Northeast U.S. was home to a majority of our freshman class. Within a few years of graduation members of the class began to move—west and south—as demanded by job and family. This continues with retirement and aging. Relocating in January to The Woodlands, Texas, from his long-term home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (Chagrin origin?, probably corruption of the French surname Seguin), Jim Griffis enjoys “a large 8th (top) floor corner apartment with wraparound balcony” overlooking a small lake outside Houston. Two of his four children, his daughter and his retired son (one of three), live in the area. He left a great-granddaughter and great-grandson in Cleveland. Always being the “oldest guy in his Cleveland circles,” he now finds himself among “old people—many older and more active.” Not an unusual occurrence for many of us. Welcome to the Southwest, Jim!

Not enough news? As spring brings forth new life and winter hibernation ends, share your activities (planned or completed) with classmates with a note or call to me. Thanks to all who have contributed to the Wesleyan Fund.

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

Thorne Griscom, he of the memorable mellifluous voice as a Jiber, retired after 49 years of service at Boston Children’s Hospital. In his honor, the hospital has established an endowed chair in children’s radiology, to be known as the “Thorne Griscom Chair.” Congratulations, Thorne!

Bill Morrill’s fabulously interesting book, A Journey Through Governance—A Public Servant’s Experience Under Six Presidents, has just been published and is available on Amazon. Bill served 25 years with the U.S. government in various capacities during administrations from Eisenhower to Carter. In this book, he relates his experiences inside the White House, the Capitol, and with presidents, senators, generals, and cabinet secretaries as they wrestled with one critical national issue after another. George Shultz, former Secretary of Labor, the Treasury, and State, says about the book, “Morrill brings vast and diverse experience to his views about a subject of critical importance: how we govern ourselves. . . . Everyone, whether in government or not, can learn from this book.”

Kim Zachos read Bill Morrill’s book and wrote, “Today’s level of political talent is a disappointment to all who trained under Shattschneider, Bailey, Schorske, and Mangone—creates all the more need for the likes of Bill Morrill. Hopefully, Bill’s book will help fill the need for talented and committed public servants. Thanks [to Bill] for putting his history into print for those of us who stayed on the edge.”

Our class president and first lady, Susie and Bill Wasch, hosted a great Wes reunion in San Francisco. Their daughter, Dr. Heidi Wasch ’84, and her husband, Dr. Bob Leversee ’84, came down from Seattle to meet them after they arrived from a cruise through the Panama Canal on the Queen Elizabeth. Bill arranged a reunion at the Marine Officers Club on Sutter St. with all three of Heidi’s senior year housemates, Veronica Masterson ’85, Maria Mead ’84, and Sophie Ziegler ’85. A photo of the jovial group, their spouses and children can be found in the online 1952 class notes: classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/.

The Class of 1952 is about to make another significant contribution to Wesleyan. This time it is by way of Ken Taylor’s daughter-in-law, Victoria Pitts-Taylor, Ph.D, who will join Wesleyan in the fall of 2014 as Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Feminist, Sexuality and Gender Studies. Another contribution of Ken’s is his daughter, Janet Taylor McCracken ’80, who is adding glow to Wesleyan’s crown as former Deputy Food Editor of Bon Appétit Magazine and now Test Kitchen Director at EveryDay. Ken is retired and living (with JoAnne) at Seabury Retirement Community in Bloomfield, Conn., after a 31-year career of serving the United Church of Christ (Congregational), most recently as Associate Minister of the CT Conference of the UCC.

Joe Proud has just surfaced after decades of flying under the class radar. Most of us remember Joe as a stellar distance runner on the track and cross-country teams, including the 1950 Little Three cross-country championship team. We also remember how, as president of DU, he led the move to break racial barriers by pledging the late Ed Beckham ’58, who later became Dean of the College at Wesleyan before moving on to a top position with the Ford Foundation.

Now comes the following new information (to us anyway) from sources other than Joe. After Wesleyan, Joe got a master’s and Ph.D in physics at Brown. He first joined Sandia Corp. and became responsible for the planning and conduct of experiments on full-scale nuclear explosions at the Nevada Test Site and in the South Pacific. He next cofounded Ikor, Inc. and earned international recognition for his work on high field breakdown in gases on a sub-nanosecond time scale. Although this work was originally motivated by a need to define limits on high power radar propagation in the upper atmosphere, the results provided physical insights and a data base needed in the development of high power gas lasers a decade later. (Yes, your scribe’s eyes have already glazed over in writing this!)

