshal, and Sassan. also the granddaughter of founding Headmaster Dr. Walt McGhee has been named American Century Investments’ vice president and an account executive for institutional business development.

’79

Brent Copenhaver’s wife, Jacqueline, passed away September 5, 2014.

’80

How Robert Frost Made Realism Matter, by Jonathan Barron, has been published by the University of Missouri Press. Jon is director of the Robert Frost Society and edits its scholarly journal, The Robert Frost Review. He is an associate professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Shawn Rockwell Hardy and her husband, Jim, were featured in an article in the August 23, 2015, travel section of The Washington Post about their summer trip to Kazakhstan.

William Mann Irvine, passed away September 26, 2015.

’85

The late Margaret Kilgallen, her family, and their art were featured in an article in the August 10, 2015, issue of The New Yorker.

Chipper Lichtenstein has been promoted to lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.

’86

Julia Clark MacInnis has been voted the best children’s photographer by Washington FAMILY magazine for the second time in three years.

Ben Mendelsohn was featured in the October 2015 issue of Vanity Fair for his role in the debut season of Netflix’s original series Bloodline. He was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance.

After spending four years working with the U.S. Navy in Japan (three years on Okinawa and one year on Honshu), Robyn Gdula Lalime ’98 and her family have moved back to the U.S. They have returned to the D.C. area, where Robyn continues to work as a research scientist for the Center for Naval Analyses. Pictured from left are Robyn, River Serenity (born in August 2014), Remington Sage (born in March 2013), and Chris at Mount Rushmore during their cross-country move.

’88

Mark Driscoll recently met up with classmate and lacrosse teammate John Polhamus in Fairfield, Connecticut. John graduated from West Point in 1992 and just completed an MBA from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. Mark graduated from Saint Bonaventure University in 1992 and works at NASDAQ in New York City.

Ruhl Burrows’ father, David, passed away November 3, 2014.

’90

Jeffrey Monteleone, his wife Rhonda Lee, and their daughter Sarah live in Boston, where he is director of golf operations and a PGA professional at Bellevue Golf Club in Boston.

’91

Chris Holbert is starring in the Ridley Scott Civil War television series Mercy Street. The series, which is from the makers of ER and Downton Abbey and based on a true story, follows two nurses who turn a high-class hotel into a Union and Confederate hospital. Chris has a small role in season 1 with a possible expanded role in season 2.

Lori Ruohomaki McCullough is coaching the Mercersburg Area Swim Club.

’93

Roger Racz is a podiatrist in Minot, North Dakota.

After a number of years with Reuters, Missy Ryan is working as a staff writer and Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

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Births/Adoptions 2

1

3

5

4

7

6

8

9

1. McKinley Mary, daughter of Colleen Corcoran Yates ’99 and her husband, Timothy, born July 29, 2015.

2. Mary Elarton Frisby, daughter of Chris Frisby ’91 and his partner, Erin Elarton, born July 21, 2015.

3. Finn Palmer, son of Ian Thompson ’02 and his wife, Elizabeth, born December 13, 2015.

4. Bowden Fortunatus Foster Leal, son of Sabrina Sydnor ’04 and her fiancé, George Leal, born November 12, 2015.

5. Alice Paige, daughter of Gray McDermid ’01 and his wife, Elizabeth, born November 12, 2015. (Paige joins 2-yearold sister Nancy Gray.)

6. Rachel Bumgardner Keith ’01 and her husband, William Keith ’02, welcomed boy-and-girl twins, Sawyer Charles and Violet Ann, September 2, 2015.

7. Emilia, daughter of Elissa Thorne Shashai ’06 and her husband, Endrit, born September 13, 2015.

To Rache Baird Brand ’99 and her husband, Kurtis: a son, Zai Stefan, October 12, 2015.

To Nicole Johns ’99 and her husband, Brady Johnson: a daughter, Laurel Anne, October 27, 2015

8. Emily Bays Muller ’10 and her husband, Josh Muller ’10, with their daughter, Melanie, who was born October 4, 2015.

To Heath Vink ’99 and his wife, Leslie: a son, Holden Dewitt, October 17, 2015.

To Jake Hoffman ’06 and his wife, Tanya Bygraves: a son, Robert Bentley, May 17, 2015.

9. Olivia Mary, daughter of Lisa Shelps Lesak ’05 and her husband, Mark Lesak ’05, born July 6, 2015.

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’03

Jade Baum Dunivant’s father, Aldus, passed away May 2, 2014.

’04

Alyse Blackburn applied to the Peace Corps in 2014 and is serving as an education volunteer and children’s literacy teacher in Guyana.

Sarah Olwell married Nathan Kibildis July 25, 2015, in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Classmate Camilla Lee Paquette was in attendance.

Faculty member Jack Hawbaker and his wife, Karen, visited Matt Danziger ’99 last summer while traveling to San Francisco, California.

’05

Tamara Filipovic ’05 and her partner, Brenan Hornseth, completed a seven-day, 370-mile bikepacking trip from Reston, Virginia, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath, and the Great Allegheny Passage. Tamara thanks the Mercersburg Outdoor Education program for teaching her the importance of spending time in nature and the joy of outdoor sports.

