Author: classnotes

Classmates,

            I have heard from four classmates, all of whom reside in California, whatever that means.

            First I heard from George McKechnie. George grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey, came to Wesleyan where he majored in psychology, and then headed west for graduate work at Berkeley. He completed his PhD in personality and environmental psychology in 1972. His professors included Ted Sarbin (Sarbin had been Karl Scheibe’s advisor when he was a graduate student at Berkeley, and he was one of my teachers when I did graduate work at the University of California, Santa Cruz). George taught at Arizona State, and at Berkeley, and then left academe to practice clinical psychology and “to pursue home audio”—he was the founder and president of Audio Excellence, Inc. (the company’s clients included Francis Ford Coppola, Ray Dolby, and Boz Scaggs). He subsequently founded two more audio companies, Axiom Home Theater and Sync My Home Inc. He lives in Carmel, California, on the Monterey Peninsula.  

Then I heard from Ted Smith. He was cleaning out old stuff (aren’t we all?) and came upon a photo of the 1967 Mystical Seven, of whom he and I were two. He wasn’t sure who some of those other five mystics were.  I helped him identify them: from left to right me, Barbara Davidson (who somehow mystically snuck into that photo), Sammy Nigh, Steve Chance, Ted, Bill Cooper, Tom Drew, and Mike Cronan. This led me to research, if I may call it that, what each of the seven said about themselves in our 50th Reunion book. Cronin, Drew, Ted, and I wrote things for that sweet publication (and sent photos), but nothing from Chance, Cooper, or Nigh. I then spent a pleasant hour reading the entries that many of you sent, and “remembrances” and obituaries for 19 of our classmates who had died (alphabetically from Andrew C. Ackemann, who died in 2006, to Donald D. Wolff Jr., who died in 2009). So, thanks Ted, for reminding me what a nice resource that 50th Reunion book is. Ted, by the way, has had some health issues, but is doing fine. He and his wife, Mandy, live in San Jose, and they have three children and five grandchildren, all of whom are in California so they can see them frequently.

I also heard from Don Stone, who is living in the Bay Area. He writes that as a Jew-by-choice, active in his synagogue for 35 years, he is part of his synagogue’s reparations alliance partnership with a Bedouin village in the West Bank. As he explained, the residents “are nonviolently trying to survive the brutal efforts of a nearby, recent prosperous, Jewish settlement to expel the villagers.” According to Don, these Jewish settlers have used “terror, interrogation, arrests, beatings, home demolitions, seizing grazing land, and cutting off water, electricity, and intermittent access to medical and food sources . . . etc.” Don fears that these expulsions will end up as “not good for the Palestinians or good for the Jews.” 

Don reminded me that, should we be so lucky, we are approaching what will be our 60th in 2027. I had not thought about it, but it is now on my list of things I might do if I live long enough.

Finally, in the California correspondence category, Paul Nibur wrote a thoughtful response to the email I sent to many of you after the last set of class notes appeared. He also wrote the following: “I have been happily retired for 20 years from flying for United Airlines. I keep very busy with volunteering with my Rotary Club, hosting youth exchange students from Australia and Thailand, serving on a few local boards, maintaining my five acres near the Sierra foothills, and loving my family and grandkids. I’m happy to still be able to workout and stay fit although I had to give up running after nearly 50 years due to a complaining knee. I’m still very happily married to my first and only wife since 1970, and highly recommend that path (although that advice is a little late for many of us now).”

Also, on the ever-increasing obituary front, I got this email from Ned Preble: 

“Dave Reynolds ’71 died on Sunday June 30, 2024, at his home in Hampden, Massachusetts, after yearsof illness stimulated by Agent Orange during his service in Thailand. His wife, Heather, his son, Nat, and his wife, and Dave’s sister were with him. He and I stayed in touch from September 1963 until he died. He was a doctor, having pursued his MD and career conscientiously, from postgraduation through his ER tech job in the army, more pre-med courses and health care jobs. There will be a celebration of life October 6 featuring Steely Dan music. I will never forget his wise laugh and his broad shoulders that once kept NYC subway doors from closing on me.”    

Ned has lived in Portland, Oregon, since 2013, but before that he lived in Mystic, Connecticut, Westchester, New York, the Bay Area, Concord, Massachusetts, and Hanover, New York, among other places. His five children were born in four states, and his ten grandchildren, as he puts it, are “scattered from LA to Dallas to Nashville to southern New Hampshire.” He was in the Peace Corps in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the army, worked in admissions (as assistant dean of admissions at Connecticut College from 1970 to 1974), earned an MBA at Wharton, and for more than 30 years worked in “International Consulting in Strategic Innovation and Creative Problem Solving.”  He now teaches courses in “Change Management and Business Ethics.”  

Ned also shared the following information about some classmates: “Here is some information I have regarding the guys I have been in touch with over the years. Phil Corkill (freshman year roommate) and Suzie, his wife, are longtime Tucson residents, where he was superintendent at a big high school. She was a teacher, but not in his district (probably her idea). Jim Guard—retired architect and LONG-time resident and property owner in the San Juan Islands outside of Friday Harbor. He built his own house and came on the grid just 10 to 15 years ago. He owns a lot of land and is often clearing/creating roads and cutting his own firewood. Mary, his wife of many years, makes sure his chores do not exceed 22 hours per day. Dave Butler and his wife live in Saint Augustine, Florida, and play golf together. He watches WesTech football on his computer. He was an international lawyer for many years. I talked to Howie Foster the other day and he was heading off to play squash. His career is as a therapist. I think he is a psychoanalyst.” Ned also noted that he shot his age in golf two years ago (I did not ask him if it was miniature golf, a par three course, or if he only played nine holes).  

