SANTASIA HANCOCK

Joe Vohlers, age 19, died of sudden cardiac arrest on Feb. 20, 2005 at home in Dublin.  Joe was in the second semester of his freshman year at Ohio Dominican. He would have graduated this May.

Joe had an exciting and wonderful childhood.  He had fun acting out G. I. Joe scenarios, watching the Thunder Cats and the movie Ghostbusters as a young child.  Joe always fought hard for the “Good Guys.”  Joe was the youngest of four siblings who always fussed over him, enjoying his company.  Joe’s brothers and sisters were an important part of his life.  They are: Cullen Barney, and two sisters, Colleen Barney and Greta Vohlers. Aunts, grandparents, nieces and nephews, and classmates from St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin, Watterson High School, and Ohio Dominican University remember Joe as a critical thinker, and a fun-loving friend.

Called “the quickest” player on his 7th and 8th-grade football teams, teams composed of outstanding athletes who later won a state high school championship and went on to play college sports, Joe was sapped of his quickness, much of his strength, and his ability to play by breathing difficulty and illness later while participating with the Watterson football team.  At the time, his health problems were thought to be asthma-related.

Joe performed in Watterson theater, his favorite play being “Fiddler on the Roof.”  He performed the role of Pierre Patelin in the fall 2005 play at ODU.  These interactions with other young people made him very happy.

Joe’s parents want all of you at Ohio Dominican to know how happy he was at your school.  He told his parents a few weeks into the first semester, that they didn’t have to worry about him at ODU because he had a second family there.  His dorm mates in Siena Hall were like sisters and brothers, and have shared many of their good memories of him with his parents.  He felt truly loved and accepted at your school by staff and classmates.

One of Joe’s mother’s Dianne’s fondest memories tells a lot about Joe’s character. During the Christmas break in December, 2005, Joe and his mother were playing chess. Somehow, Joe’s mother had the advantage with a number of dominant figures left on the board.  This was unusual because Joe was able to beat his mother at age seven. His mother complained that she knew she should be able to get him in checkmate, but that she didn’t know how because her end-game was so poor.  Joe said, “Here, mom, I’ll show you how,”  and with a couple quick moves he trapped his own king.”

That was Joe Vohlers.

Mel and Elaine (Tanner) Rozen, of Erie, Pennsylvania, ages 64, passed peacefully on May 23, 2007 and May 24, 2007, respectively. Elaine and Mel were raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, where they met and fell in love. She was the daughter of Russian-Polish immigrant-parents, Bea and Louie Tanner, who started the Louis Tanner Company. Mel was the son of local business people Mortimer and Sadie Rozen. Elaine and Mel settled in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where they raised their two children, Seth and Daphne. They were devoted, loving parents and grandparents to two Shelties, a guinea pig, and a rabbit.

For more than 30 years, the two resided in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Mel, a graduate of Erie Tech High School, went on to receive degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Art and a Masters Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Mel had recently retired from ODU where he taught for 34 years, as Professor of Art and Visual Communication. Mel was also an accomplished artist who exhibited in PA, NY, and OH. His works also are in public/private collections. They were inspired by life and the trips they took throughout the U.S. and abroad.

"Mel had the perfect combination of extreme technical skills and a deep intellect," said Janette Knowles, chairwoman of Ohio Dominican's Theology, Arts and Ideas Department.

"He was brilliant and was totally energized by the creative act, whether it was dancing or singing or art. He loved life."