Class Notes

Dear Classmates, Thank you to the following for the great response to my request for news:

Brian Baxter: “For over 50 years I told myself to write about the impact Wesleyan has had on my life. So, under the heading of better late than never:

“After a 42-year career as a top executive in state and local government in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City in areas ranging from city management to labor relations to finance to human services, I retired six years ago. I was amazed to discover that the world was able to move forward without my continuing contribution, and my only regret now is that I didn’t retire earlier.

“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, Fl., 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 New York City . . .

“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 . . .

“Building on my stint as a health care lobbyist for nonprofit human service agencies and urban hospitals serving large numbers of Medicaid patients, I have spent the last five years working as a part-time consultant for the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, working on a campaign called #IWantToWork that is working to reshape public policy in Pennsylvania relating to employment for people with disabilities.

“Looking back, I credit my experience at the College of Social Studies for preparing me for a very satisfying career in public service. The five-page papers that we were required to submit each week, making an argument and supporting it, was excellent preparation for the many policy memos I wrote to governors and legislators over the years . . .”

Jeff Kessler: “. . . still in the active practice of neurology. Four married children and seven grandchildren help distract me from my deteriorating golf game. Have received really nice phone calls from members of the teams that I have been able to support in addition to the school itself. My daughter, Vicki ’07, and her husband, Evan Browne ’05, are constant reminders of the special gift of what Wesleyan imparts to each of us for a lifetime.”

Arthur Rhodes: “Still seeing patients at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where I am professor of dermatology and senior attending. Mostly patients with melanoma, or at high risk. Leslie and I have nine grandchildren between us, both in Chicago and New Orleans.”

Clyde Beers: “Since retiring, I’ve become an avid (vegetable, fruit, and berries) gardener. Up to this year, almost no problems. This year, unfortunately, I’m at war with critters . . . I think it is all the rain we have had, but maybe it just took time for them to find our ‘food in a raised bed.’ The groundhogs and rabbits wiped me out of my first crop of broccoli, zucchini, lettuce, carrots, and cilantro. They later attacked the cucumbers and tomatoes, but by that time my defenses were vastly improved.

“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 three- and five-year old.”

Carl Hoppe: “In March this year I left my Beverly Hills office of 42 years and moved my office closer to home. In four-and-a-half years I will probably hang it up. Our youngest, Colette, has completed a two-year assignment at NIH and entered an oceanography program at USC. Our oldest, Kathryn, is tenured at Green River College in Washington. The middle girl, Anne, has left Rupert Murdoch’s Harper Collins and is senior book editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in NYC. Diane and I have reduced practices. Diane is active in community issues. I help her out with that and play tennis three times a week. Life is good.”

Gar Hargens:“. . . 1965 class notes in the recent Wesleyan. . . was particularly meaningful to me. Win’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.

“We came home from those three weeks only to learn of Kirt Mead’s passing and jump right back on a plane. Dave Dinwoodey’s words beautifully described Kirt’s service and the fellowship and love surrounding his family. I spoke to Susan the other day and she had just finished reading your notes and totally agreed. 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 there. We agreed to meet up in Nice next April, one of her favorites.

“Dave Good and I meet for lunch regularly. David was head of Austrian Studies at the University of Minnesota. He remembers interviewing one of our firm’s founders, Elizabeth “Lisl” Close who grew up in her parents Alfred Loos house in Vienna. Close Associates is 80 years old this year and I’ve been part of it for fifty. Missy says I can’t stop now because ‘architects don’t get good until they’re 80,’ like Frank Lloyd Wright. Great . . .”

Bruce Patterson:“Martha and I bought a condo in Florida in 2015. In Osprey, just south of Sarasota. Love it. Martha, the good one, walks early and regularly sees Stephen King on his walk with his dog. Nice, friendly guy. Still spend half year in Connecticut since both kids live in Stamford. We’re very lucky. Will probably downsize in Connecticut.”

Jim Stewart: “Thought it might be worth noting that this summer I was recognized for 50 years of service with my law firm of Pullman & Comley, LLC, in Bridgeport, Conn. Daughter, Kristen Stewart Barbarotta ’00, and daughter, Courtney Stewart Dutt, Trinity ’03, both practice in my field of trusts and estates here in Connecticut.”

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. Any one hear anything more about Bill Brundage? I wonder how he did through all those natural catastrophes on the big island of Hawaii.”