Jessica Malone ’03 and Rebecca Lowe ’99 at the first-ever BlazerCon conference in New York City in November. Rebecca was a keynote speaker for the event, which was organized by the Men in Blazers podcast team that includes Michael Davies ’85 and billed itself as “a forum where the best global football minds could engage directly with an audience of Americans who have fallen in love with the game.” Jessica is serving as a representative for the organization Every Mother Counts, working with fellow runners to train for various races in order to raise funds for EMC.

’95

Leland Kass married Timothy Fitzpatrick September 12, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee. Leland and Tim live in New York City, where she is vice president of marketing and public relations for Jonathan Adler and he is a senior associate in the global project finance division of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

Jamie Wollrab is head of voice and movement at Warner Loughlin Studios in Los Angeles and a company member of The Actor’s Studio. He is also working with acting clients through his business, The Liberated Actor, to teach them a “network of body, breath, voice, and healing practices.”

’96

Wes Wrightson is working in senior management on a post-Ebola health systems strengthening project funded by USAID through the John Snow Research & Training Institute within four heavily hit Ebola districts in Sierra Leone. “I am coming from working as a customs officer in law enforcement in Canada after two years and 13 years working at senior management on USG-funded projects in sub-Saharan Africa,” Wes says.

’99

Ingrid Herr-Paul Ashley is volunteering with MACWell (the Mercersburg Area Council for Wellness) as the organization develops the Johnston Run Scenic Streamside Trail near campus.

Erin McCartney Rozniakowski had a blog entry published on the Awesome Sports Project, an initiative of Basketball Education in Action.

Zoe Tsoukatos writes that she couldn’t be more excited for the artisan truffles from Zoe’s Chocolate Co. to be included in the Williams-Sonoma catalog. Zoe is the owner of the company, which is based in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.

’00

Alec Harris married Ellyn Turer November 21, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Alec’s brother, Evan Harris ’07, served as best man and Andy Shirk and Srian Goonewardene were groomsmen. Other attendees included classmates Colby Schroath and Emily Stark.

Anne Reeder Bertram is serving as an adviser for Mercersburg’s Imagining 21st Century Theatrical Performance Springboard course this year. She choreographed for the Fall Dance Concert and for the Stony Batter Players winter musical Into the Woods.

’01

Mike Best is serving in the U.S. Air Force in a civilian position, working at a training center for trauma at the Saint Louis University Hospital.

Sierra Nixon has moved to Venice, California, to build a West Coast presence for Empire Entertainment, the event production company she has been working with since 2008.

John Dawes married Katie Sabri ’07 June 6, 2015, at Huntingdon Farm in Alexandria, Pennsylvania. Mercersburg alumni in attendance included Katie’s sister Mo Sabri Olson ’00, Michelle Karbach ’08, Ovie Onobrakpeya ’09, and Joy Mullins ’10. School minister Larry Jones officiated. Katie received her clinical doctorate in audiology from James Madison University in May and is an audiologist with Otolaryngology Associates in Fairfax, Virginia. John is completing his master’s degree in geographic information systems at Johns Hopkins University and is the administrator of Chesapeake Commons in Washington, D.C. Taylor Newby received the 2015 People’s Voice Webby Award for his photography and graphics at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

’06

Hilary Gridley was featured in The Limited’s “Leading Looks Like” online and in-store campaign, which highlights women who embody the new look of leadership.

’07

Stephanie Fejes married Phil Cohen July 11, 2015.

Steph’s sister, Jessie Fejes ’06, was in the bridal party.

Neil Gordon has moved to Denver to work for Arapahoe Sign Arts while pursuing a graduate degree in construction management at Colorado State University. He plays rugby for the Denver Harlequins.

Matteo Scammell was a lead performer in the play Holden at the New Ohio Theater in Manhattan in August 2015.

’08

Robert Nagel moved to Canterbury, England, in September to pursue a Ph.D. in international conflict analysis at the University of Kent. His research will focus on the inclusion of women and gender in conflict resolution processes.

Liz Rohrbach married Christopher Andrews September 5, 2015, in La Jolla, California. Liza Rockwell served as maid of honor and 2008 classmates Sonia Byun, Liz Klinger, Laura Willwerth, and Luke Griffin were also in attendance.

’09

Molly Serpi is serving with AmeriCorps for one year in the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains in the American Southwest.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Classmates (and Fowle men) Ethan Strickler ’08, Luke Griffin ’08, Logan Craig ’08, Justin Corey ’08, and Andrew Reichardt ’08 at a golf outing in Wintergreen, Virginia.

’10 Carlos Garcia is working as director of environmental initiatives for the city of Huari, Peru, where he was previously stationed as a Peace Corps volunteer. Carlos has launched the community’s first free environmental education program, which includes documentary screenings as well as remote and in-person guest lectures from representatives of the Smithsonian Institution, NASA, Yale University, and other organizations.

Lauren Kecskes started medical school as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in August.

Patrick Young is working for the Peace Corps teaching English in China. He will return to the U.S. in 2017.

’11

Georgia Baker worked in legal research at Purdue Pharmaceuticals last summer. She plans to pursue employment in pharmaceutical law after graduating from Suffolk University Law School.

Harrison Brink graduated from Furman University and is pursuing his dream of professional golf by playing on the Swing Thought Tour. He is based in Greenville, South Carolina, and says he hopes to connect with alumni in both the Greenville area and the Southeast.

Kevin Carroll traveled to Detroit this summer as part of a capstone lab for the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. He worked on developing a proposal to convert a dilapidated Detroit airport into space for military use and drone testing.

