Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Class of 1965 35th Reunion Memorial Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Michael Ivy ’20, College of East Asian Studies, Government

Dear Classmates, we begin this issue with a message from our tireless class co-conveners, Hugh Wilson and Mark Edmiston: “A group of us met at Homecoming last fall to plan our 55th Reunion, which will occur May 22-24, 2020. Plans are to have a reception and remembrances of recently deceased classmates on Friday afternoon followed by dinner and then the Wombats (who are excited to be playing again!). Saturday will include Wes Shorts with classmates giving brief comments or reflections on issues important to them. At dinner that night we are inviting all faculty from our era living near Wes as our guests, along with Barbara-Jan Wilson, who has tentatively accepted the invitation. Sunday will include brunch and departure. Hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend. The record for 55th Reunion attendance (classmates plus guests) is 48. Let’s set a new record!”

The great response to my recent request for news necessitated using only a portion in the last magazine. Below is information not previously printed.

Brian Baxter: “The day after I retired from full-time work, my wife and I left for a month-long home exchange with a couple from Amsterdam, who lived in our home in Sarasota, Fla., for the month that we lived in their home in Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam, with their four cats and several fish. We also ‘inherited’ several neighbors who welcomed us into their lives, while we enjoyed having the time for a leisurely exploration of the music, museums, and culture of Amsterdam and several nearby cities.

“During the past six years, we have developed lasting friendships through month-long home exchanges with three families in Paris, one in Vienna, one in Dresden, one in The Hague, one in eastern Maine, and one in the Upper East Side in NYC.

“We split our time between condo communities in center city Philadelphia and on Little Sarasota Bay on the west coast of Florida, when we are not enjoying home exchanges or other travel. We have become very involved with an amazing community of condos in Sarasota known as Pelican Cove, where I am serving as president of the board. My wife, Ilene, is the chair of the steering committee.”

Clyde Beers: “Donna and I now are delighted to have three children and their families, including eight grandchildren. The latter are stretched out from almost-in-college to a 3- and a 5-year old.”

Gar Hargens: “Win Chamberlin’s account of building for Habitat took Missy and me back a year ago to a similar adventure in Northern Cambodia. We didn’t have wheelbarrows, but instead carried bags of sand and cement to the middle of the dirt floor and mixed a concrete soup. Maybe it was the 90-degree heat and humidity, but by next morning the slabs had miraculously cured enough to stand on for the final ceremony. The Cambodian family were moving from a shack that was constantly flooded. With a toilet and cold-water tap, they were ecstatic with their simple space.

“Kirt Mead’s wife, Susan, and I spoke recently. She said the support of her daughters and the Meads’ great network of friends has helped deal with the shock and pain. She was about to head overseas and visit familiar places and friends. We agreed to meet up in Nice next April, one of her favorites.”

Great to hear from Bird Norton, one outstanding athlete and friend: “Things going well as we all hit 75! My so-called depression has not come back since that wonderful 50th Reunion.”

Unfortunately, must end this report on a sad note, as just received word of the passing of David Lott on June 19 at his home in Beaufort, S.C. Dave was born in Hartford in 1943 and grew up in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Shady Side Academy and after Wesleyan earned a master’s in history from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Virginia. He was a partner in the firm of Foley & Lardner and practiced law in Milwaukee and Chicago. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and his first wife, Margaret, and their children: John, Katherine, Sarah, and Edward. He was involved in a number of community organizations, and I remember reaching out to him for advice some years ago and he was kind and generous with his assistance. He will surely be missed by all who knew him.

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu

Class of 1964 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Dimitri Slory ’21, Brooklyn, NY

We hope many of you are planning to come to Reunion! Many of our classmates have been working for several months to plan special events and gatherings. It promises to be a great time to not only reconnect with old friends but also meet classmates whom you never knew. Registration and more information about the weekend can be found here: wesleyan.edu/rc.