David Gross: “’Retired’ after 32 years as a professor of English at the University of Oklahoma in 2004. Returned to my home state of Maine at that time. Since then I have taught two courses in the Honors College at the University of Maine each semester, as well as two online for Oklahoma. I even served as interim dean of the UMaine Honors College for a while. As much as I love Maine, I’ve become sick of the winters . . . so at the end of this academic year I will really retire, and Stephanie and I will relocate to the Texas Hill Country . . . Because I started in the Class of ’64, it is with friends and fellow Betas from that class that I have stayed in touch. I see John Schacht ’64 and Ken Kekke ’64 on visits to Iowa City . . . and have had several nice long phone conversations recently with my freshman year roommate, Dave Best.”

David Osgood: “I just finished reading Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country. Steve Almond ’88, the author, is a Wes Tech alum. Except for staunch Trump supporters, I think most will find this a good, thought-provoking read.”

Rick Borger: “Judy and I are enjoying life at Cornwall Manor in Cornwall, Pa., after having lived in Jerseyville, Ill., for a number of years following my retirement in 2004 from The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa.”

Bertel Haarder:Brief resume—“Junior year at Wesleyan 1964-1965; 37 years as Danish MP since 1975; seven years in the European Parliament.; 22 years as Danish cabinet minister, including 15 years as Minister for Education and Research. Educational reforms were deeply inspired by the Wesleyan experience.”

Steve Badanes: “Giving a lecture at Wesleyan in October. Invited by Elijah Huge, who teaches architecture at the college . . . Still running the Neighborhood Design/Build Studio every spring at University of Washington (ndbs.be.washington.edu) and teaching in Vermont at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School (yestermorrow.org) every August. (Saw Jim Bernegger there this past summer). Enjoying life on Whidbey Island and working in the studio, doing some woodturning, furniture, and trying to make some art. Linda is busy in her studio, beekeeping, and in the garden.”

Guy Archer: “Andrea and I took a trip to Winnipeg, Ottawa, Portsmouth, N.H., Boston, and Bristol, R.I., for the month of July. We’re keeping fit walking up and down Diamondhead Crater four or five times a week—better than joining an exercise club.”

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu

I started to work on my notes on Oct. 3, 2018, exactly 67 years since the baseball world experienced “the shot heard round the world.” Most of our class was around 8 years old, and the future was a long way off. Every Oct. 3, I think about the sudden end to the 1951 baseball season for the Brooklyn Dodgers, when their pitcher, Ralph Branca, threw a high fastball that he couldn’t take back, and the batter launched it into the left field stands for a walk-off homerun. The echoes of the broadcaster’s excitement can still be heard today. “The Giants win the pennant!” It was the radio version of the game the broadcaster was delivering, and there was no recording of his memorable call. Amazingly, a Dodgers fan was anticipating a Brooklyn victory, and was recording the radio coverage on a new tape recorder. It became a part of history.

It’s now Oct. 10 and I’ve not had much class news to share. My deadline has been extended, as my mind had been occupied by Hurricane Florence threatening us here in Savannah. We were just south and west of the storm’s path, where we escaped the storm surge, and we had no power outage. However, there is Hurricane Michael on our radar, and it reminds me of Hurricane Andrew that devastated the area south of Miami.

Sadly, our classmate, Robert “Bob” Rugg, passed on June 25 and he was a remarkable human being. Multitalented, he left a legacy of commitment to the Richmond, Va., community he was part of for many decades.

I reflect on my own contribution to communities I have served for many years, delivering thousands of babies and mothers through the birth process. I have found it humorous, how God had a plan for me to go from a freshman student planning to be a professional baseball player, to an obstetrician. My father knew a merchant on his policeman’s beat, who had a son attending Wesleyan. Dad thought I could go to Wesleyan, get “the piece of paper to fall back on,” in case the baseball dream didn’t materialize. Amazingly, we needed a catcher on our varsity baseball team my sophomore year, and I found the position that fitted my hands and throwing ability. Academically, I found myself learning how to answer questions, and examinations became something I could do well.

The final piece to the puzzle came in the summer of 1962, when my summer baseball season was ended by an appendectomy. I was recovering at a Brooklyn hospital, when young resident doctors were making rounds. They weren’t the image of my family doctor, peering through eyeglasses propped over his nose. They were young men who looked like my classmates at Wesleyan. I realized, for the first time in my life, that I could do what these residents were doing. Fast forward through Albany Medical College and a medical degree, to a choice between cardiology or obstetrics.

