Stephen Harper:
CLASS OF 1961
Hempfield High SchoolClass of 1961
Landisville, PA
Franklin & Marshall CollegeClass of 1965
Lancaster, PA
Stephen's Story
Life
I am married to Sara-Sally Nolt (HHS, 1960) since 1965. We have two kids: Karen Newbery, Creedmoor, NC; Peter Harper, Riverside County, CA.
Karen and her husband have a son; Pete and his wife have a daughter. We advise and mentor as sponsors to Montagnard Refugees whom our congregation has co-sponsored. We are like "adopted" parents to the families. We volunteer support for several Montagnard families in the city -- a total of 20 kids and 10 parents!
I graduated from F&M with a BA in Economics, and Sara graduated with an R.N. from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
Currently, Sara and I both worked for Duke University. It was my 5th job in 45 years as Business Manager for the Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. Sara is an Administrative Specialist in the Annual Fund Office working with large databases, reports and bulk mailings.
Cognitive Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary center with faculty drawn from a number of different departments. We offer B.S. programs for undergraduates and PhD programs for grad students. Our labs employ 150 researchers at all levels. We are supported by the University and many Federal grants.
Most of my career has been in IT within the retail industry -- as a VP/CIO in two companies and as a sales rep/project manager/industry specialist for IBM and Fujitsu. One 10-year stint was in Omaha, Nebraska. It was through work that in the 1990s we served in two assignments of one year each -- one in Italy and the other in Thailand. Wow!
We have traveled a lot to some 30 countries -- some combined business and pleasure; others strictly for fun and exploration. I had two consulting trips to Russia in the early 1990s shortly after the demise of the Soviet Union. Interesting!
In 2006, we returned to visit northern Italy for 3 weeks with s...Expand for more
on Pete and his wife. We have also used some of our time-share values at the NC beaches and in Sedona, AZ.
We are both active in choral music, having sung in groups since we were 9 years old (in Rohrerstown...). We are members of the Duke University Chapel Choir -- 110 singers undergrad, grad and townies. The Chapel choir accepts invitations to sing at Carnegie Hall, National Cathedral in D.C., Southeast music educators conferences, and other opportunities. The choir has toured in Poland, China, and Spain. You can view/hear at chapel dot duke dot edu.
At New Year's 2007, we spent 2 weeks in Spain singing in the cathedrals to packed houses. I am also a member of the Council of the Congregation at Duke University Chapel.
We interact with our student friends from many lands and keep in touch with our friends across the USA and around the world.
The last time I saw Miss Mary Lee Forney was at lunch in a Rorherstown retirement facility. I told everyone the story of my first dance in 7th grade. Miss Forney drew the short straw and had to chaperon. Someone dared me to ask her to dance. I did; she accepted. So, as we danced, my nose was right in between her two large possessions. Something I've always remembered.... You should have heard her ROAR with laughter. The whole dining room stared, wondering what had just happened!!!!!!!!!
I also visited Frederick Smedley, 6th grade Landisville, teacher-principle just after his 100th birthday. Surprisingly, he remembered some of my shenanigans.
Many of our current activities center around the thousands available through this major research university and the whole Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle. It is a wonderful area filled with people from everywhere, featuring restaurants, music, art, shops, festivals and activities of all kinds.
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