Gentlemen of the Class of 1954, thanks for prompt responses from seven of you. And so, here’s the latest:

Bill Drury, who resides in Nashua, N.H., was off to his beloved Eagle Camp on Lake Champlain for two weeks, taking a lovely lady with him! Per Bill: “Anything can happen!”

Lynn and Bud Johnson returned from graduations of three of their eight grandkids: Georgetown, Wake Forest, and Brunswick School in Greenwich. Bud reports that the commencement speakers advised the graduates that they’ll be 30 or so before they’ll be on a real career path, and they should remain open-minded, and should speak up and be heard and try to build strong relationships.

Nancy and Shep Johnson are “nursing various ills of the flesh.”

Jeff Lockhart and bride were back on Nantucket for the spring and summer after first visiting their 9-month-old great-granddaughter.

Curt McLaughlin just published, with son Craig McLaughlin ’79, the third edition of Health Policy Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach.

In June, Rod O’Connor was a spectator at his fourth U.S. Open tournament at Shinnecock Hills since joining the club 50 years ago. Rod greatly enjoys his four grandchildren (all more than 20 years old), their views on life, and their personal ambitions. Finally, Rod is shifting his interests to his historic house in Aiken, S.C., recently named “Best Small Town in the South.”

Vickie and Bob Schnuer traveled back to Long Island, N.Y., in late May. Bob welcomes any classmates traveling in the area to call 917/862-5141 for a BBQ.

Finally, your scribe, Bob Carey, and Libby traveled to Asheville N.C., in April to visit a granddaughter at UNC Asheville, then to Columbia, Mo., for Libby’s 60th reunion at Columbia College, where she completed two years before matriculating to the University of Missouri in Columbia. In late May, early June to London, then Portugal’s Algarve area (beach coastline facing North Africa), staying at Pine Cliffs Resort, and finally to Lisbon (Lapa Palace Hotel). In early August we are off to San Diego to visit our two youngest grandkids.

That’s a wrap, gentlemen, and muchas gracias for your news. On a sad closing note, we’ve recently lost two of our classmates: Art Spada and Myron Poliner. Next year: Our 65th Reunion! All the best to all of you.

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

The first persons I encountered on Friday of our 65th Reunion on the lawn of the president’s house were Marilyn and Atwood “Woody” Dunham from Maine and Bill Teachout from Santa Ana, Calif. After greeting President Michael Roth ’78 we shared past and recent events. Woody’s daughter and my son, Thomasjohn, joined us for dinner in Usdan. Crossing High Street to Downey House I joined a reception for ’53 and ’58, when Sandy Millar and his companion, Fran Hitchcock, from Wellfleet, Mass., and Honolulu’s Phil Olsen, appeared in the crowd of ’58ers. Phil will visit his great uncles’ fishing village, north of the Arctic Circle in Norway.

Early Saturday morning, some of our classmates listened to Professor Logan Dancey discuss the changes in political party demographics over the past decade. I listened to a discussion on identification of medications to eliminate the effect of genetic abnormalities, while others found interest in “Wesleyan and the Great War.” Lining up for the alumni parade behind North College were Judith and Mel Katz from Greenwich, Conn., Joan and Bob Lavin from Duxbury, Mass., and Warren Eastman with his son, Richard ’81. Warren relocated from Florida to Connecticut to be near family after the passing of his wife. Joining the short parade around College Row to the chapel was Shirley Muirhead Jenkins, wife of two Eclectic men. The class banner was carried by Woody and Sandy. Class members and guests occupied two tables for the post-50th Reunion lunch to enjoy a talk by Mike Whalen ’83, Wesleyan athletic director, on recent events.

Our class reception and dinner featured a table of Eclectic alumni and their companions, including Ann Teachout, Shirley, Gunilla and George James ’52, and a table of Phil, Mel and Judith Katz, John Miller and his son, and two representatives of the university. Reminisces flourished!

