The Drover Dispatch

Bellweather College Foundation (Alumni Records) · Room A-208 · ext. 2290 · alumni@bellweather.tech

The Drover Dispatch is published by the Bellweather College Foundation and mailed to alumni of record of the College and of the Bellweather Vocational Institute each fall and spring. The current issue is published here in full. Earlier issues are available from Alumni Records, Bellweather College Foundation, Room A-208, ext. 2290, alumni@bellweather.tech, at no charge.

Issue archive

Issues before Fall 2024 are held by Alumni Records and are copied on request as file copies permit.

Fall 2026

Published by the Bellweather College Foundation for alumni of Bellweather College of Applied Technology and the Bellweather Vocational Institute. Mailed October 2026.

Commencement 2026

The Sixty-Fourth Annual Commencement was held Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Drover Court. The President’s Award, made each year to one graduate selected by the faculty, was presented to Priya Nkemdirim, Technical Diploma, Anomalous Property Remediation. The alumni welcome was given by Carol Danziger-Holt, Trustee.

Members of the Class of 2026 became alumni of record on the conferral of their awards. Their records were transferred from the Registrar to Alumni Records in June. A graduate who did not receive this issue at a current address may update the record at Update Your Information.

The Sixty-Fifth Annual Commencement will be held Saturday, May 8, 2027, at 10:00 a.m. in Drover Court. It is open to the public.

Faculty retirement

Gerald Pemble, Instructor, Monument and Grounds Services, retired at the close of the 2025–26 academic year. His retirement was announced in September 2025 and was recognized at Commencement on May 9. Mr. Pemble joined the faculty in 2011 after twenty-two years with Wass Monument Works, Bellweather, latterly as setting crew lead. He taught MON 110 and MON 140. He is a member of the Monument Builders of North America.

Class notes

Class notes are submitted by alumni through the information update and are published with the consent of the individual. Notes are edited for length.

• Marjorie (Fenn) Albaugh ’74, Cosmetology, Bellweather Vocational Institute, retired in June after fifty-one years as a licensed cosmetologist, the last thirty-eight as owner of a salon in Dover.
• Dwayne Kerstetter ’97, Funeral Service Technology, was elected president of his district funeral directors’ association.
• Rochelle Imbody ’02, Cosmetology, holds an instructor license from the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board and teaches at a career center in Stark County.
• Leon Stuckey ’09, Funeral Service Technology, and his wife, Amanda, have purchased a funeral home in Holmes County, which they will continue to operate under its existing name.
• Corinne Wahl ’14, Cemetery Grounds and Monument Services, has been named grounds superintendent of a municipal cemetery in Tuscarawas County.
• Alexis Juhasz ’26, Cosmetology, has been licensed by the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board and works at a salon in Massillon.
• Ruth Gaither ’26, Funeral Service Technology, is serving her apprenticeship at a funeral home in Canton, registered with the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.
• Bethany Loar ’26, Equine and Asinine Husbandry, is barn manager at a boarding and lesson facility near Wooster.
• Renee Pastore ’26, Insurance Fraud Investigation, has joined the special investigations unit of a regional property and casualty insurer.
• Frank Gorman ’26, Private Investigation, is registered as an employee of a licensed private investigation agency in Akron.
• Jasmine Holloway ’26, Casino Table Operations, holds an Ohio Casino Control Commission gaming employee license and deals table games in Cleveland.
• Helen Vandersloot ’26, Toll Crossing Administration, has been hired as a toll collection supervisor by a bridge authority on the Ohio River.

Employment and licensure information in class notes is reported by the individual and is not verified by the College. Graduate placement is reported separately, under the College’s published methodology, at Outcomes.

In Memoriam

The Foundation publishes notice of the death of an alumnus or alumna on information received from a family member or from a published obituary.

• Lowell E. Brandt ’68, Bellweather Vocational Institute, of Bolivar, died August 29, 2026.
• Arlene M. (Koontz) Ruff ’71, Cosmetology, Bellweather Vocational Institute, of New Philadelphia, died July 11, 2026.

Memorial gifts are received by the Foundation; see Giving.

Dates

The calendar of record is maintained in DroverNet; see Events.

From the Foundation

The Foundation’s summary annual report for 2025–26 is published at Annual Report 2025–26. Alumni who no longer wish to receive the Dispatch may request in writing that their record be suppressed from communications.