The Columbus East Alumni Association will honor two high school alumni, one posthumously, during its fourth Wall of Fame ceremonies.
An open house and reception is planned at 6 p.m. Friday to honor 1975 graduate Barry Nelson and the late Jeremy McQueary, a 2002 graduate who died while serving his country in the Marine Corp.
The reception will be in East’s main entrance/lobby, and the awards will be presented at halftime of the boys basketball game between East and East Central High School.
Members of McQueary’s family are planning on attending the reception, organizers said. McQueary had planned to join the military after high school graduation, but when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, happened he decided to complete high school a semester early to join as soon as possible.
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After boot camp, he joined the Marine Corp in January 2002, serving in Okinawa, Japan, Iraq and Afghanistan in several units, including the Motor Transportation 7th Battalion, Special Operations Training Group, Water Rescue and Second Battalion Combat Engineers — Route Clearance Team 3.
McQueary, 27, died on Feb. 18, 2010, in Afghanistan while conducting searches for improvised explosive devices. On Veterans Day 2014, then-Gov. Mike Pence dedicated a bridge in McQueary’s memory on State Road 46 just east of the entrance to Brown County State Park.
McQueary is survided by his wife Rae and son Hadley.
Nelson is the Walter P. Murphy professor and chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University, and a distinguished visiting scholar at Lancaster University in England.
He was on the faculty at Ohio State University for 11 years before beginning his career at Northwestern.
Nelson was valedictorian at East for the Class of 1975, the first class to spend all three years at East. He then graduated first in his class at DePauw University with a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and computer science. He received a master of science degree and doctorate in industrial engineering from Purdue University.
His instructional schedule permitting, Nelson also will attend the reception, organizers said.
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2014: Marja Harmon, Jeffrey Holmes, Sam Hou, Ashley Risk Morrison and Maria Stack.
2015: Frank Anderson and his wife, the late Carol Anderson; Jennifer Rumsey and Richard Fields.
2016: Bryan and Sandy Brown, Amy Huntington and the late Russell Evans.
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