CLASS OF 1961 | 2018 | ISSUE 2

Bob Johnson sends his greetings touched with sadness: “Jan Westerman Jr., died in Los Angeles on Sept. 4, 2017, after a long illness. Jan had been the proprietor of his own paper and office supply company. He loved to sail, and he kept in touch with me regularly. He was divorced and left behind his ex-wife and his daughter.”

Phil Rodd checked in with a quick note: “Nothing special going on here, but if I think of something interesting, I will let you know.”

As a follow-up to Jack Richards’ comments noted in the previous column, (Issue 1, 2018) your secretary replied to Jack with the following: “A great submission, Jack, and I thank you for the quick reply. Your tour in Vietnam caught my eye, since I was in the Da Nang area at about the same time, 1967-1968. It might be worthwhile to survey the classmates, seeking those who also served there, and have them tell us their experiences and stories. I’ll do a bit more follow-up on that angle.”

Steve Wainwright writes: “I am still practicing law here at Wainwright, Wainwright, Wainwright, Wainwright, and Wainwright with my brother, Richard Llewellyn, age 85, and his wife Ona Mae, age 85.

Neal Schachtel writes: “During our evacuation from Irma we spent 14 hours on the road to Atlanta with wife, mother-in-law, dog, and cat. Since we had no power in St. Pete, we stayed at Bob Reiser’s for a week while he and Margaret went to Egypt. The return trip only took 10 hours and convinced us to move off the water.”

And, congratulations to Joseph Miller, history professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Joe has been back to Wesleyan a few times to lecture.

Sandy McCurdy recalls many memories: “I’ve not had a chance to speak to any of our classmates recently in person, though in my head, indeed, many conversations and recollections with: Larry Wiberg, Tom Peterson, Pete Odell, June Prince, Brad Beechen, Dave Sucher, Howard Morgan, and Jack Mitchell. Most recently, reading in the latest Wesleyan magazine, my eyes came across my Deke brother, Skip Silloway ’59, and thoughts returned full force to the days of yesteryear. Of the great times we had then, as a men’s college of under 600 souls, (actually more bodies than souls) having to ‘move out’ on weekends in pursuit of the fairer sex—not realizing, had we been gay, that said moving out would not have been necessary. But alas, some of our most brilliant and sensitive gay classmates would take their lives, feeling the isolation and condemnation of their nature. There were two young men in our class, whose names we know and honor.

“So, we left campus in our automobiles for luring destinations such as Smith (far away) or Conn College for Women (a nearer strike), stopping in Middletown near Goodyear’s to buy plentiful supplies of beer (illegally, but no problem) and then drive to our destinations, oblivious to our foolishness. No seat belts either, of course.

“And Skip and I: one fine day, he, two years (equaling two millennia then) older than I, decided to challenge each other in a drag race—he in his ’57 Chevy convertible and I in my ’57 Ford—stick shifts—how cool we were. Imagine: all without seat belts, we headed to the Merritt Parkway, found a straightaway stretch of the road, then waited for it to be empty for a moment, then headed out for the competition—which he won handily. The foolishness of it all, looking back, is breathtaking.

“I am thankful now that Wesleyan seems much more serious intellectually, though I do not idolize today’s youth and their capacities for nonsense on campus whatever its nature. Yet, the dominance of fraternities and fraternity life seems to have been diminished and overshadowed by serious intellectual pursuits—the latter always Wesleyan’s strong card. My votes that we Dekes give our old house to the University counts as a voice crying in the wilderness. That Amherst, Williams, and Yale have cut back or eliminated the brotherhoods—no matter. What do they know? Cheers to Wesleyan.”

John “Jack” Dennis published his new children’s book, The Mouse in the Lemon Tree, available on Amazon and first in a series to address kid literacy. “An accompanying animated video of the story explores just one phase of ‘advocacy animation’ that will allow us to explore how this book-video combination can increase its usefulness.” He will publish a second memoir this year that follows his first memoir, Jack in the Cracks, Primavera Press 2013.

Bob Hausman draws this column to a close with poetic verve:

“What expectest thou of this poor player, who,

on the stage of life,

strutteth and fretteth no more,

but, rather,

quietly entereth his dotage,

bereft of any tale to tell,

except that which might by any of us be told;

namely, that all things considered,

it is best

to still be found

above ground.”

Respectfully submitted,

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205