Alumni Spotlight – Jack Hedrick ‘55

From his vantage point as a retired chemistry professor (Emeritus), Jack Hedrick has no hesitation in attributing much of his success to the inspiration and preparation he received from his Susquehannock teachers. “We were thought of as a ‘farm school’ back then,” he says. “And we were. But when I got to college, I felt that I was as prepared as anyone there.”

He recalls in particular science instructors Paul Ricker, Grace Heindel, Larry King, and Mel Wagner who gave extra instruction and developed advanced courses for the six boys in the class who had college plans in math and science.

Susquehannock was a “grand experiment” when Jack was a freshman – the first consolidated high school in Pennsylvania, part of a program that reduced over 6,000 school districts to 500. Susquehannock was “the million-dollar school,” a reference to the actual building cost in 1951. It was state-of-the-art and a model for high school construction and program. And it included a round music room – unheard of at the time.

Jack remembers the challenges of bringing geographically and socially separate communities into one. Two high schools were combined: New Freedom and Glen Rock. Not the least of the issues involved was athletics. “We were rivals and suddenly we were on the same team.” Another issue was one of school colors. Jack remembers the controversy well.

“It was put up to a student vote. All sorts of combinations were proposed; maroon and gray – the former colors of Glen Rock High – was one of them. The Glen Rock people all got together and won the election.”

As an aside, the school colors were changed to red and white when, in the sixties, the time came to buy new band uniforms. Maroon and Gray were custom colors and much more expensive than the stock colors of red and white; thus the change. Of course, the alma mater had to be re-written so that “red and white so dear” would rhyme. But Jack recites the old version – the one with the original colors.

Jack was an all-around student, excelling in academics and athletics. He was a consistent honor roll student and a County all-star in basketball and in football, where he was the quarterback under legendary coach Bob McCoy. He also lists many hours at Bixler’s Pool Hall in Glen Rock as influencing his youthful development.

He continued his student career at Elizabethtown College after graduating from Susquehannock in 1955. He also continued with athletics, a transition he found more difficult than academics. “I had no problem competing in the classroom,” he says. “But it took me awhile to become a varsity starter.” He paid for his education through a combination of academic scholarships and work as a lab assistant and resident advisor.

After graduating from Elizabethtown, he earned a graduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and accepted a teaching position in chemistry at Albright College. When he heard of an opening at Elizabethtown after only a year, he jumped at the chance to return. He was a Chemistry professor there for the rest of his career – 36 years – retiring in 1999, respected, and beloved by his former students.

At E-town, he was an assistant basketball coach and advisor to many student clubs. He also became an expert on ghost towns in Lancaster and Lebanon counties and researched, wrote, and lectured on the subject extensively.

Jack and his wife Doris raised two sons, both of whom inherited their father’s tendency toward the sciences. Joseph is a corporate research chemist and Robert is in computers.

Thanks to Jack Hedrick, Class of 1955, for making us Warrior Proud!