My Tribute to My Beloved Husband, Jon P. Wardrip

By Dorothy H. Wardrip

Jon Wardrip was my wonderful husband, best friend, and hero of 36 years; the cherished father of our children, Sara and Matt; and a teacher, friend, and mentor to all who came in contact with him.

I told Jon during his last days in the hospital that he has changed me forever, and all that I am today I owe to him, to the people and places he exposed me to during his business and teaching careers, and to all that he taught me during our courtship and marriage. I can never again be Dorothy Louise Hafer of Lancaster, PA. When I married Jon on May 31, 1969, my life forever changed. A year after we married we left my hometown of Lancaster and headed west to Austin, Texas, where he began teaching as a visiting professor in what would become his life’s work and passion. For me, it was the first time I had lived away from home—I had never traveled west of the Mississippi River. A whole new life and world opened up to me, and I was exposed to a university life that I had never known.

Jon’s passion was his family and teaching. He frequently said his life’s mission was to “stamp out ignorance.” Not only with the students he taught, but also with his family, and any others with whom he came in contact. He was notorious for finding misspelled or misused words in written documents, editing them, and sending them back to the originator so that they could learn from their mistakes. Fortunately, he spared his best friends from this potential embarrassment, but most others were never immune from his red editing pen. Often, he just edited the document without returning it to the originator. Somehow, it just made him feel better. When we first married, Jon would correct the notes and letters I sent to friends and family to ensure that my spelling and word usage was correct. He repeatedly pointed out if I used the same word in two or more sentences and encouraged me to find another word to substitute. Over the years, Jon said I became a much better writer and he stopped editing my writing, thanks in part to some writing classes I took several years ago from a professional writer. But, he was always there to offer advice when I needed it.

Above all, Jon valued friendships. It was important to him to keep in touch with the people he knew from high school, college, graduate schools, the business world, and the universities where he taught. In all, he was associated with five universities as either a student or professor (the University of Arizona, the University of Iowa, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, and the University of South Carolina). Obviously, he was meant to teach, and he will always be teaching us by the example he set in his life, his work, and his long, courageous battle with cancer. Everyone admired him for his positive attitude and wonderful sense of humor during his lengthy illness, even until the end. In the hospital, during his brief wakeful periods, he would have that pleasant little smile on his face, which I eagerly awaited from my bedside chair, and which comforted me in knowing that he was peaceful and not in pain.

Jon touched so many lives. I cannot even begin to comprehend how many students he taught and counseled over his career, not only as a professor, but often when they just needed some “fatherly” advice. He cared about his students and he wanted not only to teach them advertising, but also to help them grow up and become mature, responsible adults.

I am so grateful to the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism for creating the Web site at www.jour.sc.edu and the scholarship fund as a memorial to Jon. The tributes that have been written about him by faculty and students are so heart warming to my children and me. It is helping us to cope with our loss and grief by reading these wonderful tributes, learning things about him and his work we didn’t even know, and appreciating how much he was loved and valued. In fact, after several colleagues told him at the hospital about the scholarship fund created in his name, I jokingly told him that if I had known how important and valued he was, I would have treated him with more respect. Such was a typical, humorous exchange between us. He nodded and smiled in his characteristic, knowing way.

We have lost a wonderful husband, father and friend. A true hero in our eyes because of his love for his family and friends, what he taught us to value in life, and how he coped with his disease and fought valiantly until the end. We will truly miss Jon, but he will be alive in our hearts and minds forever, and I shall be forever changed from being a part of his life.

Dorothy H. Wardrip
Loving Wife of Jon P. Wardrip.

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