Western Michigan University - Brown and Gold Yearbook (Kalamazoo, MI)

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IN MEMORIAM in Lives OT greaT men all remind us We can make our lives sublime. And. cleparTing, leave behind us FOOT-prinTs in The sands OT Time.' RESOLVED TI-IAT: Because OT The greaT respecT and esTeem held Tor Mr. Leslie I-I. Wood by sTudenTs in his class- es, because The alumni -OT WesTern STaTe Teachers College living in The Upper Peninsula are in The hearT OT The TerriTOry where The geology OT all Time can be so advanTageously sTudied, and because This parT OT The STaTe OT Michi- gan was so OTTen reTerred To by him, be iT resolved ThaT The graduaTes OT WesT- ern in DisTricT No. 7 suggesT To The Board OT DirecTors OT The Alumni Asso- ciaTiOn Through Their represenTaTive ThaT They inviTe The alumni TO cause To be buiIT The WOOD-WALK-ANU ROCK-GARDEN as a memorial To Ivlr. Wood. E O IT WAS on The occasion OT The annual alumni banqueT OT graduaTes OT WesTern STaTe Teachers College living in The Upper Peninsula OT Michigan ThaT The above reso- IuTion was passed unanimously. Mr. I-Iow- ard DoOIiTTle, SuperinTendenT OT Schools aT Negaunee, and a graduaTe OT WesTern in The class OT I908. oTTered The resoluTion OC'I'Ober I3, I933. Mr. Wood died SaTurday, June IO, I933. I-le was on The campus very early ThaT morn- ing preparing TO leave wiTh a group OT sTu- denTs Tor one OT his cusTomary OIT-campus Trips. and his deaTh occurred while he was waiTing Tor TransporTaTion TaciIiTies To be arranged. Early in The Tall Term The TaculTy and sTu- denTs seT aparT an hour in assembly To honor The memory OT Their sincere Triend and be- loved Teacher. Dr. William McCracken pre- sided in The absence OT PresidenT Waldo and announced whaT was immediaTely rec- ognized as a mosT appropriaTe number Chorale by Schumann played by WesT- ern's Tull orchesTra OT more Than 50 pieces which was mosT ably direcTed by ivlr. George Amos. In his inTrOducTOry remarks Dr. McCracken spoke OT lvir. Wood as The comrade and Triend nOT only OT TacuITy members buT also OT The sTudenTs whom he loved To serve. While he is deparTed and we no longer see him wiTh The naTural eye, nor hear his cheery greeTing, nor Teel The warmTh OT his vigorous handclasp, his spiriT sTill hovers over us and green is his memory in all OT our hearTs.. . .. Good deeds are immorTaI and a cOnTinuaI blessing To TuTure generaTions. .... 'I-Ie spenT himseIT ThaT oThers mighT live larger and Tuller Iives.' ProTessor I-Iarold Blair was injrroduced and spoke as a Tellow-scienTisT, neighbor, and Triend. I-Ie reviewed Mr. WoOd's experi- ences as a public school Teacher, adminis- TraTOr, and as a college insTrucTor. I-Ie spoke OT his conTribuTions To The FaculTy Science Club, his resourceTuIness in his chosen Tield OT science and menTioned The personal pleasure received by him in reading publica- Tions by lvir. Wood which include books. monographs, magazine arTicIes, eTc. AT The conclusion OT lvlr. BIair's paper, he cOmmenT- ed as Tollowsz ln esTimaTing The scholarly aTTainmenTs OT a man. we ask whaT universi- Ties he aTTended, his degrees, his publica- Tions, and his memberships in scienTiTic soci- eTies. I Think ThaT we oughT TO go TarTher and look Tor OTher qualiTies and aTTainmenTs ThaT are nOT quiTe so obvious. I mean such quaIiTies as indusTry, capaciTy Tor growTh. inTeIlecTual honesTy and sinceriTy, enThusiasm and love Tor one's work. IT we Take all These Things inTO accounT and examine The IiTe and work OT PrOTessor Wood, I am sure ThaT we would have To rank him very high as a scien- TisT. I-Ie was a Type OT a scholar ThaT has been all Too inTrequenTly Tound in American schools. O I9 3 BROW A N CIOC GOL

