Ed Arn On the wall of the study there is a large, black and white photograph of the student body of The College of Wooster on the lawn south of Kauke Hall in 1927. And if you look closely, you’ll find an eager young first-year from Cleveland named Ed Arn.

Ed plunged into college life, majoring in English, joining First Section, writing for The Voice, appearing in half a dozen plays, serving as editor of The Index and president of the Class of 1931, all while working a variety of jobs, from handyman and waiter to truck driver.

Graduating in the depths of the depression, he pounded the pavement for months before landing a job for $16 a week in The May Company’s store in Cleveland, in a new department called The Epicure Shop. "I didn’t even know what the word ‘epicure’ meant," Ed says with a sly smile. "I had to look it up."

Over the next ten years, Ed honed his sales and management skills, moving first to Firestone Tire and Rubber, then American Seating. When America entered the Second World War, he enlisted in the Army. Already 33, "I thought I was too old to see any combat" but Uncle Sam had different ideas. Ed fought through Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and into Germany with the 30^th Infantry Division. By war’s end, he had won two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, and been promoted to captain.

Back home, Ed rejoined American Seating in Dallas, and one night in the local officers club (he was still in the reserves), a young woman caught his eye.

"I said to Charlie, the bartender, who knew me rather too well, ‘Who’s that good-looking gal with the second lieutenant?’ He said, ‘She’s one of the nicest girls who comes in here. She’s not your type.’"

As predictions go, it was right up there with "Dewey Beats Truman." Pat and Ed Arn celebrated their 57^th wedding anniversary this April.

Children came. Life went on. The Arns moved to Philadelphia. And one day in 1956, Howard Lowry came to call. Would Ed like to return to Wooster as director of development? Negotiations went on for the next two years before Ed capitulated.

Once again, he plunged into the life of the college. "We had too many folks sitting behind desks in Wooster," Ed recalls. "And you can’t do a bit of good that way. My objective was to get in front of the customer. It didn’t matter if it was an American Seating customer or The College of Wooster."

Get in front of them he did. During one push for the Alumni Building Campaign to renovate Kauke in 1960, Ed logged more than 7,000 miles in 36 straight days on the road. Thanks to his tireless efforts, the campaign soared past its million-dollar goal by more than $100,000. "That was one of my great victories," he says.

In 1963, Ed moved from development to director of alumni relations, a position he held until retiring from the college in 1974. After "retiring" he served two stints as executive director of the United Way of Wooster and went to Costa Rica as a consultant for the International Executive Service Corp.

Ed has been honored for his many civic and professional accomplishments by induction into no less than five halls of fame: the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame; the "W" Association Athletic Hall of Fame; the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame; and the Ohio Optimist Club and Ohio Elks Association halls of fame.

Last year, after almost 20 years of research, he completed Black and Gold: The History of College of Wooster Athletics, 1870-1945. And this summer, the University of Akron Press will publish Arn’s War: Memoirs of a World War II Infantryman.

"No one loves our college more than I," Ed says. "Pat is number one, The College of Wooster is number two, and the military is three. Wooster has always been close to my heart."