Class Notes

With apologies to classmates whose welcome and interesting reports had to be edited down to meet length restrictions:

Robin Berrington reported, “Not much changed over the past two years for me as I remain holed up in my apartment, although managing some socializing in with friends and colleagues at home.” Like many colleagues, Robin “continues to struggle with minor problems associated with our advanced age, but so far has not been infected by anything.” Dismayed by Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction on Groundhog Day, he remained hopeful “since Phil’s accuracy rate is only about 40%. Until then, I hope all is well with all our classmates.”

Lindsay Childs lamented Bruce Corwin’s passing, noting they were roommates freshman year, and had both played tennis in high school. One day in the fall, one of them found a posted notice with the message:  Come Out for Freshman Squash. “Neither one of us knew anything about squash, but tried out, made the team, and played on the varsity for the next three years.” Lindsay continued to play regularly for 30 years and still plays tennis a couple of times a week.

Robin Cook reported being deeply involved in novel #39, “which is certainly 39 more books than I ever expected to write. This one is about how private equity involvement in hospital management reduces clinical supervision in the attempt to maximize compensation.” On another note, he and three partners founded a testing company and have developed “an entirely new way to detect SARS-CoV-2: a machine about the size of a roll-on suitcase which uses Ion Mobility Spectrometry and gives the strikingly accurate result in 15 seconds.” In a coincidence “that probably hasn’t happened too often at Wesleyan,” Robin’s son Cameron will be graduating as a philosophy major this spring precisely as we celebrate our 60th Reunion. Robin recalls himself avoiding those “hard” philosophy classes at Wesleyan because of his concentration on premed requirements, but “Wesleyan is such a terrific liberal arts school, it’s a shame that I was afraid not to risk it.”

Bill Everett reports the publication of two books since last summer “to provide a kind of capstone to my academic career: An ‘expository memoir’ entitled Making My Way in Ethics, Worship, and Wood, presents the main contours of my thought, including my work in worship and woodworking; and the second is a collection of my most significant essays entitled A Covenantal Imagination: Selected Essays in Christian Social Ethics. With that work completed, I turned to a project building a set of worship furniture for Boston University’s School of Theology.” Pictures of and commentary about Bill and his wife Sylvia’s impressive furniture- making projects are available on their website at WilliamEverett.com. They continue to participate in their church and local community of Waynesville in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

Bob Gause writes, “We are now in our 80s and more names will appear with ‘he passed,’ but we are still proud members of ‘the Silent Generation.’ I refuse to give up, still practice pediatric orthopedics at EMMC in Bangor, Maine, two days a week but no more surgery. In my office, no one knows my age but then age is just a function of how you feel so they know me as 60+. I have a 40-foot catamaran in Panama that I hope to visit February–April, COVID permitting; and if not, I’ll keep carrying in wood for the woodstove.”

Bob Gelardi feels “fortunate in being able to give back to those in need through my board membership and chairing of the Charity Relations Committee for the Destin (Florida) Charity Wine Auction Foundation, which runs one of the ten, top-wine auctions in the country in a town of only about 15,000 people. Despite COVID we were able to give away—to 16 local children’s charities—$2,000,000 this year and over $25,000,000 since its founding in 2006. On a personal note, I am happily married, with a son, a daughter, their spouses, and three grandkids.”

John Hazlehurst writes, “We’re still in our ancient, drafty Victorian on the westside of Colorado Springs, dealing with sometimes nasty winters” and with a new Chesapeake puppy who is “playful, energetic, unruly, and big enough to knock us over when he jumps up—dangerous, but great for increasing one’s balance and agility.” John feels “proud of both our Wes graduates, Bennet (’87) and Hickenlooper (’74), in the Senate, but a little distressed to realize that I’m now (I think) the senior former Colorado-elected official with such a distinguished background.”

