| Golden Alumni | Class of 1934 |
| Aimison Jonnard | |
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2008 article by Jean Jonnard and Janet Duncan |
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Aimison spent the years from 5-14 in Savannah, GA where his dad was Rector of St. John's on Madison Square. A locale for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and the opening scene of Forrest Gump, Aim used to play on the cannon in the square and have ice cream at Solomon's Drug Store, the oldest continuing drug store in the U.S. until the Savannah Art College took over. He and his sister played in Bonaventure Cemetery. They planted two pecan trees in their backyard. His sister's tree died but in 2007, Aimison's was one of the tallest trees in the city, still bearing wonderful nuts. He has lots of fond memories of the squares, the Waving Lady and a first girlfriend. But all of that was surpassed by the years in Manhattan where Aimison declares he had an idyllic youth. In 1930 the family moved into the house on Poyntz Ave. adjacent to St Paul's Episcopal Church where Rev. Jonnard was Rector. As Rector he was very active in working with youths, including a Boy Scout troop, where Aimison became an Eagle Scout. As a boy he played among the parapets on the roof of their house, still standing but now used as an office and thrift shop. Aimison and his wife Jean have been back numerous times to stroll down memory lane. His father's photo is on the wall in the church hall. Aimison often thinks about the fun he had in his Manhattan days: horseback riding at Ft. Riley till sunset; swimming; learning to dance at Marjorie Comb's house to her Victrola; sledding down Leavenworth hill; skating at Wildcat Creek; picnicking at the Konza plain near the Kaw river; shooting his 22 in open spaces; driving on dirt paths; going for five cent Cokes at the Palace Drug Store after a movie; dances at the Wareham Hotel; hanging out at Fat West's house; playing golf at the Manhattan Country Club and on and on. Best pals? Kenny Conwell, Joe Eckart, Dick Hotchkiss (who was a paratrooper killed in the Normandy Invasion). Best girls? Pauline Umberger and Marybel Smith. Buildings on the KSU campus now carry the names of his professors then: Durland and Umberger. At MHS he played tennis and swam, was in the National Honor Society and was President of the Student Council. He was proposed for that position by Margaret (Besler) Spenser who still corresponds and has sent us two CDs of recent recordings. (She was a Big Band vocalist back in those older days and college and the MHS friends remained best pals for another 4 years at KSU and have remained lifelong, dear friends. Only death has parted them. After studying Chemistry at Kansas State, the career path began. Summing up his career years later, he has said, "If they made chemicals, I worked for them". His first job was in Chicago at Lever Bros. followed by a scholarship at Columbia Univ. where he was elected to Sigma Xi and was inducted side by side with Nobel Prize winner Enrico Fermi, whose nuclear fission experiments led to the development of the atom bomb. Dupont in Wilmington, DE followed, where Aim married his college sweetheart, Betty McTaggart in 1938. He left Du Pont in 1941, to return to Manhattan to teach at KSAC. Daughter Carol was born. While teaching, Jonnard wrote his first textbook, the forerunner of his books, tapes, and lectures for his later course "Business Aspects of Chemistry" which he gave to scientists with large US chemical corporations all over the U.S. and Canada. In 1945, he connected with the Mellon Institute, where he could be employed fulltime, still do lab work, and study toward a PhD at the University of Pittsburgh. Just days before his orals, the entire chemistry building burned, destroying all his work. Fortunately, his notes at home were voluminous, his grades were good, and he was awarded the degree. By 1949, Aimison had begun his path in industry. Moving the family to Tenefly, NJ (where he was on the school board,) he commuted to Manhattan, NY to jobs at Shell, U. S. Industries (National Distillers), Celanese (remember Dacron?) He remembers nylon at DuPont and the thrill his mother had when he sent her nylon stockings, where the local stores when wild with excitement over the new product. He has more than 50 years of professional membership in ACS, CMRA, AlChE.
Aimison's first marriage had irretrievably broken after sad years of trying to get help for Betty, who died shortly thereafter. Carol left for college. Aimison met his current wife Jean on his birthday in 1960. There was a wedding the following year, followed by a new house in Laurel Hollow, L.I. and later three little Jonnards: Bill, Peter, and Stephanie. Aimison commuted on the famous LIRR to Manhattan, NY where his office at Esso was at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, now the address the "30 Rock" TV show as well as home to numerous TV networks and ad agencies. He became an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Poly Tech, so he kept his finger in the teaching profession. In 1967, Kansas State University awarded Aimison Jonnard their "Distinguished Service Award." A plaque in his honor hangs in the KSU Chemical Engineering building. When he left Esso, he took a "retirement" job as Chief of the Division of Energy at the then-called Tariff Commission —now the International Trade Commission in Washington D.C. This turned out to be a job that lasted 29 years. His old Beta fraternity brother, John Rhodes, had risen to the highest ranks in Congress but the two old pals continued to meet for lunches and dinners. A touch of Kansas continues along with KSU alum dinners in the District (as DC is called here). As of about 8 years ago, Aimison truly retired and continues his two mile walks to the Rec Center where he works out on 15 different Nautilus machines four times a week, keeps up with lawn and trees, and whenever possible travels about: the QE 2, repeat trips to Italy, Ireland, Spain.- many of the same places he travelled when working for large corporations. He and Jean went to Croatia for 3 weeks last spring. Aimison and Jean Jonnard continue to live in McLean, VA as they have for the last 36 years. Their kids are scattered. Carol to Southern CA, Bill to Northern CA, Peter to Denver. Steffie lives 4 miles away for which he and Jean are grateful. They can see her two boys grow up and they wish that Peter's little girl was closer so the cousins could really know one another. Alas, that's the way of the world today. Aimison has been saddened to see that his children never had the childhood he had in Manhattan, KS. |
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