Wm Penn Charter School Class of '63

Just got the news that John McKeever III passed. A ceremony was held in September. Just one of the nicest guys in the class and a terrific gymnast back in the day.

Jim Dimond died 2/3/2024. We'll all miss him!

Me with Doug Little and some of my other high school friends in Seattle celebrating the life of Doug's wife Nan Little at the ceremony honoring her life Friday. She was an amazing woman and will be greatly missed. Her book "If I Can Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Why ?"Can't I Brush My Teeth?" is well worth a read.

Those who have died since our 50th:
Ed Breidenfield: Eddie and his wife Judy had three daughters and seven grandchildren. He lived in Upper Darby and was a devoted Phillies fan. Although never an all-league athlete, he was a fierce competitor on the basketball court at recess while at PC. He loved animals, especially his companion George the cat. He owned a very successful business that helped people create unclassifiable establishments or fictitious corporations, to protect their assets.
Skip Gable: Skip starred in both baseball and football at PC and caught a game-winning pass at Chestnut Hill to win the game enabling us to tie for the Interac championship and was captain of the league champion baseball team. He was a loyal and dependable friend and inspired all who knew him with his handsome features and confidence when it came to dating. Although he was unable to attend the 50th PC Reunion, he made a point to visit Phil Maroney with a small group just before the gathering when our former teacher and coach was mostly bedridden. His career path included a stint with Birchrunville Construction, one of the most successful builders on the Main Line. He later shifted to the restaurant business in Malvern and was also active in a security company.
Jordan Lederer: Attended UC Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement and left to serve in the Army during the Vietnam era. He was active in the violent 60’s era conflicts and was active in alternative communities in the Bay Area. At the same time, he did contract fieldwork using innovative aircraft guidance for agriculture in the deep South which gave him an unusual balance of cultural perspectives. He traveled extensively and at times lived in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Later he moved near LA where he continued to broaden his studies to include Zen, Taoism, Jungian archetypes, and atavism. He went on to build his own exceptional home, uncanny in its immersion in nature, where he raised his family with whom he shared his passions for wisdom, travel, and life.
Varick Martin: A “fun guy” who had some seriously good card tricks, he was described by a friend as a “charismatic rebel in a suit.” Rick was a banker and trader who cared deeply about his employees. When a film was made about the First National City Bank, Rick was the star. He was described as a natural on camera, smart and playful; a person of great integrity; and maybe the only banker who owned a pinball machine. He was also characterized as fastidious and loved his hobby of doing upholstery work.
Dwight Renfrew: Dwight received a BA degree, summa cm laude at Brown, and then completed an MA in his same favorite subject, Physics, at Princeton. He later added an MD at the University of Pennsylvania before earning a law degree at Pace University while working full-time. He was employed at NOAA working with computers supporting satellites. He was the sole intellectual property attorney for Phillips Electronics, Medical Systems Division. Before Phillips, he worked at a biogenetics company in Hartford. He also did some International Law studies in London and Florence. Dwight volunteered with the Physics department at Columbia University for six years while serving as an intellectual property senior patent attorney helping clients here and abroad with complex business methods patents in a wide variety of arts. In the years before his death, he worked for extended periods in Thailand.
เจนนี่ (Jenn)
Craig Smith – late add

Pics from the 60th:

Great turnout at the 60th Reunion! Hopefully more postings of pictures from the weekend to come.

Classmates who have died since our 50th

Ed Breidenfield
Skip Gable
Jordan Lederer
Varick Martin
Dwight Renfrew
Craig Smith

Dooney remembrance is now displayed in the new facility at PC. Visited April 8, 2022. Wow! What an addition to PC.

Franz Kaufmann's gift in honor of Trude Berg, who recently passed on, is highlighted in the How Far Can We See brochure that was just mailed out (August 2021). Many thanks to Franz and Trude on behalf of the class. Can't wait to visit the lower school music room named in her honor.

Dear OPC Class Agent,
I hope you are having a nice week. I am reaching out with a favor to ask. As you are hopefully aware, Penn Charter's Virtual House Party is on Thursday, Jan 28 at 7:00 pm. The event has received great interest and with less than a week out we want to make one more push for registrations. I would greatly appreciate it if you could share the event information in your Class' Facebook group. Here is a link to the webpage where people can register. Here is a link to the promo video that you can download and post directly to the group. I've also attached the Save the Date image if you'd like to use that.
Thank you in advance for your help. We just completed our test event and I can happily share that this feels like anything but a boring Zoom event!
Sincerely,
MK
MaryKate O'Brien OPC '12
Assistant Director of Alumni Relations
William Penn Charter School
215.844.3460 ext. 112
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Planned Giving - William Penn Charter School