The Cheyney University C Club, Inc. is pleased to announce that it will honor the memory of Thomas C. Lane IV ’51 (ΩΨΦ) at its annual Wade Wilson Golf Tournament & Silent Auction on August 21 at the Penn Oaks Country Club in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Thomas C. Lane IV, the first person to become a $5,000 Life Member of The Cheyney University C Club, passed away on May 18, 2017, at the age of 92. The Cheyney C Club Wade Wilson Golf Committee announced that Lane would be honored posthumously as the Honorary Chair of the Wade Wilson Golf Tournament & Silent Auction in recognition of his consistent support of the scholarship fundraiser and commitment to Cheyney University Athletics.
All proceeds from this event will benefit the C Club Athletic Scholarship Fund. To sponsor or to attend the Wade Wilson Golf Tournament & Silent Auction should contact Golf Co-Chair Kenneth Barry Jones ’81 at cclubcu@gmail.com or by calling (267) 282-1064.
If you would like to mail your tax-deductible donation via check or money order, please make it payable to “The Cheyney C Club” and write “In Memory of Thomas Lane IV” on the memo line. All payments can be mailed to: The Cheyney C Club, c/o Wade Wilson Golf, P.O. Box 4966, Philadelphia, PA 19119-0066.
The Cheyney University C Club, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) organization, deductions to which are tax deductible according to the law. The official registration and financial information of The Cheyney University C Club, Inc. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.
Thomas C. Lane IV was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and grew up in Malvern, Pa., as well as on the Philadelphia Main Line. He served three years in the United States Marine Corps as a sergeant before being honorably discharged. Afterward, he went to Cheyney State College, where he met his wife, Cordelia Anna Wynder.
After graduating with a bachelor of science degree from Cheyney State College, he earned a master’s degree in Educational Administration at the University of Pennsylvania. He continued his graduate studies at Penn and Glassboro State College (now Rowan).
Lane began his teaching career in the Philadelphia Public School System in 1951 before joining the Fairfield Township at Gouldtown Elementary School in 1952. He accepted a principal position in 1962 in the Bridgeton School system prior to becoming the Director of Federal Programs.
In 1987, Lane was appointed as the first black superintendent of Bridgeton’s public schools. Students remember Lane from his renditions of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which he had performed at the State House in Trenton and the NJEA Convention.
Lane retired in 1993 but continued his work in education by serving as the president of the Fairfield Township Board of Education where he helped bring in the new Fairfield Township School, which has since been dedicated to him. Lane has received rewards for his work in the educational field such as Who’s Who in Education and Outstanding Educator in America.
Serving on many boards and area clubs in the Bridgeton community, Lane was inducted into the Black Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, George Woodruff Memorial Award, was a marshal in the 2014 Bridgeton Memorial Day Parade and was a guest veteran at the Philadelphia Phillies game honoring the U.S. Armed Forces. Lane says that his greatest achievement of all is celebrating 70 years of marriage to his wife Cordelia.
Together the couple has six children, eight grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.