CLASS OF 1964 | 2019 | ISSUE 1

Class of 1964 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Dimitri Slory ’21, Brooklyn, NY

We hope many of you are planning to come to Reunion! Many of our classmates have been working for several months to plan special events and gatherings. It promises to be a great time to not only reconnect with old friends but also meet classmates whom you never knew. Registration and more information about the weekend can be found here: wesleyan.edu/rc.

Our Reunion committee has decided to have a closed-session event during Reunion Weekend that would consist of informal talks/presentations by classmates who would like to expound upon or explain to fellow classmates, family members, and guests a subject that is near and dear to your heart; something you feel passionate about. It might be a subject from your work, a remarkable life experience, or a passionate hobby that you have enjoyed.

Karen and Chris Chase have moved into a continuing care retirement community (CCRC). These are retirement communities with accommodations for independent living, assisted living, and nursing home care. Karen is part of a women’s action group and was charged with getting out the vote in the last election. Chris is involved with two choral groups, one of them off-campus. They are both enjoying the continuing ed courses offered by Dartmouth. He’s currently enrolled in a Beowulf course—rereading the text in Old English. It’s good to blow dust off the brain.

Becky and I have moved to a RV trailer here in Umatilla, Fla. It has the feel of a CCRC that Chris reported, with all sorts of programs. We still have our condo in Savannah, traveling back and forth every month.

Garry Fathman reports celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with wife Ann (and three married children and three grandchildren) and will celebrate his 50-year graduation from Washington University School of Medicine this year.

Steve Huepper and wife Marian celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and rented a home in Saluda, N.C., on a lake for something special! They played golf in Hendersonville, saw a show in Flat Rock, and of course went out to dinner several nights. The show was a treat and the golf was just to see how another course compared to their two courses close to home in Carolina Trace in Sanford, N.C. Steve shared, “I am sad to report my golf game would earn me a D-minus, the same grade I got in freshman calculus.”

In March, Steve Oleskey, Jim Howard, and Nick Puner gathered for a long weekend at the small farm of David Skaggs outside Niwot, Colo. While at Wesleyan, the four imagined going to law school and then joining to found a new “white shoe” law firm: Puner, Oleskey, Skaggs & Howard, or POSH. While they all got through law school, the law firm, alas, lived on only in their imaginations. Better late than never, they have now initiated an annual reunion to discuss pressing issues in the law, ruminate about the state of the nation, and sample local craft brews.

Rusty Messing retired from his clinical psychology practice and from the board of Synergy, the elementary school he cofounded 45 years ago.

“My days consist of going to the gym, running and/or lifting some weights, then off to the coffee shop with my newspaper to sit with other locals, then off to do some honey-dos, to go back home to work at my desk, write and edit more poems (I am soon to finish my third book of poetry!), fill the wheelbarrow with last year’s cut and split wood to keep the wood stove happy and the home warm.” He has six grandchildren ranging from 6 months to 18. “The fires in NorCal are out and we settle into my favorite time of year: easier days, no harsh heat, no fire-fear, easy rain,” he writes. “This was a particularly bad year for our olive harvest—the worst we’ve ever had after last year’s which was the best. Oh, well. If any of you classmates would like some of our award-winning, delicious oil I would be more than willing to send you some at a discount plus shipping.”

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com