I chose obstetrics by flipping a coin, but there was nothing by chance in my story. I self-published a book recently, titled Baseball and Babies: My Life as a Catcher. Wesleyan needed a catcher my sophomore year, and I had a strong throwing arm and a comfort for using the “tools of ignorance” catchers required. I had the “piece of paper” I needed to get accepted to medical school. It certainly helped my career as a physician, to answer questions on exams at Wesleyan. Physicians are examined every day, and we are marked by society and held accountable for our decisions. As a catcher, I was responsible for choosing the right pitch to have my pitcher throw. I was thinking about various options every moment during the game.

Catching every game, during my three years of varsity baseball, prepared me for my career as an obstetrician-gynecologist. Coach Norm Daniels allowed me to call all of our pitches, as I weighed the talents of the opposition, and the skill of our pitchers. I realized that I had a selfish streak, but the catcher has the weight of the pitching staff, and the success of the team at heart. This realization was more valuable than any personal glory achieved reaching the major leagues.

Being on the team that was Little Three champions in 1963-64 was a dream come true. Recently, I learned of the existence of the Wesleyan Baseball Wall of Fame, located behind home plate. Two pitchers I caught at Wesleyan, Phil Rockwell ’65 and Jeff Hopkins ’66, were on the wall. I attended the induction of another pitcher I caught at Wesleyan in early May this year, Steve Humphrey ’63. In 1963 and 1964, our teams were good enough to be invited to the NCAA regional playoffs for an opportunity to reach the College World Series, but the university was fearful it would overemphasize sports. Liberal arts colleges have learned that sports contribute to maturity and commitment to community. Three pitchers’ names on the wall is a testimony to Coach Daniels and players that were a special family at Wesleyan.

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

Walt Pilcher’s hometown, Greensboro, N.C., escaped most of Florence’s wrath. Walt is busy writing novels. He just sent his fourth, Everybody Shrugs, off to his publisher, Fantastic Books in the U.K. “I’ve been retired from the panty hose business since 2000. You know, L’Eggs was what I worked on for years.” He and his wife of 63 years, Carol, have three children: a son, 52; twin daughters, 50; and six grandchildren, five boys and one girl, ages 10 to 21. As I have often heard with classmates who are now grandfathers, he struggled recalling all their ages and turned to his wife for help. Of course, she nailed it. Carol is also retired from both childrearing and being a RN. She likes to paint and is an eager golfer. Walt golfs too, but now plays with a group of men all pretty much his age. It’s a “low key group—no betting, an agreed upon number of mulligans each nine, and no great concern for handicap lowering scores.” They both go to Global Awakening conferences and belong to Grace Church in High Point, N.C.

Steve Weil has moved from far east Oregon (Pendleton) to far west Oregon (Portland). He has two sons from a former marriage, 44 and 43, and one grandson, 4, whom he Skypes with daily. He and his wife of 27 years, Wendell, have a daughter, Keaton, who is in a gap year after college and is applying to med school where she is considering focusing on cancer research. Wendell is about to become a grandparent too as a daughter-in-law has just become pregnant.

Steve’s older brother, Marty Weil ’59, is the longest-serving employee of the Washington Post. He has worked on the night shift there for many, many years.

Bill Wood lives in Virginia Beach and has nice view of the Chesapeake Bay. He retired in 2004 from the Virginia Beach Department of Human Services, where his focus was on behavioral health. He and wife Nancy now travel extensively on month-long trips abroad. Married in 1964, they have two daughters, 52 and 49, and two granddaughters, 16 and 14. Nancy, now retired too, is an ordained Episcopal deacon and worked as a hospital chaplain. For the past five years, they have lived in a retirement center which has an excellent fitness facility. They use it a lot and it helps to keep them active. A popular summer sport there is lawn croquet “of the bumpy lawn variety,” but now Ping-Pong season is almost upon them.

Barre Seibert is “mostly retired” though he still does some financial consulting work. He and wife Julia live in Clyde Hill, Wash., where he is an active member of the town council. Julia was a high school teacher and now, like Barre, is “mostly retired.” She is quite active helping their local library, especially with fundraising. They have two daughters, 48 and 46, and seven grandchildren, ages 7 to 16. They enjoy traveling. Recent trips were to Hawaii and Mexico. Barre’s favorite hobby is gardening. Although he plants flowers, vegetables sounded like a greater interest. In fact, when I phoned, Julia called him in from the backyard where he was in full fall vegetable harvest mode, some of his crop headed straight to their table, others for storage, and some to go to neighbors and friends.