Pre-Reunion messages: Herb Kelleher was restricted from travel as a result of a recent illness and sent greetings. Earl Forman telephoned to state doubtful attendance, as he has good/bad days from cancer. Milton “Snuffy” Smith travels with an electric scooter around his retirement village while his wife has taken over driving. Ed Lifset wished a successful weekend from California. Jim Griffis lives in a great senior retirement apartment facility in The Woodlands, Texas, with 4 p.m. happy hour and penny poker three times weekly. His son, Jim, born April 1952 while dad cooked breakfast at the Deke house, lives nearby, as do two grandchildren. His motor scooter gets him out.

Post-Reunion messages: Two missed their first Reunion since graduation, Harold “Oggie” Locke, my freshman roommate and fellow chemistry major, and Jerry Zackin, who scheduled a Dubai-Rome cruise long before Reunion. Steve Friedland attended a granddaughter’s graduation in Washington and looks forward to our 70th. Bill Rack is looking forward to enjoying tennis and golf with Bill Teachout, who is moving to Santa Barbara.

Our fundraising goal of $30,000 has been exceeded.

Attendees asked how many were in our class and how many are living; 167 graduated and about 120 graduates and nongraduates are deceased. The last two Wesleyan issues identified four additional passings, and one since Reunion. John S. Brownson, 85, died on Feb. 26, in Watertown, Mass. Born in Asheville, N.C., a Sigma Nu, an economics major with a master’s from Columbia and PhD from Boston University. Survived by his wife, Sonja. Private burial services were in Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Mass. He was Korean veteran.

My second freshman roommate, Raymond Drakoff, 87, born in NYC, died on Aug. 13, 2017. John Wesley Club, a chemistry major, a retiree of Lever Brothers Research Center, and active in art appraising and collecting. He was living in Bal Harbour, Fla.

Sargent Bradlee Jr., 87, born in Boston, died on July 15, 2017. A Chi Psi, he left at end of sophomore year to earn a BA from Harvard. He was a consultant to ISS Corporation and lived in Hanover, N.H.

Charles “Charlie” A. Hoyt, 85, born in Middletown, Conn., died on June 19, 2017 in Millbrook, N.Y. A Delta Tau Delta, an English major, Mystical Seven, he earned a master’s and PhD from Columbia. Best known as manager-star (from Olla Pod) of the High Street Five, a professor of English literature at Marist College, professional jazz musician, and freelance writer. He specialized in the romantic movement and Shakespeare and authored a textbook on the history of witchcraft. He is survived by five children and eight grandchildren. His jazz band was featured at several Reunions.

John M. Williamson, 85, born in Rochester, N.Y., died on July 31, 2016. A Gamma Psi, a psychology major, active in the theater, he retired as a packaging engineer at Eastman Kodak in 1991, and was a U.S. Army veteran. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Joanne, three children, and seven grandchildren.

Condolences to the families of these classmates.

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

Sadly, I regret to inform you of the passings of Morag Kennedy, Don Stauffer’s wife of 60 years; Peg Collings, the wife of Harry Collings, after 65 wonderful years together, and Robert Goodman Jr. on May 7, 2018. Don and Bob were both classmates of mine at DU. We send our sincerest condolences to their families.

Last Christmas Don visited his son, Andy, and wife Isabel in Dallas, where they had moved from Manhattan. He is living at the Avila Retirement Community in Albany, keeping busy with retirement-type activities: Master gardener for 22 years, a book club member, and singer with Jubilate Singers. He had a real thrill joining a 200-voice chorus in a Carnegie Hall program last spring celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and the Reformation and is planning a one-week trip with a friend to Tuscany in October to soak up culture and wine.

Harry has been living at Sun City in Lincoln, Calif., east of Sacramento, for 17 years. He worked for the Dupont Company for 36 years in the petroleum chemicals and pulp and paper divisions in tech sales and account manager positions. In Sun City, he and a friend started an astronomy club 14 years ago that is still very active today with over 100 members, monthly meetings, and star parties.

Bob’s son, Carey, advised me of Bob’s demise at age 88, surrounded by his wife of 62 years (Virginia Saunders Goodman), his three children, and extended family. Bob was a graduate of Friend’s Central School in Philadelphia and an exchange student at the American School in Mexico City. After Wesleyan, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent two years with the 7721st Radio Broadcast and Leaflet Group in Mannheim, Germany, doing research for propaganda leaflets to be dropped over Poland denouncing the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Cold War (I was stationed in an ordinance group also in Mannheim at the same time, but our paths never crossed there). He spent much of his time playing fast pitch softball, drinking beer, and as a friend of the daughter of the mayor of Heidelberg, was invited to the first New Year’s Eve party held at the Rathaus that was permitted by the military authorities. He spent a tense evening in dress uniform, while most of the rest were former Nazis.

