The Williamsonian Fall 2017 | Page 24

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A W A R D R E C I P I E N T S
At the 122nd Alumni Banquet at the Porch Restaurant on June 3, the Alumni Association presented two Alumnus of the Year and two Distinguished Alumnus Awards and the Board of Trustees presented the Isaiah V. Williamson and C. W. Schrenk 4W9 Young Alumnus Awards.
The Alumni Association requests nominations for the Distinguished Alumnus and Alumnus of the Year awards. The Distinguished Alumnus Award is given to an alumnus for outstanding accomplishments in his field, service to the community or the school, and meeting Williamson’ s standard of character. The Alumnus of the Year Award is given for supporting the Association. Nominations must include a letter stating why your candidate is worthy of consideration and a biographical sketch. The deadline is Dec. 31. Nominations should be sent to: Alumni Association, Williamson College of the Trades, 106 S. New Middletown Road, Media, PA 19063
Alumnus of the Year Award Rev. Mark A. Specht’ 77
Rev. Mark Specht 7W7, Williamson’ s chaplain, enjoys interacting with students in the classroom and chapel, but considers leading students and alumni on service projects outside the United States the highlight of his work. The largest project has been leading groups for 16 years to the impoverished town of Paraiso, Dominican Republic, to construct a hospital and to offer support, most recently in the spring of 2017. The hospital now serves 45,000 patients annually. He lead groups for two years to build a school and a home in a small village in El Salvador, and last year traveled to Lima, Peru, to build a community center for the Shipibo Indians.
He became the chaplain / counselor at Williamson 22 years ago and said,“ Working at Williamson has been a blessing. It’ s great working with staff and administrators who share the same passion and desire to help
the students I have. It is especially rewarding that the students share their lives and stories with me.”
Specht grew up in Ridley Park, Pa., in a family of nine and considers his Williamson education to have been transformational: he shaped his character, learned the carpentry trade, and found fulfillment in being an outstanding craftsman.
In addition, two quotes he saw daily in chapel changed his life’ s direction: the call to be“ Obedient to the Truth” and to“ uplift the man and boy as far as I could reach.” He says,“ I made a commitment to the Truth as a senior and it is still the purpose for my life.” After graduating, he spent a year in Germany renovating a World War II bunker for a mission youth camp and then earned a bachelor’ s degree in sociology and a master’ s of arts in clinical counseling at Eastern University, and
a master’ s of divinity at Reformed Episcopal Seminary. Prior to being ordained to the gospel ministry by the Reformed Episcopal Church, he operated a residential construction business for seven years in the tri-state area, was a minister at the Church of the Covenant in Media, and is currently rector at Grace Reformed Episcopal Church in Havre de Grace, Md.
Married 17 years, he and his wife Chris live on campus with their son, Lars, and daughter, Oksana. He uses his carpentry skills to help out family and friends, still using his freshman tool box. He has taken courses to further his cooking skills and enjoys family travel, for fun and to support mission work. They enjoy ski trips to Colorado and recently participated in mission work in Kenya, where they distributed water filters, and last year they helped physical therapists in a small town in Morocco.
Rev. Mark A. Specht 7W7
Alumnus of the Year Award Bruce W. Burrell’ 54
Bruce W. Burrell 5W4
Bruce Burrell 5W4, who passed away on April 27, 2016, at the age of 82, always enjoyed getting together with his Williamson classmates. It meant so much to him that a number of years ago he began organizing luncheons at Bucks County restaurants so they could get caught up on each other’ s lives and share stories of their school days.
After the luncheons grew in popularity, they began meeting at the Shady Maple Restaurant in East Earl, Pa., because it held many people and offered a private room. Word spread of how enjoyable the luncheons were and soon alumni from other classes began joining them. The biannual luncheons continue with one held in East Earl and one in Williamson’ s dining room.
Burrell also used his masonry skills to help Williamson, assisting in the construction of the Lipp Education Center and the greenhouse. A lifetime member of the Alumni Association, in 2015 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2002, he was inducted into the school’ s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Burrell graduated from Tamaqua High School with no plan in life and applied to Williamson’ s masonry program at the urging of his friend, John Bubel’ 53. He thanked Bubel every day for leading him to Williamson as it changed his life, providing him with the solid foundation upon which he built his life.
He once said,“ Williamson played a very large role in my life. Its value is second only to my family. Without Williamson, I don’ t know where I would be today. I learned a trade there that provided me with a living and made friends I still have today. I owe the school a debt I can never repay.”
At Williamson, he played football and basketball, was assistant editor of the Mechanic, a writer on the Williamsonian staff, participated in Hi-Y, and served as a housefather
his senior year at Jenks Cottage. He graduated with the top brickmasonry award.
After graduating, he worked for several contractors, working his way up from bricklayer to masonry superintendent and construction superintendent. In 1968, he started his own business— Burrell Masonry Inc. After retiring in 1998, he worked many years for a car dealership doing dealer trades.
He served as a Trowel Trades Craft Advisor for Middle Bucks Vocational Technical School in Jamison, Pa., where he helped design the brick shop and served as advisor for the masonry program’ s curriculum.
He played semi-pro basketball and football and enjoyed softball, tennis, fishing, and hunting. He was a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.
He and his wife, Gloria, lived in Buckingham, Pa., and were married 59 years. They had three daughters together, Betsy, Barbara, and Bonnie.
Distinguished Alumnus Award John F. Barnes’ 84
Through the efforts of John Barnes 8W4, senior vice president of Exelon Generation and COO Exelon Power, Exelon has provided many services to Williamson, including internships for power plant technology students, gifts-in-kind such as water lab instrumentation, a campus power circuit breaker, and a weld shop exhaust fan.
He obtained funding for three school initiatives that included the hiring of a project manager for the Energy Island project, two 3-year grants which assisted in the recruitment of minority students, and a student trip to Peru to build a community center for the Shipibo Indians.
Barnes, a member of Williamson’ s board since 2008, frequently shares his business experiences with students and encourages them to uphold Williamson’ s great reputation after they enter the work force. He explains to students that“ Williamson is a unique school. It inspires you to strive for excellence and gives you an excellent model
on how to live life after graduation. It has provided a foundation for all the accomplishments I have achieved in my life.”
While attending Sharon Hill High School, Barnes became interested in pursuing a technical / engineering career. When his older brother, Ken Barnes 8W3, who had just completed his first year in Williamson’ s Power Plant Technology Program, told him what a positive experience it had been, he decided to follow in his brother’ s footsteps, entering the Power Plant Technology Program in the fall of 1981.
Barnes excelled academically and credits Bob Neyer, the program’ s lead instructor, with giving him an outstanding foundation in power plant technology. He also was a standout player on one of the best football teams in school history under the excellent leadership of Coach John Waller.
After graduating in 1984, Barnes began his career as a boiler field service engineer at Babcock and Wilcox. After gaining valuable
experience operating and maintaining boiler systems, he went to Exelon Power as a boiler group technical assistant in 1985. His wide variety of positions over the years have included project engineer, boiler system manager, operations manager, and general manager at several Exelon power plants.
In his current role as senior vice president of Exelon Generation and COO Exelon Power, he is responsible for the safe, efficient, and reliable operation of Exelon Power electric generating stations which produce approximately 15,000 megawatts. These power facilities are in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and South / West Regions of the United States.
Barnes said,“ I have been very fortunate to work with extremely knowledgeable, skilled employees throughout the years, many of whom are Williamson graduates.”
He resides in Glen Mills, Pa., with Lisa his wife of 30 years and daughter, Abby, and son Jack.
John F. Barnes 8W4