Author: Caroline Liu '18

My “Finding Your Laugh” Lyris message was intended as a “Creative Whack Pack” card for classmates. My purpose was to elicit an account of your kicks and surprises when attending to and noticing some of the funny stuff going on around you. Since I finished by calling it “your assignment,” however, I probably shut down some of those creative juices.

Mort Paterson certainly captured the spirit of this exercise with this smashing episode: “I am finally learning how to curse. My normally sweet and gentle wife, a versatile actress, has recently been performing the role of Violet, the embittered feisty lady in August: Osage County at our local little theater group. Her language includes some blatant obscenities. Having helped her with rehearsals and seen three performances, I have picked up on her vernacular, joined the trend of today’s grandparents, and am ready anytime to confront nonsense with ‘Blow it out your a**!’ So watch out.”

Having seen August: Osage County a few months ago in the Omaha Community Playhouse (one of the oldest, largest, and best in the country), I know just what kind of language Mort’s referring to there.

John Foster contributed this travel tidbit: “One funny moment comes to my mind which others have found amusing: My wife and I were visiting a small church in England, once the chapel on my grandmother’s family property. The local sextant kindly took us in and on a tour. Noticing me looking up at a series of ladders leading up into the spire, he asked if I would like to ascend for a view of the surrounding grounds.

‘Sure… and are there any bats in the belfry?’

‘No,’ he assured me… ‘once you baptize and confirm them, you never see them again.’”

We also have this family episode shared by George Chien: “I’ll share an amusing story about my 12-year-old granddaughter Jeannette, the Girl Scout. Her troop put on a presentation about Scouting around the world, with each girl representing a country that has a Scouting program. They dressed appropriately, and spoke briefly about Scouting in their country. They were urged not to fall out of character. Jeannette chose Russia and gave her little spiel with an imaginary accent. Afterward a mother approached her with a little girl, hand-in-hand. The mother had a request. She had recently adopted her daughter from Russia, she explained, and the girl had not yet learned English. Could Jeannette, she asked, talk to her daughter in Russian? Well, of course, she couldn’t, so trying not to fall out of character; she made up a story about her parents working in the American Embassy and having moved to the U.S. when she was very young. Consequently, she apologized, she speaks only English. Later I told her, she could have said, ‘I’m not really Russian. I’m Chinese.’ A cool one, at that—but I don’t know what she might have done if they’d responded in Mandarin.”

Responding to an earlier solicitation, we have this comprehensive update from Larry La Brie: “I suspect that most of us are now fully retired and spend much of our time around our individual local towns—particularly places like the doctor’s office, etc. So far Beth and I have been fortunate to have reasonably good health. Some years ago I had some prostate treatment and recently Beth has had cataract surgery and a stroke, neither of which has significantly restricted our activities. We take more pills than we’d prefer, but many of these are vitamins and mineral supplements. Several days a week I try to walk our beach on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina for at least a couple of hours. The island we live on is not particularly good for finding shells unless we have had a significant storm or beach sand ‘re-nourishment’ is being done. These sand projects involve dredging sand from an inlet or bar and depositing it on our beaches. My favorite find was a large prehistoric shark’s tooth and some really neat shells.

“For a number of years, as a hobby, I have been carving decorative decoy birds—primarily waterfowl. I do this at a class at our local community college with a number of fellow carvers and an instructor. In some respects it is more a club than a class. I also take numerous photographic images—slides and digital.

“Some of our trips have involved viewing birds and other wild animals. Beth tolerates birding but does not enjoy it as much as I do. This year, she found us a Road Scholar trip to southern Florida to observe birds, which we combined with visits to a law school classmate and a former coworker, which we have just completed. I am considering a 10-day birding trip in 2015 to the Galápagos Islands, as it is a place I have long wanted to visit and my carving instructor is coordinating the trip.

“One of the participants in this year’s birding trip happened to be a law associate of our classmate Guy DeFrances—one of those strange coincidences of life—I felt the odds of that occurring were pretty long. He too had gone to a small eastern college and we had some enjoyable conversations about our college experiences.