Matt Cook ran the 195-mile Hood to Coast Relay with a team of 12 runners from Google. They placed fifth overall out of 1,050 teams.

Peter Flanagan is an associate account manager for SNL Energy in New York City.

Collin Greene spent three weeks backpacking across Europe this summer with his Mercersburg roommate, Robert Solis.

Chris Weller graduated from the University of Virginia School of Architecture and is co-founder of Branch

Board of Regents member Magdalena Kala ’09 hosted a brunch for young alumni in Boston on December 5, 2015. Pictured from left are Eli Littlefield ’11, Michaella Hoehn-Saric ’13, Georgia Baker ’11, Magdalena, Maggie Collins ’14, Ryan Ma ’11, Peter Benjathatchaporn ’12, and Linc Kupke ’11.

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L–R: Simeon Daniels ’10, Morgan Hopkins ’12, former faculty member Matthew Caretti, and Troy Harrison ’10 in November at Simeon’s home in Brooklyn, New York. Simeon suffered significant injuries in a train accident in September 2015 and is undergoing intense physical therapy. He wants to thank the Mercersburg community for its love, encouragement, and prayers.

Technology. Chris and his business partner invented and patented a construction-scale robotic printing method believed to be the largest freestanding 3D printer in the world. The technology won an Investor Choice Prize at a technology start-up expo last summer in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

’12

Kiersten Sydnor, a senior at Bucknell University, was named to the 2015 All-Patriot League Field Hockey Team.

’13

Ashley Frederick has been elected president of the Panhellenic Council at Stetson University. She is a member of Alpha Xi Delta.

Miranda Lang is a junior at American University, where she is majoring in American Studies and Popular Culture and minoring in public anthropology. Miranda recently launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for Thrive DC, an agency for which she volunteers that serves the needs of the homeless in Washington.

’14

Meghan Peterson is in her second year at Elon University, where she is a student trainer for the Elon football team. Her brother, Andrew, attends Marquette University. Both Meg and Andrew were part of a group of more than 20 Mercersburg alumni who returned to campus over the summer to work as counselors for Mercersburg Summer Programs.

As a member of Furman University’s women’s soccer team, Melanie Rankin helped the Paladins win the 2015 Southern Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. (Melanie was part of a historic fall for Furman athletics—Furman became the first school in Southern Conference history to sweep all five of the league’s fall tournaments in men’s/ women’s soccer, men’s/women’s cross country, and volleyball.)

’15

David Coly played as a freshman for the University of Washington’s men’s soccer team.

Sarah Duda ’10 participated in the Philadelphia Marathon—her first—in November 2015, and completed the race in a time of 3:45:02.

Caitlin Flohr is a member of the Connecticut College women’s rowing team. The team’s eight-person novice boat placed fourth out of 17 teams at the Regatta: Head of the Snake in October in Shrewsberry, Massachusetts,

Faculty/former faculty/ former staff Faculty member Mark Cubit’s mother, Loretta, passed away August 5, 2015. She was also the grandmother of Colin Cubit ’06, Kelsie Cubit ’08, Kearsten Cubit ’10, and Kendra Cubit ’13.

Former faculty member Alan Gratz has published a novel, Code of Honor.

Former Mercersburg business manager William Hoppe (1973–1987) and his wife, Margaret, became great-grandparents in March 2015 when Neenah Newell, their granddaughter (and daughter of Neil Hoppe ’75) gave birth to twin girls. William and Margaret live in Palmyra, Virginia, and are the parents of four Mercersburg alumni: Neil, Steve ’75, Louise Hoppe Green ’78, and Jon ’80.

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Obituaries ’37

Robert F. Weis, October 19, 2015. (Main, Irving debater, Lit editor-inchief, The Fifteen, Stony Batter, swimming, Orchestra, Band, Class Poet, Nevin Orator, Cum Laude) Robert graduated from Yale University and served in the U.S. Army and Army Air Force, attaining the rank of captain. He worked in various positions for his father’s company, Weis Pure Foods, eventually overseeing the company’s finances, real estate, and store construction, and ultimately rising to the position of chairman. Robert helped guide Weis Markets’ growth and expansion into six states and was the principal figure in the grocery chain’s success. He was a cousin of the late John L. “Jack” McDowell III ’56.

Survivors include his wife, Patricia; three children and nine grandchildren; and a sister.

’38

Howard I. Armstrong, September 4, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, Debater, Glee Club, Rauchrunde, Marshal of the Field, Chapel usher, track & field, Stamp Club, Class Memorial Committee) Howard graduated from Princeton University. He served as corporate president of Armstrong International and lived in Wallingford, Connecticut.

’39

Robert S. Thorne Jr., August 18, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, Band, Glee Club, Les Copains) Bob graduated from Oberlin College with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He served in the U.S. Army and spent most of his professional career in commodities purchasing for the food industry, including as director of purchasing for the Sanna Division of ConAgra Foods. Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Mimi, as well as two infant children and a sister. Survivors include a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren.