Our Reunion committee has decided to have a closed-session event during Reunion Weekend that would consist of informal talks/presentations by classmates who would like to expound upon or explain to fellow classmates, family members, and guests a subject that is near and dear to your heart; something you feel passionate about. It might be a subject from your work, a remarkable life experience, or a passionate hobby that you have enjoyed.

Karen and Chris Chase have moved into a continuing care retirement community (CCRC). These are retirement communities with accommodations for independent living, assisted living, and nursing home care. Karen is part of a women’s action group and was charged with getting out the vote in the last election. Chris is involved with two choral groups, one of them off-campus. They are both enjoying the continuing ed courses offered by Dartmouth. He’s currently enrolled in a Beowulf course—rereading the text in Old English. It’s good to blow dust off the brain.

Becky and I have moved to a RV trailer here in Umatilla, Fla. It has the feel of a CCRC that Chris reported, with all sorts of programs. We still have our condo in Savannah, traveling back and forth every month.

Garry Fathman reports celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with wife Ann (and three married children and three grandchildren) and will celebrate his 50-year graduation from Washington University School of Medicine this year.

Steve Huepper and wife Marian celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and rented a home in Saluda, N.C., on a lake for something special! They played golf in Hendersonville, saw a show in Flat Rock, and of course went out to dinner several nights. The show was a treat and the golf was just to see how another course compared to their two courses close to home in Carolina Trace in Sanford, N.C. Steve shared, “I am sad to report my golf game would earn me a D-minus, the same grade I got in freshman calculus.”

In March, Steve Oleskey, Jim Howard, and Nick Puner gathered for a long weekend at the small farm of David Skaggs outside Niwot, Colo. While at Wesleyan, the four imagined going to law school and then joining to found a new “white shoe” law firm: Puner, Oleskey, Skaggs & Howard, or POSH. While they all got through law school, the law firm, alas, lived on only in their imaginations. Better late than never, they have now initiated an annual reunion to discuss pressing issues in the law, ruminate about the state of the nation, and sample local craft brews.

Rusty Messing retired from his clinical psychology practice and from the board of Synergy, the elementary school he cofounded 45 years ago.

“My days consist of going to the gym, running and/or lifting some weights, then off to the coffee shop with my newspaper to sit with other locals, then off to do some honey-dos, to go back home to work at my desk, write and edit more poems (I am soon to finish my third book of poetry!), fill the wheelbarrow with last year’s cut and split wood to keep the wood stove happy and the home warm.” He has six grandchildren ranging from 6 months to 18. “The fires in NorCal are out and we settle into my favorite time of year: easier days, no harsh heat, no fire-fear, easy rain,” he writes. “This was a particularly bad year for our olive harvest—the worst we’ve ever had after last year’s which was the best. Oh, well. If any of you classmates would like some of our award-winning, delicious oil I would be more than willing to send you some at a discount plus shipping.”

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Class of 1963 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund
John Lewis Jr. ’21, Newark, NJ

From way out in the deep blue Pacific Ocean, Kaneohe, Hawaii, to be exact, Richard Armsby retired nine years ago after having worked as a clinical psychologist for the Hawaii State government for many years. His work focused primarily on seriously mentally ill citizens who were often also very poor, disabled and thus frequently unable to find or hold work. His wife, Judith, retired too, also worked in the mental health field. She was an MSW with a geriatric case load.  They met while he was still at WESU. She was at Penn State where he transferred to both finish up his bachelor’s degree and start a graduate degree. While

he had only had two psych courses at WESU, the assassination of JFK got him very interested in pursuing a degree in psychology. They got married in 1967. During a couple of summers at grad school, he worked back in Texas for the federal government as a science writer. After they finished getting their terminal degrees, they moved to Hawaii in 1969. Since retirement he spends lots of time reading, getting books—mysteries, adventure stories, and

some non-fiction—from the library to read on his Kindle. He works out three days a week at the gym. About eight years ago, Bill Roberts held a DTD reunion at Bill’s house. Richard has fond memories of that reunion.