Linwood Small lives five months a year in Raymond, Maine, where he grew up and the other seven in Blythewood, S.C. Linwood has his PhD in psychology and taught psych for many years at Columbia College in South Carolina. After retiring from there in 1999, he taught psych part-time for 12 years at Cappella University. Linwood’s wife, Judith, a psychologist, too, is also retired after serving as a staff psychologist for the University of South Carolina. They were married in 1974. He is a stepfather to her three grown children, ages 62, 60, and 58, and step-grandfather to her four grandchildren.

Like Linwood, Barry Craig spends time in two different states. Though he says he “pretty much retired” he spends a third of his time up in Pascoag, R.I., working as trustee for an estate. He and wife Gina, whom he married in 1969, live in Mount Juliet, Tenn. He used to drive up to Rhode Island and did not mind the two-day trip. But now he finds it’s cheaper and more relaxing to fly. Gina is also retired, having at one time worked for Burger King. She was in charge of all its nonprofit activities, such as corporate donations. They are now much involved with their new puppy, teaching it what not to chew inside and what definitely to do outside.

Some sad news: John Corn died passed away over the summer. You can find his obituary at magazine.wesleyan.edu.

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

Notes in this report include some interesting reminiscences from our time at Wesleyan.

Peter Buffum and his “wife of 52 years” live in Philadelphia. They visited the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in Paris where he “stayed and only occasionally studied back in 1960—prompting Mark Barlow ’46 to report to my parents that I was apparently lost in Paris!”

Robin Cook dropped off his freshman son at Wesleyan in the fall (“I know I’m years behind many of our classmates”) and said it is interesting that “my son is in Clark Hall—where I roomed with Jeff Hughes for three years.” He said, “The campus looks terrific with facilities we couldn’t have dreamed of, as well as a bevy of smart women.” He added that “we all could probably have gotten an extra degree if we had better used all the time we spent traveling to women’s colleges.” By the time this issue comes out, Robin will have published his 36th novel, which “is 36 more than I ever expected to write as a chemistry major.” He credits the required freshman humanities course for helping push him in the writing direction.

Ray Fancher retired as professor emeritus and senior scholar after 45 years in the psychology department at York University in Toronto.

He was a founding member of York’s “unique graduate program in the history of psychology,” which he says was “inspired partly by my College of Letters experience at Wesleyan.”

John Hazlehurst has stopped doing “downhill bicycle time-trialing on twisty mountain roads” due to a bike crash. He also says he is “surprised to be a great-grandfather.” On both issues, he asks, “Does this mean that I’m no longer a promising young man?” (Is that a question we all should ponder as we begin approaching our 60th Reunion?) He writes that “living in Colorado is still wonderful,” and he credits U.S. Senator Michael Bennet ’87 and Governor John Hickenlooper ’74 for contributing to that.

Dave Hedges writes, “Ann and I are still enjoying life as age and health allow us.” This includes summers at Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks, winters in Ft. Myers and Naples, Fla., trips to 12 grandchildren “scattered around the country,” and recent trips to New Zealand, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Vin Hoagland has retired after 33 years teaching chemistry at Sonoma State University. An avid bike rider, including a daily three-mile commute to SSU, he also biked 12 miles to Petaluma High School to tutor chemistry students. He says he also biked “all over northern Germany” when his wife Margo was working there as a horse dressage rider, judge, and teacher. He is now working on a project to convert a planned freeway extension into a linear two-and-a-half mile park with a bike/pedestrian trail.

Warren Smith has been honored by being nominated to the prestigious Guild of Scholars of the Episcopal Church, an informal group of established scholars, all Episcopal lay persons, who provide expertise to the church by meeting annually to deliver papers and conduct seminar-style discussions. This year’s annual meeting will be in Warren’s hometown of Albuquerque.

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

Previously, a suggestion had been made in our class notes column regarding the Vietnam War and its impact on the lives of our classmates. The response of members has been tremendous— so much so that it will take a few publications to include everyone’s comments. If your reply is not present in this edition, please be patient and your secretary will attempt, in time, to cover everyone’s view. It is never too late to submit new or additional thoughts.

Howie Morgan was one of the early responders to the request, writing: “Didn’t give a crap! I was in grad school and getting married. Lyndon Johnson got us in this mess! My wife, Betsy, was at Berkeley and marched in the protests until broken up by a Hells’ Angels motorcycle gang!”

Phil Rodd replied: “I never served, because I was married in 1964 and married men were not being drafted.”

Steve Smith relates that he was not a combatant, being “exempt since I was in graduate school in a PhD program at Tulane, preparing for a professorship in anatomy and neurobiology as a teacher in medical school. I guess they thought I might be as useful there as I would be wading through the swamps along the Mekong River. I supported our troops and was embarrassed by their treatment upon their return. I also felt, and still do, that we were foolish to go in and bail out an intensely unpopular French regime. We were set up to fail, since we were hardly looked upon as saviors, so we had virtually the entire population against us. Not a wise move! I wish we had learned our lesson, to keep our noses out of other peoples’ wars!”