’40

Charles B. Gilbert III, August 10, 2015. (Irving debater, football, track & field, class secretary, Stony Batter) Charlie served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and later from the University of New Haven with an MBA. He worked for the electric-boat division of General Dynamics and in engineering dynamics and quality control for more than 30 years. Charlie was preceded in death by

his wife, Peg. Survivors include three daughters, a sister, a brother, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Alvin B. Sponagle, August 1, 2015. (Marshall, football) Alvin attended Bucknell University and served in the U.S. military as a staff sergeant during World War II. He owned and operated the Lock Haven Construction Company and later retired as construction supervisor for Conestoga Telephone Company. Alvin was preceded in death by his wife, Ada. Survivors include three daughters, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

’41

William E. Hanks, December 8, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, soccer, track & field, Class Historian, Cum Laude) Ted graduated from the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and spent a long career in the U.S. Navy in engineering and repair. He was preceded in death by his wife, Consuelo; a son, Parsons Hanks ’70; two brothers, Douglas Hanks ’34 and Fletcher Hanks Jr. ’37; a sister; and a nephew, Douglas Hanks Jr. ’62. Survivors include two sons (including Peter Hanks ’70), three stepdaughters, eight grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews (including Fletcher “Chris” Hanks III ’72).

Maury I. Kaplin, November 26, 2015. (Main, Irving, Les Copains, swimming, track & field, Schaff Orator, Cum Laude) Maury attended Yale University and served in the U.S. Army. He spent his career managing various real-estate properties and companies.

Survivors include two daughters, a son, four grandchildren, and two brothers (including Richard Kaplin ’43).

Ross S. Keller, November 20, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Football Band, Glee Club, Choir, Concert Band, entertainment usher, baseball, swimming, Les Copains, Class Memorial Committee) Ross attended Washington and Lee University and graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was employed by the Stouffer and Sheraton corporations. Later he worked as director of housing and food services at St. Lawrence University, as director of food services at Williams College, and as innkeeper of the Asticou Inn. Ross was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn, as well as a daughter and a sister. Survivors include a daughter, a son, and five grandsons.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Robert N. Ricketts, May 28, 2015. (Marshall, track & field) Robert graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and served for a time in the U.S. Armed Forces before completing a medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. He left his private practice to reenter active duty in the Navy before resuming private practice in Oil City, Pennsylvania, and later in Naples, Florida, where he served as chief of staff of the Naples Community Hospital. Robert was preceded in death by his wife, Jane, and a sister. Survivors include two children, two grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, and three nieces.

’42

Gale D. Benn, October 14, 2012. (Main, Irving, football) Gale attended Colgate University and was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II. He served as communications consultant to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and as a trustee of the Commonwealth-American School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He created and launched High School Sports magazine, the official publication of the National Federation of State High School Associations, and published a number of Olympic guides, several short stories, and poetry. Survivors include his wife, Kathleen; four children and four grandchildren; and two sisters.

W. Richard Thompson, October 13, 2012. (South Cottage, Marshall, Senate, football, track & field, Class Day Committee) Dick attended Dickinson College and managed the Buffalo South Motor Inn in Blasdell, New York. He was preceded in death by his wife, Norma.

’43

Richard M. Patterson, July 19, 2015. (Marshall, swimming) Richard, whose father was the late Earl Patterson (1911), served in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet during World War II and flew during the Korean War as a member of the Air Force Reserves, earning the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He received a bachelor’s degree in animal science and reproductive physiology from Cal State Polytechnic and worked as a manager for several large ranches, creating breeding plans for animal genetics. Having earned the rank of colonel, he later served as chief of staff of NORAD in Colorado Springs.

He continued his work in ranch risk-management in his company, Ranch America. Survivors include his wife, Sheryl.

’44

Robert C. Bryan, October 27, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, football, basketball, tennis) Bob graduated from Dartmouth College and served in the Army Air Corps as an aerial photographer. He joined the family firm of Dunn and Bryan and later established the firm’s Pennsylvania office. After serving as chief executive officer, he closed the firm and joined Janel Inc., retiring in 2004. Bob also served on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council. Survivors include his wife, Ann-Barrett; a daughter and a son (Jeff ’70); and two brothers (Barry ’48 and Tom ’51).

H. Richard Johnston, January 19, 2012. (summer session student) Richard received a bachelor’s degree in history from Dickinson College and served as an advertising executive for various outdoor advertising companies, including his father’s company, Hen Johnston Advertising. He is survived by his wife, Jean, as well as three children and five grandchildren.

Thomas J. Mullen, February 13, 2015. (Main, Marshall, chemistry, cross country, El Circulo Español) Tom earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree from Dartmouth College. He worked for General Motors, eventually as director of stockholder relations, and later became active in industrial development. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marylou; two sisters and a brother; and a granddaughter. Survivors include four children and seven grandchildren.

George A. Price, October 18, 2015. (Main Annex, Marshall, Les Copains, Glee Club, soccer, swimming) George was a lifelong farmer and a member of the Maryland State Legislature for 16 years.

He is survived by his wife, Eugenia; a son and a daughter; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; three brothers (Howard ’40, Robert ’42, and Richard ’49) and four sisters; and numerous nieces and nephews.