“We have five grandchildren, the oldest of whom is in high school. Our eldest son is married to a Moldovan lady, and they have young twin girls. Our middle boy and his wife have two boys and a girl. Our daughter and son-in-law are still hoping to have a family—only married four years.

Finally: “Funny? Outlandish? Weird?” [Choose one.” I flew up to Wesleyan in November for Homecoming. My kindly hosts—Peg and Phil Crombie (roomie!). Beat Williams for the first Little Three title in 43 years! A pretty young undergraduate asked for my fossil fuel divestment signature in an elevator (an elevator at Wesleyan?). Grand dinner at Alpha Delt. What’s not to like?] Walter Ebmeyer.

Keep the funny, freaky stuff coming.

GEORGE CHIEN | gchien@optonline.net; 201/261-0997

BOB RUNYON | rrunyon@unomaha.edu; 402/393-3320

Sincere thanks for the response to my requests for information from classmates for this column. I was cheered when I received two from non-’55 members; one from George Anderson ’53 and the other from Don Ritt ’56, in addition to three e-mails from members of the Crucial Class!

George recalled the days when upon graduation, he, Don Fodaski ’54, and Len Stolba ’54 hitchhiked from Connecticut to Santa Monica and found both jobs and a great place to stay. He remarked that after many years he leads a wonderful life, having remarried after his first wife’s passing and now is the proud father of seven children and 17 grandchildren.

Don Ritt brought back memories from 2002 when we traveled to Ireland on an Alumni Tour. For me, most memorable was hearing the call for a doctor aboard the Aer Lingus flight to Shannon. As we deplaned, I saw Don and he told me he was the doctor who attended a woman having a diabetic attack. He also mentioned the chilling thought that he was given “command” of the flight and it was his decision to land as soon as possible or continue on to Ireland! In what I hope was a humorous vein, Don did have an idea of why notes from classmates become less and less frequent. He says, “Your classmates are in the early stages of dementia and are now 80-years-old plus. Seriously, when you get over 80, your ego does suffer and these guys are probably having such feelings.” He did suggest a positive approach and I will give it a try!

Dick Bauman brought us up to date after these many years. He retired from Liberty Mutual Insurance after 37 years and moved to Blacksburg, Va., home of Virginia Tech, in 1995. He took advantage of all the benefits a university town offers, such as auditing classes, theater, concerts, tennis, and more. He and Peg had four children and as he says, “Life has its joys and sorrows, and loss happens.” Their youngest son, Erik, contracted ALS and died in 2009. Peg passed away in 2008 from complications following back surgery. They had been married 52 years. Thanks to family and friends, he has kept on going and now, with a new relationship and a new knee replacement, he is looking forward to life again! He did conclude his most welcome note with a serious question: “Were we really the Crucial Class”?

Our noted traveler, Jim Shepard, and his wife, Sally-Jean, spent several days in Kiev and the Balkans last fall. Jim recently attended a local Wesleyan gathering “in a darkened back room of a hotel bar in San Francisco.” He remarked that 90 percent of the attendees were female whom he believed were aiming for graduate degrees. “I wondered where they get the money,” he wrote and then related when he was a freshman and he was called into the Dean’s office and told if he stopped selling evening sandwiches in the dorm his scholarship would be raised from $700 to $800. As he says, “that wouldn’t buy lattes at Downey House now.”

John Sheaff moans that he gave up skiing a few years back and thus hasn’t been able to take advantage of the “wonderful New England weather” this winter (and spring, I might add!) With only a few limitations on physical activities (no more leaping over tall buildings, he says), he has been doing well. While he hasn’t been on a bicycle in a year due to balance problems, he does say he might try again if and when spring does really come! And John, should you come to Vero Beach to visit Cheryl, bring your bike and we can ride together!

