Reunion Weekend: A Flyer family affair

Off to the side of Kennedy Union ballroom during Reunion Weekend stood a table with a small place card reading: “Reserved for Golden Flyers 1972 and earlier.” Every chair was filled. 

Not all that sat around the table were Golden Flyers or even Flyers at all — that’s the draw that Mark Backs ’48, Ann Fitzgerald Wourms ’46 and Dr. Thomas Connair ’50 have. 

All night long the table had visitors, including President Eric F. Spina. Everyone wanted to hear about what the University was like more than 75 years ago when the three of them attended. Newly minted Golden Flyers wanted to hear from the oldest — or as they joked, the “wisest” Flyers — alumni who still made the trip to Dayton for reunion each year.

It was a trip that wouldn’t be possible without the help of some younger alumni.

“When I wasn’t allowed to drive, my son took me back [to Dayton],” Connair said. He spent three years at UD before transferring to Ohio State University to finish a degree in animal science. Although he never earned a degree from UD, he’s become somewhat of an honorary Flyer.

For what would have been his 50th reunion, he was asked to design a paperweight to be gifted to Golden Flyers. Projects like that have helped keep him connected to the University and occasionally, he said, they “keep [him] out of trouble.” 

Connair is also a longtime donor of the University, having given money to UD for the past two decades. He said he had so many Flyers in his family, it was difficult to keep count. His late wife, Ruth (Kelly Cofer) Connair, three of his children and some of his grandchildren all claim UD as their alma mater. 

He and Wourms chatted at their table about how their family members took up careers in science and engineering. They laughed when finding common ground in having their children help them with computer literacy. 

Connair’s son Martin Connair ’87 studied mechanical engineering, and his son Dennis Connair ’81 majored in geology. Wourms’ son Robert P. Wourms graduated in 1972 with a degree in computer science, and her husband Robert J. Wourms ’50 studied mechanical engineering. Backs and his brother Alton Backs ’48 both earned undergraduate degrees in mechanical engineering, too. 

Wourms said coming back is always nice, but UD looked a lot different when she attended during World War II. 

“We didn’t have porch parties because women weren’t allowed to stay on campus then.”

“We didn’t have porch parties because women weren’t allowed to stay on campus then,” Wourms told Connair, who was planning on attending the alumni porch party under the big tent in C Lot the following evening. Her husband was in the military around that time, and Backs and Connair also served, giving them all another commonality.  

Wourms brought her son Richard with her, and Backs had his daughter Michelle right at his side for the evening. Both children were integral in getting their parents back to Dayton for Reunion Weekend and were welcomed guests at the “Golden Flyers 1972 and earlier” table. 

And, as the stream of visitors to the table is any indication, their Flyer families extend beyond just blood relatives.