Stuart Silver, living in Columbia, M.D., retired in 2014. He worked as a psychiatrist. He and his wife, Ann Louise, have three children: a daughter, 50, a son, 49, and another son, 46, and seven grandchildren, ages 11-22. Visiting and being visited by their offspring, keeps them quite occupied. Stewart met Ann Louise while at WESU. He was 20 and a junior and she was attending Mt. Holyoke. They were married in 1962 and thus he may be the longest continually married of our all our ‘63 classmates. After WESU, Stewart went to Hopkins and got his medical degree in 1966. He was deferred till after med school he was drafted along with approximately 199 other MDs.

Of that group, he and one other were the only two who did not go to Vietnam. They were sent to Alaska, where you may recall there was not that much fighting going on. He said that he and his wife really liked Alaska and while it was not as modernized then as now and travel was somewhat difficult, it was very interesting to them. While in Alaska, his CO once declared that “there will be no more frostbite in this unit!” Also upset at the number of suicides in his command, he sent around a memo that there “were too many suicides” in his command and he wanted “them to stop.”

As his leadership in these areas did not prove effective he was relieved. Stewart left the Army with the rank of major. He used to be a frequent skier, but now facing health issue, he moves around more slowly and cautiously.  He has a stamp collection, enjoys photography, likes to cook and actually admits to doing housework unasked. And over a long period of time in the past, he made a very elaborate, large model of a WWII liberty ship. The question of

which of his children is to carry on ownership of that model is not on his mind yet. The Silvers like to attend operas in NYC and have a farm in upstate New York.

Albert “Red” Erda of Guilford, Conn., retired 10 years ago, He was a consultant in computer usage, litigation, and support. Which means that in preparing a case, lawyers or their minions might have to read hundreds of thousand of pages of documents when preparing for a trial. So, both people have to be hired and files prepared so that computers can be programed to scan the material for keywords and issues. In retirement he still works on the Guilford Land Conservation Trust which seeks, raises money for, receives, and then maintains land donated to the town for permanent tax-free open space. When at WESU, it came to pass that he was advised by Dean Barlow to take some time off after his sophomore year and consider

his motivation for learning. “We called him Dean Furlough,” said Red. During that time off, Red considered joining the Army but his father told him in no uncertain terms to “get a job and learn something about actually earning a living!”

“So, I got a job surveying,” he said. “I liked math and found it easy. Eventually, motivation discovered, I returned to college but thereafter, every vacation I returned to surveying and my boss was always happy to put me right back to work.“

Red and his wife, Ann, have three children: two daughters, ages 51 and 49 and a son, age 46, and seven grandchildren ages 10-19. When he goes to WESU football games, which is reasonably often, he sits with John Driscoll. And while his hair is no longer red, (it’s white), he is still called Red.

John “Jack” Jarzavek retired 10 years ago after a 40-year career teaching (art history, French, English) at the River School in Weston, Mass. After graduating WESU, on a Fulbright he studied Elizabethan literature in the UK at the University of Bristol and then on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship returned in 1964 to study at Yale where he met his life partner, Norman Dobbs. He and Norman have shared their lives ever since. They got married in 2012. Norman got a degree at 16 from the Royal Toronto Conservatory of Music. And while

Jack was teaching, Norman was in publishing for 36 years, first at Addison Wesley and then Houghton Mifflin. They now split their time between Jamaica Plain, Mass., and an apartment in a 17th-century convent in Tuscany in the town of Arezzo, Italy, which is conveniently between both Rome and Florence. (And hot tip, they are planning to sell it shortly!)

Norman, who plays both the piano and harpsichord has played the Bach Goldberg Variationson Italian television. Both are passionate about classical vocal and operatic music and try to listen to new operas and voices every day.

Jack writes: “We travel extensively throughout Italy and Europe. We will make our first trip to Poland this coming March. We also like to explore the Italian Islands off the Tuscan Coast and Sicily. We will target the large island of Ustica this summer for 10 days. Boston is a very fine opera town so we go to many performances, probably three concerts or operas a month. I lecture at the New England Opera Club once a year and have done so for several decades.”

