CLASS OF 1965 | 2025 | FALL ISSUE

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Dear Classmates,

Bob Abel, Doug Blazey, Michael Borecky, Mark Edmiston, Tom Elliman, John Hall, Jim Henderson, Jeff Lea, Robert Leonard, Bruce Lev, Tom Meyer, Bob Schmidt, Dutch Seigert, Gary Witten, and I attended our 60th Reunion, along with some of our wives and friends.

Highlights included:
Friday: Cocktail reception and dinner in the Usdan University Center.
Saturday: Presentation on “College Leadership in Turbulent Times” by President Michael Roth ’78 and Beverly Daniel Tatum ’75, former president of Mount Holyoke and Spelman Colleges; alumni parade and assembly featuring remarks by Amy Bloom ’75 and an Alumni Achievement Award to our own Bob Abel; retirement recognition reception in honor of Gina Driscoll (who filled many roles at Wes from 1985 to 2025 and was the wife of John Driscoll ’62); and 60th Reunion reception and dinner.

We also had time for conversation at our reunion lounge area in Boger Hall (the old squash courts). You were missed by all!

Those who wrote in after the fact included:

Jim Brownell: “Born in New York, New York, 1943; Saint James School, Hagerstown, Maryland, 1961; BA, Wesleyan University in economics, 1965, Kappa Nu Kappa; Peace Corps in Turkey, teaching ESL 1965–1967; Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) software specialist 1969–1986; married in 1977 to Claire Jeanne Carberry of Philadelphia; delegate at Republican National Convention, 1980; divorced 1988, no children; MEd, Temple University in secondary education, 1990; Drexel University instructor in ESL, 1989–1998, including posts in Tokyo, Barcelona, and Malaysia; singer with Orpheus Club and Savoy Company (Gilbert & Sullivan); retired 1998, age 55; Philadelphia Phillies ballpark host 2002–2009; Mexican permanent resident card, 2008; winters in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and summers in Philadelphia; craniotomy after serious fall walking in Philly’s FDR Park, 2024; moved to Cathedral Village CCRC, Philadelphia, 2024; still walking and talking, 2025.”

Thomas Meyer wrote: “Hi, Phil, it was great to put a face to all the emails through the years. I was again impressed by the atmosphere of excellence that fills Wesleyan. It was great to be back. While in Middletown, I did some family history at the Middlesex County Historical Society, where I researched my eighth great-grandparents, who were founders of Middletown in 1651. We visited the site of their unmarked graves in Riverside Cemetery. I had no idea of this when I was at Wesleyan and nearly fell out of my chair when I learned of it.”

Guy Danforth added: “I’m a longtime reader, first-time writer to notes. Retired to Sarasota after 40 years in consumer marketing and advertising in the New York metro area. I actually lived across street from Ed Cerny in Summit, New Jersey. My grandson, Brendan Kelso ’27, proclaims that he is ‘finishing what Papa started.’ (I left school after two years.) So, you could say I ultimately did something right!”

PHILIP L. ROCKWELL | prockwell@wesleyan.edu