’45

Frederick R. Barr, July 30, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Choir, football) Frederick served as a Marine and graduated from Franklin & Marshall College. He worked in sales management with International Harvester Corporation for more than 30 years and as a school-district workforce-integration specialist. Frederick was preceded in death by his wife, Edie, and is survived by three sons, four grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

T. Richard Ellenberger, September 1, 2015. (Main, Irving, football, basketball, Concert Band) Dick graduated from Westminster College and was a sales manager with Ohio State Life. He was preceded in death by wife, Joan. Survivors include three sons, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

’46

Robert H. Pettit, September 18, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, Les Copains, Choir, Concert Band, soccer, football, track & field, wrestling) A graduate of Lehigh University, Robert served in the U.S. Navy and enjoyed a career of 30 years as a mechanical engineer with Sperry Rand. Among his many accomplishments were several patents. Survivors include his wife, Anne, as well as four children and 11 grandchildren.

’47

William D. Edgar, August 3, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, News Board, Marshal of the Field, Varsity Club, swimming) Bill graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and worked for Kaiser Engineers.

Survivors include his wife, Patricia; three children, seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren; a brother, Bob ’46; and several nieces and nephews.

David W. Emerich, September 5, 2013. (Keil, Marshall, football, basketball) David served in the Army during the Korean War and graduated from Drexel University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He retired from Leeds and Northrup after 30 years of service. He was preceded in death by a brother and sister. In addition to his wife, Marlene, survivors include two daughters, three granddaughters, and a sister.

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J. Robert Lehman, June 14, 2014. Bob received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and served in the U.S. Navy. He spent a career in accounting, including as a partner with Ernst and Young.

’48

Edward C. Bou, August 18, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, News Board, El Circulo Español, Caducean Club, baseball, tennis) Ed received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from American University. He lived in the Washington, D.C., area and practiced law for more than 50 years. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ellen, and a son. Survivors include three children, seven grandchildren, and two siblings. Ed and his family funded the Class of ’48 Lecture Series at Mercersburg.

James L. Gibson, August 8, 2015. (Keil, Irving, YMCA Cabinet, Varsity Club, track & field, Class Day Committee) Jim served in the U.S. Navy, graduated from Penn State University with a degree in English, and spent a career in sales with PPG Industries. He was preceded in death by a grandson. Survivors include his wife, June; four daughters and a son; and seven grandchildren and two great-grandsons.

Edwin C. Muhly Jr., November 17, 2012. “Sonny” was preceded in death by a sister. Survivors include his wife, Kathleen, as well as two sons, two daughters, and three grandchildren.

Kaye W. Vinson, October 14, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, golf, football, track & field) Kaye served in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of sergeant. He received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master of arts degree from Penn State University. After working in the petroleum industry, he taught history at York Junior College and Bucks County Community College and was a tour guide in Philadelphia for more than 30 years. Kaye was preceded in death by his first wife, Sherrie, and a daughter. Survivors include his wife, Celeste; a daughter and a son; and three grandchildren, a sister, and a brother.

’49

Fredric L. Cheyette, April 14, 2015. (Keil, Irving declaimer, Band, Lit Board, Les Copains, Chemistry Club, Choir, Glee Club, Concert Band, Football Band, Chess Club, Cum Laude, Stony Batter) Fred received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a doctorate from Harvard University. After teaching at Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin, and Oberlin College, he worked as a professor of medieval history at Amherst College for more than 40 years. Fred was preceded in death by his second wife, Susan Ross Huston, and a daughter. Survivors include a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and his companion, Ellen Baker.

James M. Evans, June 13, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, El Circulo Español, Chemistry Club, football, wrestling, track, Stony Batter) Jim, the son of the late M. Albert Evans ’22, attended Amherst College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked as an environmental engineer for more than 20 years for Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines, Illinois. He was preceded in death by a brother, Peter ’54. Survivors include his wife, Cherryl Crouch; five children and nine grandchildren; and two brothers (Bruce Evans ’52 and former faculty member Jef Evans ’57) as well as two nieces (Stacy Evans ’83 and Kirsten Evans-Orville ’85).

Charles E. Hines, March 7, 2015. (Irving, swimming, basketball, track & field, News) Chuck was a U.S. Army veteran who received the Korean War Service Medal. He enjoyed a successful career with the YMCA, teaching 15,000 children to swim and helping develop the YMCA’s national programs in water polo, whitewater kayaking, and scuba diving. A member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, he also wrote more than 300 magazine and web articles, a novel, and a memoir, and published two instructional texts on water polo. Chuck was preceded in death by a brother. Survivors include his wife, Lee; a daughter; and two grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, and four step-great-grandchildren.

’50

Donald J. Dolder, December 19, 2014. (Marshall, track & field) Donald served in the Army and was a retired carpenter. Survivors include his wife, Jane; six children, six grandchildren, and two greatgrandchildren; and a brother.

Luther M. Ertel, February 4, 2013. (Stony Batter, Gun Club) Luther graduated from Bucknell University and owned Nippon Panel Company for 46 years. Survivors include his wife, Diane, as well as a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

N. Emory Goldsborough, August 23, 2014. (Irving, football) Emory lived in South Daytona, Florida, where he was active in local government. Survivors include two children and a granddaughter.

Joseph R. Govi, November 2, 2015. (Keil, Marshall, Band, Honor Oration, Cum Laude, El Circulo Español, Chemistry Club, Concert Band, Football Band, Assembly Orchestra, Caducean Club) Joseph graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann Medical School and served as a captain and physician in the U.S. Air Force. He entered private practice as a family doctor and geriatric care physician and later worked at Latrobe Hospital and Norvelt Family Practice. He was preceded in death by a daughter. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; three children and four grandchildren; a brother, A. Rich Govi ’59; and a brother-in-law, J. William Greene ’59.

