Alumni & Friends Stories

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On the left is Ernest Korber in 1949 and on the right is his grandson, Sean Wirt, in 2019, in front of the New Castle residence hall on The Green.

A Blue Hen Family’s Scrapbook

Photos courtesy of the Wirt Family

The Korber and Wirt families’ UD history begins in 1939. Over a span of more than 80 years, this multi-generational Blue Hen family has captured their time on campus and beyond through well-preserved photos in scrapbooks that Ann Wirt, AS93, keeps in her home.

The list of family members with UD connections by generation include:

First Generation:
Andreas Korber and his wife Teresa moved to Newark in 1939 as Andreas took a job as the head chef in a dining hall at the University of Delaware
Second Generation:
Ernest Korber, the son of Andreas and Teresa, graduated from UD in 1949 and became a well-known and respected dentist in Newark for nearly 40 years. Louise Korber, wife of Ernest, graduated from UD with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art in 1956 and 1962, respectively.
Third Generation:
Ann Korber Wirt, Ernest and Louise’s daughter, graduated from UD with a bachelor’s in history in 1993. John Wirt, Ann’s husband, graduated from UD with a bachelor’s in chemical engineering in 1988.
Fourth Generation:
Sean Wirt, the son of John and Ann, was born in Indiana but still found his way back to Newark, DE, to also study to be a chemical engineer—he will graduate from UD in 2022.

This walk down memory lane through the family’s scrapbook photos is told through the eyes of Ann, with a few additions from her son Sean.

“I chose UD because of the combination of the fantastic chemical engineering department and the really comprehensive Honors programming,” Sean said. “The Redding Hall community is vibrant, and I could see myself excelling in engineering research here. Now that I'm here at UD, I can appreciate how, all the way back to my great-grandparents, my family has played a role in the Newark & UD communities.”

Sean’s mother, Ann, said, “My dad would be so incredibly proud of him.”

The First UD Generation: 1930s-1950s

Andreas Korber, who came from Munich, Germany, after World War I, was the head chef for Kent Dining Room (the women’s section) until he retired in 1955. He even made his own ice cream for the campus community. According to Ann, it was a big process. Large batches were made in the kitchen.

“I wish I had kept some of the vintage cookbooks,” she said. “They had titles such as Cooking for Quantity.

“He took a lot of pride in feeding the college students.”

After Andreas died, his wife Teresa (pictured right, above) rented out two rooms in their house to students, many of whom were international and graduate students.

“I found many of the letters and photographs that previous students had written to her once they had moved on to other chapters of their lives,” Ann said.

The Second Generation: 1940s-1950s

The Korber family built this house on South College Avenue in 1950. They maintained a large fruit and vegetable garden, including cherries and rhubarb.

The first floor of the house later became the first location for Ernest Korber’s dental practice before he moved it to a bungalow on East Park Place.

“My dad enjoyed riding his bike all around Newark,” Ann said of Ernest, pictured above on Academy Street circa 1941. On the left is Ernest in his high school band uniform. “He played violin in the orchestra and trombone in the band.”

Now, his grandson Sean has carried on the musical skill, having participated in various musical ensembles at UD.

Newark High School, which is where Ernest (pictured here in 1942) attended, was in what is today Pearson Hall on UD’s campus. “There was always the stress of World War II, and his teachers at Newark High School did their best to prepare the seniors by teaching them practical skills for the war, such as Morse Code and basic first aid.”

After graduating from high school, Ernest served as a U.S. Army medical laboratory technician during World War II in 1943.

In Ernest’s admissions papers for UD, he wrote, “My only wish is to be a dentist.”

According to Ann, with the radical improvements in dental care at the time, he thought the concept of saving teeth was amazing.

“He had two molars pulled when he lived in Philadelphia, and he wondered why they couldn’t have been saved,” she said. “That launched his quest to be a dentist.”

After UD, Ernest worked for University of Pennsylvania veterinary research and graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry in 1956.

Louise Korber earned her bachelor’s degree in 1956. “My mom always enjoyed representing her class of 1956 at the Homecoming football games,” Ann said. “My parents loved the University of Delaware.”

Louise and Ernest met through a mutual friend and UD classmate, Mary Jane Raftery, EHD55, and her husband Dr. Willard Brown, and married in 1961.

Louise Korber was commissioned to do a watercolor painting of Alumni Hall at the University of Delaware. It was donated to the University and now lives in its permanent art collection. It currently hangs in a hallway on the first floor of George Evans House, which is on Main Street, across from Alumni Hall.

She taught art in both public and private schools. Ernest enjoyed art too, and he went to watercolor workshops with Louise to learn from other watercolor artists.

The Third Generation: 1980s-1990s

“My mom lived in Warner Hall as a student and she was very excited for me to live in Warner Hall as a freshman,” said Ann.

“Consider that you may be blessed with your own Blue Hen one day, a couple decades in your future. Imagine one day you may be helping to move your child into that dorm, or into that same off campus house. You may be fortunate enough to watch your own Blue Hen thrive and succeed more than you ever imagined. If the past is any indicator of the present, the UD campus will be even more amazing in the future that in is now. Your legacy to the University of Delaware is yourself. Whether you are socially, scholastically or financially supportive of a student at the school, you are part of the University of Delaware community.

“Since I am part of so many generations of UD, I see first-hand that is important for the students to always think about the future of their campus.”

Since I am part of so many generations of UD, I see first-hand that is important for the students to always think about the future of their campus.
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“I was awarded the Milton Draper Student Alumni Relations award in 1991,” Ann said. “I graduated with a degree in History from UD in January 1993. I believe it was the first graduation in the Bob Carpenter Center. Growing up in the 1970s in Newark, I enjoyed all of the stores on Main Street. I remember seeing movies in the State Theater and walking to Friendly’s afterward.”

Ann went on to become a risk management analyst for a bank in Indiana.

Growing up in the 1970s in Newark, I enjoyed all of the stores on Main Street. I remember seeing movies in the State Theater and walking to Friendly’s afterward.
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John Wirt, EG88, is a Senior Production Engineer at W. R. Grace in Baltimore.

“I met John after graduating from UD in July 1993 at Bennigan’s restaurant in Newark,” Ann said. “We married in 1994, and we had a beautiful wedding reception at the Newark Country Club. My gorgeous wedding cake came from Bing’s.”

The Fourth Generation: 2010s-present

Sean, a former Munson Fellow and a two-year participant in the Summer Scholars program, is pursuing a senior thesis in his research around using microbes to produce valuable substances, he says. He is on track to earn an Honors Degree with Distinction.

Sean is the Internal President for the UD student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and has completed a minor in biochemistry and plans to complete a minor in biochemical engineering.

“I'm living off-campus now, and I'm less than a block away from the house where my grandfather held his dentistry, which is pretty neat,” he says.

This year, he will also be applying for graduate studies in engineering.

“Sean's UD experience has been beyond anything I ever expected,” Ann said. “I am so impressed with UD for being able to foster his academic and personal growth. Sean was born in Evansville, Indiana, and never did I imagine he'd be a thriving student at UD. But here he is, in the Honors College. You never know all of the twists and turns life will take you through.”