In Memorium: Trustees

John Otis Clay '43, former Trustee, died on May 15, 2006, in North Lawrence, Ohio. Survivors include his wife, Margaret L. Reed Clay '45, sons John R. x'69, Michael K., Timothy K. , and Thomas R., and daughter Margaret Clay McQuaide. At its June meeting, the College Board of Trustees issued a Resolution in Memory, from which the following is an excerpt.

John Otis Clay, Alumnus Trustee from 1984 to 1990, was born in Canton, Ohio on Dec. 15, 1921, the son of Otis D. and Maude Krumlauf Clay. Growing up in the Canal Fulton, Ohio, area, he entered The College of Wooster in September 1939. His campus activities were a foretaste of his ongoing commitment to the College. Serving as a counselor in Douglass Hall, working on the staff of the Voice and Index, lettering in varsity football under John Swigart and on the varsity track squad under Carl B. Munson, belonging to Fifth Section and the Congressional Club, elected treasurer and then president of the Student Senate, serving on the YMCA cabinet, and working as an assistant in the biology department, John graduated in 1943 with honors in his geology major and won the William A. Galpin Award.

In May 1943, John Clay enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, assigned the next year to the USS Pluck, a minesweeper operating out of New York. Handwritten letters sent from the ship to the College alumni office express his continuing eager interest in the life of the College. John served in the military until 1946.

On Dec. 28, 1946, John married Margaret Lucy Reed '45.Two years later, he earned a master's degree in petroleum geology with honors from the University of Illinois and was inducted into the Sigma Xi Society.

Mr. Clay then began a nearly 60-year career in the oil and gas business.Working initially as a field geologist with Standard Oil of California, he and his young family moved in 1950 to Monroe, La. In 1954 he formed a consulting firm, the Clay Oil and Gas Corp., of which he was president and chief geologist. Two decades later he opened the John O. Clay Exploration Company, a firm that developed oil and gas fields in Texas and northern Louisiana. Professional activities included his presidency of the Northeastern Louisiana Chapter of the American Petroleum Institute.

Beginning in 1970, John became a parttime professor of geology at Northeast Louisiana University. In the spring of 1983, he taught petroleum geology at Wooster, holding the Shoolroy Chair of Natural Resources. His commitment to the College was demonstrated by his role as class president, service on the Alumni Board (1970- 73), efforts for the Campaign for Wooster (1982-84), and his election as Alumni Trustee in 1984. He served on the Audit, Building and Grounds, Finance, Development, Student Relations, and Admissions Policy Committees.

Mr. Clay's civic activities ranged from his 50- year active membership at St. Paul Methodist Church, to coaching the Rivers Oaks High School tennis team, to working for the local United Fund, Little Theater, American Cancer Society and Chamber of Commerce. He was president of the board of directors of the Twin Cities YMCA and received the Twin Cities Outstanding Religion and Community Leadership Award, as well as the B'nai B'rith Community Service Award.

The Clays maintained a summer residence at Clay's Park Resort in Canal Fulton, a family recreational facility started by John's father in the 1950s. After John became president of the resort corporation in 1966—as well as executive vice president of Outside Inns of America in 1970—he welcomed College alumni events at the park, notably in 1993 for his 50th class reunion. Clay's Park has also been the traditional site for a gathering of student resident assistants and directors, along with residence life staff, prior to the fall semester.

For his unceasing attention to and participation in the life of the College, for his service to the nation in a troubled time, and for his wide-ranging professional and civic work, the Board of Trustees records its abiding gratitude.

Trustee, Emeritus, Harold Ross died on May 15, 2006. Surviving are his wife, Mary Sue Laign Ross, two sons and a daughter. At its June meeting, the College Board of Trustees issued a Resolution in Memory, from which the following is an excerpt.

Born June 3, 1928, in Fort Wayne, Ind., Harold "Hal" Ross, Emeritus Life Trustee, was the son of Jesse M. and Sally E. Ross. At Indiana University, he majored in speech, radio, television, and music.With a B.S. in hand, Hal joined the U.S. Army in 1951 as a private and was discharged in 1954 as a sergeant. He then entered the graduate program in the School of Finance at New York University, specializing in money and banking and corporate finance. He trained at the New York School of Finance and earned the New York Stock Exchange Certificate. In April 1955 Hal returned to Indiana to marry Mary Sue Laign.

An investment banker,Mr. Ross enjoyed a 25-year career with three firms: Blyth Eastman Dillon Union Securities & Co., where he moved from sales manager (1955) to partner and first vice-president (1967); duPont Glore Forgan, as manager of institutional sales, Western region (1972); and L. F. Rothschild & Co. (1973-80). Retiring in 1980, he established Ashdale Income Fund and later joined Hambrecht & Quist investment bankers and Lafayette Capital Co.

Hal Ross began his service on the Board at the June 1970 meeting. He and Sue graciously opened their California home to College presidents J. Garber Drushal and Henry Copeland. Hal's tenure as an Active Trustee, 1970 to 1986, began with membership on the Finance Committee, followed by service on both the Development and Investment Committees. He belonged to the San Francisco Leadership Group and volunteered for The Campaign for Wooster and Independent Minds: The Campaign for Wooster.

In Los Angeles Hal Ross was involved in civic affairs, including the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Bond Club of Los Angeles, and the Western Finance Association. His love of music was expressed privately in piano playing and publicly by chairing the Music Center Arts and Education Fund of Los Angeles. Members of this Board remember Hal playing the piano in the President's House.

Hal was committed to the life of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles and the Lafayette Presbyterian Church, serving as a trustee and treasurer and singing in the Cathedral Choir. During his tenure on the Board, two children graduated from the College:William '84 and Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross Hyatt '85, who followed in her father's footsteps by working in the financial world and serving on the Alumni Board, the San Francisco Leadership Group, and boards of the Presbyterian Church.

For his measured mastery of the financial world and his careful shepherding of the college's economic resources, and for his gracious hospitality and generous support, the Board of Trustees records its abiding gratitude.