Raymond is the founding chief of the city’s Building Inspector and Plan Examiner Training Academy, which has more than 300 inspectors studying 17 different categories at any given time.

Raymond Dennis Harquail ’71 is the founding chief of the city’s Building Inspector and Plan Examiner Training Academy.

It’s the most recent of a number of careers Raymond has taken on, going all the way back to his days as a student and young shop teacher when he would do electrical, carpentry and plumbing work in the summers.

“I started with my hands and I’m still working with my hands,” says Raymond, who took a lot of cues from his grandfather, one of the first union plumbers in New York City.

The training academy is designed to keep building inspectors current and knowledgeable. His role developing the curriculum is actually his encore as a city government employee.

From 1987 to 2003, Raymond was training director for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where he oversaw development of some of the first bus simulators in the country.

“From my 20s to my mid-60s there was always room to learn,” says Raymond, whose careers have been notably varied.

After graduating with a master’s in instructional technology from Indiana University, he headed to the SUNY College of Optometry, where he put together a learning resource center serving doctors, medical students and more than 100,000 clinic patients a year. Earlier in his career he worked as an engineer for EBASCO, travelling the world to train more than 20,000 nuclear power plant managers, supervisors and construction trade workers. He went to the Rochester Institute of Technology to become a biomedical photographer performing diagnostic imagery of patients prior to eye surgery.

The common ground? His instructional designs follow principles he learned at Oswego, Raymond says.

“I couldn’t do it without Oswego.”

The Oswego Alumni Association welcomed Yvonne Spicer ’84, M ’85 as this year’s mistress of ceremonies at the Commencement Eve Dinner and Torchlight Ceremony May 11.

“You are deeply immersed in the digital native generation,” she told 700 students, faculty, staff and family gathered for Commencement Eve Dinner. “Many of the jobs you will have, have not been invented yet.”

Spicer is vice president of advocacy and educational partnerships for the National Center for Technological Literacy based at the Museum of Science, Boston.

Kenvyn Richards ’53

While teaching at Middleburgh, Richards decided to return to Oswego for his master’s. His thesis adviser, Professor Emeritus Charles Phallen, convinced him to earn a doctorate. When he finished his studies at the University of Maryland under the Defense Education Act, an opening at Oswego made it possible for Richards to return once again to the college he loved — this time as a faculty member.

His career at Oswego would span 15 years, from 1969 to 1984. He served as a student teacher supervisor and taught methods courses as well as those in woodworking and graduate studies.

Two sabbaticals changed his life. One, an opportunity to teach in public schools in Australia, would spur his lifelong love of travel, including visits to each state in the Union and every continent except Antarctica. The other sabbatical, to the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry to study wood science, fed his love of forestry. Today, the arboretum this Cornell master forest owner carefully tends on four acres in nearby New Haven, is home to 85 different species of trees. His two passions sometimes collide, such as when a chestnut oak acorn gathered on a scouting trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield became a tree in his yard.

Richards was an active faculty member, serving on the Public Ceremonies Committee and as a delegate to Faculty Assembly. He takes the most pride in his former students and their accomplishments, including Tom Simmonds ’84, M ’88, who is associate vice president of facilities at Oswego.

As an undergraduate, living in Splinter Village with his young family, Richards helped found the first cross-country team. After starting as a club sport, he circulated petitions to make it a team and can recall running up to then Student Council President Herb Van Schaack ’51 in the hallway of Sheldon Hall, to give him the paperwork. He would later coach cross-country at Middleburgh, and one of his outstanding runners later won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.

An active member of his community, Richards devoted two decades to adult scouting leadership and 10 years as a 4-H committee member. He volunteered for 27 years with the Dollars for Scholars program in nearby Mexico, N.Y., helping to raise more than $325,000 in scholarship money for local high school seniors. He served on the Mexico Board of Education for 14 years, including eight as president, before retiring from the board in 1994.

