That was then. This is now. While milestone reunions give Heidelberg alumni – especially those who met their spouse on campus – a wonderful opportunity to reflect on those golden days, one couple took the opportunity to re-create a special memory.
John C. Hoffmeier and Eleanor “Ellie” Lauchlan met during their first week on campus in 1964 at a freshman dance in the old Tin Gym, “followed by four years of adventures, love and friends.” Those adventures turned into a beautiful marriage, a happy family and very successful careers.
After they graduated from Heidelberg, Ellie moved from Rochester, New York, to Philadelphia, where both she and John worked for a year before he started dental school. She was a representative for Xerox and he was a research biochemist for a paper company. They married in Rochester in 1971.
One of John’s colleagues was a semi-professional photographer, who ironically passed on a chance to take photos on the helicopters ferrying musicians to a small festival in upstate New York. That festival turned out to be Woodstock. The photographer was enlisted to take a sweet black-and-white photo of John and Ellie at his home studio.
With their upcoming 50th class reunion, John and Ellie decided to reprise the photo this year. Although the backdrop was different, they arranged the same pose and incorporated many of the same elements from the “then” photo, all the way down to a similar flowered blouse Ellie wore all those years ago. The “now” photo was taken by their oldest son, Ian, in the couple’s back yard.
John is still practicing dentistry, for over 40 years, with plan to retire at year’s end. Ellie has been by his side at the practice for many of those years. The couple has two sons, Ian and Alex, and two grandsons. They have traveled to Heidelberg from their New Jersey home for their reunions faithfully since graduation.
“This should be a seminal reunion and we can’t wait to see our classmates,” John said.
Their 50th reunion is sure to include lots of “do you remember whens” and “can you believe how much things have changed” moments.
We wish all of the reunion participants a grand time of remembering, reminiscing and reconnecting!