 Morrie Heckscher is “pleased to report that one of the more rewarding projects of my retirement has been working with the University on the restoration and repurposing of Alsop House following the Davison Art Center move to Olin Library. COVID and management permitting, I would love to explore Alsop’s painted interiors with classmates attending our 60th! There’s nothing else quite like them. Otherwise, Fenella and I are simply holed up, shivering, in our Hudson River Gothic house.”

Robert Hunter writes, “My only real ‘news,’ in addition to my continuing to write and give talks on foreign policy (Europe and the Middle East), is that I just completed eight years as (part-time) international affairs advisor to the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio.”

Ted Lehne “retired from the last of my five ‘careers’ toward the end of last year. I started with two years in the U.S. Army, then worked in radio/TV and became an elected official in Alaska, then a training manager for Delta Airlines, and finally taught business courses online for a major university for 18 years. I am now back in Douglasville, Georgia. My best to everyone.”

 Dave Lorenzen regrets having “not kept up with our dwindling classmates” and reports “I worked from 1970 to 2011 as a professor of subjects related to India in El Colegio de México in Mexico City. Since then, I have been an emeritus professor in the same institution and still try to publish some research in both Spanish and English.” Dave has “three children, all three thankfully with good jobs, two as college professors and one as a researcher for a climate NGO in DC.” Dave and his wife Barbara, who worked for many years as a geologist in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, “generally spend summers in western New York and might be able to attend our 60th Wesleyan Reunion, provided COVID doesn’t cancel everything.”

Bruce Menke reports that after graduating he had a Fulbright scholarship in Argentina, during which “I read literally everything I could about Argentina and became fluent in Spanish.” After law degrees from Harvard and SMU, and the acquisition of reading proficiency in the Germanic, Romance, and Russian languages, he spent 25 years as in-house counsel with several companies doing primarily international oil and gas work, then 10 years as a “headhunter” placing lawyers. He married Karen in 1967 and the couple have three sons, all now with PhD degrees. They have lived over the years in Philadelphia, Caracas, Miami, Houston, and now in retirement in Athens, Georgia, and “have been very politically active, serving as Democratic precinct chairs and election judges in Texas and, in Athens, as elected members of the Athens–Clarke County Democratic Committee.” They have served on the campaigns of numerous Democratic candidates and actively supported action on voting rights, the climate crisis, and many other causes.”

Charles Seibert reports that “After Wesleyan, civil rights activism got me excluded from the philosophy department of Northwestern University, until I finally earned my PhD in 1972 from DePaul University, Chicago. After a period when I lived as an academic gypsy, putting together whatever part-time employment I could, I finally won a tenure-track position at the University of Cincinnati in 1994 and retired from there as emeritus professor of philosophy in July 2011. Retirement has been good on the whole, as finally there is time to read, write, and try to think with appropriate care. In August 2021, however, I was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma and, two surgeries and 33 radiation sessions later, I am still recuperating. My wife Sarah is my lifeline and we look forward to the future with hope.” [Ed. note: And we all wish Charles a speedy and full recovery.]

Len Wilson and his wife Joyce are planning “a gala, 60th-wedding-anniversary celebration this coming August at our summer home on the Jersey Shore, where we have been secluding ourselves for nearly two years from the anxieties of living in our South Philly condo. Hopefully in July we will be able to travel to Denmark to be with YMCA retirees as well as over 1,000 current staff and volunteers from Ys around the world. I have stayed active as a retiree in the YMCA, on both the local and national level, after my retirement. Joyce has become quite the watercolor artist, and I enjoy the daily experience of enjoying her art in both our homes. On a personal note, I am usually by far the oldest in three different pickleball groups, but still reasonably competitive, playing about five mornings a week.”

Chuck Work reports, “Roni and I are happily hunkered down (as much as we can be given this pandemic) in Naples, Florida. We get out to San Francisco twice a year to see our three sons and are in touch with Milt Schroeder and Emil Frankel ’61.  Had the pleasure of taking my grandson to visit the school not too long ago; visits are different in this pandemic era but the school is handling them as well as can be expected.”

