Author: classnotes

Dear Classmates,

Thank you to those who responded to my recent request for news.

Unfortunately, the first message I received was from Jim McCague who told us the sad news of Tim Lynch’s passing. Tim lived in Pittsburgh and was a broker at Janney for many years. Some of us knew this was imminent through fellow Dekes, and we were encouraged to send Tim a message, which I believe a number of us did. Tim was a man of principle, bright and loyal, and will surely be missed by all who knew him.

Jonathan and Matthew, sons of Peter Dodson, wrote to inform us of their father’s sudden passing in mid-March. Peter (undergraduate president of EQV) earned his JD from Penn and was a lawyer at Ropes & Gray in Boston. Peter loved wildlife, the outdoors, and the arts.

Bob Leonard sent a thoughtful note and the following: “I am attaching some comments on our loss last spring of one-time classmate and compatriot, Ted Charlton ’66. Ted was a singular soul, a spirit, a self-sufficient waif. He had a flair for the amusingly wry. He was an honest-to-goodness old-time New Englander—confident, without unseemly pride, that his solitary view had merit and worth. After Wesleyan, he became a critical thinker/writer/teacher of American film, particularly ‘the Western.’ Terribly early in his career, he was struck down by a severe stroke. Bearing his disabilities without a shred of self-pity, he learned to live quietly with great imagination, which he shared within his immediate circle. His passing is born by his former wife, Sue Wiseheart, who has included Ted in her family following their amicable divorce, including her twin girls, who knew him as ‘Tio,’ a precious family moniker that shall ever remain with them as a reminder of someone special. I have been friends with Ted since our days in the College of Letters, sharing essays, poems, political diatribes, and black-and-white photos of forlorn cemeteries, poking fun at the bleak days of February. Ted will bring a knowing wink of human comprehension, and a triumphant spark of disdain for the ironies of life to his final resting place, which will be all the better for his presence.”

Rob Abel: “My colleague and I brought 17 corneas to Kigali, Rwanda, for transplantation, and are consulting at the best ophthalmic teaching institution in central Africa. “By the way, my granddaughters loved their visit to Wesleyan this past fall.” Rob also sent along a great picture of a handsome silverback gorilla he spied in the mountains of Rwanda. He claimed he/she was wearing a Wes t-shirt! and remarked, “He was healthy, seemed to be eating quite well, and wanted to be remembered to you and invited you to make the trek.” Thanks Rob! I’ll take that under consideration and congratulations on your important work for those in need!

Bertel Haarder: “After 42 years as a member of the Danish Parliament, seven years as member of the European Parliament, and 22 years as cabinet minister, I am now a columnist in 5 Media, and I have my own TV program in DK4. So, I’m a very active pensioner. My Wesleyan experience (foreign student 1964–65) greatly inspired my 15 years as minister for education and research.

Dan Raskin: “I’m still alive.”

Arthur Rhodes: “Not much to tell. Am fully retired from medicine after 50-plus years. Have returned to artistic activities. My Instagram board (@papazaydeh) includes 500-plus photographs—no selfies or family. With wife Leslie, we’re enjoying combined five children and 11 grandchildren.”

Bill Brooks: “Glee Club members might want to know that, in addition to collecting materials, establishing a finding aid, and so forth, I’m part of team planning a Professor Richard Winslow festival tentatively scheduled to begin in 2025. Maybe the magazine will do an article on this project in the next issue?

“Personally, I fully retired from the University of York on July 31, 2021, so I’m doubly done now (York and UIUC). But I’m still ‘series editor’ at the Orpheus Institute (Ghent, Belgium), which takes me across the pond at least five times a year. I bought a condo in Champaign, which I’m restoring. Still doing research; still writing music. And, as mentioned above, working full tilt on Richard Winslow’s Wesleyan archive: if anyone from the Glee Club has memories, pictures, recordings—anything!—please be in touch! . . . . Come raise a song for Wesleyana!!”

