WILLIAM M. BUCK JR., a retired registered representative with the Lincoln Financial Group and a former human resources executive with the Peabody Coal Company, died July 29, 2010, at age 79. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received an MBA from the University of Chicago. Predeceased by his wife of 32 years, Jacquelin Machin Buck, survivors include his wife, Marthann, two daughters, two grandchildren, two stepchildren, and two step-grandchildren.
WALTER W. BUCKINGHAM, who retired as a manager of Sage-Allen department stores in Connecticut after a 30-year career with the company, died Oct. 24, 2011. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he received his degree from Dickinson College. He was the son of the Rev. Harold C. Buckingham of the class of 1923. In addition to managing the stores in Wethersfield and at Westfarms Mall, he was very active in his community, sponsoring inmates from the state prison system, hosting exchange students, and sponsoring families immigrating to the U.S. He sang in his church choir for more than 50 years. Survivors include his wife, Anne Campbell Buckingham; four children; eight grandchildren; two brothers, Robert C. Buckingham ’49, M.D., and Harold C. Buckingham Jr. ’52; numerous nieces and nephews; and a special extended family.
CHARLES A. BARSTOW, 78, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel, died Mar. 21, 2010. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received his bachelor’s from Springfield College, after which he began his 30–year career with the Marines. Among those who survive are his wife, Dolores Barstow, four children, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his brother.
The Reverend RICHARD E. BARRETT died Nov. 26, 2003. He was 76. A member of the John Wesley Club, he received his degree with honors and then received a master’s degree in divinity from the General Theological Seminary. He served a number of Episcopal parishes in New Jersey and New York before his retirement in 1992. He is survived by his wife, Joyce; a son; two daughters; two grandchildren; and his twin brother, Thomas R. Barrett ’48.
ROBERT S. BAILEY, an attorney who practiced law for more than 50 years, died May 8, 2011, at age 79. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received his degree with honors. After receiving his law degree from the University of Chicago, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and later elsewhere. Predeceased by his wife, Doris Furlow Bailey, he is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.
PAUL B. ALTERMATT, a former Connecticut State Insurance Commissioner, past president of the Connecticut State Bar Association, and an attorney in private practice, died Sept. 4, 2008, at age 78. He was a member of Alpha Chi Rho and received his law degree from Georgetown University. A U.S. Marine Corps officer, he served in Korea and later joined the Reserve. Survivors include his wife, Ann Taylor Altermatt, five children, 15 grandchildren, and two brothers.
PAUL B. ALTERMATT, a former Connecticut State Insurance Commissioner, past president of the Connecticut State Bar Association, and an attorney in private practice, died Sept. 4, 2008, at age 78. He was a member of Alpha Chi Rho and received his law degree from Georgetown University. A U.S. Marine Corps officer, he served in Korea and later joined the Reserve. Survivors include his wife, Ann Taylor Altermatt, five children, 15 grandchildren, and two brothers.
The Rev. DONALD C. ARMSTRONG, a retired minister, died Apr. 28, 2004 at age 74. He received his divinity degree from Yale University and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was a minister with the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ before his retirement in 1994. Among those who survive are his wife, Judith Maclean Armstrong, two daughters, two grandchildren, and a sister.
JOHN R. ARMS, the founder and retired president of Credit Management Corporation, died Sept. 3, 2010, at age 82. The nephew of Herbert Welch of the class of 1887, he was a member of Sigma Nu and was a U.S. Army veteran. Prior to founding Credit Management, he began his career with Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. He is survived by his wife, LaVon Gehrke Arms, two children, two grandchildren, and his sister.
I hereby award DAVID F. ANDERSON the heretofore unofficial Posthumous Wesleyan Award for Exceptional Service in the Fabulous Person/ Family Man category.
Wait, you say, there is no such award.
Perhaps there should be.
Having matriculated from our alma mater in 1977, I have been blessed with much more than the transformative education I received from Wesleyan. I have at my disposal, 24/7, solid self-esteem, tireless optimism, a quirky sense of humor, and a devotion to making the world a better place.
I got all of this from my Dad, David Fenwicke Anderson, Class of 1950 (Big D as I called him) who died of colon cancer last May (2003) in the family home.
While my father had a respectable career as a small business owner, he was first and foremost a career family man. Once he found an equally bright, caring, competent partner in my mother (Jane Shanahan, Mt. Holyoke Class of 1950), he devoted himself to creating a launch pad of light and laugher for his 3 children who then had the vision and tools to extend his legacy in their adult lives.
My father’s pre-Wesleyan years hardly made him a shoe-in for this type of value structure. He was born in Mussoorie India, the son of two working parents, both Presbyterian missionaries. His parents sent him to a boarding school called Woodstock at 5 years old. (Please note that 5 years old is typically the age when we now send our children to half-day kindergarten.) At 14, his parents sent my Dad to the United States (a new country) to attend Mt. Hermon, another boarding school where he was tasked with getting an education and completing the key tasks of adolescence without any family nearby. In fact he didn’t see his parents for six years after he came to this country. This might be grounds for years of intense psychotherapy but my dad had an unfaltering cheerful disposition. In addition, he met my mom at the high school SAT exams and embarked on a 58-year love affair that he said more than made up for the loneliness that he experienced during those early nights in boarding school.
Somehow my Dad found his way to Wesleyan where, for the first time since the age of 5, he found a ‘home.’ He was educated, guided, and nurtured in countless ways and by countless people at Wesleyan. Most notably, Professor Ted and Marion Banks of Lawn Avenue and the Eclectic Fraternity were key in shaping his Wesleyan experience and igniting a life-long devotion to the university. We cannot say the same thing about Physics which apparently took him a few tries to pass. My father played lots of tennis and squash at Wesleyan, which were sports he went on to enjoy throughout his adult life. He went so far as to credit his love for squash with leading my sister Lisa ’75 to have ‘successful’ squash dates with another David, who has been her husband of more than 20 years.
Wesleyan hardly exited from my dad’s life upon graduation. He brought his lovely bride to every Reunion he could attend throughout their nearly six decades together. He had two alumna daughters to count on for new red and black trinkets and sportswear. Our livingroom hosted countless Wesleyan interviews and information meetings with local high school students. And the annual telethons were always good for a ‘free’ call from my dad wherever we were. Even when my Dad developed Alzheimer’s in the last 10 years of his life, he continued to love our annual visits to the Wesleyan campus where, medical anomaly or not, his memory never failed.
On May 7, 2003, Wesleyan lost one of its most ardent supporters and we lost a great great man. My dad’s successes in other areas of life, such as work, could also be recounted but to be honest, they had much less to do with the state of his heart, mind and soul than did his leadership in our family. And perhaps these successes don’t make my father or others like him, unique but certainly rarely publicly acknowledged for these particular triumphs. Thanks for allowing us to acknowledge him here.