Always an outdoorsman, Richards is a proud member of the Adirondack Forty-Sixers, having climbed 46 peaks over 4,000 feet. He loves gardening and woodworking, but most of all he enjoys spending time with his wife of 62 years, Jane, and their children, Amy ’73, Douglas, Patricia, Audrey ’81 and David. The family Oswego tradition continues with one of Richards’ nine grandchildren, Scott ’05.

A loyal alumnus, Richards was honored by the Oswego Alumni Association with its Lifetime Award of Merit in 1994.

For Donald ’62 and Linda Mykland Blauvelt ’61, Oswego is a special place. It’s where they met and fell in love, prepared for a fulfilling career in education and met professors and friends they still remember fondly half a century later.

That’s why the couple, this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of Linda’s graduation and of their marriage, decided to leave Oswego a bequest in their will to establish the Blauvelt Scholarship Fund.

Donald ’62 and Linda Mykland Blauvelt ’61 returned to campus for Reunion 2011 and made a Sesquicentennial bequest, naming Oswego in their will.

“We didn’t come from a wealthy background by any means,” says Don, who stressed how fortunate they felt to have attended Oswego at a time when there was no tuition. Both became teachers and after decades in the classroom, have now retired. With their legacy gift to Oswego, the Blauvelts can fulfill their wish to pass on their great Oswego experience to future generations of students.

“We tried to give back so that other people might have the same opportunity,” Don says.

The Blauvelts met during their freshman year at a Sigma Gamma fraternity party for Arethusa sorority sisters, setting the stage for half a century of marriage.

The couple has other fond memories of their time at Oswego, many revolving around the professors who nurtured them and set them on the path to a classroom career they loved.

For Don, it was the late Professor Richard Pfund, with whom he would go on to volunteer at Oswego’s Maritime Museum; George Radcliff, an industrial arts professor who supervised student teachers; and Earl Sparr, who would have students over to his house at holiday time.

Professor John Fisher taught Linda in freshman composition class and still remembers her when they attend Florida alumni events together.

“The teachers were always there for you,” recalls Linda, who has fond reminiscences of her first class in EEIA, elementary education industrial arts, with Professor Robert Babcock ’49.

Both remember classes in the “old wooden shacks” of Splinter Village, the city of Oswego and the many establishments students from the dry campus frequented — Nunzi’s, Buckland’s, McCarthy’s — as well as the curfews.

The couple was back on campus in June for Linda’s 50th Reunion, and remembered how “special” the class felt, as the 100th class to graduate from Oswego.

What better way to mark that special reunion — and Oswego’s Sesquicentennial — than as the newest members of the Sheldon Legacy Society, the group of loyal donors who carry on Founder Edward Austin Sheldon’s tradition by making an Oswego education possible for future generations through their estate gifts.

For more information on the Sheldon Legacy Society, contact Mark Slayton at 315-312-5560 or by email.

In line with the founder’s focus on hands-on learning, Oswego has long offered students the chance to tinker with transportation technology.

The Transportation Lab in Room 105 of Park Hall is a best-kept secret on the lakeside campus. It dates back more than a half century, but even though the space is currently undergoing renovation and the lab moving to another building on campus for two years, students can get up close and personal with a Cessna 120 airplane and an electric car.

In his day, the lab included a “Link Trainer” flight simulator, small engines, bicycles, boat building and model airplanes, said Brian Kelly ’59. “We had a five-cylinder radial aircraft engine and we used to fire it up every so often,” remembers Kelly, who taught technical drawing at Rome Free Academy and Earlville Central Schools until his retirement.

Mark Hardy ’91, newly named chair of the technology education department, says he remembers visiting the lab as a student and teaching directly above it as a professor, where his electrical lab students could hear the roar every time an engine started up below.

“It’s exciting to know that we will keep this space intact” after the renovation, he said. The new space will combine the transportation and energy labs, as students learn about alternative fuel vehicles and alternate sources of energy. “We have a long history and a lot of pride,” he said of his department. “We are not getting rid of the old but bringing in new technology to give a fresh, new look.”

Anzio Beach, Monte Cassino, Normandy: To most, these are names from a map or history book. To Charles Phallen, emeritus professor of technology education, they are places he served valiantly in World War II and visits now, at age 94, to receive honors from a grateful populace or pay  respects at the graves of fallen comrades.