In exchanging emails with Ned, I told him a story from my limited golf history. He wrote back that “even though I read your golf story 10 minutes ago I am still laughing! I vote to have it included in the class notes—boldface type of course.” Given that these notes are online, and I am not limited by the usual 800-word stricture, I have decided to do so.  Here you go.

I play golf once a decade, no more, no less. On December 31, 2019, I finally got over to our par three course for my once-a-decade round. I had a three iron, a seven iron, and a putter. It was a chilly, but not too cold day, and I was the only person on the course. I double bogeyed the first eight holes, and ended up on the ninth hole, with a fairly long putt for the double bogey (maybe five feet). I could not believe how much pressure I felt. I did not want to end my string of double bogeys. I sank the putt, and it was like hitting a three-pointer for a win in my regular geezer basketball game (better actually). Definitely a sports highlight of the decade for me. (It is now only 2024, so I don’t plan to play for another four or five years).

Tony Gaeta wrote that Tony Conte was able to visit his sister and brother-in-law (who was turning 90) in Hilton Head Island, and Tony Gaeta was able to join him for four days. If you read my class notes carefully (in which case you’ll be more likely to pass the final exam), you may recall that in April 2022, Tony Conte, who lives in Walnut Creek, California, was hit by a car while walking home from dinner and almost lost his life. As he explained to me in an email back in November 2023: “Both Tony Gaeta and Tony Caprio have been fantastically supportive to me from the first minute. They are in part responsible for my recovery. I don’t think I could have made it through the trauma center, the ICU, the two hospitals, and the care facility without their constant contact and encouragement.” It was thus special that he could travel across the country to visit family, and special that the two Tonies could spend time together. As Tony Gaeta wrote, “He’s lucky to be alive, much less walking but it didn’t deter us from throwing down a few brews but not as quickly as in olden days.” 

Many of you responded to the email that I sent describing the decision of the editors to leave out a paragraph about Bernie Steinberg in my last set of notes. It was great to hear from you, not only about the deletion of the paragraph, but about other related and unrelated issues (golf! Walter Johnson High School! Unitarian ministers! UNC athletics!). Your supportive comments really meant a lot to me.          

—Richie 

We celebrate the life of Irvin E. Richter who died on June 22, 2024. His son, David Richter, writes that before Irv retired in 2016, “he was the chairman and CEO of Hill International, Inc., a global construction management firm. Irv started Hill as a one-man consulting firm in 1976, and when he retired, it had nearly 5,000 employees,100 offices around the world, and was a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Irv was named a Distinguished Alumnus by Wesleyan as well as by Rutgers University School of Law, from which he received his law degree in 1980.” Irv served as our class secretary for a number of years, and as Rick Crootof memorably puts it in a note to David: “Irv was a BMOC in our class, seemingly running everything and known and respected by all. Like the James Garner character in The Great Escape, the Scrounger, he could get you anything! Most memorably he was the agent for our class rings. I was so glad to see him at our 50th, a real lovefest, and he looked enormously contented. I hope the last eight years continued that way. All of ’66 share in your loss.”

The Wesleyan Class of 1966 held its 58th Reunion on Zoom, May 24, 2024. Rick Crootof, Sandy Van Kennen, and Will Rhys were in Middletown, attending the Wesleyan Commencement and our reunion in person. Tom Broker, Larry Carver, Bill Dietz, Bill Fehring, Jack Knapp, David Luft, David McNally, John Neff, Barry Reder, and Sandy Shilepsky attended on Zoom. Rick prepared a perfect Zoom setting for our gathering, his nighttime photograph of the back of an illuminated Olin Library. 

Each of us spoke, Sandy Shilepsky starting us off. Sandy and his wife, Carol, live in a cottage in Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community, Charleston, South Carolina. Their daughters, Lisa and Beth, live close by. Sandy took up pickleball a few years ago, enjoying that and water volleyball too. A retired professor of mathematics, Sandy continues to follow higher education, reading The Chronicle of Higher Education and lamenting the troubles and challenges confronting college campuses. Wells College, where Sandy taught for 35 years, is closing, which I don’t think any of us knew.

David McNally recalled his 25-year career with what is now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He and his wife, Michelle, still live outside of Alexandria, Virginia. David talked, with good humor, about his coming down with ALS five years ago and what living with that vicious disease has been like, its deleterious effect on all parts of the body, save for the mind and eyes. David’s mind is as sharp as ever, his eyes keen and bright. Through it all, he remains remarkably active, grateful for all that his wife Michelle does. He meets on Zoom regularly with a group of former graduate students, and Rick Crootof has organized a Friends of Dave group—Rick, John Neff, Sandy Van Kennen, Alberto Ibargüen, Will Rhys, Andrew Kleinfeld, Paul Gilbert, and me—who gather once a month with David on Zoom. David, an inspiration to all, closed by telling us how much he is enjoying life.

Dr. Dietz chimed in next. Following his distinguished career as a physician and administrator focusing on treating childhood obesity, Bill and his wife, Nancy, are back in Washington, D.C., where he serves as director of the STOP Obesity Alliance and is working to make the world better through the power of food. He pointed out how reducing the consumption of meat would contribute to mitigating climate change. I kept thinking how I wish Bill were a candidate for the presidency of the United States and called attention to his speech upon receiving an honorary degree from McGill University, June 6, 2022. If you have not heard the speech, do so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V-LR9VxBy4

“Doing well for a man of my age,” opined David Luft. I’ll say, David looking like he just came from teaching one of his classes 40 years ago. I had a hard time believing David, given his publication record, when he told us that he finds retirement more intellectually engaging. But that seems to be the case. He has two books on the boil and is teaching himself Czech. His wife, Jennifer, breeds dogs, one making an appearance.

Bill Fehring, who has a PhD in behavioral biology, continues to do in retirement what he did while working: educating people about environmental issues. His latest endeavors include getting more minorities involved in the environment, including blind students. Bill hikes and bikes and is doing a good deal of wildlife photography, going out occasionally with Rick Crootof, another avid photographer.