The last 20 years of Joe’s career were spent with GTE Laboratories, where his principal research focused on new light source technology involving electrode-less excitation of plasmas. Joe was responsible for more than 50 patents in this area. As you can imagine, Joe’s expertise resulted in his being the chair of numerous high level conferences over the years, including several gaseous electronics conferences. In 1983, he served as scientific director of a NATO Advanced Study Institute. In 1990, as a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), he became a founding member of the Plasma Science Committee. He subsequently served on the NAS board on physics and astronomy. Would Professors Eaton and Van Dyke be ecstatic or what?!

But Joe is not “all work and no play.” Over time, he has honed natural and acquired skills in woodworking, painting, and antique car restoration. One specialty is reproduction period furniture and clocks, crafted from cherry and walnut hardwoods. Another is acrylic and oil painting, in which he is self-taught, his preferred subjects being landscapes and Florida birds. His restoration projects have consisted of at least four vintage MG T cars from the frame up, including metal work, sand blasting, painting, wiring, engine rebuilding, and upholstery.

Meanwhile, Joe has somehow found time before and after retiring to serve on several town boards in Sudbury, Mass., where he resides. He has been a widower since 1998, has an adult son and daughter, and four grandchildren. Without question, Joe qualifies as a Renaissance man!

More sad news. Don Friedman died Aug. 11, 2013. A lifelong resident of Denver, Don served seven terms as a Republican Colorado state representative, had a radio talk show, was a successful real estate developer and was active in many organizations. A complete obituary was published in the Denver Post on Aug. 13, 2013.

Mel Roboff died April 14, 2014 A long-time resident of Needham, Mass., Mel had a distinguished career as a marketing consultant for firms like Underwood Deviled Ham and Converse sneakers. Affectionately known as “Uncle Mel” by family members of some Alpha Delt classmates, Mel is survived by two daughters, Katherine and Julia.

DONALD T. SANDERS | dtsanders1@sbcglobal.net
33 Sunny Hill Drive, Madison, CT 06443

Bob Switzgable wrote from Stratford, Conn. I had told him and others about the companionship I have with my little dog, Bennie, and our ice cream ritual at bedtime. Bob’s wife died three summers ago and he keenly feels the void. I think he will look for a pet. Bob has two grandsons at Bryant University, just 10 miles from where I live.

Two generations ago Ken Kenigsberg’s family was chased out of Russia, then the Soviet Union. Now, ironically, Ken’s son is an honored guest and drives around Moscow in a car with diplomatic plates. Ken’s daughter-in-law is with the U.S. State Department. She, Ken’s son, and their two children live in the embassy compound. He is the editor of Nautilus, an online science magazine, and sends all his copy via the Internet. Ken wrote that he’s had to give up skiing, hiking, tennis, and sailing, but he still swims and enjoys writing poetry. He acquired a taste for it during his undergraduate years at Wes. One more thing about the Kenigsberg family: Ken’s granddaughter, Alison, graduated from Wesleyan four years ago and is finishing up four years of cantorial studies.

Dave Jones wrote to tell about the trip he and his wife, Ann, made on the steamboat American Queen from Memphis to New Orleans. On the way, they saw many beautiful mansions and Civil War battlefields. “The music on-board was terrific,” Dave wrote.

To the benefit of fellow members of the John Wesley Club who might want to be in touch with him, Dave Morey has moved to the following address: 10 Savage Farm Drive, Ithaca, NY 14850-8839. He moved to eliminate the up-hill climb that he and his wife, Helen, had to make from their cottage to the main building of their retirement establishment. The move was a difficult one for the Moreys because their mover didn’t move everything. “Many carloads later, I finished the job,”wrote Dave. “Now the big job is finding things and locating a new place for each one.”

Frank McCathran wrote that he and his wife, Carol Anne had decided to move back from Ocean Springs, Miss., to Germantown, Md. “Tired of the heat, humidity, and hurricanes,” Frank wrote.

Roger Stimson wrote from the frozen north (Michigan) that he’d had total knee replacements on both knees, the first in November, the second at the end of January. “It takes about six weeks to feel the knee is close to being back to normal, so I had my second knee done as soon as possible,” Roger wrote. “That should make me ready for the sailing season this summer. Better to be housebound in the winter than in spring or summer,” he added. Other than bum knees, Roger said that his health has been good and he works out regularly at the Y. His son, David, who is in the old-time vinyl record and audio equipment business, got Roger involved in restoring a 1950s vintage turntable. Roger also continues to be an active ham radio operator.

