Class Notes

A salute to John Sheaff for expressing what I’m sure most of us wish, think, and feel at this point in our lives. I’ve copied his note, word for word, so as not to lose any of his thoughts:

“Fortunately I can say that Lois and I are still functioning as best as can be expected for old geezers like us. Who cannot be overjoyed looking out at the beautiful green and flower-laced scenes that surround us here in upstate New York. Just think, a year from now we will be able to attend our 65th Reunion at Wesleyan. Hope to see you all there.”

Sad update: In a Nov. 3 text from Lois Sheaff, John’s wife for the past 65 years, I received word of his passing on Nov. 1. Sincere condolences to the entire family. Know that I will sorely miss John’s frequent contributions to Class Notes such as the one that appears in this column as well as the many wonderful memories shared with him.

Word was received that on Aug. 16 Gail Clarke passed away at his home in Old Saybrook, Conn. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Emily Hooghkirk, and his three daughters. I’m sure I speak for all of us in offering sincere condolence to Emily.

On the home front, Marianne and I moved back to our “original homestead” at Hunters Run in Boynton Beach, Fla. As Marianne has regained strength in her arms and is able to grip a golf club once again, the move made sense and has brought much joy to both of us. An added plus is that we are once again only a five-minute walk from my sister’s residence here at the club. Another plus is the streets are usually very quiet, so when I’m not engaged in riding with my bicycle club members, I have little fear of riding solo for a 20-mile “warm up” here. Always a delight to stop into our local clubhouse for a cup of coffee and conversation midway on my journey. And speaking of cycling, this years’ total miles will only approximate around 4,000 as heat and rain have really cut into the activity. OK, one of these days I might even admit that with advancing age I might even have slowed down!

Finally, I’d be more than pleased to receive a word or two from you. By doing so I won’t have to bore you with tales of my cycling exploits! And please note a change of my e-mail address.

As always, let me extend my very best wishes to you and your loved ones for good health, much happiness and peace!

DONALD J. BRAVERMAN | ybikedon@gmail.com
34 Southport Ln. Apt. C, Boynton Beach, FL 33436

Greetings, Classmates of 1954. Thanks for responses from four stalwarts, as follows:

Dave Hodgin is still going to his office every day and says he remains quite healthy. Dave traveled a bit early this past summer, to Estonia and Latvia, then spent 10 days in Hawaii. Still productive and happy, but with one huge “bummer”: missing his wife of 61 years, who died five years ago.

Len Stolba says he remains healthy and happy sitting on their 1.6 acres and managing his biennial barn sale of past art. Len sends cheers to all.

Bud Johnson writes that travel and grandchildren capture his and Lynn’s key attention these days. Two grandsons did internships in Beijing while college sophomores. Bud and bride did visit them once, but vetoed another 15-hour flight! Instead they recently spent Labor Day week cruising the U.K., the Netherlands, and Iceland—where coincidence put them in a thermal power plant with China’s inquisitive ambassador to Iceland! Go, Bud!

Marty Feins writes with sad news: his wife of nearly 65 years, Michelle, passed away this summer after a long illness—thus preventing Marty from attending our 65th Reunion. Marty is now in the process of moving into a condominium in Naples, Fla., and would welcome contacts from his ’54 classmates. Marty’s e-mail is martinfeins@gmail.com. Finally, sad to relate that two more of us have departed: Win Richmond on April 19 and Eric Cone on July 24.

Your humble scribe, Bob Carey, and bride Libby, had a very nice summer, highlighted by a great trip to San Diego to visit Bob’s daughter, Ann, and family, and to go whale watching in the Pacific. In October, we traveled to London to see Libby’s son, Jack, and to attend a memorial service for our daughter-in-law, Julienne, who, sadly, passed away last spring at 53. In November we journey via train to Vermont, to visit Bob’s daughter, Leah, and family. Otherwise, we’re busy with our volunteer activities (for Bob, that’s driving for Call-A-Ride and for Meals-On-Wheels.). Happy Holidays to all.