Tom Broker and his wife, Louise, now professors emeriti at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, continue their pioneering work on HPV, the goal being to eliminate cervical cancer. They are also peripatetic, visiting Europe once or twice a year, venturing to Africa twice last year, Ghana for work, birding in Costa Rica, and traveling to New Mexico, where they visited among many places, Ghost Ranch, communing with Georgia O’Keefe. The Brokers have an astonishing collection of old master prints, some 6,000 to date, which they loan out for exhibitions. They are also engaged in environmental issues, and Tom and Louise power walk. Whew!

There was much joy and laughter in this reunion, none more so than when Sandy Van Kennentook the stage, wanting us to know two things. First, that he has now acquired two new knees, which are doing so well that he can work once again on cars. Second, Sandy’s long history of growing marijuana and his interest in medical uses of cannabis may have a bright future. It involves what he calls “bubble hash,” the marijuana buds being sent through a washing machine numerous times, the result being a product with 50% THC. Buy stock now.

Will Rhys reminded us that there are 43 4,000-foot mountains in Maine, and he continues to climb them. Though he cannot run anymore (he has a 2:47 marathon to his credit), he bikes. Central to his retirement is public service. He serves on the board of the library in Bridgton, Maine, which is a center for internet users. In keeping up with his lifelong love for, and work in, the theater, he continues to do a one-man show every Christmas.

Having worked six days and six nights a week for 43 years, Barry Reder, who all those years was a lawyer in San Francisco, is trying hard to do nothing. Well, not quite. He has become fascinated on how human beings learn words, how these words come to have meaning. But this once workaholic, runner (Barry has run the Bay to Breakers 35 times), and avid golfer has been slowed down by two ruptured discs in his back. As he drolly put it, he spends time on physical therapy and on making and canceling doctors’ appointments. Rick asked Barry about the reports of the deteriorating life in San Francisco. Barry said that the news is overblown.

Jack Knappbegan with a great story. Turns out he and Rick were roommates at Wesleyan. When COVID broke out, Rick invited Jack and his wife, Carla, longtime citizens of Chicago, to stay in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The Knapps have fallen in love with small town, rural life, and now have a home in Wolfeboro; the Crootofs recently hosting a celebration for Jack’s 80th birthday. Jack has a new book coming out: A Carpetbagger in Reverse: Arthur W. Mitchell, America’s First Black Democratic Congressman. Movingly, he dedicates the book to Professor Nathanael Greene and to the Wesleyan students who benefited from his teaching.

First grandson just graduated from the University of Virginia, and it has been 50 years since that grandson’s grandfather, John Neff, received his PhD from Harvard. And what is he doing now? Listening to music, being intensely interested in poetry. He attributes being a perpetual student who loves research to his Wesleyan education. Rick asked John about that haunting thought he made in his biographical sketch for our 50th Reunion book: “Still think I’ve not done what I’m here to do.” John continues to think he has not yet done what he is here to do.

Rick Crootof and his wife, Linda, split their year between Sarasota, Florida, and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and Rick, with gratitude of all of us, continues to be our class leader, organizing reunions, Zoom meetings, keeping us up to date on all things Wesleyan through email. He reported that he had to give up his lifelong love of playing tennis (and he was very good at it) because of a heart condition. The report is premature: Rick recently won a Wolfeboro tennis tournament. He continues to take great joy in photography and is looking forward to meeting James Sugar ’67. John Neff thinks the photograph that Rick took of the chapel at this last Commencement is a gem. It is (see below).

Tom Pulliam writes that “his granddaughter, Madeline, entering junior year at University of Hawaii has, with Hardy Spoehr’s assistance, landed a job as lifeguard at a Honolulu- area pool managed or owned by Hardy’s daughter.” Tom and his wife, Alice, spent “three weeks in Italy (Tuscany, Florence, Venice, Amalfi Coast) . . . lots of wonderful sights, but too many tourists . . . Stanford women’s rugby team, which I have been helping with for 13 years, surpassed all expectations. Without a player who had played rugby before coming to Stanford, they won the national championship in Houston on May 5. In that final game, they played nine players who had never played rugby until this year, and two key players played that game with, respectively, a broken wrist and a broken foot. I consider myself the team grandpa and absolutely love helping these young women learn the sport that has been a very large part of my life, starting at Wesleyan . . .  Madeline’s brothers, Evan (17) and Jay (14), continue their MLSNext soccer. We were in Nashville 10 days in June for one of their tournaments, and both played exceptionally well. Jay had [a] badly sprained ankle (and it was also broken) in training 15 days before. I was commiserating with him as he was on crutches and in a boot a day or two after the injury. He told me he was still planning to play. I thought he was badly mistaken. Turned out, I was the one who was badly mistaken. On a heavily taped ankle, he played every game. In the final game he scored two goals to win the game. Both Evan and Jay will play rugby for their high school team, which will provide more spectating fun for us. In sum, life is good. One day at a time.”

Bud Smith has been fishing!

I thought Daniel Lang had retired, but read this: “Clare Warner (Mount Holyoke, 1974) attended her 50th class reunion with her husband, Tim [Warner ’73]. Our daughter, Kate, is director of Student Financial Services at Mount Holyoke. Result: Tim and I spent a long weekend together in May recounting the time that he and I were close friends while I was associate dean of admissions, and he was a student. We both left Wesleyan at about the same time, Tim for an MBA at Stanford and I for a PhD at Toronto. We both ended up in nearly identical careers: Tim as vice provost, Budget and Auxiliaries Management at Stanford and I as vice provost, Planning and Budget at Toronto. (That alone might be a factoid for Wesleyan alumni news: two Wes alumni, same job, same time, at two top 20 world class universities.) We kept in touch professionally and personally. When our son was born, we named him Timothy. When the Warner’s son was born, they named him Daniel. Talk about coincidence after coincidence! Everyone had a grand time at our personal reunion. . . . Other news, I finished teaching two graduate public economics courses in a row, finishing in June. Most of the students were top-notch, so there was as much stimulation as work. There is a lot of interest in Canada in the connections between immigration policy and fiscal policy in relation to higher education. So, plenty to talk about. Three papers that I had been working on for months finally went off for publication. 