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Following lvlr. Blair, as planned by The commiTTee in charge, Ronald WhiTney, B. S., I93O, spoke abouT his impressions as a sTu- denT. Mr. WhiTney is very inTeresTed in The subiecT OT geology and had had The privi- lege OT Taking many courses TaughT by Mr. Wood. l-le voiced The experience OT sTu- denTs generally when he reTerred To The TacT ThaT many OT The impressions Taken away Trom The classroom are The resulT OT cOnTri- buTions made by The personaliTy OT The in- sTrucTOr. From The kindergarTen TO The ex- periences in original research in The seminar, There is a cerTain someThing which is re- membered by all whenever a sincere Teacher has conTribuTed The besT OT his personaliTy. The body OT knowledge may be a changing mass buT There are aTTribuTes OT permanence in The impressions made upon youTh by Those who are Their Teachers. The concluding speaker was lvlr. George Sprau. ln his characTerisTic manner he painTed picTures OT Triendly associaTions en- ioyed by himselT wiTh Mr. Wood aT Times when Their common pursuiT could be de- scribed as The avOcaTiOnal. They Took long walks TogeTher. OTTen lvlr. Wood poinTed ouT To him naTural scenery ThaT only he knew abouT. As neighbors They worked To- geTher. These common Tasks enioyed by Them, however, were always OT The avoca- Tional Type. They were building, grading a landscape, planTing Trees, or planning TO- geTher To grow a communiTy garden. The second parT OT an ouTline OT Mr. Sprau's remarks, he spoke exTemporaneously, mighT be designaTed as skeTches OT The per- sOnaliTy OT Mr. Wood. Their acquainTance exTended over a period OT 24 years. lvlr. Sprau wenT To his TirsT social TuncTiOn in Kalamazoo as a guesT OT Mr. Wood. T-le was oTTen in his home. l-le and his Tamily renTed lvlr. Wood's coTTage aT The lake and spenT vacaTiOns in The summer home builT on The shore OT The lake by Mr. Wood, he having done much OT The consTrucTion work wiTh. his own hands. During all This Time Their inTimaTe Triendliness grew and Mr. Sprau says he was more and more impressed wiTh lvlr. Wood's gracious consideraTiOn OT oThers, his genuine hospiTaliTy. and his de- sire TO share wiTh everybody The beauTy OT every naTural resource. Following Mr. Sprau's mosT TiTTing expres- sion OT The privilege OT such an acquainT- ance as his was wiTh lvlr. Wood, The WesTern STaTe Teachers College orchesTra concluded The hour wiTh a Chorale by Bach and boTh sTudenTs and TaculTy members wenT away Trom The assembly wiTh The general impres- sion ThaT iT was good To have been There. Since The proposal made by The Upper Peninsula Alumni, The idea has been conTin- ually growing. The siTe chosen Tor develop- menT on The campus is The Library-Science exiT To Oakland Drive. There are several reasons Tor This selecTion. ln The TirsT place iT was The approach TO The campus mosT OTTen used by Mr. Wood. IT is a parT OT WesTern's campus ThaT has never been land- scaped and developed. AT The presenT Time There is a wood walk which is very much in need OT replacemenT, and Tinally This siTe lends iTselT mosT admirably To The develop- menT OT a naTural seTTing Tor a rock garden where Trees and shrubs, rocks, rock-garden planTs, clinging shrubs, pTiTzer iunipers, and oTher evergreens may be adapTed To The area. As is generally known, lvlr. Wood's TirsT inTeresT was geology. This is uncloubTedly The reason why iT seems mosT TiTTing ThaT The Alumni OT The Upper Peninsula should have proposed This prOiecT. The TerriTOry in which They live was very Thoroughly sTudied by Mr. Wood and oTTen reTerred To by him. One could almosT hope ThaT samples OT The various ouTcrops OT geological TOrmaTions mighT be TransporTed Trom The various coun- Ties OT The Upper Peninsula and placed in The garden. FurTher Than ThaT The various species OT The evergreen mighT be Trans- planTed Trom ThaT locaIiTy. l-lowever, as These proposals are impracTicable, in parT aT leasT, The alumni do suggesT ThaT They may have The privilege OT bearing The ex- pense OT bringing in The necessary boulders Tr-Om The immediaTe communiTy and secur- ing such nursery sTOck as shall be required To develop The siTe as a TiTTing memorial Tor an insTrucTor whose inspiraTion has meanT so much in Their lives.