BOB CAREY | popscarey@gmail.com
618 W. Lyon Farm Dr., Greenwich, CT 06831 | 203/532-1745

Ron Daniel reports that he is still at McKinsey & Co.—62 years and counting. (Amazing longevity—I have not been in one job for more than 10 years). The company is about to move its New York office to World Trade Center 3. Most of the younger professionals live below 14th Street or in Brooklyn. When he joined the firm in 1957, there were no professionals. Now there are over 15,000. Only one employee at the time was not an American, now the Americans are about 20% of the firm. He continues to serve on the boards of seven or eight not-for-profit organizations (Bloomberg Philanthropies, Rockefeller University, The Peterson Foundation, the Weizman Institute of Science in Israel, the National Gallery in London, the Library of America, among others). Onward! (ron.daniel@mckinsey.com)

Dwight Herrmann writes that he was not too happy rattling around his house after his wife, Leslye, departed so he sold it and bought into the Masonic Village at Sewickley, Pa., which is near his eldest daughter, also named Leslye. This is a continuing care facility and he is in independent living, driving a car, and doing everything he always did, albeit, a good deal slower. He is quite happy and has made lots of friends. He can be reached at 2440 Masonic Dr., Sewickley, PA 15143 and at 717/379-8004.

Frank LaBella (labella@shaw.com) and Arlyne McDowell, a townie, just celebrated their 67th anniversary. Congratulations! Frank, a University of Manitoba pharmacology professor, and an electronic engineer colleague have been working on a novel sensor for several years and are in the process of finally demonstrating its capabilities to potential investors and industrial partners. He has several recent publications and some historical information for those interested.

As for me, this promises to be a busy year. My daughter, Ellen ’82, and her husband, Samuel Bender ’82, MD, will be celebrating their 60th birthdays and 30th wedding anniversary and three grandchildren will be graduating (Madeline, Yale ’20}; Eliza and Jenna (high school). We intend to celebrate with a Baltic cruise in June.

Please send news.

Joseph N. Friedman  | jfriedman@regalnyc.com
400 East 56th Street, Apt. 28LM, New York, NY 10022 | 917/715-8881

Ed.’s note: After more than 50 years of service, David Philips is stepping down as your class secretary. We are incredibly thankful for all David has done to keep the class of 1951 connected over the years.

For those with class notes, contact Managing Editor Cynthia Rockwell    crockwell@wesleyan.edu | 860/685-3705

N. Thorne Griscom ’52, P ’88 passed away on Sept. 27, 2019 at the age of 88. A full obituary can be found here.

A whole year has gone by and we are excited to share what your fellow classmates have been up to, and will be up to, in the next few months!

Talia Kaplan is moving from D.C. to New York to study for rabbinic ordination and a master’s in Jewish education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Talia is excited to integrate Jewish texts and tradition with her work in community organizing, social justice, and education.

Lily Segal just finished her first year of medical school and has been volunteering in Philadelphia with those experiencing homelessness, to connect them to Philadelphia’s community resources and also get them signed up for health insurance and get them primary care doctors. It’s been insanely rewarding and a lot of what she’s been doing she couldn’t have done without Wesleyan!

Jackson Barnett will be heading to Boston University School of Law in the fall!

John-Henry Carey just finished his first of three years at Columbia for his MFA in acting. This summer, he will be camping in the Maui rainforest and working at Camp Hokukea at Sam Paik’s [’90] summer camp in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Sam is the father of Ellen Paik ’16.)

Joanna Paul and her coworker are taking a group of high school students to Los Angeles for a week this summer to engage in service with people (foster care populations and homeless populations) and with the land (beach cleanup, invasive species removal, and organic farm work). They will be meeting up with Oliver Goodman ’17 for a fire-damage tour.

Last August, Phoebe Howe moved to Honduras to teach English to first graders. It has been an absolutely wild year for her. Next year, she’ll teach second grade and coordinate the volunteer program at her school.

Since graduation, Spencer Gooding has moved back to his hometown of Los Angeles and is working as the special assistant to the chairman of a production company called Mandalay Pictures. He plans to work in the film industry, and before he started this job he tried his hand at making his own short film that is still in the processes of being finished. The experience has taught him he still has a lot to learn, but his job is a great place to start.

Marty Rubin is a high school Spanish teacher in Bridgeport, Conn., working his way towards a master’s in education from Johns Hopkins University.