Class of 1945 when they entered in 1941.

When they entered in the fall of 1941, the Class of 1945 numbered 100 strong — the largest freshman class in the history of the Normal School. They spent a carefree autumn settling into local rooming houses, working hard in class, enjoying dances and flirting with members of the opposite sex.

Then came Dec. 7, 1941, and their world turned upside down.

“Everything changed when we came out of the movie theatre Dec. 7,” said
Denham Griffin ’47. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.

Class of 1945 as seniors.

“First thing we asked was, ‘Where is Pearl Harbor?’” Denham said with a chuckle. “We didn’t have Mrs. [Isabel Kingsbury 1907] Hart’s geography course yet.”

They would learn where Pearl Harbor was all too quickly, and over the course of the next four years many more names as well: Omaha Beach, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima.

By the time 1945 rolled around most of the men were still in uniform. The graduating class was less than half of its original number, and mostly female. Only 41 would march across the stage in Sheldon Hall, rebuilt from a devastating fire in January 1941. The men would return as veterans, however, and go on to graduate in 1947, 1948 and 1949. Even today, reunions include members of classes from 1940 to 1949, many married to each other.

Calm Before the Storm

All that turmoil was just a blip on the horizon as the Class of 1945 got off the train or bus to begin their undergraduate adventure.

1945 Ontarion

“The railroad came into Oswego at that point and it was a nice day,” said
Denham Griffin. “The nice taxi cab driver said he had a good room for us, so my buddy and I said, ‘We’ll look at it.’”

At that time most students lived in private homes, three or four to a
room. Thanks to that cabbie’s advice, Denham and his friend the late Tom Richardson ’46 (who would become president of New Jersey’s Montclair State University) landed the jackpot — single rooms for $3 a week. “We were very pleased,” he added. Even after $3 a week for a supper meal at Herbie’s Diner, that left them plenty of money for books . . . and courting the girls.

Sylvia Norton Griffin ’47 lived during freshman year in Dubuque’s house, along with seven other girls, and worked to pay for her room and board. Later she would live in the Chetney house. “They had 20 girls, but only one bathroom. The tub was in a separate room,” she recalled.

Liz Grieve Leal ’45 lived in Shady Shore with President Ralph and Mrs. Alice Swetman. She did odd chores around the house for her room and board. “I was a ‘handy helper’ . . . I got Dr. Swetman’s breakfast and made Mrs. Swetman’s coffee and took it up to her. She liked to stay in bed and practice bridge hands.”

Moran

After finding a place to live, the frosh had to go through orientation. “One of the upperclassmen would write you a letter before school opened and he was your big brother and he explained what to expect,” said Ernie Leal ’47.

At that time freshmen orientation was a little different than today’s version.

“They used to hit you with paddles,” said Ernie, referring to the playful tradition. “And you had to wear an Oswego beanie and you had to sing all four stanzas of ‘O Blue are Ontario’s Waters.’”

In Uniform

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Oswego students began enlisting in the armed forces. Throughout the war, they would leave, some never to return.

Bell

“A number from our class were killed, and there was no one to help us with that,” remembered Norma Sutherland Church ’45. “Three men I dated were part of that.”

Others spent years in the service,
returning to Oswego when discharged. Bill Gallik ’47 was in the original class of “60-Day Wonders.” He received his commission at Notre Dame University. “They decided we weren’t so wonderful — they gave us two more months.” He would serve on Chichi Jima and Guam. “I was on board a ship for 10 months before I
became commanding officer.”

Ernie Leal had to wait a bit. “A lot of fellows enlisted right after Pearl Harbor, but I was 18 and you had to be 21, and my parents wouldn’t let me.” He would enter the reserves for a six-month stint in the fall of 1942 and be shipped
right out.

Rose

Davis Parker ’47 signed up in 1943 and was trained as a weatherman. He spent two years in New Guinea before finishing his schooling. After he returned he would move to the Rochester area, where he met and married his wife of nearly 61 years, Jane.

