Class Notes

Greetings to my fellow ’54ers as we all shelter in place. Thanks to six of you for responding. Here’s what’s going on:

John Binswanger is, like all of us, hunkering down at home, well and happy. John isn’t working but talks to the office every few weeks. While John’s children are mostly close by, he can’t meet with them but can communicate. Stay strong, John.

Ken Davenny writes from the Olympic Peninsula in Northwest Washington State, across the Salish Sea from Victoria, Canada. Ken notes that he and bride Kris have discovered Skype as a way to keep in touch with their families.

From Scotts Valley, Calif., Dave Hodgin reports he is still working regularly, and enjoying the effort to keep his businesses progressing. Hardest hit, says Dave, were his music entertainment classes for small children. However, today a third of their families have joined him for online courses using Zoom. Dave says he is struggling to keep his employees working and paid during these strange times.

Bud Johnson and Lynn are currently self-quarantined in Florida, with hopes of returning to Westchester in mid-June. All eight of their grandkids are home from college or work. One did return to Wake Forest on May 1 for senior year finals but pack up/cleanout and graduation will be later this year. Fortunately, the three in college have summer internships confirmed, but starting late.

Curt McLaughlin is doing well in their continuing care retirement community bubble. While still recovering from a broken and replaced hip, he is doing lots of walking outdoors. Curt is still working on sections of the fourth edition of a new text.

Len Stolba reports that with lots of acreage and multiple structures, and his wife’s vegetable gardens, they have plenty to keep them busy. Len also takes the dog to the park, does the shopping, and feeds his art projects via Lowe’s and Home Depot. Len’s word: “Your car is your safest place and the takeaway window, your friend!”

On a very sad note: Our classmate Norm Stuessy passed away recently, followed shortly by his wife, Ruth. In addition, I learned of the passing of Phil Flagler at Medford Leas in New Jersey. We will all miss them very much.

Meanwhile, your scribe, Bob Carey, and Libby have missed four graduations this spring, including one in London, all due to the pandemic. Our biggest adventure each day is our walk around the loop road here at Lyon Farm in Greenwich, Conn. However, we are becoming experts at Zoom through which we have celebrated family birthdays and graduations. Stay well, you guys, and all the best!

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

A note from Walter Cutler proudly announces that two granddaughters will be entering Wesleyan this fall as members of the class of 2024: Grace Cutler, in Evanston, Ill., and Nina Cutler, New York City. Walt looks forward to following their progress and that of the University.

Ted Shapiro, who responded to Earl Forman’s obituary, recalls while rooming together their junior year that they began dating their future wives. Ted is a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Weill Cornell Medical College, where he graduated in medicine and then returned as a professor in 1976. He has been there since. He loves teaching, researching, and “the scope of interests I tap in my work, the foundations were made at Wesleyan. I am proud to say that my granddaughter is a sophomore at old Wes and enjoying a totally different curriculum but the same respect for a liberal education. I have four more grandchildren and two children. Joan and I have been married for 65 years.”

Samuel Dennison Babcock Millar Jr., born Jan. 16, 1931, Montclair, N.J., member of Phi Nu Theta (Eclectic), history major, three-year soccer team, died unexpectedly, Oct. 3, 2019, Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Mass., at age 88. He received his law degree from Rutgers University School of Law. He worked college summers at the family-owned inn on Lake Waramaug. During the Korean War, he served his country as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves. In 1965, Sandy married Judith Johnson, and they raised their two children in Darien, Conn. Sandy was a 40-year resident and real estate/probate attorney in town. He was a partner of his firm Millar & Ambrette, at the time of his retirement in 2003.

Sandy was a firm believer in public service: chairman of the Board of Tax Review, chairman of Gallivant, chairman of the Darien chapter of the American Red Cross (and 12-gallon blood donor), president of the Darien Chamber of Commerce, president of the Darien Kiwanis Club, and president of the Middlesex Club. Given his love of nature, he was active for many years with the Friends of Woodland Park. During his time in Darien, he was an enthusiastic tennis and paddle player. A highlight was winning the Middlesex Men’s doubles tennis championship.

In retirement, Sandy and his long-time companion Frances Hitchcock split their time between homes in Wellfleet, Mass., and Camden, Maine. While in Wellfleet, he volunteered as a docent at the Wellfleet Historical Society. His daily morning routine was to walk for miles at Newcomb Hollow Beach, soaking up the natural beauty, picking up litter, and finding left behind items that someone somewhere might find useful or enjoyable. This morning ritual was capped off by a dip in the water regardless of the temperature. In Maine, he was a member of the Rockland Kiwanis Club and Camden Garden Club. He and Fran enjoyed annual travel adventures overseas. While visiting family in Connecticut, he cheered and applauded his grandchildren at sporting events and recitals. He is survived by companion Fran, his son, his daughter, and four grandchildren. Condolences to the family.