Bill Churchill wrote in the fall that he and his wife, Maggie, had decided to move to a continuing care retirement community in Burlington, N.C. “We have been happy in Fearrington Village,” he wrote, “but we decided to downsize and move to a place where we can get more care when the time comes. Meanwhile, we are living in a comfortable duplex with a view of the lake and the company of several friends from our old village.” Bill wrote, “Hope to find a new golf course and some volunteer activities to keep me going.” Bill said that he and Bob Switzgable had their annual lunch on Cape Cod this past summer and that Bob hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

DAVID M. PHILIPS | davephilips69@hotmail.com
100 Elena St., Apt. 618, Cranston, RI 02920-7620

Gail and Dick Ahlers had a fine two-day reunion with Nick Swett at Nick’s lodgings in Boynton Beach, Fla., in February. Nick and Dick were originally class of ’48, but were interrupted into 1950 by a couple of years of “community” service. Nick’s wife, Janet, passed in June 2013 after over 60 years of marriage. One of their sons is a founder of the recently accredited SUNY Plattsburgh affiliate of the Alpha Delta Phi Society.

Please send updates to the editors.

Let’s see, what can I write about for the next issue of Wesleyan. Oh, I know, how about “the Last of the Mohegans,” better known as the class of ’49. A group of us, namely Dick Gibbons, David Knapp, Chip Stone, Bob Wylie and I who, I firmly believe, are among the last few of the class of ’49 still alive, are attempting to induce remaining class members to come to Wesleyan for the 65th Reunion. Of the group I was required to contact, few were still alive, only one came to the phone, two responded through another party or his wife. None committed. I don’t blame them. We are all quite old and I for one, have a very “hairy” health history and, I am 89 years old—and some are older.

In spite of the difficulty involved, Audrey and I are heading up there from Florida to our old home state of Connecticut, where we will spend some time with a son who lives in Darien, Conn., and a son in Grafton, Vt. My wife had knee replacement surgery nearly four weeks ago and I informed her that she’d better be mobile before we go north. She threatened me with her cane.

I did receive a letter from a fellow Alpha Chi Ro member, Dan Collister ’50. Dan was one of the “gang” at the Downey House, where he worked beside my brother, “Hap.” He watched my brother’s and Janet Ablehauser”s love affair grow into a marriage. Sadly, both are deceased now. The couple that ran the Downey House, “Heidie” and Enid Heidemann, were a very special couple and often had many students visit their home. Dan lives in Gates Mills, Ohio, but also has a place in Kiawah Island, S.C.

William C. Brooks |williamcbrooks@comcast.net
9 Willow Pond Rd., Amelia Island, FL 32034

Catherine Cotins ’86 writes: “Arthur Cotins died peacefully surrounded by his family on July 28, 2011, at the age of 84. He was known as Jim by many of his friends and at Wesleyan his friends called him Tex. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Carroll Cusick Cotins, son Arthur James Cotins, daughters Catherine Agnes Cotins ’86, and Elizabeth Cotins Low, and eight grandchildren. He had a truly wonderful life and his kind heart will be missed by all who knew him more than words can say. At Wes he was a proud member of Psi U fraternity and manager of the undefeated football team. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa.”

Please send updates to the editors.

Sandy Mclean |rmcleanjr@aol.com
2270 Melville drive, san marino, ca 91108

CHARLES HILL |HillChas3@aol.com
115 E. 9th St., Apt. 10L, New York, NY 10003

“What are the news?” wired Horace Greely, insisting that ‘news’ is a plural noun. “Nary a new,” came back the clever gotcha response. And so it is with this column: nary. Hence, lacking inspiration from you out there, and unwilling to create fiction, I’m indulging in a bit of unique history. Back in early 1943, 13 Wesleyan men from ’43, ’44, and ’45 procured the requisite three letters of recommendation and were accepted into the Tenth Mountain Division: Stan Mann ’43; Norm Benson, Frank Bowles, Dick Brengle, Don Haight, Chip Lofstedt, Bill Low, all ’44; Donald Dunn, Pete Griskivitch, Bud Lovett, Gene Noble, Bill Thompson, Bill Wannamacher, each ’45. Bowles, Low, Griskivitch, and Wannamacher left the Division before we were deployed to Italy, and Haight was killed in action; the rest of us came home in various states of good health or disrepair, some back to campus, some to other campuses.

I know that seven are no longer living; I’m fairly sure that four are still alive; I truly want to know of Bill Low and Pete Griskivitch. I recall that Bill was in our admissions office for some time, and Pete was a registered Tenth Mountain veteran some years back. Can anyone fill me in? And isn’t Wesleyan’s association with this unique and heralded division of World War II perhaps worth a story in our alumni magazine? Slán go fóill.

FRANCIS W. LOVETT | francis.lovett@comcast.net
925 Hover St., Apt. 1L 106, Longmont, CO 80501

See Newsmaker on Adolf Grünbaum and please send updates to the editors.