Staff members remembered, honored from past calendar year

Purdue University is honoring staff members from the West Lafayette campus who have died during the past calendar year. The annual staff memorial ceremony is not being held, following event guidelines as part of the Protect Purdue Plan.

Those being honored and remembered are:

• Robert W. Bain
• Kimberly S. Branham-Whalen
• Jeffrey L. Cooper
• James E. Gascho
• Kim L. Jones
• Walter A. Kasyan
• Terry R. Lemming
• Fangjia Lu
• Kameron M. McCreery
• Barbara L. Osmon
• Andrae D. Sailes
• Clayton A. Thomas
• Willie L. Walker

President Mitch Daniels offered the following message:

Dear Members of the Purdue Community,

Staff memorial ceremonies are never easy, but not meeting to mourn and remember together the colleagues we lost in the last year is even harder. No matter how appropriate it is to temporarily forgo that tradition, I regret that we will miss the opportunity to be in one place to commemorate our departed Boilermakers.

The pandemic robbed us of that chance, but I hope you will not allow it to keep you from remembering and honoring these men and women. Remember them for their service to Purdue and the community. Remember them for the colleagues they lifted up, for the young people whose lives they enriched, and for the family they left behind. We will miss their presence and contributions to our university, and we pray for their friends and family as they heal from their loss.

Sincerely,

Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
President