I’ve exchanged e-mails with Tom Nall and am happy to report that he’s mending well from heart surgery. As John Sheaff wrote, he’s gone back to his “old Kentucky Home” and hopefully, family and friends are with him during his recovery.

An update on my cycling: I finished 2013 with a new personal best, having logged 5,807 miles. Still feel strong and healthy and have ridden more than 1,600 miles to date (4/8/14). Marianne and I continue to enjoy the warmth of Florida but still miss the Midwest culture and old friends.

Hopefully, these Class Notes find you well and even in the mood to send a few e-mails this way.

DONALD J. BRAVERMAN | ybikedon@bellsouth.net
27A Stratford Ln. W., Boynton Beach, FL 33436; 561/654-3711

Greetings, Classmates! A record number of you responded to my e-mail, and I’m most appreciative. For the record, these Notes were assembled just prior to our 60th Reunion in May 2014, so most of you responded primarily with news of your intent to attend, or not attend. However, by the time you read this, the Reunion will have occurred, with, hopefully, a record turnout. Anyway, here’s what you told me in April of 2014:

John Binswanger will be with us at our 60th…Bill Christopher had to cancel making arrangements for the journey to Middletown. Bill had spoken recently to Terry Hatter, who said he’s coming to the 60th…Art Dexter celebrated his 82nd birthday on Anna Maria Island, Fla., with children and grandchildren. But tough news: Art is unable to be at our 60th because he’s been diagnosed with kidney cancer and starts treatments the week of April 14th…Bud Johnson sent a “cryptic” message, which I hope means we’ll see him at the Reunion…George Devries Klein turned 81 in January, and decided, after a 54-year post-doctorate career as a geologist, to retire. George and Suyon are relocating to Guam! Suyon is Korean, and her family and friends will be only three hours, by air, from Guam…Bill Drury reports he won’t be able to come for our Reunion weekend, but “I’ll really miss all you old guys!”…Steve Martin hopes to make it, but won’t know until late April…Dick Matthews is sorry he’s going to miss the 60th Reunion due to a family obligation, but he’s looking forward to seeing all of us at the 65th!…Bob Muir had to cancel his coming to the 60th, after having sold his home of 52 years, and relocating to a retirement community in Newton, N.J.,…Rod O’Connor is looking forward to attending, especially after his productive visit to the campus last October, when Wes beat Williams in football for our first Little Three title in 40 years!…Art Spada is set to come to the Reunion, just needs answers to his logistics questions…Norm Stuessy and Ruth will be unable to join us in Middletown, I’m sad to report. Norm reports that “annoying health issues keep me from enjoying life as much as I used to…” Get well, Norm!…Marshall Umpleby reports he’s in remission and still taking chemo shots one week out of every six. Marshall writes that “the long trip to Wes from Ashland, Ore., might be more than I could handle.” He and Mimi just returned from a 10-day trip to Palo Alto, where they visited their nephew, a Cal prof, watched a Stanford-Oregon baseball game, and hooked up with many old teaching buddies. Marshall reports that it was “exhausting but well worth it.”…Finally, Hal White is planning to attend our 60th, right on the heels of being named “One of the 28 Most Inspiring Rabbis in the United States in 2013.”

That’s the latest, guys. Expect to have seen most of you, and then some, at our 60th Reunion this past May.

BOB CAREY | bobcarey@optonline.net
618 W. Lyon Farm Dr., Greenwich, CT 06831
203/532-1745

Northeast U.S. was home to a majority of our freshman class. Within a few years of graduation members of the class began to move—west and south—as demanded by job and family. This continues with retirement and aging. Relocating in January to The Woodlands, Texas, from his long-term home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (Chagrin origin?, probably corruption of the French surname Seguin), Jim Griffis enjoys “a large 8th (top) floor corner apartment with wraparound balcony” overlooking a small lake outside Houston. Two of his four children, his daughter and his retired son (one of three), live in the area. He left a great-granddaughter and great-grandson in Cleveland. Always being the “oldest guy in his Cleveland circles,” he now finds himself among “old people—many older and more active.” Not an unusual occurrence for many of us. Welcome to the Southwest, Jim!