Bob Barton: “Hanging in at this end, on the inevitable slow decline, but playing tennis two to three times per week. I’m hoping to be with Major Moise for his 80th birthday in Auburn, California, on March 10. Maybe send you a photo. . . .  I’ll be out there mainly to celebrate my brother Bill’s induction into the Cal Berkeley Athletics Hall of Fame (lacrosse).”

Wolf Brueckmann: “I have not sent an entry to Notes for many years. I would appreciate the chance to let classmates with whom I have not been connected know of my whereabouts. Hope therefore that you might include the following brief update: After getting a PhD I got involved in transatlantic trade/investment issues for 30 years at the US Chamber of Commerce and other associations. Owned a small retail business and later taught MBA courses. After retirement, I moved from the Washington, D.C., area to the Shenandoah Valley (Luray, Virginia). Have one daughter, Loni, who is an anesthesiologist in Pittsburgh. Now dedicated to art and show my work (oil painting, mobiles) in area galleries.”

Some news from classmates:

Dan Davis wrote: “Suzanne Schmidt and I have been at Homewood, a CCRC in Frederick, Maryland, for one year. We enjoy good health, full mobility, and tennis five hours a week. After 20 years at the FDA, I do some consulting with pharmaceutical companies and am active for women’s reproductive rights and maintaining access to affordable contraception and medical abortions. Pastor Suzanne is very active for racial and environmental justice.”  

Joel Johnson shared: “Like my classmates, I’ve managed to turn 80. Had a typical Wesleyan career: MPA from Princeton, 16 years with the feds (State, Treasury, Senate Foreign Relations Committee), 16 years VP International of the Aerospace Industries Association, then failed retirement 101, so still doing some aerospace and defense consulting, which gets me to Paris and occasionally London. Have six grandkids—youngest batch (via my son) are all teenagers; oldest batch (via daughter) includes a chemical engineer doing hydrogen power, a middle granddaughter working as a school day therapist, and the youngest who is about to get certified as a jet engine mechanic. Now living in what was my weekend house on Nats Creek, an estuary of Chesapeake Bay that is an hour and a half from D.C. Lovely lady with house in Georgetown, so some shuttling back and forth.”

Jim Relyea reported: “Submitting my notes after all these years to meet the March 15 deadline reminds me of taking my Philosophy 101 final exam freshman year at 9 a.m. then running back to Andrus Hall to type my term paper and submit it by the 12 p.m. deadline. (Some sort of record in procrastination!)

“Life post-Wesleyan: I have worked full time since September 1964: audiovisual publishing; insurance/financial services; helped start two highly successful wealth management firms; married to Betsey for 55 years—we have three wonderful daughters and seven grandchildren (we adore them all); have lived in Briarcliff, New York, since 1970; semiretired (2016)—own small insurance consulting firm; very active with extended family, church, photography, guitar playing, tennis, and being a grandpa.

“Looking forward to seeing everyone at our 60th Reunion. Great memories of Wesleyan days. Sorry for the 59-year delay in sending this in. I’m sure it will cost me in drinks/desserts at the 2024 alumni dinner!

“Thanks to all for your patience.—Jim Relyea”

Russ Messing contributed: “I am still alive and well and have been visited by an imp who is dwelling somewhere in my frontal lobe and shrinking it a bit. The result is that my short-term auditory memory is affected. This hasn’t stopped me from being as funny as ever, going to the gym six days a week, taking care of all my business affairs, and, most importantly, writing poetry. I am now in the process of finishing my fifth book of poetry (all self-published)! I love writing and am ever grateful that I have this in my life. Writing has been with me ever so long (my senior thesis at Wesleyan was ‘Nine Short Stories’ and my mentors were Kit and Joe Reed).  Four years ago I retired from years of being a clinical psychologist, and years before that I was a cofounder of, and teacher in, Synergy School, a K–8 school in the Mission District of San Francisco. I am blessed with the best wife, three very creative and smart kids, and six saucy, self-assured, and, of course, brilliant grandchildren, ages 21 to 4. I am more than happy to send any of my books to anyone who might want them and at the cost of $15.00 each they are a real bargain.”