Recently received obituaries:

Barton “Bart” W. Browning, died November 5, 2021; obituary https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/centredaily/name/barton-browning-obituary?id=31435621

John “Jake” E. Davison, died February 9, 2020; obituary https://www.courant.com/obituaries/hc-obituary-john-e-davison-20200216-story.html

John C. Farr, died December 3, 2021;obituary https://www.eastbayri.com/stories/john-carnochan-farr-80-little-compton,94898

Richard “Dick” C. Whitely, died April 4, 2020; obituary https://www.tighehamilton.com/obituary/Richard-Whiteley

 

John Rogers opens our column with some rhyme:

I too am always seeking

Remedies for arthritis and pain.

At 82 not likely to be found,

So living daily with pills and a cane.

A recent move from South Carolina to Kentucky.

Left behind warm weather, shrimp and grits.

Thinking Lexington better for family and health,

Now relying on bourbon and snow mitts.

Winter here reminds me of Foss Hill icy slopes,

Plodding carefully to frats and dreaded classes.

Definitely needed study time in Olin and Clark,

But all too often imagining weekend lasses.

Fading memories of ’61-classmates and activities,

But certain now I excelled at sports and games.

Details of classes and grades quite fuzzy,

Not unlike daily questions about best friends’ names.

“Some sad news,” writes Peter Funk: “Brad Beechen died on 10 January in Chicago after a yearlong illness. He is survived by his wife Mary-Jane and son Adam. My review of the 4 June 1961 commencement program confirms that Brad graduated as a Bachelor of Arts with Honors and Distinction.  In addition to being a brilliant scholar, he was an excellent athlete and a close friend to many of us.  How he ever managed to study as a member of DKE during his four years at Wesleyan will remain a mystery to us mortals who managed to limp over the high threshold and obtain a simple BA.  I also managed to confirm for myself that 176 of us graduated with a BA on that day.  It was a long time ago, but I remember it well.”

Regarding his personal update, Peter continues: “I reached my 83rd birthday on the 27th of January this year and remarkably all is well here on our small Island of Jersey in the Channel Islands.  I have been trying to retire from my years of entrepreneurship and my international interests in communications, film, and television.  It has been a long voyage since we graduated in 1961.  After working with classmates, Bill Harris and Brad Beechen, in Chicago, I moved to New York and then to London in 1973.  I have been based on this side of the Atlantic, developing new communications enterprises in the Middle East, Far East, and Europe.  Lexy (’91) and Jenny (’95), my two daughters, are Wesleyan graduates.  I have four grandchildren and I hope the tradition continues. My best wishes to my fellow classmates.”

Pete Drayer proudly announces that his grandson, Ian Moran, is going to Wesleyan.  Russell Mott (aka Bob Lannigan) reports that he just opened a gallery with his partner and that he soon will be back to summer camp, with 160 kids in Amesbury, doing ceramics for seven weeks. Casey Hayes revealed his recent satisfactory recovery from a “three-day minivacation” in the hospital for emergency surgery treatment, praising the hospital staff: “They are so stressed out these COVID days—such troopers!”

Al Williams, a most faithful contributor to this column, writes: “I think all of us are tired of Zooming.  There is nothing like getting together in person. In that spirit, we organized a mini-Wes ’61 reunion lunch this past June, attended by Paul Dickson, Emil Frankel, Dave Denny, Ed Knox, Tim Bloomfield, and me.  It was a rousing success, and we plan a repeat this coming spring. At Paul’s suggestion, I later contacted Bob Palmeri who lives on Cape Cod near our summer house. Bob and I had a very nice get-together this past summer. Presently, my main contact with Wesleyan has been with Wesleyan wrestling, and I have become good friends with the current (and very talented) coach, Drew Black.

Jack Mitchell claims that his New Year’s motto is: “Be positive . . .  test negative!”  He writes: “The Jack and Linda Mitchell family, thus far, has survived the pandemic and are very healthy!

