assistant registrar at Olivet College and Greg works for campus safety. E-mail Joanne at jmiller@olivetcollege.edu.

Memoriam

Celeste Gruber ’10 and Rick Wheeler, Dec. 29, 2012, First Congregational Church, South Haven. E-mail Celeste at Celeste.Gruber@gmail.com.

Elmer Evans ’40, Sept. 9, 2012, Crystal River, Fla.

Grafton “Mac” Thomas ’37, March 5, Northport. Wife, Ruth (Yotter) Thomas ’38 predeceased him in 2011.

Danae Hicks ’10 and Cody Longon ex’10, July 14, 2012, Village Hope Church, Jackson. Olivetians in the wedding were Joey Cooper ’12, Kristen Dey ex’11, Kaylee Hart ’11, Ben Hawes ’12, Jenessa Hicks ’12, Jeff Salmon ’11, Tyler Tarple ex’13 and junior Shane Trudell. E-mail Danae at danaeh86@hotmail.com.

M. Jane Brawner ’43, Dec. 8, 2012, Frankfort.

Dustin Mateling ’10 and Lydia Weiss, Nov. 12, 2012, Faith World Outreach Church, Bartlett, Ill. Dustin is a customer service representative for Thermo Fisher Scientific and is active in his church. E-mail Dustin at dustin.mateling@gmail.com.

Chris Vlahakis ’51, Oct. 8, 2012, Clawson. He is survived by wife, Barbara (Brandt) Vlahakis ’51 and four children.

Patrick Clasgens ’11 and Jennifer Pitcher ’12, June 15, Round Lake, Mecosta. E-mail Jennifer at jpitcher0889@yahoo.com and Patrick at pclas02@yahoo.com. Jarrid Lake ’12 and Emily Morford, Dec. 29, 2012, United Methodist Church, Holland. Trevor Tyler ’12 was groomsman; ushers were Joshua Crawford ’12 and Elijah Keller ex’11. Jarrid is employed by Roscommon County Juvenile Probation and the United States Air Force. E-mail Jarrid at jarridlake@gmail.com.

Marion “Peggy” Webster ’43, Dec. 6, 2012, Palm Harbor, Fla. Peggy was one of the original “Round Robins” from Sigma who exchanged letters for decades. Will Kyselka ex’45, July 1, 2012, Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Audrey (McCully) Snell ’49, Jan. 16, 2012, Denver, Colo. Robert Bruce Short ’60, May 5, 2011, Christmas Valley, Ore. Joyce (Wickham) Bearden ’61, Feb. 10, 2012, Attleboro, Mass. Richard J. Foreman ’62, Jan. 11, West Bloomfield. He is survived by wife, Patricia (Harden) Foreman ’62. Phyllis (Canfield) Cole ’71, Dec. 10, 2012, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. William McCloud ’02, March 8, Warren.

FRIENDS

Births Tyrai Thomas ’03 and family

Tyrai Thomas ’03 and wife, Erica, a daughter, Elyssa Renee, Dec. 18; she joins brother, Tyrai Jr., 3. E-mail Tyrai at tyraithomas@gmail.com. Bryan Gilreath ’04, MTA ’05 and wife, Larissa (Kequom) ’04, a son, Lincoln Henry, March 14. E-mail Bryan at bryangilreath@gmail.com.

William McCloud ’02

David Johnson, Dec. 8, 2012, Benoit, Wis. He was a former recruiter for men’s basketball.

Marion Schepel, Dec. 28, 2012. She is survived by husband, Charles “Chuck” Schepel ’60. E-mail Chuck at chuckschepel@world.oberlin.edu.

Jim Collins, March 1, Bellevue. Jim worked in Information Technology Services at Olivet College for many years.

Deanna (Thompson) ’06 Larson and husband, Joe, a daughter, Abigail Betty, Jan. 2. E-mail Deanna at deannamthompson@hotmail.com.

Mary Fleming, March 22, Newark, Ohio. Mary was a former business law, literature and French professor at Olivet College and the first female mayor of Olivet. She also served on the school board for Olivet Community Schools. She is survived by husband Joseph Fleming, former physics professor at Olivet College.

Craig Carpenter ’07 and wife, Heather (Wolf) ’07, a son, Zachary Scott, March 29. E-mail Craig at ccarpenter@allrisks.com and Heather at heathereileencarpenter@gmail.com.

Alumni Book Discussion Group

Jill (Lingbeek) Cangealose ’06 and husband, Joe, a son, Mitchell Brian, Nov. 25, 2012. E-mail Jill at jill.cangealose@gmail.com.

