Author: Caroline Liu '18

Categories Class Notes | 1940sPosted on

CLASS OF 1943 | 2015 | ISSUE 1

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and I’m wondering what more the media can cook up against Bill Belichick ’75, Tom Brady and the New England football team—Go Patriots! I hope you enjoyed the holiday season and were not adversely affected by the extreme weather experienced in various parts of the country, including New England. We’ve been fortunate here in Virginia—have yet to see our “Big Snow” of the year!

Dick Ferguson writes: “We’re glad that you had a great recovery. Can’t keep a good man down. Marge still seems not quite fully recovered. Some days it seems she is sleeping 23 hours a day. We were so glad to see your write-up. We are lucky to have the children and grandchildren able to drop in to see us on their way to visit their children or grandchildren. Wish that I’d see more of Wesleyan men.”

From Gene Loveland: “The news from the Deep South is: Where did the warm weather go? I’m fine and still doing my monthly column for the House Organ plus write-ups of our four putting tournaments that I manage. In the fall events, I won the Sadie Hawkins Tournament with the lady champion but lost the Hallmark Cup I’d won in the spring to a challenger. Lots of football and politics, plus I enjoy a new book every two months or so. Have a good year!”

I received a letter from Jack Ritchie, in which he states: “Keep up the good work; sorry to hear of your bout with cancer. I grasp for news. Mostly we seem to be aimed at making sure we have no news. I spoke with Muzz Molina last spring and we were planning to get together in some restaurant between Salisbury and New Milford, Conn., where he lives, when he returns from his summer in Vermont. And now he is dead. Who will be the last classmate left standing? News? We are glad that we are where we are. We live in a cottage at a senior continuing care place, Noble Horizons, now 35 years old. It is part of Church Homes, Inc., a senior community in Hartford. We pretty much take care of ourselves, but have the option for bring-in meals, falling back into more care at a nursing home and other. There are many outings, cocktail parties, concerts, etc., where we may choose. News? Come to beautiful and freezing Salisbury, Conn., for a week, starting February 6.”

Frederick P. Appleton
100 O’Brien Court, Suffolk, VA 23434

Categories Class Notes | 1940sPosted on

CLASS OF 1942 | 2015 | ISSUE 1

The editors are deeply saddened to report the death of longtime class secretary George Morrill on Jan. 3, 2015. Please see further information in the obituary section and online.

Categories Class Notes | 1930sPosted on

CLASS OF 1938 | 2015 | ISSUE 1

It seems in the last edition the notes got, how shall we say, a wee bit verbose.

I’m not sure that is the correct way to represent the few fellows I speak with from the Class of ’38, so in keeping with the saying, “less is more,” let me say that Art Kingsbury, Curtis Smith, and Bob Porter are all doing well.

Curt has moved into The Scandinavian Home, recuperating very well after a slight stroke and the rehab that follows. Snow was still on the ground when we spoke. Art is delighted his granddaughter and family have moved back to Venice. He and Diane are enjoying watching their latest great-grandchild discover the art of walking! Bob and Doris are hanging in there. Life in Naples is quiet but they enjoy their visits from family.

Len Weinstein and I still are swapping messages. Perhaps this summer I’ll win the lottery and catch him and Suzanne when they are home!

Here’s wishing all a wonderful spring and a healthy summer. All the best,

GRACE BENNETT
daughter of the late Walter Bennett ’38
8104 39th Avenue, S.W., Seattle, WA 98136

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

JASON WOLFE

Jason Wolfe, 73, professor of biology emeritus, died Dec. 23, 2014. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1969 after receiving his BA from Rutgers and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and completing two post-doctoral fellowships at Kings College, University of London, and Johns Hopkins. He taught cell biology, human biology, biology of aging and the elderly, and structural biology at Wesleyan for 39 years.

In his research, Wolfe asked big questions about how reproduction and aging are regulated. With funding from NIH and NSF, he produced an enviable body of work published in the major cell biology journals—always mentoring undergraduates and graduate students with compassion and insight. He led the effort that resulted in Wesleyan’s first Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant for Undergraduate Life Science Education, establishing a program that has provided decades of support for hundreds of undergraduates. In retirement, he twice offered his popular general education course in human biology and published his last Biology Open research paper in 2014 with four former Wesleyan undergraduate co-authors.

He is survived by his wife, Vera Schwarcz, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of history, as well as three children and five grandchildren.

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

GEORGE R. CREEGER

George R. Creeger, 89, professor of English, emeritus, died Nov. 1, 2014. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1951 after receiving his B.A. at DePauw University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Yale. He taught American literature in the English Department for nearly 50 years. An expert on romantic poetry—particularly Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, and Byron—and on the works of Herman Melville, he was also a generalist who brought some of his other passions into the classroom through courses on Early Connecticut Houses and Opera as Myth and Literature. He served as Dean of the College from 1971–1973 as well as chair of the faculty from 1991–1992. He was a brilliant teacher whose deep resonant voice was instantly recognizable, and he was much beloved by a devoted following of students. He was the first recipient of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching when it was inaugurated in 1993.

He is survived by a son, Christopher (Kit); his daughter, Katie; and two grandsons. He is predeceased by his wife, Elva, and by a son, Carl.

Categories UncategorizedPosted on

FRANKLIN A SEVERANCE MALS’73

FRANKLIN A SEVERANCE MALS’73, an educator and administrator, died Dec. 31, 2014. He was 75. A graduate of Harvard University, he earned master’s degrees at Wesleyan and at the Muskie School of Public Service. He served with the U.S. Army National Guard. His long teaching and administrative career included positions at schools in Nigeria, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine. In addition to his career in education, he served as a chief deputy sheriff of Fairfield County (Conn.), assistant commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Insurance, and regulatory board coordinator for the State of Maine. He also volunteered with a variety of non-profit organizations. His wife, Irene Severance, survives, as do his son; two brothers, including John B Severance MALS’69; several nieces; and four stepchildren.

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ARMAND P. MAZZETTI MALS’68

ARMAND P. MAZZETTI MALS’68, a science teacher, died Sept. 11, 2014. He was 80. A U.S. Army veteran, he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut. In addition to receiving his MALS from Wesleyan, he also received a master’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University. He taught science at Cheshire (Conn.) High School for 25 years and zoology at the UCONN Waterbury branch. He also founded The Caboose, a distributor of handcrafted model trains. He was predeceased by his wife, Dolores Kramer Mazzetti, and by his son. Survivors include his wife, Tara Rupsis Mazzetti, his daughter, two grandchildren, and his brother.

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ROBERT M. SANDOE MALS’62

ROBERT M. SANDOE MALS’62, who founded Robert M. Sandoe and Associates, now Carney Sandoe and Associates, the teacher placement agency and head of school recruitment firm in Boston, died Aug. 10, 2014, at age 90. He received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. During World War II he served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a navigator and during the Korean War as an instructor of navigation. He taught for several years at Choate Rosemary Hall before holding headships at the American School of Manila, Texas Military Academy, the Cranbrook School, and the Cambridge School of Weston. Subsequently he founded Sandoe and Associates. A leader in the world of independent education, he was also the founding first Chair of Independent Educational Services, a non-profit teacher placement agency. His first wife, Nancy Kane Sandoe, predeceased him, as did one son. Among those who survive are his wife, Frederica Lawrence Sandoe, two children, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.