“Being a member of the board at King’s University College has taken up more time than I expected, some of it controversial but all rewarding and worth the effort. My work on the board of Saint Augustine’s Seminary lately involves mainly finance and endowment management, sometimes complicated. If you think university politics are full of intrigue, try three-way negotiation between the Vatican, an archdiocese, and a seminary. Most recently we spent a few days deep in the Adirondacks at the same time as Hurricane Debby blew through. Roads and trails washed-out, tall trees blown down, obviously no power, no internet, and no cell phones. A genuine and welcome getaway from daily life.”

“I wonder,” David Luft recently wrote, “if the admissions office could have predicted that we would be professors at major universities.” I replied: “You touch on a topic dear to me. As class secretary and well before then, I came to realize how talented, accomplished, and public-spirited members—an overwhelming number—of the Wesleyan Class of 1966 are. As you probably know, many would not have dreamed of such as assessment at the time, our class being maligned, as many put it: the class of Robert Norwine’s revenge. Norwine was the director of admissions from 1953 to 1964. Apparently, our class was his attempt to recruit and accept students that Wesleyan had not courted, such as the blacksmith’s son from Colorado Springs and, yes, even some African Americans, Jimmy Johnson and Thomas Shaw. Some saw this as a dumbing down of Wesleyan, our class being particularly cited. Some dumbing down, some revenge. I know of fourteen of us who became professors, one of whom, Tom Broker, should have won a Nobel Prize. I no doubt have missed some. Sam Carrier, who taught at Oberlin for many years, did a paper on where the professoriate comes from. It’s not from the UT Austins of the world, but small, liberal arts schools. I rather imagine Wesleyan is continuing to graduate students who came to love research, fell in love with a field, and went on to graduate school to become professors.” 

I close with comment that David Griffith made about our class, a sentiment that I share: “I really like the class notes . . . within the tight confines of our class in terms of ethnicity and background, it is surprising to see the diversity. A great place at a great time.”

John Dunton said: “Because my grandson, Owen, who was first in his freshman class and is the third Dunton generation to attend Wes, will be graduating (a year early—a much better student than his grandfather), Carol and I look forward to attending the graduation in 2025. This will be the first in-person reunion without Gary and the Wombats since 1970—we think we can still ‘rock and roll’ but haven’t had a chance to prove it since 2015, and that memory is probably sweeter than a current appearance would provide.”

Bruce Lev wrote: “I finally decided it was time to send a very quick update. The most important news is I’m still vertical, still working full time as CEO of Loeb Holding Corp, the private bank/family office of the financial services and very philanthropic Loeb family, founded early in the 20th century. And still married to Prudence, who’s still writing (most recent novel, Last Born, a fictionalized account of the last days of the dinosaurs). As Bob Barton knows, we started our married life on a 47-foot sailboat in Rowayton, Connecticut, 42 years ago (Bob made our sails) and after a 25-year detour to Westchester, New York, so Prudence could indulge her obsession with horses, we’re back in Rowayton—hopefully for good. The great pleasure over the last few years is reconnecting with Tom Elliman and Joe Garrison and their wonderful wives, Betsy and Brenda, all of whom live in Branford, Connecticut. We try to have a meal every couple of months. I do plan to make the Reunion and very much look forward to it. Best to all.”

From David Osgood: “A few weeks ago I drove up to the Chicago/Wisconsin area from my home in Nashville. I was able to schedule a lunch with Bill Turner and George Adams. Bill and his wife, Barbara, spend the summers in Fontana, Wisconsin, and their winters in Florida. George follows the same routine and in addition operates a successful business in southeast Wisconsin. We had a good time reminiscing about Wesleyan fall and spring house parties and our common acquaintances.  As lifelong St. Louis Cardinal fans, George and I commiserated on the last two terrible seasons. Bill, a Cubs fan, is used to that result.   

“I continue to stay in touch with Larry Carver ’66 and David Griffith ’66. Both are doing well.”

Arthur Rhodes shared: “Retired from medicine in 2020 after a total of 50 years, having cared for more than 100,000 patients; taught more than 1,000 medical students (Harvard University School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Rush Medical College in Chicago); and pivotal in the training of more than 100 residents in dermatology.  My spouse, Leslie C. Newman, and I are spending time with combined families of five adult children and 11 grandchildren, splitting time between a suburb 25 miles north of Chicago (Glencoe, Illinois) and Mandeville, Louisiana. Leslie and I are enjoying gardening and abundant wildlife.  Am filling spare time pursuing a lifelong interest in photography, showing my best work on Instagram: ArthurRRhodes_Photography.

“Best wishes to my former classmates, who I hope are thriving and well.” 

Hugh Wilson sent this news: “Fran and I plan to attend our 60th Reunion next May and hope to see many of you there. On a personal front, I’ve got two items to report. First, I have finished a draft of my book: Inside Understanding: How Finite Brains Interpret a Vast Universe. I’m now starting to look for a publisher. Also, I just learned today that Geoff Hinton was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence. I worked with Geoff’s group from 2005 to 2015 and helped him to get funding from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research for his pioneering work on neural networks that can learn. I was one of the first to develop mathematical models of neural networks in 1973, and they have since been vastly expanded by Geoff and his colleagues. My small contribution to his Nobel work makes me very proud.”

