Categories Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1950 | 2016 | ISSUE 3

Cliff Milner in Rochester, N.Y., writes, “Here are a few items, some good and some not so good. I’ve gotten more daring in my old age (88) and rented a motor home so I could spend a weekend at a bluegrass festival down on Seneca Lake. It was marvelous, except for the damage that happened to the motor home! A few weeks ago, I signed up to do a Viking Cruise, and I’m excited about that, as it has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I will be going solo, as my wife passed away a couple of years ago.

“Now for the bad news. I got a call this morning from my son in Florida with the shocking news that his son had passed away. That is the second grandchild I have lost in the past year.”

Roger W. Haskell, M.D., Sigma Nu, writes, “The only news about guys from Class of ’50: Warren R. Kaufmann, Sigma Nu, died peacefully in his sleep on Feb. 18. Twenty-year history of Type I diabetes. For myself—continuing to enjoy my retirement here in South Carolina.”

We were pleased to hear from A.J. “Jud” Miner, Chi Psi, as follows: “On Dec. 22, 1951, Jean Bond, Mount Holyoke class of 1951, and Jud Miner were married in the worst blizzard of the year in Buffalo, N.Y. Jud was in the Army Medical Corps. Sixty-five years, five kids, nine grandkids, and five great-grandkids later we are celebrating our 65th wedding anniversary at Windsor Park Retirement Community in Carol Stream, Ill.

“Life after Wesleyan and the army has been eventful: chemical industry sales and management and bar-code label business, including two patents. Ten years as a commissioned lay Presbyterian pastor serving small churches in Missouri, and finally retired, living at Windsor Park. Current activities include roving reporter, Windsor Park news magazine, ECHO, singing in the Windsor Park Chorale, conducting Have Fun, Write Your Memoir workshops, leading occasional vespers services for Johnson Health Care, and one of the on-stage actors at Mighty Windsor Radio Players performances.

“Our travel has been stateside with visits to see family in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and California. Next July we plan to go on an American Queen steamboat cruise, paddle-wheeling up the Ohio River with three other couples from Windsor Park. I’ve retained my membership in the St. Louis Writers’ Guild and continue writing short stories and poems. My latest poem, “Serenity at Age 88,” was written for our kids and has been published.” I have included Jud’s poem here for you all to enjoy.

I have now reached age 88

Moving nearer to Heaven’s gate

But with God’s grace I’ll stick around

And be with you here on the ground

My lower parts are crumbling clay

The upper parts are still okay

My legs are weak, my hips are sprung

But in my brain I think I’m young

And I have family to love

Before I graduate above

So itches, aches, and pains I’ll fight

And be upbeat both day and night

We can’t predict our journey’s end

We cannot see around each bend

But we can live each precious day

With God’s great love as our mainstay

BUD DORSEY | margiedorsey5@gmail.com
161 Shore Rush Drive, St. Simons Island, GA 31522 | 912/638-5616

Categories Class Notes | 1940sPosted on

CLASS OF 1947 | 2016 | ISSUE 3

This time around, I heard from one classmate, Ezra Zilkha, who wrote, “How wonderful to hear some news about you and Happy New Year! I am now over 90-years-old, and I know you must be, too. I always have such good memories of our friendship. Several months ago, I gave a talk at Wesleyan. I hope to see you the next time you are in New York and would love to get together for lunch.”

Categories Class Notes | 1940sPosted on

CLASS OF 1945 | 2016| ISSUE 3

Since my previous column was written, I have received some memorable words from Donald Dunn: recollections of WWII Tenth Mountain Division combat in Italy, and of one especially vicious fire fight in which Staff Sgt. Dunn was given command of his platoon and led his men to the capture of a German-held hill where he was severely wounded. He remained in control until medics were able to evacuate him. For his valor, Donald was awarded the Silver Star Medal. I served in the same regiment as he did, and can fully appreciate his account—and my better luck.

Coincidentally, I received a letter from an Italian woman who is associated with a museum in Montese. Seventy-one years after our action in the Monte Belvedere region part of the Italian campaign, she wanted to know if I would share memories, pictures, or memorabilia of any sort with their museum, which she says is an “official Tenth Mountain Division museum.” I had great fun gathering bits and pieces of that segment of my youth to send to Italy. If any of you fellow ski troopers read this column, do send anything you remember and care to share.

