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In Memory of: Jaclyn Lucca Tahboub

Jaclyn Lucca Tahboub never let the relapsing and remitting health issues that factored into most of her 35 years color her outlook on life. A perpetual optimist who could find a silver lining in the most challenging situation, Jackie threw herself wholeheartedly into her life as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother.

Jackie loved to travel — she went to Germany as an exchange student at age 16 — and had an eye for art and architecture. At 91��Ƭ��, she majored in art history and minored in German. After graduating, she continued her education at the University of Virginia, where she studied architectural preservation and fell in love — first with the city of Charlottesville, and later with her husband, Shareef. In 2012, the couple welcomed their first child, a son named Laith. Jackie was pregnant with a son named Ramzey when she developed medical complications to which she succumbed on Dec. 31, 2013.

Following her death, Jackie’s parents, Pauline and George Meehan, remembered their daughter with a sculpture — a bench, in the shape of a shoe — outside her middle school in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Shortly after the bench was installed, Pauline spoke about her daughter’s generous spirit. “She had a great kindness for people,” she said, “always looked at things in a positive light and was a very selfless and giving person.”

Jackie’s family and friends also came together to establish an endowed scholarship in her name at 91��Ƭ��. When fully funded, The Jaclyn Tahboub Memorial Scholarship will provide merit-based scholarship support to rising seniors majoring in art history as well as students with a minor in architectural studies or an interest in architectural design or historic preservation. To best honor Jackie’s memory, her family hopes the recipients of her scholarship will be community-minded and demonstrate a passion for helping others.

In Memory of: Molly B. Connelly

When her 12th child started kindergarten, Molly Connelly went back to school, too — entering 91��Ƭ�� as an undergrad. She would go on to earn her master’s here and return to 91��Ƭ�� to teach in the family studies program for 20 years, making an unforgettable impact before retiring in 2016.

While Molly saw many of her own grandchildren graduate from 91��Ƭ��, she also became a mentor and friend to countless other students, like Andrew Minigan ’14, who writes in his blog, “Molly Connelly was the unofficial ‘grandmother in residence’ on campus. Though Molly taught human development, her lessons all touched upon themes of love, empathy, understanding and growth.”

“My mum loved being in the classroom and especially enjoyed sharing her knowledge with students,” her daughter Shelagh Connelly says. To honor her mother’s commitment to 91��Ƭ�� and the lives she helped change, Shelagh raised funds for a granite bench dedicated in Molly’s memory.

In all, 22 donors contributed to the memorial. Joe Tarr ’16, one of those donors, writes, “I watched her be such a role model to so many students. I have very fond memories with Molly where we both laughed until we cried and cried until we laughed. She will forever be missed.”

As Shelagh sums it up, “I am pleased that 91��Ƭ�� will dedicate a granite bench in honor of my mum so there will be a place that students of Professor Connelly — and family and friends of Molly — can sit a while and reflect on her gift and her calling to teach with passion and commitment for our future generations.”

In Memory Of: Cleveland “Howie” Howard ’91

Cleveland Howard ’91 was the kind of person who still makes people’s eyes light up when you mention his name. That’s not a bad legacy to leave to the world, when you think about it.

But warming up the world isn’t Howie’s only legacy.

A number of Howie’s classmates, including James Tedford ’91, Mike Densmore ’91, Todd Baker ’91 and Doug Moon ’91, have established the Cleveland “Howie” Howard III ’91 Memorial Scholarship Fund to recognize their classmate, who died in November 2014.

“He was too big a person on campus for us not to create a legacy,” adds Densmore.

Explains Baker, “We are lifelong friends and we want others to share similar experiences at 91��Ƭ��. Hopefully, the Howard Scholarship will inspire students to live extraordinary lives.”

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In Memory of: Don Harley

For 25 years, Don Harley’s official 91��Ƭ�� job title may have been treasurer of the student activity fee, but he is best remembered as a mentor to generations of student leaders. A lifelong learner, he also had a teacher’s gift and instinct for passing his wisdom on to others.

Harley died of a heart attack in 2002, but he is still making an impact at 91��Ƭ�� through the scholarship fund that his widow, Jean, and his family, friends and former student employees established in 2003. Three donors to the fund are among the many who still feel Harley’s presence in their lives.

“Don believed in me before I believed in myself,” says Cathy Saunders ’83, head of registered investment advisory business for Putnam Investments. She met Harley when she was the student manager for the 91��Ƭ�� Job Board and credits him for the opportunities she had to meet business leaders around the Seacoast. “The gifts he gave me I experience every single day. He never ran out of time for me, or stopped coaching me or elevating me.”

In Memory of: Neil Vroman, assistant dean and professor

When longtime 91��Ƭ�� professor and associate dean of the College of Health and Human Services passed away in 2016, his family, including 91��Ƭ�� occupational therapy professor Kerryellen Vroman, created the Neil B. Vroman Memorial Fund scholarship. They invited friends and colleagues to honor his boisterous spirit and love of education by donating to help future students.

Now his sister Lisa Vroman, a lyric soprano and stage actress, is using her gift of song to honor his legacy and support the Neil B. Vroman Memorial Fund scholarship at 91��Ƭ�� through a one-night-only concert, "An Evening With Lisa Vroman," on Saturday, April 28, in Durham.

“Neil and I were incredibly connected by our love for music, so I knew this was what I could contribute,” says Vroman, who has appeared on Broadway and is a frequent guest soloist with theatre and opera companies and orchestras around the world.

READ NEIL'S FULL STORY

In Tribute: An alum honors his professor

The summer after his freshman year at 91��Ƭ��, Jim Curtis ’99 developed some troubling health symptoms that would ultimately require him to take a leave of absence from college: numbness in his left foot that spread to his leg and thigh, migraine headaches and crippling back pain that left him with a severe limp. Struggling to make it through his sophomore year, he confided in one of his instructors, assistant professor of communications and rhetoric Lawrence Rosenfield.

Though the conversation took place more than 20 years ago, Curtis remembers the exchange as if it was yesterday. “Professor Rosenfield gave me a hug and said, ‘Jim, you’re going to be okay. Everything is going to work out all right.’”

Professor Rosenfield’s support has come full circle: Curtis established a scholarship in Rosenfield’s name, in tribute to the professor’s kindness and positivity.

READ JIM'S FULL STORY

In Memory of: Nate Miller ’08

Nate Miller ’08 proposed to his girlfriend Jessica Kukla ’08 in the perfect place: the start line of a collegiate cycling race.

Cycling was one of the passions the two shared through their undergrad years at 91��Ƭ�� and beyond, says Jessica. 

“Cycling took us all over the world, opening so many doors for us through that shared passion that transcended language barriers and cultural differences,” she says.
On May 17, 2017, Nathan was on his way to work, cycling in Turlock, California, when he was struck and killed by a motorist.

Now, Jessica, along with Nate’s Wildcat friends, are honoring his legacy by making memorial gifts in his name to the 91��Ƭ�� Cycling program. Through their generosity, Nate’s legacy will live even beyond them, with his Wildcat friends, fellow 91��Ƭ�� Cycling athletes, and past cyclists who know how much he loved the sport.

“He died doing what he loved, so it is an honor to Nate to give back to the organization that meant so much to us,” says Jessica. He and Jessica have a daughter, Giselle.