For immediate release: October 28, 2003
For more information, contact Creg Jantz at 216-368-6517 or creg.jantz@case.edu

CLEVELAND—Picture this: Case Western Reserve University senior soccer player John "Jack" Edmonson weaving in and out of artifacts on the marble floor of a museum as if they were orange cones on a soccer field full of green grass.

"That would make for a great Nike commercial," joked Edmonson.
Far fetched? Not really considering Edmonson has grown up in places where objects of lasting history are stored.

photo by Jeffrey Blatnik John "Jack" Edmonson (center) in action on the soccer field

Edmonson's father, James, is the chief curator at Case's Dittrick Museum of Medical History. His mother, Christine, works across the street at the Cleveland Museum of Art as an art historian and librarian.

"At age 5 or 6, he was pushing his kid sister along the museum's storage aisles on an office chair," said the older Edmonson. "He never smashed into anything, thankfully!"

Being raised in museums runs in the family. Jack Edmonson's grandfather-his mother's father—Joe Ennis—was head of restoration at the Hagley Museum in Delaware, site of Du Pont's original powder works.

"Like his mother, Jack grew up on museum grounds," said James Edmonson. "With both of us being involved in the museum field, he had a lot of unique opportunities many other people probably didn't."

Mom put the children in art classes on Saturday mornings. That kind of dwindled as soccer picked up more and more and Jack Edmonson would go away for tournaments. But for as long as he can remember, he said Saturday mornings were reserved for the arts.

"We would pick a theme class and go on a quarterly basis," Jack Edmonson said. "We would make masks and stuff like that and bring them home. Since my mom worked there, we also got sneak peaks at all the shows with the art bigwigs."

Jack Edmonson, a business major/aspiring bigwig himself, made the migration down the hill from Cleveland Heights to University Circle after graduating from Heights High in 2000. His parents didn't require that their son go to Case, even though as a child of an employee he could receive free tuition. He said he had already thought about the benefits.

"The fact that I would graduate with no debt is huge, especially coming from a University like this," said Jack Edmonson. "Basically I am going to come out with so many opportunities available to me, and I don't have to work anything off."

He said his Case education will give him a good head start-which a lot of young people would love-and one his younger sister Patricia also will enjoy. She is a sophomore art history major at Case, following the career path of her parents.

"She loves the museum world," said James Edmonson. "We tried to get her involved in athletics, but she wanted to go in a different direction. She works right now with an art conservation group in Shaker Heights restoring old paintings."

When the younger Edmonson graduates from Case this spring, he will look for work in an industry he is interested in, like golf or skiing resorts. He said he won't just take a job because it's there. That's a trait that he has learned from his father.

"My dad loves going to work, he loves going in every single day," Jack Edmonson said. "Working in a museum, he doesn't get paid that well, but his heart's in it. And I am looking for the same type of situation."

So Jack Edmonson sees his loves growing from art to soccer and, soon enough, to his job.

SOCCER SITUATION

Highs and lows is a good description of Jack Edmonson's time on the soccer field at Case. The Spartans are 13-36-2 during his tenure. His junior year was by far the best. Jack finished with 11 points on four goals and three assists. The team finished 7-10-1.

"Over the years he's played with good teams and bad ones, so he has been through it all," said the older Edmonson. "He's not one to jump ship and abandon teammates when things aren't going so well."

"I have always had a bunch of great guys to play with," Jack Edmonson said. "It just seems like the ball hasn't bounced our way. We've had some big wins; we have had some big losses. Perseverance is a big thing I have learned."

WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE

From a helicopter flying above University Circle on any given Wednesday or Saturday approximately a half hour before game time, a person could watch the Edmonson family leave from three different points on campus on their way to one-Finnigan Fields-where the men's soccer team plays their home games.

"My mom and dad usually show up, but my sister has a lot of late classes," said Jack Edmonson. "But she lives in Clark Tower (across the street from the soccer field), so she could probably just look out and catch the game."

HEIGHTS HYPE

Jack Edmonson was a three-year starter at Cleveland Heights High School. His sophomore season the team finished an unexpected 17-2-1, losing in the elite eight to the eventual state champions. During his junior year, Heights won the league title, but fell short in the postseason. Because of students lost to graduation, Jack Edmonson said his finaly year playing high school soccer was a rebuilding one.

"My senior year was tough, but it didn't deplete my love for soccer," he said.

About Case Western Reserve University

Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, and service. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dentistry, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Sciences. http://www.case.edu

–Case–

 

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