Categories
Hazing News

SAE Hazing in 1952 involved football star Jack L. Shanafelt

 

Om This Day in Hazing News: March 15, 1952.

Here’s hoping the University of Pennsylvania Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter learned a lesson for the ages.

New clipping from the Indiana Gazette–Moderator Hank Nuwer

Now the real story! Jack Shanafelt became an outstanding football player (position tackle) and later in life…a war veteran, and an outstanding citizen. Here is his obituary.

TALLMADGE — Jack L. Shanafelt, 81, passed away April 19, 2013.

Born in Akron, Jack lived most of his life in Tallmadge. He graduated from Springfield High School in 1950 and then the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. He earned a football scholarship to UP and obtained the titles: All East 1952-53, All Ivy League 1952-53, and All American 1953. Jack then enlisted and played football for the Army. Jack was inducted in the Summit County football hall of fame. He bravely served in the Korean War. He worked for Goodrich and was proud to be active in his church. Other than his family, Jack loved serving the Lord, eating dessert, and of coarse….Football.

We will miss his feisty playfulness and his bellowing laughter heard clearly across the room. We take comfort in his resting peace.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Judy Stillmeyer.

Jack is survived by his beautiful wife of 50 years, Margaret Mary; daughters, Karen Shanafelt of Tallmadge, Kelly (Tim) Gilcrest of Oklahoma; son, Dr. Michael (Annette) Shanafelt of Mogadore; grandchildren, Alexandra, Noah, Ian and Aidan; brother, Ed (Alberta) Shanafelt of Akron.

Mass of the Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 26, 2013 at Our Lady of Victory Church, 73 North Ave. in Tallmadge with Rev. Fr. John Hengle officiating. There will be no procession. Please meet at the church.

Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at the Donovan Funeral Home, 17 Southwest Ave. (On the Historic Tallmadge Circle).

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

Leave a Reply