Over the years, members of the Wamp family have supported people, causes, and places close to their hearts, and Alfred State College (ASC) is proud to be counted among them. This past year, former College Council member Tom Wamp, his wife, Joan, and his brother Mark Wamp, who is an ASC alumnus, decided to contribute to the school’s Major Gifts Campaign on behalf of their entire family. Their gift will help ensure the continued success of Alfred State students and will serve as another shining example of the many ways in which the Wamp family has stepped up and given back to others.
Tom and Mark grew up in Dansville, the sons of Paul E. and Mary Wamp, and brothers to Paul M. and Sally. Their father served as Dansville postmaster and their mother taught English at Dansville High School.
Giving back to others is something that was instilled in Tom and Mark by their parents. In addition to having served as chairman of the Livingston County Bankers Association and past president and director of the Dansville Chamber of Commerce, Paul E. Wamp served as chairman of the Clara Barton Red Cross Chapter and was a member of the Union Hose and Protectives fire companies in Dansville, the Hornell Lodge of Elks, and much more.
Mary Wamp was a member of the New York State English Council, the Dansville Historical Society, and an active member of the St Patrick’s and St. Mary’s catholic communities among other groups. She also participated in many local organizations and efforts, including the Girl Scout Council, American Heart Association and March of Dimes campaigns.
“The history of our family has been volunteerism and we realized its importance at an early age,” said Tom.
Tom and Joan Wamp
Tom’s own journey began at SUNY Brockport, from which he graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary mathematics. That same year, he was hired as a high school math teacher at York Central School. In 1973, Tom furthered his education by earning a Master of Science degree in secondary administration from SUNY Geneseo.
Tom’s wife, Joan, is also a graduate of SUNY Brockport, where she received a degree in health and physical education, later earning a master’s degree in early childhood from Elmira College. Joan taught physical education at Dansville Primary School until Tom’s and her oldest son, Michael, was born, then taught pre-kindergarten in Dansville for eight years on a part-time basis.
In 1975, the couple got into the real estate business through a friend of theirs. Three years later, they founded their own agency, Thomas P. Wamp Real Estate, which is still active today. Their son Stephen works at the agency as a licensed real estate associate, while his brother Michael is managing partner of Hightower Lakewater Advisors LLC in Buffalo.
While continuing to teach math and operate his real estate business, Tom was elected to the Livingston County Board of Supervisors in 1981, serving as the supervisor for the town of Ossian. The York Central School District had granted Tom a two-year leave of absence so that he could fulfill his duties as supervisor.
“In 1983, I had to make a decision to go back to York Central or resign, so in the summer of ’83, I tendered my resignation,” Tom said. “It was a great 15 plus years but it was time to move on.”
Tom would serve as town and county supervisor until 1990. Six years later in 1996, he was appointed by then New York State Gov. George Pataki to the Alfred State College Council, which he served on for seven years, four years as vice-chair.
“We all worked very well together,” Tom said of his fellow College Council members. “It was a good seven years, and we saw considerable growth at the college during that time.”
Serving on the Alfred State College Council is just one of the ways in which Tom and Joan have given back to their community. Tom has also serves on the Livingston County Republican Committee, the Noyes Health Foundation Board of Directors, the Dansville Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and the Dansville Rotary Club among many other groups and organizations. Joan has served on the Livingston County and Town of Ossian Planning Boards and was a member of many local and state realtor organizations. In addition, the couple previously co-owned the WDNY radio station in Dansville, which they put on the air in 1978 and are longtime members of the Alfred State President’s Society.
Mark Wamp
While Tom and Joan have remained in the Dansville area, Mark has resided all over the world as a result of his professional career. After graduating from Alfred State in 1965 with a construction engineering technology degree, Mark attended Wayne State University in Detroit for four years, graduating from there in 1969 with a civil engineering degree.
Mark was then hired at Dow Chemicals as a service engineer, working in refineries, power plants, and pipe lines in the United States. In 1973, through an international division of Dow Chemicals called Dowell Schlumberger, Mark transferred to Saudi Arabia, where he lived and worked for two years.
“From there, I went to Iran and I progressed into the oil side of the business where the drilling and production was,” Mark said. “I was a sales engineer there.”
After 18 months in Iran, Mark returned to Saudi Arabia, where he served as the manager of the company’s base of operations for two years. He then worked in Singapore as the company’s regional sales technical engineer for 14 months before moving to Houston and becoming the coordinator for international affairs.
After a year and a half in Houston, Mark then moved to Scotland, where he served as the company’s North Seas manager for three years until co-founding a company called Apex Tubulars.
“We provided oil drilling equipment, mainly pipe encasing and tubing for drilling wells,” Mark said of Apex. “I did that for four years, then retired and came back to the United States in ’89 and lived in a suburb of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I worked for myself on an ad hoc basis until ’98, selling, importing, and designing oil drilling equipment. I was one of the first people to import products out of China for the oil industry.”
Today, Mark and his wife, Cathie, reside in Houston, TX. Mark continues to help his sons James and Jason, both of whom are in the oil industry, when needed.
Like his family members, Mark has always given to causes close to his heart, whether it’s donating funds to build a new Catholic church in Dexter, MI, contributing to a missionary group that was founded in Mexico, donating to the food bank in Houston, or serving on the Knights of Columbus throughout his 28 years in Michigan. Mark and his family also made a contribution to St. John Fisher College, which their brother Paul M. Wamp had attended. Sadly, Paul passed away in 1995 after a courageous battle with cancer.
Having contributed so much of their time, energy, and funds to others over the years, it’s no surprise that Tom and Mark seized the opportunity to give to Alfred State College’s Major Gifts Campaign. Their gift is on behalf of the entire Wamp family, including their father and mother; their brother Paul; and their sister, Sally Vaughan. Sally, who retired as director of community service at St. John Fisher College after 20 years, has spent many volunteer hours helping her students advance their careers.
Summarizing their decision to give, Tom said, “We’ve had a pretty good life ourselves and we realize that in small communities like Dansville and Alfred, it’s important to step up, whether you’re helping students or people in need. We feel that this type of donation would ensure that students, who come to Alfred State and need some assistance, would be helped by our family gift.”
