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When John Cornish ’51 graduated from high school, he had little chance of going to college, so he worked at the Easton YMCA. One day a fateful conversation took place in the director’s office.
“John, how do you like your job?” the director asked.
“I love it,” Cornish replied. “Being the aquatic director and assistant physical director is just great.”
“I’m glad you like it because it’s the best job you will ever get at the YMCA unless you go to college,” the director said. “If you’re interested, we will help you.”
Still, money was tight. In order to put himself through Lafayette, Cornish—who majored in biomechanical engineering—worked in the Dean’s Office, as a proctor in Easton Hall for two years, and as a lifeguard in the school’s swimming pool. He took his lifeguard duties seriously, even teaching informal classes.
“At one point, the athletic director came around,” he says. “I had a bunch of students in the shallow end of the pool teaching them how to swim. He asked what I was doing and I said that the students didn’t know how to swim, so I was teaching them. He said that from that point on, my pay as a guard would be doubled, so that helped me out greatly.”
Helping others continued as a major theme in Cornish’s work and as a volunteer.
He was asked to be the steward of Kirby House when it opened. He ran the dinning services, took care of laundry, and performed various other tasks. A member of the swimming team, he worked various other jobs to earn the money needed for college in addition to taking out a loan.
He says the time at Lafayette was more than worth all of the hard work.
“I enjoyed the classes and the teachers,” he notes. “They were a great group of people that gave me the basic knowledge that did me well all throughout my career.”
After Lafayette, Cornish served in the Army. He was an officer in a heavy maintenance company in Seoul City, Korea, and then with a combat engineer battalion on the front line of the Korean War. He earned a Bronze Star for his service.
Back in the United States, Cornish worked as an engineer and executive at Bethlehem Steel for 30 years. He’s now a real estate sales agent with Plaza Realty in Bethlehem. His son, Seth ’91, is his broker. (Seth is married to Jennifer Kinard Cornish ’91, daughter of John Kinard ’52.)
One of his passions outside his job is the work he does for the International Association of Torch Clubs, an organization that fosters information sharing among professionals. There are 72 Torch Clubs throughout North America. Cornish is district director for the Eastern Pennsylvania region, which also includes Wilmington, Del., and Trenton, N.J. His chapter, representing the Lehigh Valley, has 66 members and meets monthly.
“There is a dinner meeting and they mix up the tables each time so members sit and interact with different people each month,” explains Cornish, who received the Gold Torch Award from the international group last year. “Table conversation is very lively because everyone loves to talk. After dinner, one member will present on a subject they are knowledgeable about. Then there is a question-and-answer period and when it is all over the members will say ‘that was a great evening, we’ll see you next month.’ There is no fundraising or other complications with the group. It is primarily a social club.”
Cornish’s presentations have addressed euthanasia and the Live Bethlehem Christmas Pageant. He says that being a member of the Torch Club has been very enlightening. He attended a meeting in Reading during which the speaker talked about the “myth” of “No Child Left Behind,” and a presenter at State College built a case claiming that future wars will be fought over water.
In 2006, he chaired a three-day International Association of Torch Clubs Convention held at the Hotel Bethlehem. Nearly 60 members of the Lehigh Valley Torch Club attended, along with 110 members of Torch Clubs throughout North America. Attendees came from as far away as California, Texas, Florida, and Ontario, Canada.
Cornish has been involved in many civic activities throughput the years. Among them, he:
Cornish also actively supports Lafayette. He is the Class of 1951 correspondent and an alumni admissions representative responsible for two Bethlehem high schools.
“Whenever a student at either school expresses interest in Lafayette, I go to their home to visit with them and their parents, and tell them about Lafayette and my experience there,” he says. “I am also a member of the Graduates chorus. Every year, we give a Christmas Vespers at Colton Chapel and a spring concert at Williams Center.”