CLASS OF 1953 | 2015 | ISSUE 2

Never too late to write a “Dear John” as did Sandy Millar from Camden, Maine, after 62 years. A year ago Fran and he found Omaha Beach especially moving while enjoying cruising on the Seine. This fall they will travel Portugal’s Douro River. When not cleaning up a portion of Wellfleet’s ocean beach or participating in Rockland Kiwanis Club activities, keeping up with four grandchildren and their parents in Norwalk and Darien, Conn., makes life interesting.

Former White House physician and retired brigadier general John E. Hutton Jr., died Dec. 12, 2014, from complications of Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia at a military retirement facility in D.C. A biology major and member of Eclectic, John wrote in 1993 that he could easily make his 177 lb. wrestling weight class with no effort. After serving in the Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot, he attended medical school and served in Vietnam, becoming an authority on bullet wounds and managing wartime casualties. John served in the White House for two years before being named physician to President Reagan in 1987. He retired from the military in 1992 and then taught at the Uniformed Services University until 2010.

Word has been received of the death of John Seelye, of Palatka, Fla., April 20, 2015. He was an English major and member of Alpha Chi Rho, where he served as secretary. After receiving a doctorate from Claremont Graduate School, he taught at a number of universities: Cal Berkeley, North Carolina, Dartmouth, and the last being Florida in Gainesville. John enjoyed restoring historical homes and buildings, his most recent the Veterans’ Memorial Hall in Eastport, Maine. During the summer of 1953 I remember John and my college roommate, Jan van den Berg, on their way to graduate schools in California, driving through Denver, where I was working, seeking housing and dates.

Tom Plimpton ’56 notified us of the death of his brother, James David “Jim” Plimpton, Dec. 7, 2014. A native of Dyer, Ind., (Chicago area) Jim was a physics/math major (Phi Beta Kappa) and a member of Delta Tau Delta, where he and Charlie Hoyt became close friends, and Jim played trombone with the High Street Five. After receiving a Ph.D. from Iowa State in ’61, he joined Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., and worked in the area of nuclear physics, later becoming an administrator before retirement. As third generation Wesman, his grandfather 1891 and father 1921, Jim was the fourth of five family members to grace the campus. Our condolences to his wife, Donna, their two children, and three granddaughters.

Condolences of the class are extended to the wives and families of the three classmates. For further details see online obituaries at magazine.wesleyan.edu.