After returning home, he began his teaching career at Staunton Military Academy as a math teacher and coach. After marrying, Bob and Jinny moved to Christchurch School in 1955. In 1960, he moved to the Collegiate Schools, formerly a girl’s school where Bob was hired to add a program for boys. He then had headships at Presbyterian Day School in Memphis, Augusta Prep in Georgia, and Arlington School in Atlanta. In 1972 he became founding headmaster of Trinity Episcopal High School, where he spent 14 years. After a stint with the Community School of Performing Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University, he joined Southern Teachers in 1990, which had been acquired by his family in 1981. After his retirement in 2000, he served on the Fulbright Scholarship Committee at Virginia Commonwealth. He also served as president of the Richmond chapter of the English-Speaking Union, which honored him with an Award of Merit for his many years of service in providing education and cultural opportunities for students and teachers.

Jack Murray is into his 16th year of retirement from the French literature program at UCSB in Santa Barbara. He has heart issues, so he no longer travels. He enjoyed the Reunions while he could make them and misses the alumni and wives still around. He’s had a very full life, whether solo backpacking through the Santa Barbara County mountains or adventure traveling (France, South America, Maya ruins in Central America and Mexico, New Zealand, and Timbuktu in Mali).

Hal Buckingham writes that after a more than 68 years off-and-on search, he connected with Bill Housum last October at the fair in Fryeburg, Maine, a huge blue-ribbon event where he was volunteering at an information booth. After leaving Wesleyan Bill transferred to Albright College, where he spent his career, editing their alumni magazine, and at Fryeburg Academy (a venerable prep school founded in 1972 with Daniel Webster as an early headmaster), as director of admissions. He climbed Mount Fuji in Japan during an R&R and he has climbed Mount Washington in New Hampshire 100 times and has manned the tourist station at the top. He resides in retirement in Fryeburg, Maine. Wow!

Dixie Sanger and his wife, Maggie, are alive and reasonably well in a snug condo in Wilmington, Del., more or less retired, still active in church and 12-step recovery work. His big news is that they had two beautiful great-granddaughters in the past couple of years and wishes everyone should be so blessed. Amen!

That’s it for now. Please keep me apprised of your news for future issues.

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

Charlie Selig marked his 89th birthday in February still enjoying life to the fullest with winters in Boca Raton, Fla., and summers in Westchester. His wife, Madalyn, whom he married seven years ago, has given him “the greatest life to enjoy,” enhanced by visits from his son and grandchildren. Charlie follows Wesleyan football and hopes to get to a game next fall.

Jim McKeon’s wife, Betty, wrote that he had died a year ago, but his granddaughter was doing well at Wesleyan in the sophomore class.

Bert Roberts said he was sending his first message to a classmate since 1951. He had spent most of his years since then working as an executive with a wholesale electrical distributor, mostly with an industrial clientele. Prior to that, he had an Air Force tour. He and his wife, Joyce, spent their 67 years raising two daughters and seven grandchildren. They’d been fortunate enough to travel to Europe four times and even had time to enjoy Alaska. Bert said he’d slowed down greatly during the past year but hopes to try golf again this summer.

Harry Webb’s wife, Sylvia, gave a lengthy report on Harry’s death in New Britain, Conn., where he had enjoyed a long and distinguished law career, serving with two law firms and then founding his own as he approached retirement. He served on local, county, and state bar associations. He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed running, hiking, tennis, and skiing into his 80s, and was an avid traveler, visiting Alaska, Turkey, Normandy, the Baltics, and South Africa. He leaves his wife, a son, three daughters, and 10 grandchildren. Harry entered Wesleyan with our class, but transferred to UConn, where he graduated in 1953, earning a law degree from UConn Law, and a master’s degree in tax law from New York University.