Not enough news? As spring brings forth new life and winter hibernation ends, share your activities (planned or completed) with classmates with a note or call to me. Thanks to all who have contributed to the Wesleyan Fund.

JOHN W. MILLER | Jwalmiller@aol.com
306 Autumn Court, Bartlesville, OK 74006 918/335-0081

Thorne Griscom, he of the memorable mellifluous voice as a Jiber, retired after 49 years of service at Boston Children’s Hospital. In his honor, the hospital has established an endowed chair in children’s radiology, to be known as the “Thorne Griscom Chair.” Congratulations, Thorne!

Bill Morrill’s fabulously interesting book, A Journey Through Governance—A Public Servant’s Experience Under Six Presidents, has just been published and is available on Amazon. Bill served 25 years with the U.S. government in various capacities during administrations from Eisenhower to Carter. In this book, he relates his experiences inside the White House, the Capitol, and with presidents, senators, generals, and cabinet secretaries as they wrestled with one critical national issue after another. George Shultz, former Secretary of Labor, the Treasury, and State, says about the book, “Morrill brings vast and diverse experience to his views about a subject of critical importance: how we govern ourselves. . . . Everyone, whether in government or not, can learn from this book.”

Kim Zachos read Bill Morrill’s book and wrote, “Today’s level of political talent is a disappointment to all who trained under Shattschneider, Bailey, Schorske, and Mangone—creates all the more need for the likes of Bill Morrill. Hopefully, Bill’s book will help fill the need for talented and committed public servants. Thanks [to Bill] for putting his history into print for those of us who stayed on the edge.”

Our class president and first lady, Susie and Bill Wasch, hosted a great Wes reunion in San Francisco. Their daughter, Dr. Heidi Wasch ’84, and her husband, Dr. Bob Leversee ’84, came down from Seattle to meet them after they arrived from a cruise through the Panama Canal on the Queen Elizabeth. Bill arranged a reunion at the Marine Officers Club on Sutter St. with all three of Heidi’s senior year housemates, Veronica Masterson ’85, Maria Mead ’84, and Sophie Ziegler ’85. A photo of the jovial group, their spouses and children can be found in the online 1952 class notes: classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/.

The Class of 1952 is about to make another significant contribution to Wesleyan. This time it is by way of Ken Taylor’s daughter-in-law, Victoria Pitts-Taylor, Ph.D, who will join Wesleyan in the fall of 2014 as Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Feminist, Sexuality and Gender Studies. Another contribution of Ken’s is his daughter, Janet Taylor McCracken ’80, who is adding glow to Wesleyan’s crown as former Deputy Food Editor of Bon Appétit Magazine and now Test Kitchen Director at EveryDay. Ken is retired and living (with JoAnne) at Seabury Retirement Community in Bloomfield, Conn., after a 31-year career of serving the United Church of Christ (Congregational), most recently as Associate Minister of the CT Conference of the UCC.

Joe Proud has just surfaced after decades of flying under the class radar. Most of us remember Joe as a stellar distance runner on the track and cross-country teams, including the 1950 Little Three cross-country championship team. We also remember how, as president of DU, he led the move to break racial barriers by pledging the late Ed Beckham ’58, who later became Dean of the College at Wesleyan before moving on to a top position with the Ford Foundation.

Now comes the following new information (to us anyway) from sources other than Joe. After Wesleyan, Joe got a master’s and Ph.D in physics at Brown. He first joined Sandia Corp. and became responsible for the planning and conduct of experiments on full-scale nuclear explosions at the Nevada Test Site and in the South Pacific. He next cofounded Ikor, Inc. and earned international recognition for his work on high field breakdown in gases on a sub-nanosecond time scale. Although this work was originally motivated by a need to define limits on high power radar propagation in the upper atmosphere, the results provided physical insights and a data base needed in the development of high power gas lasers a decade later. (Yes, your scribe’s eyes have already glazed over in writing this!)