Life updates and remembrances from several classmates:

Len Edwards writes: “I retired from the bench in 2006. I have flunked retirement, as I still teach and write (judgeleonardedwards.com). I have lived in the same house since 1977. Nearby, my son and family live. I remarried after my wife of 38 years died and between us, we have 12 grandchildren. I look forward to a reunion this spring.”

Fritz Henn contributes: “I am looking forward to graduation when my oldest granddaughter will graduate from Wes. That is three generations of Wes graduates. I am fully retired and actually gave my last lecture two years ago at the Winter Conference for Brain Research. I was asked to give the distinguished opening lecture, with introductory lectures by two of my previous students. It was a great way to end my research career but I miss both the lab and the students. 

“Currently I am living in Washington, D.C., sharing an enormous house with my daughter and her family and have the luxury of staying with my son and his wife (Wes grads) in their summer home on an island off the Maine coast during a good part of the summer.”

Jack Jarzavek shares: “I was remembering Bob Martin the other day and wondered how much many of our classmates knew of his fame and accomplishments. Bob was my freshman roommate and fraternity brother. He got his PhD from Brown in the late ’60s, and then taught for his whole career in Montreal. Bob wrote extensively on American literature and was one of the first openly gay literary critics in the U.S. His first book, of many, was his Brown thesis: The Homosexual Tradition in American Poetry. It is still a classic in the field. He did extensive research on Melville, Hawthorne, and American expats in Italy. Bob died in 2012. He was known for his erudition and wit.”

From Don Sexton: “Celebrated my 80th birthday in January. When I was in my teens, never thought of reaching 80, so am happy to be here and aboveground. Am busy with painting (www.sextonart.com). Have solo shows coming up later this year at the Litchfield, Connecticut, library (July–August) and at the Bruce S. Kershner Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut (November–December). I continue to perform stand-up comedy on Broadway and elsewhere—love the audiences. After 50 years of teaching at Columbia, I pretty much have lost any stage fright I might have once had. My wife and kids and grandkids like to remind me, ‘But, Dad, some people should have stage fright.’ Best wishes to all—look forward to your 90th! Be well.”

Robin Cook has recently completed his 40th novel, while he and his partners anxiously await FDA approval for their new mobile spectrometry-based diagnostic machine for multiple viruses including COVID, influenza, and monkey pox (as described in earlier Class Notes).

Bruce Franklin, who has recently moved to Tucson, Arizona, reported in on an eventful post‑Wesleyan career that began in Kampala, Uganda, followed by a posting to Nairobi and later to an up-country secondary school in Narok, the land of the Maasai. Returning to America, he completed graduate studies at Columbia and Teachers College, and subsequently taught for 45 years, first at Kean University in New Jersey, then Quinnipiac in Connecticut. In 1998 he began playing in tennis tournaments in the Southwest and around the world, mostly the senior European red-clay court circuit, and soon after “founded with others a 60-and-over basketball program where I played for 22 years. . . .  Sometimes we even had our own cheerleaders—young and seniors!” Bruce continues “at a leisurely pace, to research into the business interests of the Founding Fathers.” 

John Hazlehurst writes: “Still happily ensconced in our ancient, three-story Victorian in Colorado Springs. All those staircases? We must be nuts. Further evidence: Karen and I have two large-breed puppies, a Chesapeake and a poodle mix. Now 15 and nine months, they’re mischievous, destructive, disobedient, and wonderful. We still publish our annual visitor magazine, Colorado Fun, which has somehow survived and thrived for seven years. We’re in reasonably good health, and enjoy geezer jokes, e.g., I sometimes forget a name, but I never remember a face.” [Ed. note: their impressive magazine is available online at www.coloradofunguide.com/themagazine/.]