Howard Goodrich from Indianapolis wrote that he and his wife, Darlene, were still enjoying a full life—he will be 90 in September—for which they’re very fortunate and grateful. He wrote, “May peace and grace attend your lives.” Thank you, Howard. He also sent 24 lines of verse entitled, “In Times Like These,” ending with: “Our culture in Division / Longing for that fresh breeze / To articulate and change it / In the times to come.”

Bill Mitchell is “still alive and kicking here in the mountains of North Carolina.” He took one trip to New Jersey and several to the Atlantic area to visit family and attend his granddaughter’s graduation in St. Louis.

Biff Shaw and wife Jean take advantage of their close proximity to Wesleyan. They attended the dedication of Wesleyan’s refurbished tennis course paid in part by a gift from our own Dave Jones.

Dave and his wife couldn’t attend the dedication, so Dave asked Biff and Jean to stand in for them. Last summer, Bill and Jean attended the dedication for a wonderful gift of art to the Mattatuck Museum, also made possible by Dave Jones, which and he Ann were able to attend, along with Barney Kathan.

DAVID M. PHILIPS | davephilips69@hotmail.com
43 Cannon Street, Cranston, RI 02920-7620

Dear classmates, we regret to inform you that three of our classmates passed away. Richard W. Ahlers, from Pittsburgh, Pa., died March 14, 2018. He was an Alpha Delt at Wesleyan. Dick worked for U.S. Steel Corp. for 34 years in Ohio and enjoyed his cottage on Lake Manitou in Canada. He is survived by a large family, including one great-grandchild.

Roger W. Haskell, from Hempstead, N.Y., died Dec. 28, 2017. He was a Sigma Nu at Wesleyan. After an internship in Toledo, Ohio, Dr. Haskell spent 25 years with the public health service in Seattle and was awarded the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Meritorious Service Medal twice in his life. He retired to a 140-acre farm in central Oregon. He is survived by his wife, Edna, and their family.

John C. Roy, from Paterson, N.J., died May 30, 2017. He was a Psi U at Wesleyan. After medical school and orthopedic training in NYC, Dr. Roy practiced at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, serving as chairman of various committees. He retired in 1993. He was affiliated with the Lutheran Church in Mendham, N.J., and Lebanon, Tenn. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn, two sons, a son-in-law, and six grandchildren.

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

Dave Rosenthal is senior director of news and public affairs for WNED/WBFO, the public television and radio stations based in Buffalo, working on projects around racial equity, mental health, and refugees. He gets together with Steve McCarthy, Paul Margolin, J.D. Moore, and Joe O’Rourke for a weekend every year.

Rachel Hayes stepped down as vice president of public engagement at Oxfam America and is now working part-time. She will consult for a business development firm in Boston. She is enjoying early retirement with travel in the future. Her son, Spencer, is doing well at Marist.

Brian Steinbach writes with sad news, “On Feb. 3 I found my 29-year-old son, Stephen, dead of an accidental overdose of heroin that was laced with fentanyl. And while too much attention is directed to illegal immigration and allegedly unfair trade, the real threat is the flow of fentanyl and other harmful drugs from Mexico and China. It is some consolation that Mary and I are not alone in this experience—it seems everyone knows someone else that this scourge has affected, or it has directly affected them.”

After 28 years, Jeffrey Cellars retired as a diplomat and moved to Vermont with his wife, Bethanne. He wrote, “While I consider options for occupying my time including consulting for the State Department, I am perfecting my role as grandpa to our granddaughter.”

Paul Gionfriddo wrote, “My 32-year-old daughter, Larissa, died from metastatic breast cancer. For two years, she was a cancer thriver, serving as a spokesperson for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Megyn Kelly Today show, which featured her as a guest in a segment in October, did a beautiful tribute to her after she died.” Paul is president and CEO of Mental Health America. His wife, Pam, retired and they will be moving their “permanent” home back to Middletown this fall.

Nancy Goguen Lippincott works at The Meadowbrook School in Weston as the development coordinator. She would love to hear from other Boston-area alumni.

Paul Bennett is enjoying retirement and is involved with many nonprofits. He’s helping to found a new Cristo Rey High School in Oakland, Calif., and working one day a week at the St. Vincent de Paul homeless center.