John Corn died last July after a long progressively worsening, undiagnosed illness. I talked with his older brother, Joe, who said that he was initially not at all that happy with John as his parents had never “asked my permission to have a second son! And all too soon John grew way too interested in my belongings and was slow to understand that he should not mess with them.” Joe said that that beating on John did not seem to have that much of the desired effect he hoped for. Eventually, with time those early problems disappeared and peace prevailed.  Joe said that after WESU, John enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, served for six years,

and was discharged as a captain. John considered the highlight of his Air Force service the time he served in Iran heading up a detachment that maintained the Shaw’s beloved F4 Phantom jets.

John was married twice and had one son, Scott, who sadly died at age 51 a few months before John himself died. John had a second child with his second wife who now lives with her mother in Texas and is much loved by the Joe and the rest of the Corn family. After a successful career in real estate in Chicago and his two divorces, John moved down to Panama in 2015. But as his illness progress, Joe convinced him to move back in 2017 and live with him and his wife Wanda on Cape Cod which John did for eight months. However, as his disease progressed he finally moved to a senior residence in Falmouth, Mass., in 2018.

However, after only a few months, his illness progressed and he had to be hospitalized and he died very quickly. Joe says John loved Wesleyan, college athletics, the Chicago Bears and Cubs, and lived to see the latter finally win a World Series, something many Cubs fans never saw in their lifetime.

Byron S. Miller | tigr10@optonline.net
5 Clapboard Hill Rd., Westport, CT 06880

Class of 1962 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund
Joseph Scancarella ’21, Wayne, NJ

Robin Berrington writes that 2019 for him will involve “down-shifting into a lower gear.” (As readers of prior reports from him know, “lower gear” for Robin still puts most of us to shame.) He wants to “shed many of my activities” and “focus” on his work as a docent at the Freer/Sackler Gallery in D.C., and a board member of both the Contemporary American Theater Festival and of the Japan and Korean/American Student Exchanges. Highlights of the year included a trip to Umbria in Italy “with a group of old Japanese friends who had hired a guide to take them from Bologna through Urbino and other cities, ending in Rome,” and a return trip to Japan to announce his retirement from the Noguchi Foundation, where he visited Nagano, Kanazawa, and Kyoto.

Bruce Corwin writes that the movie business runs well in the family. He reports his nephew, Brad Fuller ’87, a Hollywood producer, won the 2019 Critics Choice Award for best Sci-Fi or Horror Film—A Quiet Place.

Ever the diligent class president, Bruce reminds us that we are “Aiming for our 60th—but need help.” (Assume he means the planning committee, not getting to the site in walkers!)

David Fiske: “Mary Ann and I in January celebrated our 50th anniversary. I’m still enjoying the beach life in Rehoboth Beach, Del., doing freelance writing and editing, and enjoying granddaughter visits to Washington, D.C.”

Mike Riley wrote to share with classmates his “2020 vision of marital hospitality and Christian neoteny” that he will engage with “online outreach.” He writes, “My card will say: Michael H. Riley, PhD / T’INKER / Christian Neoteny & Marital Hospitality / Theory and practice of visits by self-appointed Quixotic Young to self-respecting Married Couples with a Camelot, Eden, or M-anger to share. 904/315 8945.” He has a very interesting website at maritalhospitality.com.

Finally, a sad note: In the fall, John Magee, who was living in Sequim, Wash., passed away after battling cancer. He is survived by his wife, Bobbie. Dave Hedges heard the news from John’s brother-in-law, Bob Jaunich ’61. Dave writes that John “led a rather free-spirited life, mostly on the West Coast, and including several jobs.” Dave, Phil Calhoun, and Ted Hillman connected with him by phone a few years ago, but “could never entice him back for a Reunion.”

DAVID FISKE | davidfiske17@gmail.com
17 W. Buckingham Dr. Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Numerous replies were received regarding class members’ participation during the Vietnam era. Readers are referred to the class notes’ previous publication for the initial comments sent in. Additional replies are listed below.