Dave Hedges and his wife recently visited Quito, Ecuador, and the Galápagos Islands, “a thoroughly enjoyable trip with a group of just eight people on a 98-foot boat, and crew of 14 to wait on us. Wonderful wildlife with birds, iguanas, sea lions, turtles, and outstanding fish for us snorkelers. Quito, is a very interesting city at 9,400 feet above sea level and we were able to visit the equator and stand on both hemispheres at the same time. Only wish we had done it five to 10 years ago as the hiking was somewhat strenuous.”

Bruce Menke is still “fighting the good fight” in Georgia where the state legislature “continues to approve bills which are outrageous infringements of our most basic and essential rights, and we continue to do everything in our power to oppose those actions including writing numerous letters to the editor”—one of which appeared prominently in the March 12 edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Peter Mooz and wife Betty (a native of Middletown) are moving to a villa at beautiful Atlantic Shores Senior Community in Virginia Beach, following a long career in Texas and Virginia of directing art museums and foundations, followed by establishment of a real estate agency which specialized in restoring antique houses and creating historic districts. He remains active in a foundation for the fine arts he established in 1985 to help museums and artists bring art to low-income families, and in 2020 published American Masterworks of Religious Painting 1664–1964. He sends regards “to classmates and friends who have also found new lives in retirement, and thanks to Professor Sam Green who sent me on my life in art.”

Bob Saliba thanks his wife Jenny for convincing him to move into a continuing care retirement community, Fellowship Village, in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Following “one of the best decisions I ever made in my life, we are both very happy here, have made many new friends.” Fifteen months with a personal trainer “turned my life around and as a member and president‑elect of the residents council, in addition to my other activities and interests, there is no more rocking chair for me.” Their children live nearby, with daughter Lynne soon to receive her PhD in nursing from Rutgers and granddaughter Liz loving her first  year at Connecticut College; their son George, a freelance business journalist, lives nearby in Caldwell. 

Len Wilson is “still learning to adjust our lifestyle to be trained by our one-year-old Chinese Crested puppy [while] still playing pickleball several times a week. My game is better, but my legs are aging at an incredible pace, and I am still too proud or dumb to play down at a lower level.” Len has just “volunteered,” under some peer pressure, to assume the vacant role of chair of his retired YMCA alumni group, which “keeps me informed and active at the keyboard a major part of each day.” He and Joyce “continue to enjoy retirement and reflecting on grandchildren’s career choices.”

Chuck Work reports surviving Hurricane Ian in Naples while many others were not so fortunate. Closer to the water, the damage from the surge was significant. He was writing from San Francisco while hoping that the terrible weather would allow him to attend one son’s golf match in a qualifying round for the SF Amateur Championship and a grandson’s game with the Cal Berkeley Soccer Club. Vin Hoagland echoed Chuck’s complaintabout the deluge of rainin Northern California as his rain gauge measured 2.9 inches in the previous 24-hour period.

Just before deadline, Dave Hedges added the sad news that his dear friend Ted Hillman passed away on April 3; obituary at https://www.freyvogelfuneralhome.com/obituary/Edward-Hillman.

And two other websites of possible interest:

John Driscoll Memorial Service:

https://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/events/past-events/fy23/homecoming-2022.html

Just before deadline, Dave Hedges added the sad news that his dear friend Ted Hillman passed away on April 3; obituary at https://www.freyvogelfuneralhome.com/obituary/Edward-Hillman.

And two other websites of possible interest:

John Driscoll Memorial Service:

https://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/events/past-events/fy23/homecoming-2022.html

Just before deadline, Dave Hedges added the sad news that his dear friend Ted Hillman passed away on April 3; obituary at https://www.freyvogelfuneralhome.com/obituary/Edward-Hillman.

And two other websites of possible interest:

John Driscoll Memorial Service:

https://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/events/past-events/fy23/homecoming-2022.html

Bruce Corwin at our 50th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NUu9_Zso6g.

