Robert J. Meder ‘35
Robert J. Meder was not nominated for his athleticism, his professional career, or his academic success. Lieutenant Robert Meder was nominated for his heroic actions back in April of 1942. Lieutenant Meder was a member of the Doolittle Raiders who were the first American forces to attach the islands of Japan during World War II. Lt. Meder was a co-pilot on one of the 16 B-25 Bombers that participated in the first U.S. air raids on Japan. Unfortunately, Lt. Meder’s plane, along with one other, did not make it and crashed off the Chinese coast. When Lt. Meder’s plane went down his only hope was to swim to shore. With one of his crewmates on his back, he swam for fours hours to the shore to be rescued by local fishermen. Later he was captured by Japanese troops, held captive, and tortured. During this time he kept the group’s spirits up despite the daily horrors they were enduring.
On December 1, 1943, twenty-six year old Lt. Robert J. Meder died of malnutrion and beri-beri while still in captivity. His death was a blow to the others who kept asking why death had claimed this man whose humor and good will had helped sustain them throughout the last nineteen horrible months.
Many in Lt. Meder’s class remembered him as a cheerleader who kept the crowd excited during those fall Saturday afternoon football games. But after the cheers have silenced, the records broken, and the championships forgotten, Lt. Robert J. Meder will always be remembered for his heroics during the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and the impact he had on those who were there.
Following graduation from Lakewood High School, Lt. Meder attended Miami University where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. Miami’s squadron of the Air Force ROTC honor society is named the Robert J. Meder Squadron in his memory.
Lt. Meder’s military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross and Chinese Breast Order of Pao-Ting.
Daniel Joseph Zaffarano ’36
Daniel Zaffarano was born in Cleveland Ohio in 1917. He grew up in Lakewood and it is reported that at age 14 he announced that he wanted to be a physicist. He graduated from Lakewood High in three and a half years and went on to receive his B.S. degree from Case Institute of Technology followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University.
The world of academia became his passion and Iowa State University became his home. He began as a Research Associate Professor at ISU in 1949 and was appointed Professor in 1957. Dan was asked to serve as Chairman of the Dept. of Physics in 1961. He was selected to serve as Vice President for Research and also Dean of the Graduate College in 1987. His other honors include the titles of “Distinguished Professor in the College of Sciences and Humanities” in 1967 and “Physics Division Chief of the Ames Laboratory of the Atomic Energy Commission” from 1961 to 1971.
Quoting Suzy Zaffarano, Dan‟s wife of 58 years, “Dan was a man of never-ending curiosity and talents, a man who always put the concerns of others ahead of his own…students were always a priority in his life…we were fortunate to have six great children – in other words, while Dan was an acknowledge scientist and teacher by profession, he had to have a great sense of humor, too.
After retiring from teaching, Dan volunteered at Edwards Elementary School bringing his love of physics to sixth grade students.
Frank Paul Zaffarano ’38
Frank Zafarrano was born in 1920 in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Lakewood. Following his graduation from Lakewood High School, Frank enrolled in Case School of Engineering to purse his ambition of becoming an electrical engineer. His post graduate career began as a member of MIT‟s prestigious Radiation Lab. Frank was selected to be trained in the new, top secret, technology of RADAR to assist the War effort.
In 1945, Frank Zafarrano was awarded a Medal of Freedom, our country‟s highest civilian honor, for his outstanding war contributions. His work, developing radar beacons as homing devices, was critical to America‟s combat success in WWII. After the war, Frank returned to MIT to complete graduate school. Upon graduating, Frank and two buddies took a hiatus to “tour as many National Parks by car as possible,” culminating in a 10,400 mile road trip.
Frank continued to develop groundbreaking electronic technology for various companies throughout his career. His achievements included the following designs: electronic decoding circuits for General Railway Signal Company, thermocouple, resistance thermometers, and field test instruments for Swartwout Company, cutting edge electrostatic writing device for Brush Instruments, magnetic card technology used on the Ohio Turnpike for Electron, Inc, and the computerization of the Mark 200 recorder for Gould, Inc. Frank was credited in more than 10 patents when he retired in 1987.
Frank married Vera Collister, who was also from Lakewood. They enjoyed 42 years of marriage until his death in 2002. Frank and Vera‟s daughter Paula lives in Lakewood. Their son John lives in Los Angeles, California. Vera resides in Rocky River.