“I’m glad your idea of focusing on Vietnam is bringing in many responses,” writes Larry Wiberg. “Wesleyan was an intense experience and I can still conjure up memories that seem only like last week! I received a medical school and medical training exemption during the Vietnam War.

“For 20 years of my 50-year psychiatric career, I was a psychiatrist for the Denver VA Medical Center Posttraumatic Stress Disorder program, serving a large population of male and female PTSD patients. Some were Korean veterans, but the majority were combat veterans (the women patients from that time were mostly in nursing or medical specialties serving in Vietnam and had taken care of the terminally wounded). The male PTSD patients in our Denver program were primarily combat veterans or veterans who had dealt firsthand with the results of combat. Treatment modalities were medication (marginally helpful; primarily antidepressants, nonaddicting anxiolytics, and sleep aids) and group and individual psychotherapy. When present, substance and alcohol use had to be dealt with concurrently. In doing the talk therapy part I would introduce myself as not having been in combat, but had I been, I am sure my remaining life experience would have been totally altered. It turns out that group therapy with me present, but not that active, was most helpful. The veterans were their own best therapists.

“Imagine being trained to kill, being threatened to be killed, or seeing others killed at an age we all were in our years at Wesleyan. This was the recurrent theme they all shared in one way or another. Granted there were veterans seemingly untouched by the experiences who did not present for treatment at any facility. Among the worst cases I dealt with were service personnel stateside who had to go to the doors of loved ones to announce a death. Vulnerability to PTSD has been hard to pin down in studies. For myself, I joined and retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Corp. I was a general medical officer for the Denver Marine Corp Reserve. I support some form of mandated federal service though it certainly does NOT have to be military. I look forward to what others in our class have experienced and a hearty ‘hello’ to all my Wesleyan buddies.”

Spike Paranya comments: “I was not really aware of anything to do with Vietnam at first when I entered the Corps. We had visiting officers from several countries in our class at Basic School, and I believe a few were from Vietnam. Of particular note was our End of Basic School Problem. The problem involved leading an amphibious assault onto the shore of a Southeast Asian country. Only two years later did I realize that it was the beginning of plans for actual landings on the shores of North and South Vietnam. I left the Corps in December 1964 and, as the war began to heat up, I went through a period of questioning myself as to where my loyalties lay with or against the growing war. It was about a year later when my Marine Corps loyalty separated. I joined my grad school roommates against the war. About 10 years ago I went to a reunion of Quantico Marine Corps athletes of the ’60s and heard many stories from those on the track team for whom I was the administrative coach. Most were in Basic School at that time, so many went to Vietnam. All the guys I knew returned alive, but everyone there honored one Marine who didn’t, a super guy and athlete who came from New York’s inner city. I watched every bit of Ken Burns’ special on the Vietnam War and was appalled with the politics going on behind our backs.”

Spike goes on to add: “In alumni news, Kathy and I twice got together with classmate Paul Vouros and his wife, Irene, this summer. Paul is just completing a gradual retirement from teaching in the chemistry department at Northeastern University. He has had a wonderful career there and his many graduate students have made him proud with their accomplishments in the field of chemistry.”

“I missed the Vietnam experience, but served five Navy years, including the Cuba blockade instead,” writes John Rogers. “We helped turn away Russian ships and brought U.S. Marines ashore, so I’m really grateful this crisis didn’t lead to something more. I still appreciate Wes, Navy, and business success despite some personal strife, although my 56-year marriage with five kids and 14 grandchildren have led to a wonderful life.”

It seems only yesterday that Bob Johnson and your class secretary were performing on the Venice Symphony stage. Bob died last fall, leaving a void in the southwest Florida community and its musical world. Word has also been received that Foster Morrison died peacefully at home in North Potomac, Md., on Oct. 13. His wife of 48 years, Nancy Lewis Morrison, was at his side.

Stay tuned, classmates, for an exciting conclusion to our Vietnam series in the next class notes.