Franklin K. Kessler, March 3, 2012. (Main, Irving, El Circulo Español, Concert Band, Blue and White Melodians, Stamp Club, football, track & field) Frank attended Washington and Lee University, Temple University, and Florida State University. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was a psychologist and teacher with Duval County (Florida) Schools. Survivors include his wife, Evelyn; a son and daughter; two granddaughters; and a brother.

Clarence E. Miller, November 22, 2014. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, track & field, Jurisprudence Society) Bob graduated from Bucknell University and worked for Miller Roofing and J.C. Penney. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth. Survivors include a daughter, Betsy Miller Ward ’76, as well as two grandsons and a sister.

John C. Miller, February 4, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, basketball, football, Caducean Club) Jack graduated from the University of Delaware. He worked for Maryland Farm Bureau and served in the Maryland state senate. Survivors include his wife, Barbara, as well as two sons, five grandchildren, and a brother.

MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Robert J. Thomas, November 27, 2015. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Les Copains, News Board, Camera Club, football, basketball, baseball) Robert received degrees from Washington and Lee University and the University of Maryland Medical School. He practiced general surgery and served as the deputy medical examiner for Frederick County, Maryland, and as the medical review officer for a number of Frederick businesses. Robert also spent time as a medical director for Eastalco Aluminum Company, Frederick Memorial Hospital, and a National Cancer Institute contractor, Program Resources. He also served on Mercersburg’s Alumni Council. Bob was preceded in death by a brother, Edward ’46. Survivors include his wife, Gail; two daughters and two stepsons; eight grandchildren; a sister; and eight nieces and nephews.

’51

John R. Beyrent Jr., November 16, 2015. (Marshall) Jack attended Gettysburg College and graduated from Temple University’s School of Dentistry. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army and practiced dentistry for more than 40 years. Jack is survived by his wife, Janice, as well as a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and a sister.

George R.C. McGuire, September 15, 2015. (Marshall) Bob attended West Virginia University and the Medical College of Virginia’s School of Dentistry and Orthodontics. He served at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Berkley Base in Norfolk, Virginia. Survivors include his wife, Millie, as well as two children and two grandchildren.

’53

M. William Baldwin Jr., October 14, 2015. (South Cottage, Irving, Class Officer, Class Prophet, Choir, Glee Club, Stony Batter, cheerleader, soccer, wrestling) Bill graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and was a science-fiction writer. He served in the U.S. Air Force and worked for NASA before authoring The Helmsman, which was the first of several books in a series, in 1985. Survivors include his wife, Pat. Michael A. Griley, October 18, 2015. (Marshall, football, golf) Michael graduated from Denison University and attended law school at Ohio State University. He worked as a stockbroker for Haden-Miller, Dempsey Tegler, and Dean Witter. Survivors include four children, three stepchildren, seven grandchildren, a brother (T.D. Griley ’51), and many nieces and nephews (including Beth Anne Griley Rower ’75 and Theodore “Trey” Griley III ’94).

Theodore M. Serrill, July 29, 2012. (Main, Irving, Laticlavii) Ted attended Pennsylvania State University and worked as a reporter covering the New Jersey state legislature. He lived in Edison, New Jersey.

’54

Ian M. Ballard, November 30, 2015. (Main, Marshall, KARUX Board, Caducean Club, Choir, Glee Club, track & field) Ian, the son of the late Herbert T. Ballard ’24, graduated from Lafayette College and Temple University School of Medicine. He served in the Navy with the Medical Corps and later in the Reserves until retiring as

a commander. Ian spent part of his medical career in private practice and in several senior clinical research roles at Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, and at Wyeth Laboratories. He was a co-founder and faculty member of the Bryn Mawr Family Practice Residency program, an assistant professor in the department of family medicine at Jefferson University School of Medicine, and director at Valley Forge Military Academy and Junior College, Wayne Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and Home Health Corporation of America. Ian was preceded in death by a daughter. Survivors include his wife, Helen; a daughter and a son; eight grandchildren, three stepchildren, nine step-grandchildren, and two step-greatgrandchildren; a sister; and his former wife, Paula.

Robert S. Nicodemus, August 5, 2015. (Keil, Marshall, News Board, Les Copains, Caducean Club, Class Day Committee, Chapel usher, entertainment usher, Gun Club, football, wrestling, tennis) “Nick” graduated from Bucknell University and joined the U.S. Navy as a naval criminal investigator. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he finished a degree in criminology, and worked as a special agent for the U.S. Customs Service. Survivors include a sister, two children, and two grandchildren.

’55

C. Walter Whitmoyer Jr., September 15, 2015. (Marshall, Jurisprudence Society) Walter graduated from Princeton University and earned a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. He maintained a private law office in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Walter was preceded in death by a cousin, James Strickler ’63, and his fatherin-law, F. Ward Coburn Jr. ’28. Survivors include his wife, Jocelyn; two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren; and a brother (John Whitmoyer ’60) and a sister.

’56

Gerald Goold, July 10, 2012. (Marshall) Gerald received a bachelor’s degree from Hobart College and a master’s degree in education administration from the University of Vermont. He worked for a number of years as the director of continuing medical education at the University of Vermont and later as a medical-care development coordinator in Augusta, Maine. He retired from the University of Maine Bookstore. Survivors include his wife, Jan, as well as three children and three grandchildren.