Marjorie Kozloff has been summoned to grand jury duty.

Brittany Gilmore will be attending the Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont beginning in August pursuing her MD degree! She is very excited but keep her sanity in your prayers.

Margot Metz will be starting dental school at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine this August (class of 2023).

Nicole Boyd has spent most of this year working as an intern at the Center for Italian Modern Art, an exhibition space and research center in downtown Manhattan, and she’ll be starting graduate school in the fall! She will be entering the history of art PhD program at Yale, where the focus of her research will be the Italian Baroque.

Natasha Timmons is working in D.C. as the learning and development coordinator at Conservation International.

Blake Pritchard is working at Gray Organschi Architecture in New Haven, helping out with computer and physical modeling, as well as work in the wood shop.

Henry Lombino has been working in NYC on a couple of off-Broadway shows (Catch as Catch Can and Proof of Love) and this spring he was the operations intern for the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn. He also worked with the Guggenheim fellow Raphael Xavier, who performed his dance piece Point of Interest at Wes by designing his website and helping him establish his mentorship program.

Please keep us updated on your life adventures and make sure to write us about you are up to for the next publication!

Love,

Najwa Anasse | nanasse@wesleyan.edu
Garett Larivee | glarivee@wesleyan.edu

Congrats again, Class of 2019! I hope you have all had productive and wonderful summers. We have spent the past four years together, and I can’t believe we are now approaching our first post-Wesleyan fall. I’m excited to hear from you all and find out what amazing things our class has been up to. Look out for an e-mail from me for updates to appear in next issue of the magazine.

Justin Campos | jxcampos@wesleyan.edu

A whole year has gone by and we are excited to share what your fellow classmates have been up to, and will be up to, in the next few months!

Talia Kaplan is moving from D.C. to New York to study for rabbinic ordination and a master’s in Jewish education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Talia is excited to integrate Jewish texts and tradition with her work in community organizing, social justice, and education.

Lily Segal just finished her first year of medical school and has been volunteering in Philadelphia with those experiencing homelessness, to connect them to Philadelphia’s community resources and also get them signed up for health insurance and get them primary care doctors. It’s been insanely rewarding and a lot of what she’s been doing she couldn’t have done without Wesleyan!

Jackson Barnett will be heading to Boston University School of Law in the fall!

John-Henry Carey just finished his first of three years at Columbia for his MFA in acting. This summer, he will be camping in the Maui rainforest and working at Camp Hokukea at Sam Paik’s [’90] summer camp in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Sam is the father of Ellen Paik ’16.)

Joanna Paul and her coworker are taking a group of high school students to Los Angeles for a week this summer to engage in service with people (foster care populations and homeless populations) and with the land (beach cleanup, invasive species removal, and organic farm work). They will be meeting up with Oliver Goodman ’17 for a fire-damage tour.

Last August, Phoebe Howe moved to Honduras to teach English to first graders. It has been an absolutely wild year for her. Next year, she’ll teach second grade and coordinate the volunteer program at her school.

Since graduation, Spencer Gooding has moved back to his hometown of Los Angeles and is working as the special assistant to the chairman of a production company called Mandalay Pictures. He plans to work in the film industry, and before he started this job he tried his hand at making his own short film that is still in the processes of being finished. The experience has taught him he still has a lot to learn, but his job is a great place to start.

Marty Rubin is a high school Spanish teacher in Bridgeport, Conn., working his way towards a master’s in education from Johns Hopkins University.

Marjorie Kozloff has been summoned to grand jury duty.

Brittany Gilmore will be attending the Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont beginning in August pursuing her MD degree! She is very excited but keep her sanity in your prayers.

Margot Metz will be starting dental school at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine this August (class of 2023).

Nicole Boyd has spent most of this year working as an intern at the Center for Italian Modern Art, an exhibition space and research center in downtown Manhattan, and she’ll be starting graduate school in the fall! She will be entering the history of art PhD program at Yale, where the focus of her research will be the Italian Baroque.

Natasha Timmons is working in D.C. as the learning and development coordinator at Conservation International.

Blake Pritchard is working at Gray Organschi Architecture in New Haven, helping out with computer and physical modeling, as well as work in the wood shop.