“I lead a very simple life here in St. Paul, Minnesota,” (writes Bob Hausman) “with family very close: sons, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. I had to go to Connecticut for a funeral, so I got to see WesTech. While there, I made a quick trip to the shore, where I would normally see Red Erda ’63, but he was not home. I did get to swim in the Sound. I am in touch with Glenn Hawkes, Emil Frankel, and Bob Wielde. Coincidentally, public television just did a feature on folk music in which they showed the Highwaymen singing Michael Row the Boat Ashore, a blast from the past.”

An update was sent from Peter Funk: “I am pleased to report that Jennie and I are well here in the Channel Islands. The aftermath of COVID is receding but, like elsewhere, we feel the effects of inflation, the dreadful war in Ukraine, political uncertainties, and particularly, Brexit, which has restricted travel and trade to and from Europe. (France is a mere 17 nautical miles from us.) This too will pass, perhaps. I am also pleased to report that daughters Lexy ’91, Jenny ’95, and their families are well and living in the USA. I may get them back to this side of the Atlantic one day. My fond regards to our classmates and Wesleyan.”

Denny Huston writes: “After 55 years of teaching, most of them at Rice, I decided finally to retire completely from teaching courses in the university, though I will still teach a class in film off campus. Lisa and I have been traveling some, and had a great trip to Madrid in December, where we were given a fun tour by one of my granddaughters, who had been studying there for a semester. Maybe the biggest news in our family is that my daughter Kate ’91 has a son who is now touring the world in West Side Story for the next year and a half. I am sorry that living in Houston puts me relatively far away from life at Wesleyan, though I still am lucky enough to see some Wesleyan people who are passing through, most recently Bill Wagner, a fraternity brother and roommate my senior year. I would love to hear from others who are traveling this way (jdhuston@rice.edu).”

“It all started when we were at Wesleyan in 1958,” writes Jack Mitchell. “The big picture is that all in our nuclear family are healthy. Our family businesses, now eight stores strong, show record sales and profits. Our oldest grandson Lyle ’16, who graduated from Wesleyan and worked five to six years in our industry, is graduating from Columbia Business School in June and will join us as the first in a fourth generation! We will also celebrate our grandson Bob’s July wedding in Colorado. I’m now chairman emeritus, working most days meeting and greeting clients in the Westport and Greenwich stores, and participating on several corporate boards. Tennis is still my favorite game, while enjoying Block Island during summers with Linda as we celebrate 62 years together.” Jack sends his best to all with happy and healthy safe hugs.

In a reflective tone to your class secretary, Alexander (Sandy) McCurdy states: “You’ve kept us connected to that very special time in our young lives, which so quickly slipped by. We charged off into the adventure for which WesTech, as we used to say for some unknown reason, had prepared us. Any news from me could only be extremely boring, except how my mind wanders happily to the Wesleyan campus, from time to time, recalling such wonderful oddities as our dutifully worn freshman beanies. Can we imagine the looks on today’s [students] if they were presented with such required haberdashery? Of course, you know that Pete Drayer died not too long ago. I saw a bit more of him in our May years at his retirement place nearby me, where he settled in with his wife a while ago.”

“Happily, I no longer have a ‘bucket list,’ exclaims Russell (aka Bob, aka Mook) Mott.

“Without a ceramic studio until the summer when I go back to camp, I am beginning my fifth career in drawing with acrylic and collage on stretched canvas, eventually finished over with resin. I have no clue if I possess enough talent to enforce the chase, but the thrill of testing and then again and then again—I’m all over it like a bad suit. For those who may remember, John Keratzes, who died at a very young age in 1975, was my closest friend and ‘best man’ at my first wedding in 1966. (We had the same date of birth, January 18.) I returned from Vietnam in 1975 to learn that he had just passed, so I spent a very long time searching for relatives. Six years ago, I located his son, Matt Komonchuk, who lives with his Brazilian wife Miriam in Portsmouth. He owns a radio station, and we correspond all the time and are best friends.”