John O. La Gorce II, November 2, 2015. (Main, Irving, Student Council, Elections Committee, Gun Club, basketball, tennis) John graduated from the Columbia Journalism School at the University of Missouri and served in the U.S. Army. He joined the National Geographic Society and later worked for a natural resource exploration company before buying a documentary film company. John produced a variety of television programs, including for the BBC and one feature film later acquired by the Smithsonian Institution. Survivors include his wife, Deborah; three children; and seven grandchildren.

Robert A. Wahl Jr., June 8, 2011. (Keil, Irving, football, wrestling) Bob graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and the University of Arizona. He was an engineer for several firms, and lived in Diamond Bar, California. Survivors include his wife, Frances.

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’57

Robert R. Barrow, September 4, 2012. (Keil, Irving, Hi-Fi Club, football) Robert graduated from Ursinus College and received a master’s degree in accounting from Georgetown University. He served in the U.S. Air Force and retired from the Defense Contract Audit Agency. Survivors include a son, a grandson, and a brother.

Joel I. Tolerton, October 4, 2015. (Keil, Irving, Stamp Club, Hi-Fi Club, Gun Club, El Circulo Español, Press Club) Joel attended Ohio University and graduated from the University of Mount Union. He was president of the Tolerton Company and later formed and operated JMT Productions. Joel was preceded in death by a daughter and a brother. Survivors include his wife, Mary; a brother, Terry ’59; and several nieces and nephews.

’58

Wilson P. Burns Jr., November 23, 2015. (South Cottage, Marshall, Student Council, Senior Club Officer, Christian Service Group, Gun Club, Choir, Glee Club, cheerleader, football, tennis, Orientation Committee) Bill was a command sergeant in the U.S. Army. He attended Cornell University, graduated from Augustana College, and studied for an MBA at the University of Iowa. He was employed

by Deere & Company and related companies for 30 years. Bill was preceded in death by a sister and is survived by his wife, Sadie; four children, 10 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren; and a sister.

’60

Richard S. Einstein, July 18, 2012. (soccer, football, Gun Club, Chapel usher) Richard graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy and attended Clemson University. He served in the Delaware National Guard, was in the insurance business for more than 30 years, and was owner and president of Roser & Einstein. He was preceded in death by a brother. Survivors include his longtime companion, Irene, as well as two sons, three grandsons, and two brothers.

Richard M. Herberich, July 25, 2015. (Main, Irving Student Council, Orientation Committee, El Circulo Español, Chemistry Club, Jurisprudence Society, Christian Service Group, Lit Board, Varsity Club, swimming, Class Day Committee) Richard attended Williams College and Dartmouth College. He was preceded in death by his parents. Survivors include his wife, Barbara; four sons; and six grandchildren.

Reed N. McCandliss, October 11, 2013. (Main, Marshall, Les Copains, Caducean Club, International Club, wrestling) Reed attended Johns Hopkins University. He lived in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jeffrey W. Yates, December 16, 2011. (Main, Marshall, Laticlavii) Jeff attended Denison University and the Erie Business Center. He was chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of the Yates Company and was also president of Chelsea Products. Jeff was preceded in death by a brother and a son. Survivors include his wife, Judy; three sons, two daughters, and four grandchildren; and a brother and three sisters.

’61

Daniel W. Wilbur IV, July 15, 2015. (Main, Marshall, Les Copains, Jurisprudence Society, Varsity Club, soccer, basketball, track & field) Daniel served in the U.S. Air Force and worked as general manager of Cater Air In-Flight Services for more than 30 years. Survivors include his wife, Patricia, as well as a daughter, a grandson, a granddaughter, a stepdaughter, a stepson, three brothers, and three sisters.

’62

William H. McKee, July 14, 2015. (Main, Irving declaimer, Senate, Student Council, Elections Committee, Orientation Committee, YMCA, Chapel usher, The Fifteen, Christian Service Group, News Board, Lit Board, Varsity Club, swimming, golf, Aurelian Prize, Harvard Book Prize) William graduated from Duke University and was the retired president of McKee Realty, a commercial real-estate company founded by his father. Survivors include a sister, two nieces, and a nephew.

’64

William E. Hall, June 1, 2014. (swimming, soccer, Chapel Choir) Bill, the son of the late George E. Hall ’29, was a veteran of the U.S. Army. Survivors include his wife, Robin; four children and four grandchildren; and three siblings.

’67

Charles H. DuBois, September 4, 2014. (Marshall, Stony Batter, Coin and Stamp Club, French Club, Boys’ Club, Jurisprudence Society, Caducean Club, Political Science Club, Mercersburg View) Charley received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan and a law degree from St. Mary’s Law School. He worked for the City Attorney’s Office in Corpus Christi, Texas, entered private practice with Wood & Burney, and had a 28-year career at ExxonMobil with positions that included corporate secretary for Mobil Oil Corporation and chief attorney for fuels marketing. Survivors include his wife, Julia; a daughter, a son, and a granddaughter; and a sister.

Frederic I. Feld, February 25, 2015. (Marshall declaimer, Blue Key, Chapel Reader, French Club, Boys’ Club, Psychology Club, Stony Batter, Electronics Club, WMER, News, Mercersburg View, Football Band, Varsity Club, Cheerleader, track & field, lacrosse) Fred graduated from the Syracuse University School of Management with degrees in business administration and marketing, and from Cornell University with a master’s degree in industrial relations.

