new church life: november/december 2015
Distinguished Alumni and Volunteers
Every year the Academy Secondary Schools honor alumni “whose personal
and professional achievements model New Church values” and whose
lives continue to impact the Academy and their communities. This year’s
Distinguished Alumni are:
• Ric Asplundh, Boys School 1975. Ric also earned his AA from Bryn
Athyn College before earning a bachelor of science degree from Embry
Riddle Aeronautical University. He flew planes for Asplundh Tree
Expert Co. for seven years and since has been a pilot for US Airways
(now American Airlines). He and his wife, Kelly (Doering), have three
sons who have graduated from the Boys School, and a daughter who is a
senior in the Girls School.
• Dr. Charles Lindsay, Boys School 1975. Chuck began working at Bryn
Athyn College in 1981, ascending from Director of Career Development
to Dean of Students and Dean of the College. He is now Associate Dean
of Faculty at Elmira College in New York, where he lives with his wife
Janna (Gunther). They have three grown daughters. He serves on the
Academy Board of Trustees and is chair of the Finance Committee.
• Lori Soneson Odhner, Girls School 1975. Lori, with her husband the
Rev. John Odhner, has been composing music based on the Word for
40 years and hosting an annual Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn. She
produces “Marriage Moats” every day for some 700 e-mail subscribers.
They have nine children, four of them still at home.
The Secondary Schools Outstanding Volunteer for 2015 is Dawn R.
Wadsworth, Girls School 1985. Dawn earned a law degree at the University
of Florida. She serves on the Academy Corporation and General Church
Board. She has long been active in volunteering for the Academy, including
establishing ANC Parent Directory, Teacher Appreciation Week and the ANC
Lions Parent Pride Association. She is part of the Connector Families Program
and is devoted to the lives of dormitory students. She and her husband, Wayne,
live in Marietta, Georgia. They have three children – one a student at Bryn
Athyn College and two in the Academy Secondary Schools.
Bryn Athyn College also honors alumni “who have achieved personal
and professional success by practicing the values of a New Church liberal arts
education” and by contributing to their communities.
This year’s honoree was Dr. Matthew Mayer, who received both his
AA and BA from the College and also was awarded the Larry Spaulding
Memorial Trophy for athletic leadership. He earned his medical degree from
the University of Cincinnati, with a double-board residency in Pediatrics
and Physical Medicine Rehabilitation at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital.
610