Richard Hume, professor at the University of Michigan, and his wife, Laura, who recently retired, are Scottish country dancers and traveled to Scotland to dance. They celebrated their 43rd anniversary in New York with daughter Rebecca ’01. They have sons who live in Brooklyn and Detroit, and a son and two grandchildren who live in Chicago.

John McNeill retired after 36 years as a United Methodist pastor. He and wife Martha will move to Fairport, N.Y., on the Erie Canal near Rochester. He stays in touch with Natalie Hanson ’76, who retired from pastoral ministry last year.

David Bickford produced New York writer Gina Femia’s For the Love Of (Or, the Roller Derby Play) at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood. Susan Gans, Steve Miller, Martha Meade ’76, Juliet Green ’76, and Alexis DeLaRosa ’96 attended the premiere.

Bill Devereaux wrote, “Sam Miller passed away in May after a valiant struggle with cancer. He had actually survived a fight with this awful disease about 10 years ago but had a recurrence. He was a great and interesting guy who could relate to just about anyone and everyone. He had a successful career in the theater world and was known by his friends as a great husband and father. The world was a better place with him in it.”

Bill attended the wedding of Dr. George Powers ’74. Jim Daley, Pat McQuillan, Alan Poon ’76, Dave Campbell, Peter McArdle ’76, and Pete Guenther ’77 were all living large in Bill Belichick’s box at Gillette as they watched Wesleyan Lax win our alma mater’s first national title.

Karen ’77 and Donald Cruickshanks welcomed grandson George Fredric Jones Cruickshanks on April 4.

Don Gold is an A camera operator on the Netflix show Grace and Frankie. He and wife Nancy get together with Chris Vane and Dave Babcock and their families.

Karin Johnson has been teaching at Aoyama Gakuin Junior High School in Toyko since 1983. Sadly, her husband, Yushi Nomura, a teacher and artist, passed away from colon cancer. Her daughter, Yuka Kristi, 23, is working on a master’s at International Christian University in Tokyo.

Cathy Gorlin was sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court bar. One of the highlights was getting to ask Ruth Bader Ginsburg a question in a small group.

Cathy recently got together with her dear friend, Christine McCoy McNeil.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

A great class came through on short notice.

Skip Adamek is enjoying competitive golf, tennis, and fishing in North Carolina, and looking forward to a visit from Steve Farrell, Jim Cornell, Paul McDermott, and, just maybe, Teddy Shaw.

Lois Becker, Mark Stratton, Joanne Lukitsh, and Reilly Shannon are traveling in Europe together where the first stop was the London production of Hamilton. Next up is Paris, Provence, and points east!

Jon Cleworth, former captain of the Wes crew team, is doing his best to stay in shape and keeps in touch with Jimmy Joy MALS ’72, former crew coach at Wes, who recently was honored by the NYAC.

Bruce Demple and his wife, Sue, met up in February with Rich Gallogly and Bonnie Katz ’77 for a long weekend of skiing at Sunday River Maine. Bruce’s daughter, Marie, lives in Brooklyn and works for Comedy Central, while his younger daughter, Zoe, has moved to Pittsburgh. Bruce published a complex NASA-funded research study on the unique qualities and toxicity of moon dust.

Mike Donnella was a guest on an NPR affiliate and was interviewed about his photography. Check out redriverradio.org.

Jeff Frank’s daughter got a fellowship to work for the education department in Israel for one year, and his son, George, is training to fly F-16s for the Air Force. His oldest son works for the FBI in D.C.

Joellyn Gray is just back from a 12-day tour of gardens and cathedrals in Southern England and is happy to share travel tips.

Peter Hansen and his wife, Gail, are in Madagascar for a month, visiting friends who work for the World Bank. They plan to stop in Kenya before coming home.

Libby Horn’s daughter, Stephanie, got married in April on the Oregon coast. She was an infant at our 10th Reunion!

Jeffrey Kahn, fellow CSS classmate, reports that on May 31, he retired from the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Agriculture after 40 years of government service. Jeff is now traveling to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Jeff, the Kazakhstan chocolate is great!