Henry Lombino has been working in NYC on a couple of off-Broadway shows (Catch as Catch Can and Proof of Love) and this spring he was the operations intern for the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn. He also worked with the Guggenheim fellow Raphael Xavier, who performed his dance piece Point of Interest at Wes by designing his website and helping him establish his mentorship program.

Please keep us updated on your life adventures and make sure to write us about you are up to for the next publication!

Love,

Najwa Anasse | nanasse@wesleyan.edu
Garett Larivee | glarivee@wesleyan.edu

The Wesleyan Denver crew is breaking up. Keyonne Session is moving to the concrete jungle to start a new position at Girls Who Code. Kate Suslovic is taking a cross-country journey with her family to Maine. Avery Kimmell has accepted a teaching position in Denver and Sarah Lazarus will be starting med school at the University of Wisconsin.

Anne Cooperstone has set sail to find what is west of Westeros.

Anna Lu is working at UMass medical school as a research coordinator. She has a great work environment, appreciates the research realm, and will graduate with her master’s in heath science next May.

Jake Lahut has been reporting on the 2020 presidential election and New Hampshire state politics at The Keene Sentinel. He started their first ever podcast, Pod Free or Die, where he interviews presidential candidates and other interesting political figures in the Granite State.

Cole Morissette finished his first year of medical school at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is likely pursuing either orthopedic spine surgery or neurosurgery. He is conducting orthopedic spine surgery research and will be working at Royalty Pharma this summer in Midtown. They are a financial entity that deals with investing in pharmaceutical development.

Han How joined Equity Residential three months ago to work on multifamily acquisitions and developments in the Bay Area.

Kaitlin Chan is moving to Taipei this summer to make comics with the support of the Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship. She would like to thank Professor Jason Adam Katzenstein ’13, Kate Ten Eyck, and Dat Vu ’15 for helping her with her application.

Remy G. Hatfield-Gardner is finishing up grad school at UMass Boston, pursuing a master’s degree in American studies.

Nick Daley has been spent the last year dancing in New York City. He taught his first professional dance classes as a nominated substitute at the Peridance Capezio Dance Center, and his work with Ehrstrand Dance Collective brought him to Taiwan to teach and perform alongside the Seed Dance Company. He is beginning a residency with Ehrstrand Dance Collective in Styggbo, Sweden, then heading to Berlin for b12, Europe’s biggest contemporary dance festival.

Zach Lambros is melting in Georgia and still in search of a girlfriend.

Ilana Ladis is starting a PhD program in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia this fall. She’d love to meet up with anyone living there.

Liz Farrell started a new job in investor relations with the nonprofit Global Health Corps and adopted a dog named Otis.

Mark Otdelnov is an SAT tutor. He lives with family in Moscow and plans to study for a PhD in philosophy in the U.S. So far, he’s received a funded offer from the University of Houston. His writing sample is on Plato’s Timaeus.

Fred Ayres finished his AmeriCorps service term with City Year Detroit and will move to Ann Arbor to begin medical school at the University of Michigan. He will begin seeing patients and examining the role played by cognitive biases in such conditions as hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.

Julie Magruder co-produces a podcast series with Deepak Chopra, called Deepak Chopra’s Infinite Potential. She’s also a producer for Daily Breath, also with Deepak, but more focused on daily uplifting messages and thought-provoking themes.

Sam Shillet needs a roommate in Brooklyn. Hit him up. He’s still gainfully employed. Nisha Grewal is going to grad school for physics at the University of Edinburg. Jack Reibstein is in Portland, Ore., pursuing comedy, writing, and comedy-writing. Althea Turner finished a year of teaching at San Francisco’s Presidio School and is moving to Bar Harbor, Maine. Alex Minton just moved into NYC’s tiniest apartment and is finishing a two-year fellowship in aviation and public policy at the Port Authority. Sophie Miller is starting her first year of law school at Cornell University.

Davis Reid was promoted to senior associate at System1 Research and is engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Kacie Eis. Andrew Rock received a promotion. Eli Spector accepted a position in the Moore Lab at Temple University, where he is investigating the cellular mechanism of circuit formation in neurons.

