CLASS OF 1952 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE
Sad news from Sarah Porter ’86, daughter of Robert L. Porter, that he passed away on May 3, 2023, in Simsbury, Connecticut. She attended our 65th Reunion in 2017 with Bob and his grandson, Asa Porter-Bernstein, and included pictures of them having fun and singing some of the old Wesleyan songs after dinner. Although he didn’t make the Glee Club while at Wesleyan, music was so important to him and he was happiest while singing or listening to music. In addition to Sarah, Bob’s legacies included his dad, Charles P. Porter 1918, and his maternal grandmother, Bella Pullman 1885. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Constance Flower, his daughters, Martha and Sarah, son-in-law, Matthew Bernstein, and grandsons, Asa and Otto Porter-Bernstein.
Zdenek David wrote that during the last academic year, he delivered two lectures—one at the American Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Convention in Chicago, November 10–23, 2022, and at the Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, Fourteenth Symposium in Prague, June 19–20, 2023.
Seth Rosner is still chugging away in Saratoga Springs, New York, living in the happiest time of his life, due entirely to his beloved married relation, Judith. He recites a chilling story about her parents, who were Holocaust survivors:
“In 1943 her mother was taken by German troops from her home in Uzhorod, then in Hungary, now Ukraine, to slave labor in a munitions factory near Hamburg. Then in April 1945, as Germany was collapsing, to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp for ‘disposal,’ before which she was liberated by units of Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery’s Royal Army.
“Father was transported from Breslau in Silesia—then Germany, now Poland—via the Teresienstadt ghetto to Dachau for disposal, liberated by the 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 20th Armored Division of the U.S. Army.
“Both then went to ‘displaced person’ camps for adequate nourishment and health care, then ‘resettled’ in Prague, where they met, married, and Judith was the result. She grew up under the Communist regime, always dreaming of coming to America with her mom and dad, to which two uncles had emigrated prior to the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. Two days prior to their departure, her dad passed of a heart attack; she and Mom buried him, then flew to JFK arriving with one valise and $25 between them, and neither spoke a word of English.
“Mom was a seamstress in Prague, so quickly got a job in New York City’s garment industry where her fingers did her talking. Judith taught herself English sorting vegetables in a supermarket, put herself through college, and got a job at Arthur Andersen. When the firm decided to open its first office in a former Iron Curtain country, in Prague, Judith got the job.”
Samuel Fitch relates that he is one of the few of us still kicking around, living in an independent living facility in Sun City, Arizona, with his lady. It seems that everything hurts these days and what doesn’t hurt, doesn’t work. But in our 90s, it’s just good to be able to get up in the morning and socialize. He says, “Hi to all.”
Just received sad news that another of our classmates, Paul Newcomet Sutro, passed away suddenly on August 29, 2023, in Rifle, Colorado, at the age of 93. He is survived by his wife, Sissy, who he met on a blind date in Atlanta in 1960 and who he married less than a month later, and his children—Tripp ’85, Martha ’87, Tommy, and John—their spouses, and seven grandchildren. His full obituary can be read at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/timesdispatch/name/paul-sutro-obituary?id=53121369.
Finally, on September 7, I attended an excellent revival of Sweeney Todd with my daughter, Ellen Bender ’82, replacing her husband, Samuel ’82, who could not attend, as he was delivering babies. It was a Wes fundraiser, attended by President Roth and hundreds of supporters. The production was directed by Thomas Kail ’99, who also directed In the Heights and Hamilton, both Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 productions. President Roth and Thomas also co-hosted a post-performance discussion about Wesleyan’s contributions to the arts.