I’ll close with a translation from a truly ancient piece of Irish poetry. It’s titled “After War,” and the lines say: “Now God be thanked that brought me from that hour / And gave me in the finish quietness / And quiet roads again, and quiet sleep. Foe, now friends, slán go fóill.”

FRANCIS W. LOVETT | lovettfrancis@gmail.com
805 Compassion Dr., Apt. 208, Windsor, CO 80550 | 907/460-9338

Categories Class Notes | 1930sPosted on

CLASS OF 1938 | 2016 | ISSUE 3

Today I was wonderfully surprised when Curtis Smith rang me up to say hello. He must have known I was up against a deadline, again!

I am guilty thinking that with only having two fellows of ’38 to speak with, I have all the time in the world. Which I do have, until I don’t!

Curtis Smith reports he is well. They are controlling his congestive heart failure as best as possible. He has joined a nearby church, which follows the Methodist belief. He enjoys singing along with the hymns. Curtis has also joined a chorus at his community. While he says he isn’t that strong at the singing, my guess is he sounds just fine. I am so happy to hear that music is back in your life via these groups, Curtis. He has had wonderful visits from all of his children. Just a few weeks ago, he was introduced to his first great-grandchild.

In another couple of weeks, all of his children and their spouses will gather to celebrate his 99th birthday on Oct. 28.

Curtis did want to say that he remembers Frank Conant ’39, who passed away on March 2 of this year. They met at Wesleyan when they became brothers at Sigma Chi. Curtis said Frank was the only person he ever knew that shared the same birthday as his. They spoke every year on their birthday, up until last year. What a wonderful connection to make 80 years ago!

I quickly called Art Kingsbury after my phone call with Curtis, to get his news. Art said, “I think I’m pretty well.” However, if I had called six weeks ago, things would have been a different story. Art had a detached retina, and while the operation to fix it is rather straightforward, the recovery is a quite a pain. If you are not familiar with the process, let’s just say, three weeks of NOT lifting your head is not easy. Thankfully they have great devices to assist one in recovery. The best device came from his wife, Dianne, who, to prevent Art from rolling off onto his side while sleeping, attached a bag of golf balls to the back of his pajamas. Brilliant!

As of late September, Art had been cleared to drive and play golf again. This Friday he will get back onto the greens. Congratulations on the successful recovery. Oh, and enjoy your latest addition to the clan, a great-grandchild due at the end of October. I believe this is number 11!

Politics didn’t come up this time around, but something tells me we will have much to discuss when the next deadline knocks on my door. It is such a pleasure sharing ideas and thoughts with these two remaining classmates. I miss having conversations with the fellows who have since gone on. This generation has such a valuable insight in our society today. I hope all classes that follow ’38 will record as much as possible. Having a perspective that comes from time on this earth is an asset.

Here’s wishing everyone much joy over the upcoming holidays, and a very happy 99th birthday to you, Curtis.

GRACE BENNETT, daughter of the late Walter V. Bennett ’38
8104 39th Avenue, S.W., Seattle, WA 98136

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

ARTHUR R. UPGREN

ARTHUR R. UPGREN, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, and the former director of the Van Vleck Observatory, passed away Jan. 21, 2017, a month before his 84th birthday. He received his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University before joining Wesleyan as an assistant professor in 1966. He was director of the Van Vleck Observatory from 1973 to 1993 and held his endowed chair from 1982 until his retirement in 2000. An author or co-author of 285 publications in the astronomical literature, his research interests were in the areas of parallax (distance measurement) of stars and galactic structure. For several decades, he directed an NSF-funded study that made use of the 20-inch Clark refractor on the Wesleyan campus to establish the first rung on the ladder of distances in the Universe. His friend, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Emeritus, Jim Gutmann, said, “Art was an avid reader, loved classical music and foreign travel, and could be counted on to provide explanations of many matters astrometric and meteorological.” An active member of the International Dark-Sky Association, he was a tireless advocate for intelligent lighting on the Wesleyan campus. He is survived by his wife, Joan, his daughter and her husband, and his two grandchildren.