Ali Felman made it through her first year as a lead teacher physically unscathed; however, middle school students are quite adept at inflicting emotional and spiritual lacerations, so the jury is still out on those. Just kidding. She is still in Oakland, Calif., enjoying the high gas prices and perpetually temperate weather.

Allison Conley, Tricia Merlino ’18, and Peter Dunphy ’18 live together in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. They have been magnificently unsuccessful on dating apps.

Sara Dean and Lydia Tonkonow live in D.C. and are housemates once again (thanks, 7 Fountain)! Coincidentally, they both work in fields related to health policy, and they have been slowly realizing their favorite childhood video game, Zoo Tycoon 2, by adopting a dog and a cat.

Keyonne Session | ksession@wesleyan.edu 

After completing law school in May, Nina Gurak is languishing in Philly libraries studying for the July bar exam. She is moving to Nashville soon and would love to connect with local alumni.

Zach Larabee has been living in South Boston the past three years with Jake Smith ’14. He’s been working happily as the enterprise sales coordinator for two years at Toast, Inc. along with fellow Cardinals Abby Cahn-Gambino ’18, Beau Butler ’18, and Alex Kamisher ’17. In his off time, he bowls with Cameron Rahbar ’15 and carries Jonathan Coombs ’15 in Fortnite on PS4. No one really knows what year Zach actually graduated.

Gabe Rosenberg is working at WOSU Public Media in Columbus, Ohio, where he’s been the digital news editor for the last few years. He won journalism awards for his pun-filled headlines and for a series of stories he did on the city of Columbus tearing down a beloved kangaroo crossing sign—a tragedy that he accidentally caused himself. “All’s well that ends well though!” he notes. You can also occasionally read his reporting on NPR. “Oh, and I started a food blog called Oy Sauce, just for fun, and because the name was too funny to pass up,” Gabe adds.

Madeline Keane’s days have consisted of waking up at 6:25 a.m., eating cheese for breakfast, doing some paperwork, and then later taking a nap. Afterwards, she has an espresso and then goes on her daily stroll around Boston.

Pierre Gerard likes to ride his bicycle(s). He’s interning with the City of Oakland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program to develop safer streets, and crunching the numbers with a worker-owned bicycle cooperative in Berkeley. He dreams of a day when we all stop driving.

Zarek Siegel is living on a cliff by the sea in La Jolla, Calif., finishing up the first year of his PhD in neuroscience at the University of California San Diego. He was living in NYC for two years, doing computational biophysics research at Weill Cornell Medicine with Mike LeVine ’11, and sharing an apartment with Mike Glasser and Conor Hunt. He definitely misses New York, especially his roommates and Central Park, but he’s finding it pretty difficult to complain about San Diego.

Samantha Hellberg, a graduate student in clinical psychology, received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Award. The award recognizes outstanding graduate students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Samantha will be recognized at the 2020 Graduate Student Recognition Celebration, hosted by UNC Graduate School.

Caroline Shadle will be starting a master’s program in dance studies this fall at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

After a stint in consulting, Michelle Li realized she really missed being a student and will be starting her PhD in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Becca Winkler returned to Philadelphia after living in Thailand for two-and-a-half years working with Mahouts Elephant Foundation, a U.K. charity dedicated to improving conditions for Asian elephants and the communities that coexist with them. She will begin her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in September studying cultural anthropology. She will the assist foundation part-time with the development of their projects and is excited to begin this new chapter in Philly!

Tim Israel visited San Francisco in May and went to a party, where he met four Wesleyan alumni he didn’t know. “They were chill,” he says.

Melissa “Melysaur” Leung has been roaming Germany searching for the best beer and pretzels with Wy Ming Lin. She has been studying German and learning about the dual health care system by working at Sana Klinikum. Sarah Mi was a lovely visitor but decided to fly just short of Germany, and instead went to Spain.

Bulelani Jili is in Cambridge, U.K. He earned an MPhil from Cambridge University, where he studied as a Standard Bank Africa Chairman’s Scholar. His work examines the relationship between China and African countries, like Ethiopia, that have adopted its model of economic development and surveillance. This fall he will be starting a PhD at Harvard University.

Ellen Paik | epaik@wesleyan.edu