Local historian Chuck Langerman shared that the Cheltenham School District community lost its two oldest known alumni in December of 2020.

On December 20, Louise “Bobbie” Rose, a 1933 Cheltenham High graduate, passed, and three days later, Roger Wardlow, a 1934 alum, passed away as well. They were both 104 years old.

According to Langerman, Rose (above left) lettered in four sports at Cheltenham High: basketball, swimming, field hockey, and softball. She was named “Best All-Around Female Athlete” in her class four straight years and matriculated at Temple University where she won letters in five sports, adding tennis to her growing list of accomplishments.

After graduating Temple, Rose became a physical education teacher, and in 1947 she took up the game of golf which would become her life’s passion. Over the years, Rose won over 60 golf tournaments, including 14 straight Women’s Club Titles at her then home course Ashbourne Country Club.

At the age of 99, she was still playing three or four times a week, often shooting her age. In fact, to celebrate her 99th birthday, Rose went out on a regulation course in Palm Beach, Florida and shot a 96.

In 2014, at the age of 98, she was enshrined in the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. You can read her obituary in The Inquirer here.

Wardlow (above right) was born in 1916 and had to deal with two major pandemics in his lifetime. After his biological father’s death during the flu epidemic of 1918, Roger was adopted by Raymond Wardlow.

He graduated from Ursinus College in 1939 and worked as a hospital and nursing administrator until retiring to work in real estate.  

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