I was unable to attend our 60th Class Reunion this past May and asked Marty Becker if he would mind giving us a rundown on the weekend. He kindly agreed and sent the following:

“Ten members of the Class of ’64 registered for the reunion. I attended with my wife, Shelley. But we split time between reunion events and the wake and funeral for our classmate, Peter Sipples.

“At the funeral, Pete’s son, Kyle, spoke about his dad and really captured who Pete was. We were able to spend some time talking with both sons, Kyle and Tim, as well as Pete’s widow, Pat.

“Saturday, late afternoon, we spent time with Jerry Hickson and Charles Landraitis and their wives. I learned that during our freshman year, Jerry and Pete Sipples were roommates. Charles was a math professor at Boston College. Jerry worked for IBM and spent years sailing around the world on progressively larger boats.

“At dinner that evening, we sat with Larry Dougherty and his wife, Estelle; Bill Mercer and his wife, Diane; Michael Ehrmann; and Jim Relyea. Fritz Henn ’63 also sat at our table. We had an enjoyable evening talking about Wesleyan memories as well as more current matters.”

[In addition to Marty and the six classmates he mentioned above, Kate Micari, our class rep on the University staff, wrote that these three ’64 classmates also registered to attend the weekend: W. David Hager, Alan Brewster, and Philip Polster.]

Marty was also good enough to give us a rundown on his own life. He wrote the following:

“My wife, Shelley, and I have lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for 30 years. Prior to that we lived in Greenwich Village for about 20 years.

“After Wesleyan, I went to law school at the University of Pennsylvania. I really liked Philadelphia—law school not so much. Having had student deferments during school, I ended up in the army the summer after law school, though I did get to take the bar exam first. Not happily, I spent the summer of 1968 to the summer of 1969 in Vietnam in a signal battalion.

“Once I got out of the army, I moved to Manhattan and went to work for The Legal Aid Society doing indigent criminal defense work, mostly representing kids 16 though 18 in the Bronx. It turned out that I played social worker more than lawyer, getting kids into drug programs or mental health services. Our classmate Michael Smith was a psychiatrist at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. We were able to refer clients for services through him and a colleague of his.

“While working for Legal Aid, one of the other lawyers and I developed a program to provide services to the population we were representing and wrote a proposal to obtain funding for the program. We were not successful in securing funding, and I eventually went to work for a New York City agency that, among other things, provided grants, using federal law enforcement (LEAA) funds, for criminal and juvenile justice projects. When those funds dried up, the agency was absorbed into what was, at times, the Criminal Justice Coordinator’s Office or the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice, which dealt with various criminal justice issues and continued to contract with not-for-profits for various programs.

“Shelley is a retired rabbi. She was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1991. (Anyone who knew me would probably be shocked that I’m married to a rabbi. Shelley was not a rabbi when we got married).

“When Shelley decided to go to rabbinic school, she first got a master’s degree at NYU and then spent five years in rabbinic school. I decided that I needed to do some Judaic learning of my own. So, I’ve spent a lot of time studying over the years.

“After Shelley was ordained, she mostly did part-time work at congregations in New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. I served as her chauffeur (she’s a city kid and does not drive) and also helped her out with various tasks.

“I retired from the city in 2005. In addition to continuing to help Shelley, I eventually went back to playing tennis. (I spent a bunch of years running and had ceased playing tennis). And for over a dozen years, I have been doing volunteer work in Riverside Park. I do maintenance (grunt) work on and around the ball fields.

“The last congregation Shelley served was in Southington, Connecticut. During those years, we visited Wesleyan on a couple of occasions, and I was amazed by all the new buildings I didn’t recognize. We also had the opportunity to visit with Pete Sipples and [wife] Pat Farrell a number of times. Our most recent trip to Middletown was to attend both the 60th Class Reunion and, unfortunately, Pete’s funeral. He passed away just weeks prior to the reunion.”

Bill Medd is happily retired in Norway, Maine, a town about an hour north of Portland, where he practiced medicine for more than four decades and worked to attract physicians to rural western Maine. “Now we’re just enjoying ourselves,” Bill told me in an August phone call. He and Marge have stayed put in the same house they lived in when he was taking care of patients in surrounding southern Oxford County. All three of their children live in Maine: Donald, a physician with an internal medicine practice in Portland; daughter, Cari, a school district superintendent; and Michael, an investor.

Bill grew up in Manhasset on Long Island and after Wesleyan went to medical school at the University of Rochester. He and good Wesleyan ’64 friend Don Ware, who got his medical training at the Albany Medical College and residency at the University of Rochester, joined forces to set up an internal medicine practice in a small community.  “We wanted to be rural but not too rural,” Bill says. After scouting towns in Vermont and New Hampshire, they found just want they were looking for in Norway—a welcoming community, need for docs, and plenty of outdoor recreation. Norway is on Pennesseewassee Lake and near skiing opportunities.

Their internal medical practice at Stephens Hospital in Norway later became part of MaineHealth, an integrated health system based in Portland. The Lewiston Sun Journal profiled Bill’s long, active career in a 2019 article: ‘It’s Been an Incredible Ride’ (https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/03/30/its-been-an-incredible-ride/). 

Don Ware died in Norway in 2022 at age 79. I may be wrong, but I could not find any mention of his death in earlier Class Notes. Here is the link to his obituary: https://www.chandlerfunerals.com/obituaries/Donald-Edward-Ware?obId=25641625. 

It was also good to hear from Rob Rutherford. He wrote:

“My wife, Diane, and I met John Jones and his wife, Maxine, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for three days in July. We visited the local art galleries, Los Alamos and Taos, and spent an evening at the Santa Fe Opera. We reminisced about our days at Commons Club, playing touch football, and party weekends.”

