POSTAL to POSTLE: How Two Alumni Made a Difference via U.S. Mail

And after full and rewarding careers, each chose to honor the good life the dentistry profession provided them by making donations to the Building on Strong Foundations campaign. Both sent their donations to the college via U.S. mail.

Moved by their gestures, Dean Patrick Lloyd visited each alum—Dr. Wright in southeastern Ohio and Dr. Lange in the northwestern part of the state, and then invited them to campus for an up-close look at the construction site.

Dr. Wright was delighted. A retired general dentist, he decided to pursue a career in dentistry after learning about the profession from a cousin who was a dentist. He studied pre-dental science as an undergraduate before becoming a student at the College of Dentistry. His tuition was $300 per quarter, which would seem like a dream to a college student today. In the 1950’s, though, the cost meant he had to work part-time washing dishes to complete his studies. He met his late wife, Nancy, when a classmate introduced the couple. Another classmate served as his best man. And still other College of Dentistry alumni helped him grow his practice by referring patients to him early in his career.

It was these connections to the college that moved Dr. Wright to give. “I felt an obligation to pay back because otherwise I wouldn’t have the life I had. I really loved my career and I made so many good friends,” he said. Dr. Wright stays connected to the college by reading the Dental Journal.  He learned about the building project from the magazine. Excited by the project, he wrote a check and dropped it in the mail. “I’d been thinking about giving to the college and I thought I’d better get started,” said Dr. Wright, who is 90.

Although he graduated eight years after Dr. Wright, Dr. Lange’s career path was very similar. He was also introduced to the profession by a family member—his father, Henry F. Lange, ’32 DDS. Like Dr. Wright, he was a member of Psi Omega dental fraternity, served in the military after college, and returned to his hometown—in this case Toledo—to practice general dentistry. And, like Dr. Wright, he made life-long friends and memories at the College of Dentistry.

“I have some friends and classmates who have passed away. I thought I should give right now, so I did,” Dr. Lange said. He had been reading about the college’s need for updated facilities through the Dental Journal. When he was invited to a campaign event by a former classmate, he asked his friend to send him information about the building project since he was unable to attend.

“The idea is to attract good students and faculty and if you can show them updated facilities, that’s half the battle,” he said. Excited by the opportunities a new, state-of-the-art structure would bring, Dr. Lange wrote his check keeping future students in mind. And then he sent it via U.S. mail.