John Miller is at home after four days in the hospital recovering from knee replacement—a knee that too often smashed into hurdles. His annual summer retreat to Central New York to beat the heat may become a fall retreat. Send me a note as to how you have endured the pandemic.

JOHN W. MILLER | jwalmiller@aol.com
306 Autumn Court, Bartlesville, OK 74006 | 918/335-0081 

I hope all of you and your families are well during this unprecedented crisis.

Robert Kelman wrote that he and Mary are doing fine in this time of semi-plague (it’s not the bubonic plague or cholera). In mid-March, they were in Southern California visiting family and rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park when suddenly everything closed, including the park, the LA opera, and restaurants. It was difficult returning to Colorado as their flights were canceled. They are glad to be able to visit with family on Zoom. Their children and grandchildren have jobs they can work from remotely, so they are not being impacted personally in the dreadful way that so many Americans are.

Frank LaBella ’52, MA’54 and his wife, Arlyne, both “townies,” will soon be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary. He is a professor emeritus (faculty of medicine, University of Manitoba) who is still researching a novel sensor he invented.

Zdenek “Zed” David has been with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., since 1976. The Center is the national memorial for President Wilson, granting residential scholarships to scholars who pursue projects relevant to international affairs. He was on the staff until his retirement in 2002. Since then as a “senior scholar,” he has researched the history of East-Central Europe, especially Czechia (his native land, known then as Czechoslovakia). He has published two books and a third one scheduled to appear in November unless the virus interferes with the publication process.

Hal Buckingham writes, “To all of my Class of 1952 classmates and other readers of these notes. Our very own class scribe, Joe Friedman, and his wife, Barbara, have achieved a milestone of historic proportions, in my view. Their granddaughter, Eliza Ruby Bender, a graduate of Horace Mann School in Riverdale, N.Y., has been accepted on early decision to the Wesleyan Class of 2024! Eliza is the daughter of two other Wesleyan offspring of Barbara and Joe—their daughter, Ellen Friedman Bender ’84 (but ’82 for Reunions), and their son-in-law, Samuel D. Bender, MD ’82. How about that?! With three generations of Wespersons, Joe matches Ron Daniel (Stephen ’82 and India ’22) in generations but exceeds him in number—so far, at least. Congratulations, Barbara and Joe!”

Do you know of any other classmates who can equal or exceed Joe and Ron generationally or in number? I hope that Eliza and the rest of the 2024 class can enjoy the beauty of the Wes campus in the fall instead of online learning.

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

We regret to inform you that Donald M. Joffray passed away on Feb. 21. He was born in Richmond, Va. At Wesleyan, he majored in math and played on the undefeated Wesleyan football team for two consecutive years from 1947 to 1948 and competed in basketball and track. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy during the Korean War from 1952 to 1955. He worked at Loomis Chaffee for 49 years as a math teacher and coach. He retired to Old Lyme, Conn., in 1999. We send condolences to his wife, Susan MALS ’88, of 64 years, with whom he had three sons.

We sadly lost Frank A. Johnson ’50, MAT ’54, too, on March 4. Frank was a very active classmate in the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity at Wesleyan. He was born in New Haven, Conn., and was a math major. He ran track and cross country and earned a master’s degree in teaching and worked as an admissions officer. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he taught high school math and then continued his education as a Rockefeller Fellow at Yale Divinity School, earning a master’s in divinity and later a Ph.D. at Sierra University. Frank was ordained in the United Church of Christ (UCC) in 1958. In 1971, he left the ministry to become a marriage and family counselor and began private practice in Thousand Oaks. He is survived by Francis, his wife of 61 years, and their children.

On a personal note, we have two granddaughters who received graduate degrees this spring. Elizabeth “Ellie” Dorsey ’12 received her MBA from Columbia, and Samantha “Sammy” Lukas (UMass Amherst ’18) received a degree as a registered nurse from Northeastern School of Nursing, passed her Massachusetts state boards, and now works as a psychiatric nurse.

BUD DORSEY | margiedorsey5@gmail.com
121 Renegar Way #105, St. Simons Island, GA, 31522 | 912/638-5616

In all my 98 years I’ve seen nothing quite like the landfill of “viral” confusion heaped on us this year. I’m told where to go, not go; when to go, not go; what to wear, not wear; what to ingest, NOT ingest; whom to believe, not believe (assuredly!); and so on into the night. Never before have I heard so much self assurance voiced by so many self-anointed experts. I marvel, and then I remember John Neihardt’s couplet: “And in a world so little understood,/There should be room for two to be mistaken/” Slán go fóill.

FRANCIS W. LOVETT | lovettfrancis@gmail.com

315 14th Street, Unit A, Windsor, CO 80550 | 907/460-9338

Arnold J. Hendrick ’72 passed away on May 25, 2020. An obituary will be posted when it becomes available.