|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
Townsend brothers continue True Blue family tradition
4:42 p.m., May 27, 2006--When the Townsend family gets together, it's like a mini UD reunion. This year, members of the family were front and center at Commencement, serving as class delegates as they celebrated this doubly special occasion when the two youngest Townsend sons, Brett and Brandon, carried on the family tradition and graduated from UD. First to graduate from UD was Charles J. (Jeff) Townsend who received his bachelor's degrees in 1971, a master of public administration degree in 1979 and master of applied science degree in 1987. He was followed by his wife, Judi Schurgard Townsend, who graduated in 1972. Their oldest son, Eric, graduated in 2001, and his wife, Suzanne (Suzy) Ryder Townsend, graduated in 2002. Bryan is a double alum, receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics in 2003 and a bachelor's degree in philosophy and biology in 2004. As an undergraduate, Jeff took a job with the Newark Police Department and discovered his career. He remained with the department for 30 years in law enforcement, commanding the Traffic Division, Services Bureau and Operation Bureau, also serving as executive officer and acting chief of police. Looking back, it was a “good career,” Jeff said, “helping people, contributing to the community and making it safer.” When he retired from the Newark Police, Jeff became assistant superintendent of the Brandywine School District Transportation Department, where he is responsible for all aspects of transportation from route planning to hiring aides and drivers. Halloween mischief-night pranksters brought Jeff and his wife, Judi, together. She went to the police station to report eggs were being thrown at cars on Main Street, and the couple met in the Newark Police station's reporting room, Jeff recalled. Judi was born in Japan to an Air Force family but has spent most of her life in the Newark area. At UD, she majored in education and, what was then, home economics and married Jeff at the end of her junior year. Upon graduation, she started teaching, which has been an “incredible and wonderful” career for 34 years, she said. Attending night classes, Judi went on to get her master's degree in education from Widener University in 1995. She currently teaches textiles and clothing at A. I. du Pont High School, a contrast to her home life, as most of her students are girls. She and Jeff shared parenting responsibilities raising their four boys, who were involved in athletics, band and many other activities. “Teamwork and our different schedules made it possible,” she said. The younger Townsends have gone in different directions. Eric works for the News & Record as a reporter in Greensboro, N.C. Majoring in political science, economics and history, he started writing for The Review as a freshman and served as editor in 2000-01. He took journalism courses at UD and later earned his master's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and worked for newspapers in Middletown and Elkton, Md., before heading south. Eric's wife Suzy is a graduate of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy and received her master's degree in secondary school counseling from West Chester University in Pennsylvania and serves as a school counselor. The couple began seeing each other while both were earning their master's degrees and were married last June. Bryan, who was selected to serve as the recent graduate member of UD's Board of Trustees, is now completing a year at Cambridge University studying Chinese politics and language and plans to attend Yale Law School next fall. This summer, he is planning to swim the English Channel to benefit the Special Olympics in Delaware. Brett is a math education major and has been student teaching at Avon Grove High School, where he also coaches lacrosse. “I like math and like working with kids and teenagers and teaching combined both,” he said. Brandon, the youngest Townsend, a criminal justice major, is interested in following his father's footsteps with a career in law enforcement. He has served as a park ranger at Lums Pond and as an aide for UD Public Safety. He will be a Delaware Aerospace Academy counselor this summer. Both Brett and Brandon have been resident assistants at UD. As his sons reached college age, they looked at other schools, Jeff said. “But the University of Delaware is a diamond in your own back yard with an excellent reputation and offering tremendous educational opportunities. Other schools just did not seem to match up.” Article by Sue Moncure
|
|
|