The last 20 years of Joe’s career were spent with GTE Laboratories, where his principal research focused on new light source technology involving electrode-less excitation of plasmas. Joe was responsible for more than 50 patents in this area. As you can imagine, Joe’s expertise resulted in his being the chair of numerous high level conferences over the years, including several gaseous electronics conferences. In 1983, he served as scientific director of a NATO Advanced Study Institute. In 1990, as a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), he became a founding member of the Plasma Science Committee. He subsequently served on the NAS board on physics and astronomy. Would Professors Eaton and Van Dyke be ecstatic or what?!

But Joe is not “all work and no play.” Over time, he has honed natural and acquired skills in woodworking, painting, and antique car restoration. One specialty is reproduction period furniture and clocks, crafted from cherry and walnut hardwoods. Another is acrylic and oil painting, in which he is self-taught, his preferred subjects being landscapes and Florida birds. His restoration projects have consisted of at least four vintage MG T cars from the frame up, including metal work, sand blasting, painting, wiring, engine rebuilding, and upholstery.

Meanwhile, Joe has somehow found time before and after retiring to serve on several town boards in Sudbury, Mass., where he resides. He has been a widower since 1998, has an adult son and daughter, and four grandchildren. Without question, Joe qualifies as a Renaissance man!

More sad news. Don Friedman died Aug. 11, 2013. A lifelong resident of Denver, Don served seven terms as a Republican Colorado state representative, had a radio talk show, was a successful real estate developer and was active in many organizations. A complete obituary was published in the Denver Post on Aug. 13, 2013.

Mel Roboff died April 14, 2014 A long-time resident of Needham, Mass., Mel had a distinguished career as a marketing consultant for firms like Underwood Deviled Ham and Converse sneakers. Affectionately known as “Uncle Mel” by family members of some Alpha Delt classmates, Mel is survived by two daughters, Katherine and Julia.

DONALD T. SANDERS | dtsanders1@sbcglobal.net
33 Sunny Hill Drive, Madison, CT 06443

Bob Switzgable wrote from Stratford, Conn. I had told him and others about the companionship I have with my little dog, Bennie, and our ice cream ritual at bedtime. Bob’s wife died three summers ago and he keenly feels the void. I think he will look for a pet. Bob has two grandsons at Bryant University, just 10 miles from where I live.

Two generations ago Ken Kenigsberg’s family was chased out of Russia, then the Soviet Union. Now, ironically, Ken’s son is an honored guest and drives around Moscow in a car with diplomatic plates. Ken’s daughter-in-law is with the U.S. State Department. She, Ken’s son, and their two children live in the embassy compound. He is the editor of Nautilus, an online science magazine, and sends all his copy via the Internet. Ken wrote that he’s had to give up skiing, hiking, tennis, and sailing, but he still swims and enjoys writing poetry. He acquired a taste for it during his undergraduate years at Wes. One more thing about the Kenigsberg family: Ken’s granddaughter, Alison, graduated from Wesleyan four years ago and is finishing up four years of cantorial studies.

Dave Jones wrote to tell about the trip he and his wife, Ann, made on the steamboat American Queen from Memphis to New Orleans. On the way, they saw many beautiful mansions and Civil War battlefields. “The music on-board was terrific,” Dave wrote.

To the benefit of fellow members of the John Wesley Club who might want to be in touch with him, Dave Morey has moved to the following address: 10 Savage Farm Drive, Ithaca, NY 14850-8839. He moved to eliminate the up-hill climb that he and his wife, Helen, had to make from their cottage to the main building of their retirement establishment. The move was a difficult one for the Moreys because their mover didn’t move everything. “Many carloads later, I finished the job,”wrote Dave. “Now the big job is finding things and locating a new place for each one.”

Frank McCathran wrote that he and his wife, Carol Anne had decided to move back from Ocean Springs, Miss., to Germantown, Md. “Tired of the heat, humidity, and hurricanes,” Frank wrote.

