Ronald Garmey ’64
Ronald Garmey is the owner of Structural Dynamics Associates, a consulting business he founded in 1985. He currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA, with his wife Michele. In 1993, Ronald was honored with the Walsh University Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award for his significant professional accomplishments, exemplary community service and commitment to Walsh.
I was a senior at Central Catholic High School, and Br. Thomas Farrell, who would be Walsh’s first president, was living there at the time. It was in the newspaper that he, along with six other Brothers of Christian Instruction, were going to start a college with the support of Bishop Emmet Walsh of the Diocese of Youngstown. Br. Farrell met with a group of us seniors at Central Catholic. At the time, I had already been accepted into the University of Notre Dame, The University of Dayton, and John Carroll University, and wanted to take engineering. My parents told me that tuition costs would be hard to cover. Then Br. Farrell offered me the first full scholarship, called the “Principle Scholarship,” and so off to Walsh I went.
We were all a little nervous during those first few months. There were delays and when we finally started on November 17, 1960, the school really wasn’t even finished yet. There was no parking lot, and I remember there being a lot of mud.
There were 67 boys in total. A lot of us came from Central Catholic; however, there were also several students from Rome, New York, and a couple other places. There was a doctor in Rome, New York, who knew the Brothers, and he sent students to Walsh throughout the years. There were no dorms at the time, so I lived at home with my parents and commuted. Out-of-town students were put up in off campus housing.
I picked history as my major after several lively and fascinating discussions with one of my favorite professors, Paul Masse. He taught history, but we also talked about everything from politics to philosophy. I truly enjoyed those conversations. I also had a major in classical languages. After my freshman year, I decided I would try seminary school, but I came back to Walsh my junior year where Br. Farrell reinstated my scholarship.
I was asked by Jack DeLong, a faculty advisor who had worked at the Canton Repository, if I could serve as editor of the yearbook. I told him I wasn’t sure I know how to put one together, and he told me he would show me everything I need to know. So we started working on the first issue of The Lamp.
In addition to The Lamp, I wrote for the student newspaper, The Spectator. I was also a member of the glee club, the rifle club and the prom committee.
As for food, we’d mainly eat at home; however, we did like to go to a little place on the corner of Whipple and Portage called Palombo’s. We would also have dances at Walsh. Some of the classmates would buy a couple kegs of beer, and we’d all gather in the campus center the Stumble Inn on those occasions.
Most of the service-oriented activities in those days involved helping Br. Dacian Barrette with campus beautification and planning. The students helped with landscaping and things like that.
After graduating, I went with a classmate and good friend Sean Keenan to law school at the University of Notre Dame. It was there that I fell in love, quit law school, and got married. I moved back to Ohio with my wife and then two children and pursued my first job.
My liberal arts education afforded me three job offers within a short time of returning to Ohio. I took a job at the St. Regis Paper Company. After one year, Br. Farrell offered me the job of Director of Admissions for Walsh College where I served for two years.
I returned to Walsh several years ago and was so impressed with the growth and prosperity. And to think it all started in 1960as a fantastic little dream. It’s truly amazing.