Nancy recently published a book! Words Left Behind – tales of a life gladly lived recounts events from the author’s life that range from humorous encounters with famous and infamous folks and thoughtful remembrances of grape picking in a Rocky Mountain blizzard to a mysterious ghost dog visitation and a startling encounter with a puma. Her stories are funny, heartwarming, and sometimes tearful. It’s available on Amazon.
The Alumni Relations office would like to share that Helen Vogt passed away on July 8, 2014. Her obituary can be found here. Our deepest condolences to her family and friends.
One of the important inserts in your Homecoming packet at Memorial Center Registration is the Campus Heritage…Self-Guided Tour Map. Based on my experience at the ’63 reunion last year some of the most pleasurable and memorable moments were those just wandering around the physical plant and grounds. Once I began my early tour at the Ames Library early Friday I was compelled to do a foot cruise in between and after every scheduled event in the week-end itinerary. And was rewarded for the effort.
As a junior and senior at Normal Community High I felt the pull of a call to spend my college years out of town and had made visits to a few campuses in other parts of Illinois or in neighboring states. None of those options were a comfortable fit in reality, so I reluctantly unpacked my bags.
The campus wanderings of Homecoming 2013 provided a strong reassurance of how wonderful an investment 1959 to 1963 turned out to be. And that was reinforced by the continuing dedications of brand new facilities right up to Homecoming week. I think you could say it was much more than we bargained for over the past half-century. And obviously the University family feels the same as I notice this may be the first year that a designated 60th anniversary reunion will be presented.
While it is true that many of the old campus and town “haunts’ and legends of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s are unidentifiable or extinguished you will not be able to deny that what has been raised in their places is OFF THE CHARTS.
Congratulations ’64. Enjoy and return often.
Frank Wanto ‘63
OKC,OK
Greetings, classmates. It’s time for the fall newsletter. Much of what used to be contained in the newsletter is now available online and needn’t be reproduced here. Consequently, I’ve limited the news to items of special interest, news that our classmates have submitted, and a couple of incidental items I thought you might find interesting. Or not.
The ol’ Alma Mater values your news and your continued support. It is a much finer university now than it was in our day—as a check of the website [iwu.edu] will substantiate.
A Mikoshi, a Shinto shrine donated by Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan, Bloomington-Normal’s sister city, now resides on the IWU campus, its permanent home. A Mikoshi is a temporary portable shrine used to hold the spirit of deity during festivals.
Speaking of festivals, Homecoming will be held Oct. 13-19. The ol’ alma mater hopes you’ll attend and participate in events listed for you on the university web site.
Karen Kenyon, 864 Grand Ave., Astoria OR 97103, sent the following greeting: “I have lived in Astoria, Oregon, for about 36 years. It’s close to the mouth of the Columbia River. I’m married with several step-children (all grown, of course). My husband and I live in a house that overlooks the Columbia River. Can you imagine what that means to one who was raised a flat, flat Midwest?? I still can’t believe it! I’m a retired librarian, active with AAUW.”
Richard Leonard’s composition, “The Tri-State March” was performed by McNamara’s Band, Keokuk, IA, in March 2014 and by the Hamilton, IL, City Band in June 2014. A computer realization is available on YouTube. Richard was a liberal arts music major at IWU and plays flute and piccolo in these bands.
Ann McGurk Sokan joined Donna and me for our annual trip to Cooperstown, NY, where we saw two operas and a musical: Madame Butterfly, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Carousel. In the spring, we joined Pat (Lashbrook) and John Jordan at the Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign-Urbana.
What are you reading these days? Donna and I recommend the detective novels of Donna Leon, which we read one right after another until we’d read all of them. Then we bought DVD’s of TV dramatizations done in Germany of several of the novels. These were recorded in German with English subtitles. We enjoyed them as well as the paper versions on which they’re based.
A few days ago I finished reading a Harry Potter novel in a German translation. Now I’m reading, in English, the third volume of Rick Atkinson’s The Liberation Trilogy, a history of the European theater of World War II.
What’s next? I’m open to suggestions
As you’re undoubtedly aware, 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. That war was one of the most literary ever fought. So I suggest that for your reading entertainment you try the poems of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg, and Ivor Gurney. Selections of their poetry are available online.
In prose, I suggest All Quiet on the Western Front, The Case of Sergeant Grischa, The Good Soldier Schweik, and Other Ranks. The last of these novels has been long out of print, but is available through interlibrary loan, which is how I got a copy.
Of course there are many other novels set during this period that are well worth your attention. I’ve merely suggested my favorites here.
That’s it for the fall newsletter. Remember to send me your news for the spring newsletter.
Keep in touch and stay well.
Larry
Larry Uffelman
CHARLES D. HAWKER RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) presented one of its major awards to Charles D. Hawker, PhD, of Salt Lake Cityat its annual meeting.
Dr. Hawker received the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine for his noteworthy career.
Dr. Hawker is the scientific director for automation and special projects at ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City, where he has worked for 22 years. He is also adjunct professor of pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. The systems he implemented at ARUP Laboratories have made it the most automated clinical laboratory in North America and a leader in productivity and quality.
Dr. Hawker developed one of the first radioimmunoassays for parathyroid hormone in 1971. He published the first reports about a peptide known as procalcitonin that when elevated can be a marker of septic shock.
He has served his profession in many capacities, including as president of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, Association of Clinical Scientists, and Clinical Ligand Assay Society. His activities with the AACC include serving as secretary of the Management Sciences and Patient Safety Division. He has volunteered on many committees of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. He holds three patents and has published 43 peer-reviewed papers, 14 book chapters or invited reviews, and 47 abstracts.
About AACC
AACC is a Washington-D.C.-based nonprofit professional association with a membership of more than 9,000 clinical chemists, pathologists, medical technologists, and others in related fields. Through educational services and publications, AACC works to improve and advance clinical laboratory services to enhance public health and patient care.
Retired Professor of Music at Eastern Kentucky University, Dr. Alan Beeler [IWU, Class of ’61] is pleased to announce the relaese of his second CD of orchestral works coming this October on Navona 5976. The collection of works includes his 1st and 4th Symphonies, Clarinet Concerto, Violin Concerto and two Marimba Concertos plus other short pieces in an album titled ‘The Real Beeler’.
Congrats on the upcoming cd release, Alan!
An exhibit of Joann’s sculptural drawings is on display at the Joe McCauley Gallery at Heartland Community College!
Click here for more information and a sneak peak of Joann’s work.
Congratulations, Joann!
IWU’s fiscal year ends TODAY – July 31 – Thank you if you’ve already made your annual gift!
Now help us find the 47 additional alumni donors we need to reach our participation goal by today. Organizations view alumni participation as the metric that measures alumni satisfaction. It affects IWU’s ranking, bond rating, and ability to earn grants, so make your gift today at iwu.edu/give to keep IWU strong! Every donor counts!