Lewis Kirshner was actively involved with the conflict. He writes: “I served as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Air Force from 1969-71, stationed at Wright-Patterson in Ohio. These were turbulent times in the U.S. I was active in the anti-war movement, as a member of the Concerned Officers group. Much against my nature, I spoke at rallies and on the radio about our opposition. I treated many Vietnam casualties at our hospital and was also involved (as an expert witness) in military trials of men who refused to participate. Although I was warned/informed about the legal restrictions on my activities as an active duty officer, I was treated well by the Air Force and had a decent, if often frustrating, professional experience, in contrast to my highly conflicted feelings about being a part of the military! I recall the reactions after Kent State at our base, where many people criticized the protesters (although there was widespread anti-war sentiment even among careerists). I published an article in the leftist journal The Radical Therapist, founded by a militant colleague, that almost cost me a fellowship at Harvard after discharge, for fear they were taking on a flaming radical!

“Although I continued to support and counsel anti-war young people during that period, I regret that my contributions were in fact quite modest. Encountering and supporting Bernie reawakened some of these old feelings from the ’60s and ’70s about social change. Busy in professional and family life in a very blue state, I almost forgot the polarization, xenophobic tendencies, and deep racial injustices that were so much on the surface and seemed about to be confronted back then. In recent years, we have seen that this hopeful attitude turned out to be illusory. I don’t know whether this country is capable of facing its history and fulfilling those aspirations from the 60s. Time may be short.”

A quick reply from Bob Carey: ”Vietnam—burned my draft card, had some talks with the FBI, was on the bus a lot from NYC to Washington,” and Brad Beechen quipped: “No role, Jon.”

Paul Dickson delivered his latest book to his publisher, which will appear in bookstores on Sept. 1, 2019, marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. “My book,” Paul explains, “is about the transformation of a U.S. Army that, in 1935, could fit into Yankee Stadium, into an army of 1.6 million the day of Pearl Harbor. It is also the story of how Secretary of War George C. Marshall gets this army in shape to fight Hitler’s armies in North Africa and Europe, but also to identify and promote the leaders he needed to win the war, i.e. Patton, Eisenhower, Clark, Bradley, etc. I have been working on this one on and off since 2005. It is tentatively titled The Rise of the Fishbowl Army, an allusion to the fact that the numbers for the 1940 military draft were plucked from a fishbowl. Not much from me on Vietnam. Spent early days of the war in the Navy and wrote about it from Washington as it dragged on.”

Respectfully submitted,

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

Congratulations to Rick Garcia on being reelected for another four years as president of the Bolivian National Academy of Economic Sciences. Academic celebrations are being planned for 2019 since that will be the 50th anniversary of the organization.

John Richardson shared his thoughts: “Having just passed my 80th birthday, I find myself with conflicting reactions and emotions. First and most important, I don’t like being 80. Once you reach 80, society gazes past you—if it notices you at all. In my case, even more variables are in play, since by general account I appear to be 10 or 15 years younger than my chronological age. Luckily, I am fully mobile and reasonably energetic, although two replacement joints and arthritis are part of the aging story. Add in a heart valve replacement, and the story comes a little closer to being real. Psychologically significant, I don’t feel 80.”

Mike Rosen’s research at Columbia that focused on the causes and possible prevention/treatment of cardiac arrhythmias has ended. However, he still teaches graduate students and is deriving great satisfaction from helping them hone their skills in reading, understanding, critiquing, and presenting. Mike and several of our generation of Alpha Delts meet fairly regularly for food, conversation, and sometimes music, thanks largely to the organizational efforts of Rod Henry ’57. Mike’s wife, Tove, has retired and is professor emerita of pediatrics at Columbia. Daughter Jennifer Rosen Valverde ’92 is clinical professor of law in the Education and Health Law Clinic at Rutgers. Daughter Rachel was formerly a member of the hardcore bands Indecision and Most Precious Blood and now has a day job as a pathologist in a hospital in California. Tove and Mike spend time on Cape Cod, where he can kayak and revel in the contrast with NYC. They have traveled extensively over the years to every continent except Antartica, both for their work and for the adventure.

In late August, I accompanied my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson on a visit to Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park. We were fortunate that smoke from wildfires was not present during our visit. We were delighted to identify 18 different wildflowers on our walks.

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