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205

Charles W. Smith Class of 1960 Scholarship
Joseph Ellis ’19, Government, Film Studies

Richard H. Huddleston ’60, P’90 Wesleyan Scholarship
Glenn Smith III ’21, Roxbury, MA

Nici and John Dobson are having a small home built in Trilogy Ocala Preserve, Fla. They look forward to enjoying some warm weather in that location. In early January, John underwent lumbar spinal fusion surgery and is doing well while complying with requirements for very restricted activity. Our best wishes to him for continued recovery.

We are fortunate to have Dave Hohl as our new class agent, since he has always been a strong advocate of Wesleyan. Dave continues to teach two classes in the Baruch College (SUNY system) Great Works Program as an adjunct associate professor. He would like to retire, but recent losses in the stock market and maintenance on his six-bedroom beachfront house in the Hamptons are straining his budget, so he will wait at least another year. Wife Anne continues as director of the French program at Seton Hall University.

Harvey Hull passed away peacefully at Connecticut Hospice on Dec. 17 at the age of 81. He retired after 35 years from the Lillian Goldman Rare Book Library at Yale University School of Law. After retirement he assisted the staff of the Guilford Keeping Society in cataloging their library collection and volunteered at the Guilford Free Library book sales. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sara, four children, as well as 10 grandchildren.

Mimi and Rob Mortimer arrived in Hanoi on Rob’s 80th birthday last October to begin a visit of Vietnam and Cambodia. Rob commented as follows: “The U.S. war in Vietnam was one of the great issues along with civil rights facing our class in the decade after our graduation. In some sense the trip was a vindication of my opposition to that war. The good news is that Vietnam is today a dynamic society with a growing economy and beautiful landscapes. Traveling north to south from Hanoi and the lovely Bay of Halong to the pre-colonial capital of Hué and on to Ho Chi Minh City (ex-Saigon) and the Mekong Delta, the names of battle places became the sites of a grand culture. Then we flew on to the longlost Khmer kingdom of Angkor Wat, surely one of the wonders of the world. We crossed paths with Buddhist bonzes, remembering their sacrifices in protest of the war. We returned assured that our activism against the war was the right thing to do in that first decade beyond Wesleyan.”

Ira Sharkansky recently celebrated his 80th birthday. All four of his children and most grandchildren came to Jerusalem from their homes in the States and elsewhere in Israel to join Ira and Varda. It was a time of memories, pictures, and looking forward.

In June 2018 Janet and Bill Walker moved from New York, where they had spent the past 40 years, to Cape Cod. They are both very active and have a large ground-floor apartment that suits them. It is not really retirement, as Bill is actively tracking projects in the Middle East. Janet and Bill will celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary in June 2019. He encourages us to “savor the gifted life we’ve all been privileged to experience since that long ago welcoming address by Vic Butterfield in the chapel in September 1956.”

The big trip of the year for Ann and Bob Williams came in August, when they joined their Russian surrogate family, Elina, Sasha, and two children, at the seaside town of Murter on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Their relationship started at Davidson, where they were Elina’s host family in ’94, and they have remained very close. Despite the heat and humidity, it was a marvelous look at another culture where the eastern half of Europe likes to play in summer.

Back in the States, Bob had a scary car accident on Sept. 1, in Maine, when he somehow drove off Route 1 into a signpost, which resulted in a bruised sternum and ribs, and a totaled car. Despite that they managed to have two weeks in Lovell on Kezar Lake at their family camp, Birch Lodge, where they honeymooned in 1960. Time does fly by.

Bob has written a timely book, Useful Assets: The Trump Family, the Russians, and Eurasian Organized Crime (Dorrance Publishers), which will soon be available at Amazon.com.

My deceased wife left an IRA that has been used to fund the Sal and Judy Russo Biochemistry Research Endowment at Western Washington University. It honors my contributions to the early development of the biochemistry program. In addition, it honors the memory of Judy and her devotion to family. The endowment funds will be used for the education of future biochemistry students.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229