He served many roles in the family business, The H-P Stores, and worked as a headhunter and life-insurance broker. He was also a consultant for various businesses, co-founded Graviton, and served as CEO of 14West. Survivors include his wife, Kim, as well as four children, five grandchildren, and a brother (Mick ’70).

Charles L. Metcalf, October 30, 2014. (Irving, Class Officer, The Fifteen, Classics Club, Russian Club, Jurisprudence Society, News, Lit Board, Mercersburg View, cross country, wrestling, weightlifting) Charles attended the University of Pennsylvania and worked as a mystery writer. He is survived by his fiancée, Chancie.

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’68

W. Kenyon Bush, December 10, 2015. (Marshall, Elections Committee, Senate, entertainment usher, Caducean Club, Jurisprudence Society, French Club, Big Brother, Proctor, Ski Club, Varsity Club, football, lacrosse) Ken graduated from Boston University with a degree in economics and served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. He was a small business owner, running Broad Creek Landscaping for 15 years. Ken was preceded in death by his parents.

Survivors include his wife, Mary; two daughters, Katherine Bush ’00 and Victoria Bush ’03; and a sister.

’71

William H. Thalheimer, June 29, 2015. (Band) Bill graduated from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and held leadership positions in many companies, including as chief executive officer of ANDalyze, Eden Park Illumination, Imaging Automation, and NEI. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, as well as two sons and four brothers.

’72

Paul S. Johnson III, October 6, 2014. (Irving, The Fifteen, WMER, News, Lit, Film Club, swimming) Paul earned a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. During his career, he held positions with Continental Bank, GATX, Medline, and RustOleum. Survivors include his wife, Arlene, as well as two sons, two sisters, and a brother.

Technology. He served in the U.S. Navy and worked at Osprey Biotechnics for the past 13 years, where he most recently held the position of director of logistics. The son of the late Thomas Edelblute Jr. ’47, T.H. is survived by his mother, a brother (David Edelblute ’82), two aunts, two uncles, and several cousins, including J. Calvert LaFollette ’85.

Robert Vosger, November 15, 2011. (Irving, Proctor, Blue Key, Student Activities Committee, Film Club, Jurisprudence Society, Political Science Club, skiing) Bob attended American University and lived in Frederick, Maryland.

’81

Robert B. Fay Jr., December 2, 2015. (Marshall, Blue Key, Spanish Club, KARUX, News, WMER, Chapel usher) Robert graduated from Lehigh University and joined his father and brothers in the family business, Joseph B. Fay Company. He was preceded in death by his mother and a nephew, Breandan Fay ’05. Survivors include his father, Robert Fay ’46; two brothers and four sisters; several nieces and nephews, including Ryan Fay ’01; and two stepbrothers, Charles Strotz ’69 and Robert Strotz ’73.

Jonathan S. Olandt, November 13, 2012. (swimming) Jon graduated from the University of Tennessee and was employed by Bankers Life and Casualty Insurance Company. He is survived by his wife, Deborah; three sons; a brother and sister; and five nieces and nephews.

’84

Douglass C. Harvey Jr., December 21, 2012. (Chess Club, Glee Club, Film Club, Karate Club, Ski Club, fencing) Doug attended the University of Vermont and worked in the restaurant business. He lived in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

’73

Cathy S. Brehm, December 22, 2015. (Irving, baseball manager, basketball manager, KARUX, Blob, Jazz Band, Concert Band, Caducean Club, Film Club, Spanish Club) Cathy was a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and was employed as a project manager for First Data. She was preceded in death by her mother and is survived by her sister (Jerri Brehm Hessman ’86) and her father.

’75

Former faculty/friends

Arthur V. Cooke, July 27, 2015. (English-Speaking Union student) Arthur attended Fitzwilliam College and graduated from Cambridge University with a Ph.D. in metallurgy. He worked for Martin Marietta as a research engineer and later founded Active Signals Technology, a research company specializing in medical and military technology.

Survivors include his wife, Linda; three children; and a sister.

Frank S. Powell II, August 26, 2015. Frank worked for Victory Markets and as a sales manager for the South Florida Newspaper Network. He was preceded in death by a brother; survivors include his mother, two nieces, and several cousins.

’78

Thomas H. Edelblute III, August 27, 2015. (Marshall, Class Officer, lacrosse, soccer, Observer, WMER, Glee Club, Inbound Leader, Café du ’Bourg, Film Club, Jurisprudence Society, Whole Wheat Arena) T.H. attended Roanoke College and the West Virginia Institute of

Adrian M. Bronk, former faculty member, September 7, 2013. Adrian taught English at Mercersburg from 1961 to 1967; he also served as dormitory dean of Tippetts Hall and coached lacrosse and skiing.

He later spent more than 35 years on the faculty at Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut.

Rabbi Harold S. White, August 31, 2015. Rabbi White was the senior Jewish chaplain at Georgetown University from 1968 to 2009. Introduced to the Mercersburg community by the Ammerman family, he shared his ministry with students and faculty as a regular speaker and by conducting Seder suppers for the campus community.

Rabbi White was an ardent promoter of interfaith dialogue and held rabbinical positions in Michigan and Ireland and a chaplain position with the U.S. Navy prior to his tenure at Georgetown. He was also spiritual adviser to the Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington, D.C.

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