Cheerfully submitted,

Jon

Nici and John Dobson continue to enjoy travel as their favorite form of recreation. They had two-week trips to Key West, Florida, in both March and November of 2022. John views Key West as his favorite town in America.

In May 2022, Peggy and Dave Hale spent 12 memorable days in Iceland where they saw snowcapped volcanoes, glaciers, and geothermal features. They also visited horse and goat farms, museums, and cruised to watch whales and puffins.

Ira Sharkansky reported that he continues to produce a blog that focuses on the mess of Israeli politics. In his view, Prime Minister Netanyahu is letting extremists express what they want, but so far controlling what they accomplish.

Congratulations to Steve Golin whose third book, Women Who Invented the Sixties: Ella Baker, Jane Jacobs, Rachel Carson, and Betty Friedan, has recently been published! These four women serve as role models for those who continue to challenge the status quo in the quest for a better world.

Bob Williams wrote: “Ann and I are still happily living at The Highlands of Topsham, along with Sue and Jim Dover. We are saddened by the loss of our friend and classmate Mickey Levine and try to stay in touch with his widow Marilyn.

“I’m finishing up a book on the Voynich manuscript at Yale, a mysterious book that no historian or cryptographer has been able to read or decipher. Since there is no evidence the text existed before 1912, I think Voynich (a Polish London bookseller) probably produced it himself as a hoax. The Golden Fleece! So, I’ve written a book that few will read about a book that nobody has been able to read. Still singing and living off the investment of our excellent WesTech liberal arts education.”

Congratulations to Paul Tractenberg who will be honored on May 4, 2023, for founding the Education Law Center in April 1973. The 50th anniversary will be celebrated with a panel discussion and a festive reception honoring Paul along with the outgoing and incoming executive directors. In addition, Paul presented the oral argument to the New Jersey Appellate Division in the Lakewood case (which he is cocounsel with a former law school student of his) for 5,200 public school students. Finally, Paul has been mentoring Ben Levin ’23, a Wesleyan senior, on a major education law and policy project entitled “State Education Clauses for Tomorrow.”

Maria and David Martin continue to make valuable civic contributions. The local Jubilee Park and Community Center encompasses a 62-block area in an underserved community in southeast Dallas. They have been serving there with time, talent, and treasure since its inception 25 years ago. Their latest accomplishment was to open a community clinic operated by Parkland Hospital for which they raised over $7 million for the building fund. It opened in September 2022 and was operating at 85% of capacity a month later.

In addition, in early winter they celebrated the birth of their first great-grandchild. They feel fortunate as a family and note that Wesleyan has played a big part in that blessing.

Edward A. Collins III passed away on October 20, 2022. Ed married his high school sweetheart Gretchen in 1960 and had a career as a reinsurance underwriter. In 1996 they built a house on a small, idyllic lake in New Hampshire, and this is where they spent their summers and autumns over the past two decades. He was a loving, supportive father, and shared his passion for sports with his children. He was an avid golfer and fly fisherman. Ed will be remembered for his soft-spoken kindness and his unwavering willingness to help others. Ed is survived by his wife, daughters Wendy and Robin, son Andrew ’91, and three granddaughters. My condolences to his family and friends. His obituary can be read at www.rickerfuneralhome.com/obituary/edward-collins-iii.

Michael R. Rosen passed away on January 6, 2023, following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was honored at a conference in October 2022 for his 50 years at Columbia University where he was professor of pharmacology and pediatrics. Michael authored and coauthored over 500 peer-reviewed publications and received multiple national and international awards. He will be remembered for his love of literature, music, travel, kayaking, Cape Cod, and spending time with family and friends. He is survived by his wife Tove, daughters Jennifer and Rachel, and two granddaughters. He was devoted to the memory of his late eldest daughter Dina. My condolences to his family and friends.