As you likely know by now, WP-ORG is having a belated fund drive this year, as announced by Warren Hearnes ’89 a week ago. This is our 59th semi-annual fund drive. If you have not donated and would like to, please go to: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/. Warren spoke about the improvement of our technology, and how it will make for a stronger and more flexible foundation for WP-ORG’s future. In contrast, I would like to briefly take you back to the past.
WP-ORG began in 1994 with only 30+ people receiving the first “hello”. The creation of Email listservs came in 1995, parents were invited to join and the creation of our eulogy pages came shortly after. It is the latter feature I wish to discuss.
Because of our migration to AWS services, we delayed this fund drive, which would typically occur in April. This year, Memorial Day came in the midst of our upgrades. Knowing we would be having a fund drive after those upgrades, I saved a few eulogy entries to share the value of this wonderful tool that we’ve had since the earliest days. I personally read every eulogy that comes into our eulogy pages as a safeguard against the potential for misuse. We never want graduates disrespected on their eulogy pages. I would like to re-introduce you to that valuable service.
You may find the portal to the eulogy pages for any class here: https://defender.west-point.org/service/taps.mhtml Just select a class year, and click “Go”. A list of the deceased within that class is brought up. By clicking on the name of the graduate, you are taken to his or her personal page, where you will see a link to: “Post a Eulogy”. This will take you to the individual eulogies for that individual. Some classes are very good at making sure their eulogy pages are utilized. In one case, the son of a graduate has made it his mission to assure that every classmate of his father has a eulogy written.
Each Memorial Day brings the remembrances of others for a classmate, spouse, parent or friend. To emphasize the value of these pages, I would like to give you a very small sample of the eulogy entries I read this past Memorial Day weekend, to allow you the honor of reading just a fraction of what I read on a daily basis. These are in no particular class order:
Ryan Neil Roberson, USMA ’94: https://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=51613&i=61468
Daniel Brian Hyde, USMA ’07: https://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=63537&i=61474
Jason Benjamin Jones, USMA ’07: https://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=63558&i=61475
Phillip Isaac Neel, USMA ’05: https://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=61896&i=61473
Geoffrey Hamilton Kleb, USMA ’64: https://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=25333&i=61467
Victor George Smith, USMA ’69: https://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=28605&i=61478
If you remember a graduate who has passed, I hope you use this valuable tool to remember them. I know the people who loved them appreciate these entries.
This is just a small fraction of the services WP-ORG provides: https://www.west-point.org/grad-services/
If you find value in what WP-ORG, please consider a donation:
General donation page (links to credit card, Venmo, PayPal, and check options): https://www.west-point.org/donate/
Direct credit card donation form: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
Donation report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
FD59 budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/
We always want to remind you that regardless of donation, we are here for you.
-- Respectfully, Dian Welle WP-ORG, Inc.
