CLASS OF 1957 | 2016 | ISSUE 3
A late summer note from Dick Cassie reported that he has five grandchildren in college—three men at Northwestern, Tulane, and the Hartt School in Hartford, and two women at Penn State and Colgate. The young ladies were recruited for lacrosse and basketball, respectively. Dick adds that he has two of his own children yet to go on to college. He teaches three days a week at Rutgers Dental, and admits all the activity is exhausting—not so much the teaching, but attending games and tournaments.
Hardly to be outdone, Jeff Williamson’s oldest grandchild, Sarah ’16, graduated from Wesleyan at this past Commencement. Two other granddaughters are Erin at Middlebury, and Nell, looking at University of Chicago or Wes. Jeff and his wife, Nancy, summer in Maine and winter in St. John, Virgin Islands. The balance of the year they are in Madison, Wis. He has planned some “academic” travel to Australia next year, which I’d bet will focus on a recent publication entitled Unequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality Since 1700.
Gordy Wilmot endured a bit of a heart episode last summer that resulted in the implant of a pacemaker. He says he’s now feeling fine. Not as fine as golf with three grandsons. Always forthright, he says that none of them know how to play the game so they compete on who comes in with less than 10 per hole. Seems to me they’ve yet to figure out how to adjust the scorecard. And Gordy was a stellar math major.
In keeping with a lifetime of work in book publishing and an ardent interest in history, Carey Congdon turns his energies toward the development of a documentary film about submarine warfare in World War II. He is collaborating with film producer Noel P. Cortell, retired U.S. Coast Guard member, furnishing research materials and placing him in contact with fellow historians. One of the strangest stories of the war—that will be featured prominently in the film—concerns the French Surcouf, said to be the largest sub in the world in 1942. Escaping occupied France and continuously on the run, Surcouf wound up in Martinique in May 1942, where she was destroyed by a USN PBY plane. How it came to be that our own navy sank a French sub, we will wait on the completed documentary to find out. Nonetheless, Carey’s report offers a few “teaser” hints, e.g., an insubordinate captain, a majority of crew were German sympathizers, and the convoluted politics among the Allies in those early days of the war. Carey expects the film to be shown on PBS.
Tony Austin continues his commercial fishing business based in Morehead City, N.C. He reports that his daughter landed a position with Northrop Grumman in Huntsville, Ala., and is happy that she was hired right out of undergrad at an attractive salary.
Mike Stein provides an incentive for DKE brothers to attend the upcoming Reunion by organizing a get-together at the fraternity house. He’ll furnish the time and additional details.
Gary Miller ’56 hosted a meet-and-greet for Sigma Nu and Kappa Nu Kappa brothers during this past Reunion weekend. Yours truly attended as well as John Allison. I was also glad to see Don Ritt ’56, and Al Grosman ’56. I took a little extra time to stroll around the campus on that handsome spring afternoon.
Notification of the passing of David Schurman came through. David had moved to Germany some years ago, and his death dates back to 2013.
Art Typermass | AGType@msn.com
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