Roger Stimson wrote from the frozen north (Michigan) that he’d had total knee replacements on both knees, the first in November, the second at the end of January. “It takes about six weeks to feel the knee is close to being back to normal, so I had my second knee done as soon as possible,” Roger wrote. “That should make me ready for the sailing season this summer. Better to be housebound in the winter than in spring or summer,” he added. Other than bum knees, Roger said that his health has been good and he works out regularly at the Y. His son, David, who is in the old-time vinyl record and audio equipment business, got Roger involved in restoring a 1950s vintage turntable. Roger also continues to be an active ham radio operator.

Bill Churchill wrote in the fall that he and his wife, Maggie, had decided to move to a continuing care retirement community in Burlington, N.C. “We have been happy in Fearrington Village,” he wrote, “but we decided to downsize and move to a place where we can get more care when the time comes. Meanwhile, we are living in a comfortable duplex with a view of the lake and the company of several friends from our old village.” Bill wrote, “Hope to find a new golf course and some volunteer activities to keep me going.” Bill said that he and Bob Switzgable had their annual lunch on Cape Cod this past summer and that Bob hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

DAVID M. PHILIPS | davephilips69@hotmail.com
100 Elena St., Apt. 618, Cranston, RI 02920-7620

Gail and Dick Ahlers had a fine two-day reunion with Nick Swett at Nick’s lodgings in Boynton Beach, Fla., in February. Nick and Dick were originally class of ’48, but were interrupted into 1950 by a couple of years of “community” service. Nick’s wife, Janet, passed in June 2013 after over 60 years of marriage. One of their sons is a founder of the recently accredited SUNY Plattsburgh affiliate of the Alpha Delta Phi Society.

Please send updates to the editors.

Let’s see, what can I write about for the next issue of Wesleyan. Oh, I know, how about “the Last of the Mohegans,” better known as the class of ’49. A group of us, namely Dick Gibbons, David Knapp, Chip Stone, Bob Wylie and I who, I firmly believe, are among the last few of the class of ’49 still alive, are attempting to induce remaining class members to come to Wesleyan for the 65th Reunion. Of the group I was required to contact, few were still alive, only one came to the phone, two responded through another party or his wife. None committed. I don’t blame them. We are all quite old and I for one, have a very “hairy” health history and, I am 89 years old—and some are older.

In spite of the difficulty involved, Audrey and I are heading up there from Florida to our old home state of Connecticut, where we will spend some time with a son who lives in Darien, Conn., and a son in Grafton, Vt. My wife had knee replacement surgery nearly four weeks ago and I informed her that she’d better be mobile before we go north. She threatened me with her cane.

I did receive a letter from a fellow Alpha Chi Ro member, Dan Collister ’50. Dan was one of the “gang” at the Downey House, where he worked beside my brother, “Hap.” He watched my brother’s and Janet Ablehauser”s love affair grow into a marriage. Sadly, both are deceased now. The couple that ran the Downey House, “Heidie” and Enid Heidemann, were a very special couple and often had many students visit their home. Dan lives in Gates Mills, Ohio, but also has a place in Kiawah Island, S.C.

William C. Brooks |williamcbrooks@comcast.net
9 Willow Pond Rd., Amelia Island, FL 32034

Catherine Cotins ’86 writes: “Arthur Cotins died peacefully surrounded by his family on July 28, 2011, at the age of 84. He was known as Jim by many of his friends and at Wesleyan his friends called him Tex. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Carroll Cusick Cotins, son Arthur James Cotins, daughters Catherine Agnes Cotins ’86, and Elizabeth Cotins Low, and eight grandchildren. He had a truly wonderful life and his kind heart will be missed by all who knew him more than words can say. At Wes he was a proud member of Psi U fraternity and manager of the undefeated football team. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa.”

Please send updates to the editors.

Sandy Mclean |rmcleanjr@aol.com
2270 Melville drive, san marino, ca 91108