College sweethearts Wendy Keck ’75 and Jim Fryfogle ’73 called Marietta College their home for the four years they were students.
Wendy, who earned a degree in biology and education, taught at Marietta Junior High School for a year as Jim finished his MBA from The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania and worked for a year for Marathon Oil in Lafayette, La. Just as Jim’s career as a petroleum engineering burgeoned, the couple married.
Since then, they’ve moved a dozen times during Jim’s 28 years with Marathon Oil. And though the Fryfogles would never live in the 45750 ZIP code again, neither have been struck with a sense of homesickness.
“Marietta College is a part of our lives every day,” Wendy says. “We live in the Houston area, which is the fourth largest city in the U.S., but we have so many MC grads around us, in our work, in our neighborhood, in our circle of friends.”
The couple also keep in touch with Marietta friends who live all over the country.
It’s the time that the two spent at Marietta that really established a lifelong bond with all that is Marietta College. And for that reason, they’ve been consistent supporters of Marietta College through the backing they give fellow alumni and through their contributions to The Marietta Fund.
“I grew up in Belle Valley, just a short jaunt up Interstate 77 and through some winding back roads,” Jim says. “I grew up playing ball and wanted to continue to play. Lucky for me and for all the right reasons, Coach (Don) Schaly wanted me to play baseball, so that’s how I ended up at Marietta.”
Jim, who also played a year of basketball, found three communities within the Marietta College community that provided a tremendous amount of support and friendships.
“I was in baseball and I was a petro student, plus I also pledged with the Sigs (Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity) my freshman year,” he says. “I was lucky to be part of three different groups, though the Sigs had plenty of athletes.”
Wendy was a Sigma Kappa and still stays in touch with her little sisters, Nancy Still Stanbery ’75 and CeCe Cugliari ’75, and their husbands Kim Stanbery ’76, who was Jim’s little brother, and Frank Cugliari ’75.
“I grew up in Greensburg, Pa., and my high school class had 740 people in it,” Wendy says.
While in high school, she visited her older sister, who was in the nursing program at a large university in Pittsburgh. She also visited her other sister, who was a student in a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania.
“I loved visiting her and I knew I wanted to find a school with a similar atmosphere, but a school of my own,” she says. “When I came to Marietta for a visit, as soon as I saw it I said, ‘That’s it!’ I loved the atmosphere and I loved the history. I loved the fact that the buildings reflected the town’s historic nature.”
But mostly, she valued the people she met and the experiences they shared as students.
“I don’t ever run into anyone from my high school. But, in Houston, Texas, all I have to do is say that I went to Marietta College and someone around you either went there or knows someone who has gone there. It’s a memorable place.”
Jim says being a student-athlete and majoring in petroleum engineering really challenged him for the four years he was at Marietta.
“Baseball was demanding and the classes were really demanding,” Jim says. “But being a D3 school, you were playing ball and studying with a lot of good, smart guys — and they were playing for the fun of the game. That part was very fulfilling.”
Though it’s been a few years since the Fryfogles have made a visit to campus, they still keep in touch with the College.
“Coach Schaly and now Coach (Brian) Brewer have done a really good job keeping us connected to the players fraternity,” Jim says.
Recently, they attended a dinner in Houston with alumni, faculty and College administrators.
The Fryfogles have two grown children and one young granddaughter, all of whom live in Houston.
“Even though you aren’t in Marietta anymore, if you are near other Marietta graduates, you have family in the area. We take care of each other. For people who didn’t go to MC, it seems a bit unusual. But to me, it’s wonderful.”
The Fryfogles are The Marietta Fund.
GI SMITH
