Jack Darrell Seon Jr. served in the armed forces.

He died Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. He was 72.

He was born in Harlem, N.Y. to the late Sherrie and Jack Darrell Seon Sr.

Seon was educated in New York and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School.

In 1955 he joined the United States Navy and became a radioman aboard the USS Lake Champlain. He was discharged from the Navy in 1961.

Seon joined the U.S. Army in 1962 where he served as a radioman and teletype operator in the 82nd Airborne Division. He was discharged in 1965. In 1975, he joined the Army Reserves and served in the 157th Infantry Brigade.

He obtained his commercial driver’s license in 1982 and was a tractor trailer driver until his health began to fail in 2005.

He was a proud member of VFW Post 3398 in Willow Grove.

He is survived by his children, Penny L., Jack Darrell III, Troy M. and Darryl J.; siblings, Melody, Candy and Holly; 12 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and other relatives and friends.

Services were held Nov. 10 at St. Therese of the Child Jesus RC Church, 6611 Ardleigh St. Viewing was at 9 a.m. and services followed at 11 a.m. Burial was private.

Rodriguez Funeral Home, Inc. handled the arrangements.

Myrtle Anderson Scott was the first lady of the New Bethlehem Baptist Church.

She died Nov. 5, 2012. She was 98.

She was born on April 1, 1914, the eldest daughter of the late Stewart and Ila V. Anderson.

She attended the schools in Richmond, Va., graduating from Armstrong High School.

She was baptized at an early age at Fifth Street Baptist Church in Richmond. She attended Virginia Union University where she and the late Rev. James F. Scott became an item. They married on June 24, 1936, in Fifth Street Baptist Church. The couple had two daughters.

She was a priceless asset to her husband throughout their 31 years of marriage. She led the choirs of two churches pastored by Rev. Scott before coming to Philadelphia.

In October of 1942, New Bethlehem Baptist Church extended a call to the late Rev. Scott who was then the pastor of the Second Baptist Church, South Richmond, Virginia. The Scotts soon moved to Philadelphia, where she continued her studies in music at the Conservatory of Music. Scott taught piano to many, the young and old. She had a love for music as demonstrated by the parade of music students from Monday of each week after school through to Saturday morning until noon.

Scott was faithful in New Bethlehem Baptist Church. In her senior years, she sang on the choir. She was a member of the Queen Esther Auxiliary until her health began to fail. She was the assistant minister of music for New Bethlehem, director of the Scott’s Inspirational Chorus and director of NBBC Day Care Center.

“Myrtle moved quietly and unassumingly throughout the church, winning the love of the people through her sweet smile and pleasant disposition,” her family said.

In addition to the church, Scott was also active in the Larchwood community for the United Heart Fund Charity.

Scott was preceded in death by her brother, Eugene Anderson; sister, Ila Greene and daughter, Janice Christine.

She is survived by her daughter, Ila Grace; brother, Stewart Anderson and other relatives and friends.

Services were held Nov. 10 at New Bethlehem Baptist Church, Preston and Aspen Streets. Viewing was at 9:30 a.m. Services followed at 10:30 a.m.

James L. Morse Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

Cornel Rich was employed by Southern Bell and AT&T for more than 35 years.

He died Nov. 3, 2012. He was 60.

He was born to Sept. 20, 1952 to Helen Rich. He was the second of six children.

Rich grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Bok Vocational Technical High School. From there he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Upon discharge from the Navy, he began working for Southern Bell/AT&T.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Keith Rich.

In addition to his mother, Rich is survived by his daughter, Tanesha Rich-Boatman; two grandchildren, Jordan and Brandon Boatman; four siblings, Gregory Rich, Vanessa Rich, Rhonda Rich and Sherry Rich.

Memorial services will be held Nov. 13 at 6pm at Mitchum-Wilson Funeral Home, 1410-1412 S. 20th St.

Lorraine Shedrick was a deaconess at New Central Baptist Church.

She died Nov. 3, 2012 at Thomas Jefferson Hospital. She was 63.

She was born in Philadelphia to Ella and Joseph Harris on July 29, 1949.

 She was raised in Philadelphia and graduated from Bok High School. She attended school for fashion design and graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

She worked for Temple University for many years and in many different capacities. While at Temple, she met her husband, Steve Shedrick. They were married for 16 years. She enjoyed traveling with him and reading.

Shedrick was an active member of New Central Baptist Church, where she was a missionary, sang on the choir and was recently made a deaconess.

She led a varied and fulfilling life. She was a very strong woman and a breast cancer survivor.

Shedrick was preceded in death by her brother Joseph, daughter Renee and great-grandson Chase.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her children, Theresa, Sylvia and Jace (wife, Donita); stepchildren: Angelic and Sharese; grandchildren: Aisha (husband, Walter), Quiana, Warren, Khailah, Aniyah, Shekkita, Edward, Jace, Isaiah, Elijah and Ian; great-grandchildren, Giana, Jae, Gabriella, Jackson and Sanaa, and siblings, Veronica, Cynthia, Victoria and Gerald.

Services will be held Nov. 10 at New Central Baptist Church, 2139 Lombard St. Viewing will be held at 9 a.m., services to follow at 11 a.m. Burial is private.

Wood Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

Before Andrew Brown and Laura Brown — not related — arrived on the University of Pennsylvania campus, they had both heard of Penn’s reputation, correct or not, as liberal.

Once at Penn, they both found like-minded fellow students, and each rose to leadership roles in political party student organizations. Andrew, from Pittsburgh, is president of Penn Democrats. Laura, from Pulaski Va., is president of Penn Republicans.

On Election Day they joined hundreds of energized undergraduates from student groups like Penn Leads the Vote working hard to get out the student vote.

More than 89 percent of Penn undergraduates voted in the 2008 presidential election. Students involved in voter registration efforts on campus this year predict an even larger turnout.

Last month, David Thornburgh, director of Penn’s Fels Institute of Government, expressed optimism about the millennial generation of “fired-up” voters during his School of Arts and Sciences 60-Second Lecture.

Penn Democrats is the largest student organization on campus. It has a listserv of 2,900, a deputy board of 60 appointed officers and an elected executive board of nine, Andrew says, adding, “Our deputy and executive boards have racked up literally thousands of hours of volunteering for the president. We registered 1,236 students to vote, the highest number of students we've ever registered.”

Laura says the College Republicans organization has fostered a small but engaged community of 30-35 active members.

“From my side of the aisle, the biggest misconception about being a young Republican is that people think it’s not okay to be a Republican in college. But a lot of people have conservative leanings. Just because you’re 21 doesn’t mean you have to be Democrat,” said the 21-year-old Wharton senior, a business and public policy major.

Andrew, also 21, a junior double-majoring in economics and African studies, says he’s more partisan than his liberal-leaning parents. He cites his experiences attending an inner-city high school as one of the major influences that led him to the Democratic Party.

He says that some of his fellow students question whether to include their affiliation with a partisan Penn student organization on their resume.

Doing that certainly hasn’t hurt Laura. She’s just been offered a job in corporate banking at PNC with a post-graduation start date in 2013. 

“I was personally really scared about having College Republicans on my resume. But in my interviews, they were impressed about my being a leader.”

After the frenetic pace of election season, Laura will continue her work as a Wharton Ambassador and board member of the Penn Political Coalition. Andrew will have more time to sing with Penn’s Jewish a cappella group the Shabbatones (he’s a tenor) and more time for “bro-ing out” with his fraternity Phi Kappa Psi, where he serves as community-service chair.