Tom Kovar had a June mini-reunion with Mel Blake, Karen Gervasoni, David Harmin, and Karen Williams Harmin at Mel’s house in Portsmouth, N.H. All are doing well.

Wendy Lustbader attended a psychotherapy training program in Seattle where the keynote speaker was Ron Siegel. Wendy thanks Ron for the advice and encouragement he gave her years ago and compliments Ron on his many achievements.

Peter McArdle went to Foxboro Stadium in May to watch Wes take on defending national champ Salisbury College in the Men’s NCAA Division III Lacrosse Finals, which Wes won! Dave Campbell ’75, Jeff Gray ’77, Charlie Cocores ’74, Jim Daley ’75, Pete Guenther ’77, Dave Thomas ’77, Gary Breitbord ’79, Jock Burns ’72, Mark Fredland ’74, and Pat McQuillan ’75 and his son Casey joined Pete for the game. Bill Belichick ’75 was unable to attend, but graciously hosted everyone in the Belichick family box. Pete also saw Jeff Nesson ’78 and Seta Nazarian ’79 there. A great win for Wes witnessed by a great group of folks. Just a week earlier, Pete and his wife Mary’s daughter, Brittany, graduated from Simmons College with a master’s in special education.

Jaimee Mirsky is about to retire from her second career as a high school English teacher, and her husband, Jay, is also retiring. They will have welcomed their first grandchild in July. Congratulations on both fronts!

Debra Neuman is enjoying what may be her final career chapter as the executive director of development for Enders Island, a Catholic retreat center in Mystic, Conn. Her son, Josh, is pursuing a master’s in agronomy at Oregon State, and Josh’s wife, Meagan, is enjoying her first nursing job in Corvallis.

Michael Stopa has moved to San Mateo to be a senior manager for artificial intelligence and machine learning research for Konica Minolta. Daughter Randy graduated from Oberlin last month, daughter Robin graduated from Haverford last year, daughter Kaileigh will soon be a junior at Tufts, and son Kip will be a high school senior.

Cheryl Alpert and her son, Eben, had a great time on a trip through Portugal to celebrate his 25th birthday. Eben is a business analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers in NYC and younger son, Chason, is working in D.C. as analyst for Booz Allen Hamilton. Cheryl recently has changed firms and is now with William Raveis Real Estate in Brookline, Mass.

My personal news is slow right now, but a lot is happening in the next few months. I hope that you all enjoy the summer. If you meet up with a long-lost classmates, ask them to write in. Best regards.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

After what seemed to be a long cold winter, we’ve managed to cobble together a surprising number of beautiful days to provide the Northeast with a real spring season. In short-sleeved polo I write to you with the latest news from our class. There often appears to be a theme running through groups of notes I receive. This time around, it was grandchildren.

George Fredric Jones Cruickshanks is the new grandson to proud grandparents Karen and Don Cruickshanks ’75, born in April.

Jonathan Gertler’s first grandchild was born to his oldest son, Chessin. Son Charles, 28, is getting his PhD in climate physics and chemistry at MIT, and youngest William, 23, just spent a year in Kenya working on sustainable agriculture and technology infrastructure for a firm with an office in Nairobi. Jonathan and wife Jane are doing well; he has a third album of all new songs due out around September.

Iddy Olson loves the mixture of entrepreneurship with her consulting practice two days a week and working the other three days a week for a boutique executive coaching firm in Chicago. Iddy moved into a beautiful rental house with her fella in May. Her son, Des, and her daughter-in-law have given her a grand-puppy and are expecting their first child in December.

Hope Neiman reported on the history made in Wesleyan sports. Men winning lacrosse was noteworthy. Women’s tennis team went to the NCAA tournament, and they made it to the round of eight—best finish ever by a Wes team. Then, Wesleyan sent two men and two women to the individual tournament. All were played at Claremont McKenna. Eudice Chong ’18 and Victoria Yu ’19 had made it to the NCAA finals to play against one another and were in the semis for doubles. In fact, for the first time ever in NCAA history, one person, Eudice Chong, took the championship in all four of her years. [see p. 14]

Jeff Gray reported Gamma Phi DKE held its annual open house during Reunion and Commencement. Dave Thomas and Tom Roberts were part of the crew of alumni who helped set up. After the open house, while the folks who actually had Reunion went to their respective class dinners, all headed down to La Cantina Restaurant in Middletown. They were joined by Jeff Shames who was on campus for the next-day graduation of his nephew.

