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I asked Dick Colton to tell us a little about himself since his WesU days, and he kindly obliged with this interesting summary of his active life:

“In the September after our graduation, I drove out to Berkeley to pursue a PhD in European history. It was the fall of 1964, and so along with the rigorous studies, I was soon engulfed (as was our Wes classmate Bruce Kirmmse) in the Free Speech Movement at Cal. Those were heady years, mixing studies with teaching undergraduates, marching in the streets of Oakland and San Francisco against the war in Vietnam.

“But by the time I passed my PhD exams and began on a dissertation, I think I had just been in school too long, ever since I was five, really, and worn out. In a moment of turmoil, I quit school and signed up to be an apprentice in the Carpenters Union and went to work helping build tract homes in the Oakland Hills. It didn’t take long for me to see how much fun this was, working outdoors, building things, measuring twice and cutting once, driving 16d nails in three strokes.

“After only a year of this, I began to take on side jobs, building fences, decks, whatever, and saw that this could be a career. I wangled my way into a contractor’s license, got noticed by some architects, hired people, and married Chris Mayer, the very, very best thing I got out of my years at Cal. So that became my career, and for the next 30 years, I built and remodeled countless houses and commercial buildings in the Bay Area, running a small crew of five or six, with lots of repeat work from steady customers.

“During all that we raised two boys and a girl, had a lot of fun along the way. About 25 years ago we bought 10 acres and some run-down buildings up in Mendocino County. I planted 250 vines and 60 olive trees, and now I make wine and olive oil and work like a slave every weekend.

“Our kids all settled back near us and gave us four grandchildren—so much fun. Twelve years ago, I joined the Berkeley Community Chorus (baritone), something I didn’t have the wit to do at Wesleyan, and we sing all the great classical repertoire, even in Europe four times. I’m pretty healthy, pee too often, and like to say that at 83, I’m on the 10-Year Plan. I’m really sorry we have lost Bob Berger, Don Ware, Lou D’Ambrosio, and just recently, my close friend, Bill White. The circle narrows.”

Thanks also to Bill Wieland for this update:

“In 2011 I retired after serving as rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greencastle, Indiana, for 24 years; I continue to serve the people of St. George’s Church in West Terre Haute as a supply priest one Sunday a month, as well as Christmas Eve, Holy Week, and Easter.

My wife, Lucy, a retired special education administrator, and I assist our bishop as chaplains to retired clergy, their spouses, and surviving clergy spouses in the diocese of Indianapolis.

“On June 25, Lucy and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary—with as many generations of our far-flung family as we could muster— by hosting the Vivaldi Project, a string trio playing period instruments, and throwing a party after their recital at one of our weekly Greencastle Summer Music Festival concerts. Concluding the program, featuring works of Haydn, J.C. Bach, and Boccherini, was ‘50 Vibrant Years: A Grateful Toast,’ a short piece I wrote for the trio to mark the festive occasion. We all had a wonderful time!”

Two other classmates sent messages attesting to the fact that old age doesn’t necessarily mean an old perspective:

Brett Seabury wrote: “After reading the news about what our classmates have been doing over the last 50 years, I was impressed with how much influence Martin Luther King Jr. has had on the Class of ’64. There were many other ‘liberal’ forces on us that can be seen in the activities of our classmates. We have been concerned about our natural and social environment and worked to improve them in a world that has become increasingly malevolent and greedy. I am impressed with my classmates’ efforts to work for social justice and to change inequality, racism, sexism, and classism. Two of my daughters are graduates of Wesleyan, and they have experienced the same liberal forces that Wesleyan presents to their graduates. Bravo for being ‘woke’ and supporting DEI!”

Thanks to Ted Burrowes for the following: “In recent years I have turned my attentions to pursuits of a much more artistic nature than my life heretofore has explored. Mostly this has been photography of a rather introverted nature—exploring what I like without any regard for fame or fortune. Then in March of this year, in response to my distress over climate change, I began crafting words that would fit Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ tune but express my perspectives on the climate that is a-changin’. That endeavor has born fruit, and, with help from a friend on the musical side of the project, I have a fully public domain multifaceted song that I hope will spread and be a seed for others’ creative outlets over this crisis.

“This is a low-key endeavor, still eschewing fame and fortune, and, so far, has no website. I expect to produce a PDF of the music and lyrics and will be emailing that to friends and acquaintances with further distribution through word of mouth. (Where are The Highwaymen when I need them?) If you want to learn more, email me at TheClimateSong@gmail.com.”

Dave Townsend sends news of the death of our classmate Fred Lohse. Fred, an emergency room physician for 41 years, died last September, but Dave just learned of it. “What a shock,” he texted. He and Fred were DKE fraternity brothers and roommates for three years. See Fred’s obituary at https://www.jowdykanefuneralhome.com/obituary/Fred-LohseMD. Thanks, Dave, for letting us know—and for telling us a little about yourself. He wrote:

“For the past 10 years, my wife, Gale, and I have lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After graduation, I received my MBA from NYU then joined the navy where, after 27 years, I retired as a captain in the Supply Corps. This was followed by positions in contract manufacturing and the Sea-Land containerized shipping company. Gale is an internist, but we are both retired. We still take bicycling vacations, having recently returned from Nova Scotia.”