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

SHEILA GAUDON

SHEILA GAUDON, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, emerita, passed away Feb. 19, 2017, at the age of 83. Born in Liverpool, England, she received a B.A. from Manchester University, and a Docteur de l’Université des Sciences humaines de Strasbourg. She joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1970 and taught French literature courses in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, serving as director of the Wesleyan Program in Paris several times and as department chair. An active scholar whose research focused on Victor Hugo, she worked extensively with the National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) in Paris over many years, including a three-year appointment as “Chargée de recherches” to prepare the first volumes of Victor Hugo’s family correspondence. In 1993 she retired to Paris, speaking at colloquia around Europe on subjects concerning Hugo. She will be remembered by her colleagues for the steady leadership she provided to the department. Sheila’s friend and colleague, Antonio Gonzalez, Professor of Spanish, said, “Those who were close to her will remember her as well as a remarkable cook, an unsurpassed lover of the stage, and a caring and loyal friend.” She is survived by her husband, Jean Gaudon, who lives in Paris.

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

WILLIAM WISTAR COMFORT II

WILLIAM WISTAR COMFORT II, Edward Burr Van Vleck Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, died Nov. 28, 2016, at age 83. He received his B.A. from Haverford College, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington (Seattle), and was an expert on point-set topology, ultrafilters, set theory, and topological groups. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1967. Retiring in 2007, he had supervised 17 Ph.D. theses and three M.A. theses, and had been a key figure in the founding of the Math Workshop, a drop-in help center, which remains widely used today. He published three books, including Chain Conditions in Topology (Cambridge University Press, 1982), and well over 100 mathematical papers. Named an American Mathematical Society Fellow in the inaugural class of AMS Fellows in 2013, he was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics. “Wis was a Quaker, a musician who played the trombone in a Dixieland band, and a dignified gentleman who exuded collegiality,” wrote Joyce Jacobson, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He is survived by his daughter and his son. His wife, longtime Wesleyan staff member Mary Connie Comfort, passed away in May 2016.

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ELIZABETH BUES WITTEMANN MALS’92

ELIZABETH BUES WITTEMANN MALS’92, a journalist and pioneer in travel writing, died Jan. 30, 2017, at age 75. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle and began her career as a reporter in Rochester, N.Y., before spending a year teaching in Greece. She then returned to Connecticut to work at the Hartford Times. She also worked in public relations for several years. A pioneer in travel writing, she wrote multiple travel guides about New England, and she wrote travel features for publications including The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Coastal Living. She received a master’s degree in creative writing from Wesleyan in 1992. In recent years she worked part-time as a tutor in the writing center at Manchester Community College and was on a volunteer breakfast team with the House of Bread in Hartford for more than 20 years. She also loved watercolor painting and creative writing. Predeceased by her husband, Ross Gardner Wittemann, survivors include two children, two grandchildren; and her brother.

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MARCIA P. PLAVIN MALS’84

MARCIA P. PLAVIN MALS’84, a dance professor at Bates College, died Nov. 3, 2016. She was 84. An alumna of the University of Maine, in 1953 she started to teach dance at the Y in Auburn, Maine, which led to a position at Bates College in 1965, where she started to build the dance program. In 1969 she founded the Bates College Modern Dance Company, which produced and performed multiple dance concerts under her direction and became a haven for Bates dancers. In 1983 she founded the Bates College Dance Festival, at which world-class dancers teach college-age students and adults during the summer, and in 1984 she received her MALS degree from Wesleyan. The Marcy Plavin Dance Award and the Marcy Plavin Dance Studios at Bates are named in her honor. She also received the Distinguished Service Award from Bates. A short-term course she created, in which her students presented dance programs to area school children, resulted in more than 4,000 children getting their initial exposure to modern dance. Predeceased by her husband, Leonard N. Plavin, one daughter, two sons, and five grandchildren survive.

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WILLIAM A. KOLDEWYN PHD’76

WILLIAM A. KOLDEWYN PHD’76, a physicist and engineer in the aerospace industry, died Nov. 5, 2016, at age 74. He was an alumnus of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and received his PhD from Wesleyan in 1976. As a physicist and engineer, he worked on projects that contributed to ground-breaking scientific discoveries, such as the Advanced Camera for Surveys for the Hubble space telescope. After his retirement he worked as a consultant, reading and assessing proposals for NASA. He taught physics as an adjunct professor at Dixie State University. Passionate about science, he also was an accomplished organist. His wife, Katherine Koldewyn, survives, as do two children and a grandchild.