Jane Goldenring was at Wesleyan in May to teach a two-day seminar to the film department’s graduating seniors about working in the film and television industry. Jane was joined in Middletown by Kate Seeger.

Laraine Balk Hope writes that in retirement, the cliché that there’s never enough time to do everything is very true. She is consulting on a limited basis and generally enjoying the flexibility to exercise more, improve her French and take other classes, read, and catch up with far-flung friends and family, including Arlene Lappen and Janet Malkemes.

Lisa Brummel’s son, Adam, graduated from high school; he plans to attend American University in the fall. Son Noah is spending time in Israel. Lisa and husband Joel will be visiting him this fall.

Michael Rittenberg is the last of six original partners of his urologic practice. He is working way harder than anticipated but thrilled to report that son Daniel will complete his urologic residency and join the practice in July 2019. His other three children are grown, independent, and prospering in their professional lives.

Michael Foxall is trying to get in touch with Bob Rees.

Peg Batchelder has retired from veterinary practice and pharmaceutical research and is living the good life on Maui with May Coryell, her partner for over 30 years.

Peter Guenther is attending his son Geoff’s medical school graduation from Tulane; he’s going into pediatrics and will be at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. for residency.

A couple of sad notes: Sarah Kendall wrote that her partner, Wolfgang Natter ’78, passed away suddenly. He was VP of academic affairs at the College of St. Scholastica. They had wonderful times in their brief time together—especially exploring the northland of Minnesota. They were fortunate to have found each other after a 40-year interlude from being “siblings” at Alpha Delta Phi. Sarah will be moving back to New Hampshire this summer. Mary Rindfleisch passed away in April. Mary was a long-time community and arts supporter, in particular building the Ridgefield, Conn., library. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sarah and to the friends and families of Wolfgang and Mary.

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

Summer greetings, classmates! Hopefully everyone is enjoying all the pleasures of the season. The most important news would be our successful and well-attended 40th Reunion over Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to a lot of organizational and creative effort on the part of our Reunion committee and university liaisons, all the activities went off without a hitch. Our first class gathering took place on Friday in the new resource center where the library was dedicated and named for the class of 1978, in honor of its generosity during its 40th Reunion year. A plaque commemorating our gift includes a quote by Toni Morrison, which reads, “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” As to our generosity, it’s a pleasure to report that we met our 40th Reunion fundraising goal of $400,000 for the Wesleyan Fund and $5,000,000 in multi-year commitments.

Saturday kicked off with an organizing breakfast meeting for women athletes (thanks to Suki Hoagland and Fran Rivkin). An energetic group of ’78s rallied for the class march to Memorial Hall and many attended the box lunch under the big tent afterwards. Eclectic held an afternoon party with many ’78s in attendance. Our well-attended class dinner was held in the ’92 Theatre. Irma Gonzalez did a fabulous job of MCing the evening and we had a hot-off-the-press university update from Michael Roth. During our meal, the mic was passed around and classmates shared their Wesleyan experiences. An added bonus to the weekend took place off-site up in Foxboro, Mass., on Sunday where our own Men’s Varsity Lacrosse team competed in and WON the Division III National Championship! There were many alumni and students in attendance to watch the exciting game.

To the 63 classmates who were able to attend our Reunion, surely you are treasuring many special moments—and to those who weren’t able to attend, you were missed. For everyone’s enjoyment, Kathy Mintz put together a photo album. Thank you, Kathy.

Andrea Gabor sent in news of her new book, After the Education Wars, published in June by The New Press. Her earlier books include Einstein’s Wife, The Capitalist Philosophers, and The Man Who Discovered Quality. Andrea is Bloomberg Chair of Business Journalism at Baruch College.

Ken and I celebrate 15 years as co-secretaries and are on board for the foreseeable future. However, the columns are only interesting if you send us news!

Susie Muirhead Bates | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com