Mike Burack sent an email about his post-Wes life and a major change in it three years ago:

“I’ve not been an active alumnus, and I don’t think I have submitted anything for the class notes more than once or twice in the past 60 years. But time is passing, so I figure I might as well try to catch up now.

“After majoring in physics at Wesleyan, I did graduate work at CalTech and Stanford, but after a couple of years I succumbed to the realization that however much I had enjoyed physics as an undergraduate, I wasn’t serious enough about it to make it a rewarding career path for me. So, I switched to law school at Stanford, then clerked for a federal court of appeals judge in San Francisco for a year, after which I moved to D.C., where I spent my entire legal career at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now Wilmer Hale). During those years I married, raised two daughters, spent many hours on the road between D.C. and Chicago—where both girls went to college—and took annual family vacations in Spain, where my wife Maria is from. 

“Our daughters both settled in Europe. Our older daughter lives in Madrid; she’s married to a Bulgarian–U.S. dual citizen, whom she met in D.C., and they now have two young boys, four and three-quarters and three months. Our younger daughter now lives in Bonn (after periods in Vienna, Berlin, and London, in that order); she’s married to a Frenchman, whom she met in London, and they, too, have a young son, 15 months. We call our three grandsons the three Ls—Leo, Louis, and Luca—and we’re constantly confusing their names. (The alliteration was unintentional as far as I’m aware.)

“Once our daughters had moved to Europe, Maria and I no longer had any close family in the U.S., and all of her remaining family was still in Spain. So, taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, we decided to move full time to Spain ourselves, which we did in November 2021. 

“We live in León, a provincial capital in the northwest where Maria’s family lives. Being on that side of the Atlantic obviously makes it much easier to visit our kids and grandkids and have family get-togethers (both intra- and inter-) than it would be if we were still in the U.S. Moving here was a huge step for me, of course, but also for Maria, because after living in the U.S. for 50 years she thinks and acts more like an American than a Spaniard.

“For me, adjusting to a different culture with a different language and different customs and norms is still sometimes difficult, and getting a Spanish driver’s license was a particular ordeal. Some things continue to drive me up the wall—like Spaniards’ habit of talking at the top of their lungs no matter where they are or who else is around; or constantly interrupting other people during conversations; or standing in the middle of the sidewalk in groups of four or five or six, chatting leisurely as though they’re all alone and forcing other people to work their way around them, even to have to go into the street to get by.

“But then there are also compensations, including the mountains and the sea and the food. All things considered, it’s a pleasant place to live. So, things are good overall. My only real regret is that I won’t live to know my grandsons as adults, but there’s nothing I can do about that. 

“Maria and I continue to follow U.S. politics closely. For longtime Washington residents like us, it’s impossible not to, even though we have to watch many events on CNN replay the following day because of the six-hour time difference. It has been a truly dismaying situation until recently, but things are now beginning to look up. What a strange (or should I say, weird) turn of events!

“My best regards to you and our other classmates. Stay well.”

Dan Davis contributed the following:

“I’m sorry I missed our 60th Reunion, but I had a total knee replacement on May 7.I have recovered very well and am back to tennis and golf.

“I enjoyed a nice career in ob-gyn that included three years in Germany with the U.S. Army Medical Corp and 20 years in practice in western Massachusetts. Male medical school students graduating at that time served at least two years of government service [one of the armed services, Public Health Service, Indian Health Service, etc.].  Like Larry Dougherty, I was inspired at Wesleyan by John Maguire, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all the Department of Religion teachers; my major was religion with a minor in pre-med.

“I then switched gears and worked for the Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring, Maryland, 1997–2016, in the division reviewing drugs/products for urology and ob-gyn. It was a wonderful second career and a better pace, with nights, weekends, and federal holidays off. 

“I had the privilege of being the primary medical reviewer for the first transdermal patch, vaginal ring, emergency contraceptive pill, and several other unique drugs for contraception and gynecological indications. I currently do a small amount of consulting with pharmaceutical companies and nonprofit organizations.

“I have three adult children (Sarah ’94, Amy, and Tom) and three grandkids in Madison, Wisconsin, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In 2001 I was married—a second marriage—to Suzanne Schmidt, who is an ordained UCC minister and [who works] closely with retired women clergy. We moved to a continuous care retirement center in Frederick, Maryland, in 2022 and have a new patio home with NO stairs, an accident-prevention feature.

“My experience at Wesleyan was a ton of great and challenging courses, many hours in the library, and an admission to the Columbia medical school. The social life was limited, but the overall experience was priceless!”

I received, through the good offices of Len Edwards, a notice that Stan Lewis had a show, Persistent Vision, at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, over the summer.  It appears that our class has its fair share of artists; Don Sexton provided a list of our classmates who showed artwork at our 60th Reunion: Bob Travis, Byron Miller, Colby Andrus, Dan Snyder, George Tapley, Lew Whitney, Scott Wilson, Tom McKnight, and Don. He also said that he was sorry for the passing of Colby, who was a good friend, and he believed “Gerry Hirsch was also a quite good artist.” Don opened a show in Litchfield, Connecticut, in late August. He writes that he retired from Columbia eight years ago, and, besides his art, he does stand-up on Broadway. In his words: “Now, for the terrifying part: in the past, on a few occasions (very few) I have fronted a band. . . .  Nothing so cool as to watch the audience get up and start dancing as you sing—even if everyone is in their 80s. . . .”

Many of us will remember Dan Dennett, who left Wesleyan for Harvard after his freshman year.  The New York Times carried his obituary in April. Dan was a philosopher who wrote a number of books and articles on consciousness, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology. Both Jack Jarzavek and Bob Saliba ’62 were kind enough to notify me. In notifying me of Dan’s death, Jack noted that he still remembered a paper that Dan had written for the Integrated Program.