“Our oldest of seven adult grandchildren, Lyle (a Wes graduate, ’16), is engaged and will be married on Block Island in summer of 2023. He is attending Columbia University Business!  Our family business, Mitchell Stores, is still very healthy.  We now number eight stores.  Nine Mitchells from our family and my brothers are active in the business. My ‘Hug’ business has been limited to a few virtual presentations and selling many Hug books. In addition, I’m a trustee at the Greenwich Hospital and an executive in residence at Columbia Business School, guest lecturing in family business and mentoring students.”

Bob Hausman is thankful that all of his progeny reside within five minutes from him. He writes: “I continue to be well, although COVID has struck my domicile.  I walk 90 minutes a day and lift weights regularly. We still feel the effects of the George Floyd murder here in St. Paul. I am regularly in touch with Glenn Hawkes and have occasional contact with Bob Wielde and Emil Frankel.”

Nici and John Dobson were fortunate to travel to Chapel Hill, where all 13 members of their immediate family had Christmas together. It was a wonderful gathering!

Jeff Folley wrote: “Last September, I took an incredible 22-day, 10-stop car trip to the Northeast (I live in South Carolina). This included stays with lots of family and my best, childhood friend, and was highlighted by extended time with classmates and Psi U fraternity brothers and their wives: Jim Steen (Ann), Jim Corrodi (Gladys), and Bill ‘Hawk’ Walker (Janet). Hawk and I had a fun round of golf, and while on the Cape, I was fortunate to squeeze in an afternoon with Carl Van Etten ’58 (also Psi U), a golf teammate and regular practice partner. All the guys and gals are active, well, avoided the virus, and look great. So many stories and memories.

“Probably the greatest accomplishment on the trip was reuniting the two Jims for the first time since maybe graduation (or too far back to recall differently). Jim Steen took a train from DC to Philly, and the three of us spent the day at the Corrodis’s in Wayne, Pennsylvania, catching up and remembering the Wesleyan past we shared. Just a great three weeks overall, and reminiscing with college buddies of 60 years ago was the best.”

Congratulations to Janet and Bill Walker who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a trip to Alaska. Also, Bill’s fourth novel, If WAR Should Come, has been published.

Since my last note, I learned of the passing of Dick Guernsey (7/31/21) and  Bob McBrair (1/8/21). Their obituaries can be found in our online 1960 Class Notes via The Wesleyan Connection. My condolences to their families and classmates.

Pat and Dave Major enjoyed a December 2021 visit to their son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in Berlin, Germany, complete with the famous Christmas markets.

Rob Mortimer wrote the following: “Mimi and I have traveled annually to France for years, but 2020 and COVID broke that streak. But we were back this summer and autumn to catch up with our friends there. Vaccinated, equipped with our ‘passe sanitaire,’ and frequently masked, we were able to get around Paris and the provinces. Our visit included trips to Normandy for an academic conference held at a chateau, to the Midi (Nimes, Aix-en-Provence and Hyères on the Côte d’Azur), and to Bordeaux to renew acquaintances with old friends. It was interesting to see how another country has coped with the pandemic. Rest assured that the Louvre is open and the Arc de Triomphe, which was wrapped by the artist Christo during our stay, has been unwrapped. The old Paris stock exchange has been converted into a museum of contemporary art where another crazy artist created a large installation of ‘statuary’ made of wax, complete with burning candles. It is still melting down, but Paris will survive that too. Best to all.”

Paul Tractenberg is cocounsel for the Lakewood school district’s 5,200 public school students who claim that their state constitutional rights are being denied. He is also involved pro bono in several litigated disputes about school segregation in New Jersey. In addition, he serves as a legal consultant to a lawyer representing a major urban school district in a legal challenge to the state’s drastic cut in education aid.

Paul and Neimah made an October-November trip to Israel to visit family and close friends, their first in more than three years; otherwise, they continue to be in virtual lockdown because of continuing concerns that their age and underlying conditions make them especially vulnerable to COVID.

In September, I had cataract surgery. During the two-week period between procedures, it was revealing to compare the details and colors provided by my right eye with the dullness from my left eye. Now, of course, both provide excellent vision.