President Ralph W. Swetman and other professors wrote frequent letters to student-servicemen abroad. Dave Parker remembers the librarian Mary Hennessey writing to him. One letter from Swetman, dated Aug. 15, 1945, filled the guys in on the annual summer session at Shady Shore: “We had a wonderful evening at the traditional weiner roast last night. The swimming was perfect, the hot dogs were still hot dogs (with the inevitable indigestion), but the community singing which followed was really good — with the best in barber shop harmonies.”

Wohl

Swetman concluded, “Even as this letter is being written, the thrilling news
of the Russian entry into the war, the atomic bomb and the Japanese peace
feelers, is coming over the radio. It will not be long now. When you fellows all get back, this college will hum as never before.”

Those boys who were lucky enough to survive the war did come back. Many would live in Splinter Village, where “the wind really whistled through the buildings, but we hunkered down and persevered as we had learned to do in WWII,” writes former professor William S. Reynolds ’49,
a student-veteran who worked as a carpenter to help maintain the complex. Many of the vets would wed their college sweethearts and are still married more than six decades later.

History-making Class

The Class of 1945 was entering Normal School at the tail end of the Great Depression. Parker remembers that times were tough economically. “Everybody was in the same boat,” he said. “Nobody had much money, but we made out OK.”

“We were content to go to the Oswego Theatre,”said Denham Griffin. “Thirty-three cents in the balcony and 44 cents in the orchestra.

Class of 1945 officers were from left: the late Dorothy LeBlanc Warner ’45, president; the late Elizabeth Carroll Vernon ’45, former secretary; Dorothy Emmanuel Paul ’45, secretary; the late Rosalie Carroccio Brezina ’45, vice president; and Margaret Kambas ’45, treasurer.

“We always sat in the balcony — 10 cents was a lot, at a nickel for a cup of coffee,” he said. “You had one suitcase; one or two people had a radio — that
was rich.”

“Every dorm had one phone — because the boys called for dates,” added Sylvia. “There were only three or four cars on campus, and they mostly belonged to handicapped guys. The girls didn’t drive generally.”

The Class of 1945 would make Oswego State history as well, as the college changed from a normal school to a state teacher’s college in their freshman year. They had a special way to express their joy.

“When we started there was a big sign in front of the two buildings — it read State Normal School,” said Denham. “In the spring, when the State Legislature gave a degree to the elementary education girls, we ripped down the sign, carried it through town and threw it in the river.” Parker added, “Wish we had it back!”

Norma Church remembered the sign-tossing incident as well. “We made
a circle and sang the alma mater,” she
said. “A policeman tried to get us to
disperse because we didn’t have a permit for a parade.”

The campus was honored by a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The late Betty Burden ’45 and the late M. Carol McLaughlin ’45 were among those to formally greet the First Lady on the
steps of Old Main (now Sheldon Hall). “I remember they had a few of us who were president of our groups shake hands and talk with her,” remembered Betty Reid Gallik ’45, who was president of the Women’s Athletic Association.

“I kept looking at her; she had this great big diamond pinky ring,” remembered Liz Leal. “She wasn’t a very good-looking lady but that big diamond just caught your eye. At that stage [of life] you were interested in that kind of thing.”

Mrs. Roosevelt was instrumental in bringing the Jewish refugees to Fort Ontario, the only place that housed World War II refugees on American soil.

MORE: Friday Night Fun

“We had some of the refugees in our classes,” remembered Norma. She and her roommate had two over for supper and the guests reciprocated by inviting the girls to a special concert at the fort.

While there were only two buildings on campus — Old Main and the IA Building (now Sheldon and Park halls) — the wartime classes were taught by faculty whose names grace most of the buildings on our present-day campus. Residence halls are named for Jimmy Moreland and Isabel Hart, and students today attend classes in buildings bearing the names of Marian Mahar and Gordon Wilber. Max Ziel’s name adorns the gym.

The wartime classes: They had seen history, made history and will always be a big part of the history of SUNY Oswego.