President Roth spoke at the Stockbridge, Massachusetts, library in connection with the release of his new book, The Student: A Short History. Don Sexton, Bob Siegle, Dan Hottenstein, and I attended. His talk on the subject was, to no one’s surprise, entertaining, learned, and witty. In the question-and-answer period, he spoke about Wesleyan’s response to the student protests in the spring. It was the consensus of the four of us that Wesleyan had dealt with the protest better than its peers. After the talk, we and our wives (except mine, who was conflicted out) had a terrific dinner at Bob and Rita’s house.

These mini-reunions are memorable—we should all try to keep in contact with our classmates. In that vein, please keep me posted on your various activities so I can pass them on in the next issue.

Robin Berrington writes: “I put together a group of 12 other theatergoing participants from the Washington, D.C., area to attend the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in July. I have attended CATF since 2004, was asked to join their board, and most recently ‘graduated’ to the honorary board. I have seen it rise in prestige and popularity over the years as it features new plays seldom or never seen before, on topical—sometimes controversial—themes and with new young casts fresh from New York or the West Coast. The New York Times has even called it one of the ten best summer festivals in the U.S., so I never have a problem assembling the group to accompany me. This time we were asked to look over a newly deconsecrated church as a future site for its activities. Everybody said it was one of the highlights of one of the best years ever.” 

News of this award for Lindsay Childs: “The University at Albany Emeritus Center recently elected Lindsay N. Childs as William L. Reese Fellow for 2024. Named after founding president and benefactor Bill Reese, the program is designed to honor to UAlbany emeriti for sustained, consequential and exemplary post-retirement professionally related contributions and achievements in scholarship and creative productions, teaching or service, in or outside the University.”

Although no longer actively practicing medicine, Robin Cook’s writing of medical mystery thrillers continues unabated with his latest entitled Bellevue, scheduled for December publication. “Strangely enough it incorporates a bit of the supernatural,” Robin reports, “which is certainly unique for me as hard science has always been the cornerstone of my stories.” He recalls that at Wesleyan, “after my first paper in freshman humanities rated a miserable C-, I felt relegated to the ‘hard sciences’ and stayed away from difficult courses like English and literature because they all involved writing, which was understandably graded on a subjective basis. On the other hand, Wesleyan encouraged me to do an Honors College distinction thesis, the experience of which was why I thought I could write my first book. Ultimately, I give Wesleyan the credit it deserves for my writing career.”  

Bill Everett sent “a little news from the Smokies as we continue aging in place in these mountains,” and included this photo of one of his beautiful hand‑turned wooden bowls “if that will help break up the page.” Other impressive examples of Bill’s handiwork, and that of his wife, Sylvia, may be viewed on their joint website, WisdomsTable.net. 

Jim Gately reported an extended cruise with his wife, Kay, during most of February and March to various parts of Asia. “We flew initially in early February to Auckland, New Zealand, and boarded the Seabourn Sojourn there a couple of days later. After spending several days exploring both North and South Islands, we headed west to Sydney, then northeast along the Great Barrier Reef, and eventually to Darwin. From there, we spent several days exploring various islands in Indonesia before steering north to the Philippines, and finally to Taiwan. We flew back to Philadelphia and home in Villanova from Taipei, arriving home jet-lagged but totally satisfied with our adventure. We learned a great deal about the history and current politics of all six countries (not five . . . this is a quiz!) we visited, met some extraordinary people, and thoroughly enjoyed all the many varieties of nature and humanity we met along the way.”

Bob Gelardi “retired” in July from his volunteer job as chairman of the Charity Relations Committee of the Destin (Florida) Charity Wine Auction Foundation, after serving for 13 years. This year the charity provided $3.5 million to 16 local children’s charities (and over $30 million since inception in 2005). Bob developed a model he would recommend for other charities to follow: “We have written agreements with each recipient charity spelling out not only their responsibilities to our Foundation and ours to theirs, but also their responsibilities to each other and the children they serve. We bring together all 16 executive directors twice a year and underscore these partnerships, and each executive director shares what they need and how they can help each other. Playground equipment, computers, and office space are among the many things they have helped each other with over the years.” Bob appended the above photo of a recognition plaque mounted by one of his charity’s grateful recipients.

John Hazlehurst reports “further evidence of our late-life dog dementia,” namely a seven-month-old Bernedoodle to join their three-year-old Chesapeake [and] a two-year-old Aussidoodle. “They’re delightful, destructive, and demanding. But they bring love and laughter to our lives and keep us from spending too much time mourning the departed. And to all classmates, drop in and see us if you’re ever in Colorado Springs. Just one request: if you come, take a few milk bones with you to bribe the canine guards at the gate.”

Jerry Rice wrote as he was “currently preparing my annual lecture to incoming graduate students at Georgetown University Medical Center. This marks 20 years of my teaching there as distinguished professor in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and will most likely conclude this episode of my career. After 30 years in the U.S. Public Health Service, seven years subsequently with the World Health Organization in Lyon, France, and then 20 years at Georgetown, I’m finally ready to retire for good.” 

Bob Saliba reflects on his four years in a continuing care retirement facility: “We have been very, very happy here. We are in reasonably good health. I did not want to move to Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, but finally lost the domestic argument with my wife, Jenny, of over 50 years, and I consider the decision to move here to be one of the very best. I am completing my term as president of the council here. We have made many friends. It’s a different environment than living in a single-family home or apartment, but it’s worth it. Yes, the fellow residents are all old, but guess what? We’re old too.”

Rick Tuttle conveyed the great news that digital copies of the Wesleyan Argus from 1863 to 2023 are now available online at: https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/islandora/wesleyan-argus. Scroll down to our years and relive the events and issues that were consuming us then.

Chuck Work reports “I do have some news. I am running as a Democrat for the Florida State House of Representatives here in Naples. A very uphill battle. But at least I am doing something.” Previously a lifelong and active Republican, Chuck was convinced by changes in the political landscape to shift his affiliation.  