Levi Mason ’07, and wife, Stephanie, a daughter, Tessa Elizabeth Marie, Jan. 29. Levi works in student services at Olivet Middle School. E-mail Levi at mason.levi@gmail.com. Todd Stafford ’07 and wife, Leah, a son, Jackson David, March 27. E-mail Todd at tstafford5455@gmail.com. Joe Cleveland ’10 and Sarah Downing, a son, Joseph Aaron Cleveland Jr., Nov. 18, 2012. E-mail Joe at joecleve7@gmail.com. Jennifer Pitcher ’12, and Patrick Clasgens ’11, a son, Cooper Lee-Joseph, Jan. 3. E-mail Jennifer at jpitcher0889@yahoo.com and Patrick at pclas02@yahoo.com. Alecia (McWilliams) ’12 and husband, Dwayne White-Smith ’12, a son, Ashton Julian, Feb. 28. E-mail Dwayne at dizee04@yahoo.com.

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SHIPHERD’s RECORD

The 2013-14 Great Michigan Read has chosen “Annie’s Ghosts” by Washington Post associate editor and Detroit native Steve Luxenberg for the Michigan Humanities Council and nonprofit organizations around the state to read. “Annie’s Ghosts” is part memoir, part detective story and part history about Luxenberg’s mother’s reasons for hiding her sister’s existence. Readers journey into the 1930s and ’40s, exploring how a poor immigrant family manages life in the United States with a child who has special needs. Those who read “Annie’s Ghosts” will experience family secrets, personal journeys, genealogy, mental disability and illness, poverty and immigration. Alumni interested in hosting an alumni book discussion group in their area should contact Marty (Mason) Jennings ’67, director of alumni relations, at (269) 749-7644 or mjennings@olivetcollege.edu.

1.1

The men’s lacrosse team served low-income families in Pittsburgh.

Athletes Spend Spring Semester Serving Others

By geoff henson

During the spring semester, the Olivet College Athletic Department participated in an unprecedented number of community service projects. At the start of the semester, the men’s lacrosse team traveled to Pittsburgh, Pa., to become the first athletic team in the history of Olivet College to take an overnight service trip. The team, along with Olivet’s Office of Service Learning, worked with Hosanna Industries, a non-profit organization in southwestern Pennsylvania that delivers housing services for low and very low income homeowners in the form of new construction and repair/rehabilitation services. While in Pittsburgh, the team renovated the home of a United States Air Force veteran who has fallen on hard times. Through this experience, the team not only helped someone in need, but learned home renovation skills such as putting up insulation and drywall. Before heading back to Olivet, the group went sightseeing and attended service at the Etna Congregational Church. The community service spirit carried into February when the athletic training department helped collect athletic training/ medical supplies, used athletic equipment and athletic apparel for Oak Grove High School (OGHS) in Hattiesburg, Miss. All of the athletic facilities at OGHS were destroyed in an E4 tornado. In the end, the athletic trainers shipped

five boxes full of supplies and equipment. They were also able to secure donations from two suppliers, MioTech and Henry Schein, which were sent directly to OGHS. “We thought this would be a great way for us to live the Olivet College Compact by being able to serve the larger community and being able to spread the message of the college. We were very appreciative of the support we received from the campus community,” said Assistant Athletic Trainer Amanda Cox. In late March, 10 members of Olivet College’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) delivered 40 Easter Egg Baskets and 400 candy-filled eggs to the Eaton SIREN Domestic Abuse Shelter in Charlotte. Participating were Billyle Alman, of Lansing; Brandon Blackmon, of Madison Heights; Jack Griggs, of Brighton; Ben Hart, of Rockford; Ellie Kalahar, of Swartz Creek; Jake Maas, of Olivet; Jenna Mayle, of Ionia; Matt VanHouten, of Northville; Preston Treend, of Casco; and Lindsey Winters, of Plymouth. “It was a great experience being able to help out these kids,” said VanHouten. “There are a lot of times when we forget how fortunate we really are, and being able to bring joy to these kids was a great feeling.” Each basket had a container of bubbles, small toys, and a Tootsie-roll filled coinbank or a small container of play dough. Ample amounts of candy were placed

in each basket to go along with the 400 plastic eggs that were filled with candy. Treend and Theresa Damico, of White Lake, purchased the baskets, items for the baskets and the eggs with money SAAC received through the Student Government Association’s “grant” program. “It was great to be able to go out and purchase Easter gifts for the kids at the Siren Shelter,” said Damico. “Being able to know we made a difference in the world and put a smile on their faces is such a rewarding feeling!” On April 7, SAAC sponsored its second annual Jock Rock fundraiser. This year, proceeds from the event were donated to the SIREN Shelter. At the event, studentathletes showed off a different set of skills by performing skits and lip synching to a variety of songs. The teams were critiqued by three judges on originality, lip synching and creativity. For the second year in a row, the wrestling team was crowned the 2013 Jock Rock champion. During the entire semester, the football team has logged countless hours of community service as a part of its Block “O” program. Players have read weekly to students at Fern Persons Elementary School in Olivet, helped sort and organize items at the Oak Chest in downtown Olivet, clean out the Eaton Furniture Store in Charlotte and volunteered at the Eaton County Special Olympics at Eaton Rapids High School. ▲