Son of Former UK President Relives Memories of His Youth at Maxwell Place

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 29, 2012) — When John Oswald Jr. walked through the front door of Maxwell Place last Friday morning, he likened it to walking through a time warp.

"It's frozen in time over the last 45 years," Oswald said. "It's just gorgeous."

Oswald remembers Maxwell Place from so many years ago because it's where he lived for five years beginning in 1963 while his father, John Oswald, was president of the University of Kentucky.

Oswald was invited back to campus by Dr. Michael Karpf, executive vice-president for health affairs at UK HealthCare.

"Each room here has special memories," Oswald said. "It’s really special to be here."

Oswald spent part of Friday morning, Oct. 26, back at Maxwell Place talking about some of the very vivid memories he has of growing up on the UK campus and reliving what it was like to spend those years as the son of a university president.

"I was completely aware of being on a college campus - of having students all around," Oswald said. "I was just a little kid, so I observed it and I kind of knew what was going on."

Oswald lived in the house from the age of 7 until he was 12. He said he had memories of each room and of other particular things around the house.

"There's an enormous banister on the front stairs, and I would slide down it," Oswald said. "My mom was very upset about it - she was worried that I was going to fall and break my neck, and she was also worried that I would break the banister."

Another vivid memory Oswald has is of November 22, 1963 - the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

"I was 7 years old, and I remember the news flash came on TV that President Kennedy had been shot," Oswald said. "About an hour later, they said they had a suspect - Lee Harvey Oswald.

"I turned to my mom and said 'we aren't related to Lee Harvey, are we?' " Oswald added. (They were not related.)

"It's such an incredible memory of shock and sadness," he added.

Now an assistant vice-president for research at the National Association for Public Hospitals, Oswald said he was excited to return to campus to not only see his old home, but to see the changes that have taken place on campus since he lived here as a child. He is particularly impressed with the medical complex.

"To see what has happened to the medical center is amazing - to see how much it has grown and how it has become such a center of medical excellence in the country," Oswald said.