Finally, and very sadly, I received news from Hank Sprouse that his Wesleyan roommate and lifelong friend Tom Gregory passed away last December following a two‑year struggle with ALS. Tom was fine with telling people about his condition because the more people who know about it, the more likely is help for a cure. Tom had a distinguished career as a producer of award‑winning medical documentary films, and as senior vice president of Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska. His friendships from Wesleyan and Eclectic were always important to him and cherished. A full obituary is available here and a shorter one at https://www.jsonline.com/obituaries/pwix0650691.

One of the advantages of the new digital format now available to class secretaries in the Wesleyan alumnus magazine, is the use of photographs in our submissions. Sadly, two deaths are recorded for this Class Notes’ publication. 

       Spike Paranya was the first to send notification of Jack Woodbury’s death on May 22, 2024:

          “I’m so sorry to report that Jack Woodbury passed away on May 22 from cardiac arrest. He was one of our class’s finest. We shared the same career and training at UMass School of Education. We had great phone conversations over the last years about family and politics!”

         Additional information was later provided by Jack’s daughter, Sarah Woodbury ’05 and her wife, Clara Moskowitz ’05:

            “Jack greatly admired the friends and faculty he met at Wesleyan, and he often shared fond memories of the friends he made in Clark Hall, in his classes, and on sports teams. His time at Wesleyan helped inspire him to become a history teacher and later a public school administrator. Jack participated in civil rights marches in the 1960s, and racial equality and urban education became his passion. Hearing Martin Luther King Jr. speak at a rally of 25,000 people in Montgomery, Alabama, and again at a small church in Chicago, were unforgettable moments for him. Jack was also thrilled to do his part when he and his wife, Janet, canvassed for Barack Obama’s campaign, and he was so excited to make it back to Wesleyan to hear Obama speak at the 2008 commencement. 

“After Wesleyan, Jack earned a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts. He got involved in public education policy as chief of staff for the chancellor of the New York City schools in the 1970s and while serving as New Jersey deputy commissioner of education in the early 1990s. He spent most of his life working as a superintendent of schools in three suburban New Jersey school districts. In retirement, Jack mentored teachers in the school administrative program at SUNY New Paltz.”

            Another classmate, Lee D. Simon, died on the May 2, 2024. Lee was the parent of two Wesleyan alumni, Deirdre ’90 and Julia ’02. As described in his obituary:                    

“After receiving a BA from Wesleyan University in 1961, Lee entered a graduate program in biology at the University of Oregon and received his PhD in biology in 1966 from the University of Rochester. He joined the faculty of the Institute for Cancer Research (now Fox Chase Cancer Center) in Philadelphia as a microbiologist with a focus on the adsorption of T–even phages and breakdown of proteins in bacterial cells. He joined the faculty of the Waxman Institute at Rutgers University in 1976 and was a professor at Rutgers until his retirement in 2010. Lee was an accomplished electron microscopist: his iconic image of a bacteriophage infecting a virus (‘a phage shows its claws’) is still used in biology textbooks.”

           Peter Dybwad shares his recent update of activity: “I’m still happily at work heading the Wright Institute, an independent graduate school of professional psychology in Berkeley. I’m also happily living in a multigenerational household with two of my three children, the partner of one, and three grandchildren under four; two from one of my daughters, and one from the other. I’m walking five to six miles a day and can run and catch a bus (if necessary). My father emigrated from Germany in 1934. I fear for the future.”

And now a cryptic blurb from John Rogers.

“Think I replied before

So hope one of many

Still accepting golden aging

And trying to be trendy.”

Bob Hausman writes: “Nothing new. Just grandchildren graduating from college and high school. I am guessing that many of us are aging, as I am turning 85.” [Secretary’s note: Bob, It’s only a number. . .]      

Respectfully submitted,

Jon

In April, Peggy and Dave Hale went on a cruise from New Orleans to Memphis, during which they enjoyed good food, good music, and good people. Dave has cut back on community involvement, but still is on the Town of Sweden Planning Board and the board of the local food shelf. For something new, he did a few sermons for the Brockport Presbyterian Church, though he commented that “they are more like English classes.”

Mimi and Rob Mortimer were in Paris in spring where they observed the preparations for the Summer Olympics. As an example, the Place de la Concorde was converted into a skateboard arena with bleachers rising all round. Also, as subway stations were closed down, it became complicated to get into the Tuileries. On the way home, they spent an agreeable week in Ireland where they visited the Blarney Stone, Abbey Theater, and pubs. Their daughter, Amy ’87, was there as well to attend a wedding. Back in Boulder, Rob is preparing to go door-to-door for Kamala Harris.

David Paul Boesel passed away in Severna Park, Maryland, on June 2, 2024, after a long illness. He was passionate about civil rights throughout his life, devoting much of his time to voter registration and turnout. He was a skilled martial artist and also enjoyed swimming, workouts at the gym, scuba diving, foreign travel, and boating on the Severn River. Dave is survived by his wife, Gail, daughters, Kyle O’Connor and Alison Riso, son, Justin Boesel, his younger sister, Judy Kelly, and five beloved grandchildren. My condolences to his family and friends.

Christopher R. Campbell Jr. passed away in the San Francisco area on June 2, 2024. After attending Wesleyan, he taught algebra and English at Providence Country Day School. He subsequently went to Brown University for their MAT program. At Harvard University, he earned an MBA in consumer marketing in 1967. Chris was known for having a private consulting firm that had its office on a houseboat moored in San Francisco Bay. He learned to sail, race motorcycles, and fly airplanes. The latter gave rise to his writing software for business aviation. He is survived by his wife, Dolores, daughter, Wendy, and a grandchild. My condolences to his family and friends.