Bette Jackson Finch ’52 ECED received
a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Carroll
Child Care Center at its 40th anniversary celebration. A consultant and charter member, she is
now a member of the Board of Directors. Finch
also plays tennis, participates in a book club and
spends time with her 14 grandchildren, one of
whom graduated from TU in May.
1970s
Catherine McGowan ’72 MUSC, who
lived in Ann Arbor, Mich., for over 30 years, returned to Clinton, Md., to live with her family. She
has sung with the Ann Arbor Cantata Singers, a
semi-professional choir, and hopes to find or form
a similar performing group. She is editing some
200 poems into three collections and is working
to publish a story written by one of her sisters.
Computer Guru · Alan Marker ’71
Small business owner rebuilds,
donates computers to the needy
Beth Wiseman ’74 ECED was inducted into
the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
Thomas B. Beyard ’77 GEOG is a
command sergeant major of the 29th Combat
Aviation Brigade in the Maryland Army National
Guard. He was awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross, Maryland’s highest military award, for
service beyond the call of duty. A 28-year military
veteran, he deployed to Iraq from 2006-2007. In
the civilian world, he is director of planning, zoning and development for Westminster, Md. Beyard
has an MBA from TUI, an online university.
Sharon Sykes ’77 BUAD joined Aberdeen
Proving Ground Federal Credit Union as senior
vice president of marketing. She brings 25 years
of marketing expertise from executive marketing
positions with the Maryland & District of Columbia Credit Union Association, SECU Credit Union
and Tower Federal Credit Union.
One man’s trash is another man’s
treasure. Just ask Alan Marker ’71.
Marker refurbishes old computers
that would otherwise be destined for
landfills, donating them to those in
need, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Over the years, the owner of
Alan’s Affordable Computers in New
York and a former music promoter
has invested countless hours and
thousands of dollars of his own money
updating and restoring computers. The
old monitors and towers come from
various sources, including individuals
and school systems.
Marker first took computers to
veterans in VA hospitals. The technol-
ogy was a diversion, he says, “to help
them take their minds off things.
After that, I started hearing cries from
outside the country, and decided that I
wanted to try to meet that need.”
Now, thanks to Marker, hundreds
of children in Nepal, Haiti and Tibet
have access to donated computers
and laptops.
“The kids usually get about two
hours each on a donated computer,”
he says. “When they use the computer
the first time, you can see the awe on
their faces.”
When refurbishing computers for
veterans, Marker emphasized games
and entertainment; however, for the
children overseas, the focus is learn-
ing, so each computer is loaded with
educational programs.
Ernie Paszkiewicz ’79
was elected
to the Community
Law Center’s board
of directors.
Ernie Paszkiewicz ’79 ACCT was elected to
the Community Law Center’s board of directors.
An audit and accounting partner at Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates, he specializes in nonprofit
organizations, manufacturers and wholesale
distributors. Paszkiewicz, a member of the American Institute of CPAs and Maryland Association
of CPAs, lives in Harford County, Md. His past
and present professional and civic activities have
included leadership positions with the Harford
County Chamber of Commerce and the Hunt Valley
Business Forum.
