Tag: 1950

I received the following messages from Bill Spanos and Cliff Milner:

Bill writes, “I recently became a professor emeritus of SUNY-Binghamton because of health reasons, but I continue to produce what I think is urgently needed scholarship about the benighted age we live in.”

Bill has published more than 20 books since graduating from Wesleyan. He writes, “For those who are not scholars in the humanities, I recommend my World War II memoir, In the Neighborhood of Zero (Nebraska University Press 2012), which tells the story of my witness as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany to the Allied firebombing of Dresden, a memoir that might be usefully contrasted to my fellow regimental comrade Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five.”

Hie is now writing an autobiographical account of his “errant education” tentatively entitled Thrown: Searching in the Void for an Intellectual Vocation.

Cliff writes, “From the new world traveler! Last fall I took a Viking Rhine and Danube River cruise and enjoyed it so much that next week I am going on a Prairie Home Companion cruise to Scotland and Norway. I’m a widower now (three years) and have been kidded by friends that I’ll probably come home with a blonde from Norway!”

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

Hello, classmates! It’s a new year—2017! In the last issue we enjoyed hearing from Cliff Milner, Roger Haskell, and Jud Miner. And now, how about hearing from you? Please call me or drop me a line with your latest news.

We are sorry to inform you of the death of our classmate, James Mutrie, on Oct. 26. He was a native of New Haven, and was well known in state political and journalism circles as dean of the Capitol press corps.

We also have been informed of the passing of Kenneth Widing on Oct. 16. Kenneth studied math at Wesleyan, then earned a master’s at Indiana University, Bloomington, and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He worked as an astrophysicist for the Naval Research Laboratory.

We are pleased to hear from Arthur Chickering, who sent a clever and thoughtful poem that he composed, “Turning Toward Ninety.”

“I’m entering my ninetieth year,” he said,

Patting the old gray mop on his head.

Perhaps boasting a bit to have reached such an age,

bemused by peers who had called him a sage.

Books, papers, and speeches aplenty

triggered awards from diverse cognoscenti.

But now he seems to be all written out

except for an occasional shout

calling on leaders, politicians, and factions

for tough minded, timely, deliberate actions,

Now happily home loving renaissance wife

after sixty five years creating their life.

They traveled the world whenever the chance

always up for whatever the dance,

tackling new cultures, relationships, tasks,

harvesting knowledge, replacing old masks,

learning and growing

from seeds they were sowing.

Tennis, hiking, swimming, canoeing,

downhill skiing, moonlight snowshoeing,

living an active adventurous life

free from conflict or serious strife.

Then out of the blue it went up in smoke

when she was struck by a serious stroke..

It was two-twenty-three, nineteen- ninety- nine,

A cloudless sky, the weather was fine.

After tuna melts and good red wine

they were ready to go

out to enjoy the fresh fallen snow

never to do so they did not know. Left arm and leg had no sensation

Walking with help was a major occasion.

A brand new existence

would test their persistence.

Multitasking had been their norm

now one at a time is the dominant form.

Since that day their lives have been shrinking

more and more time for leisurely thinking.

Listening, reading, checking TV

enjoying each series from BBC.

Visiting friends provoke thoughtful talks

meetings in town cause occasional walks.

So thus the years keep rolling by.

Deaths of friends prompt heartfelt sighs.

Living wills and power of attorney

all in order for the final journey.

Comfortably ready for the years that remain

two lives well lived is their final refrain.

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

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

I had a nice telephone conversation with Bill Ackerly, who called “out of the blue” after the April issue of Wesleyan. He was a Sigma Chi, pre-med, and became a psychiatrist. After living 50 years in Cambridge, Mass., his current address is in New Hampshire. He lives in his own home with solar heating, which is literally on the Appalachian Trail, so he has a lot of visitors. His wife, Frances, died five years ago. Bill has four children, one of whom, Susan Ackerly ’88, went to Wesleyan. Bill said he has reduced vision now, due to macular degeneration.

Bill visits periodically with classmate Dick (Crickets) Powell and wife Margaret, who live nearby at Kendal at Hanover, a retirement community in Hanover, N.H.

Frank Johnson wrote: “Dear Bud: I wanted to let you know that I enjoyed reading through the class notes in the Wesleyan issue I, 2016, and was able to recall not only classmates but fellow students from ’45 (Bud Lovett, who actually graduated, I would guess, in 1948) to ’55 (Stu Rapp, a classmate from Yale Divinity School, and for some years now a resident of Bethel, Conn., where I went to high school). In between those years are a number of others: Bill Brooks ’49 (fraternity brother, fellow track runner) and his late brother Hap ’48, with whom I worked at Downey House; from the track team Barney Kathan ’51 and Biff Shaw ’51; another runner, Ken Taylor ’52 (which reminds me of the fact that a group of UCC ministers—Hank Yordon ’49, Frank Johnson ’50, Barney Kathan ’51 and Ken Taylor ’52 all ran cross country for Wesleyan, I think for at least one season at the same time). And I want to mention a classmate, another of the runners: Bill Malamud, who, you reported, lives in LaSalle Village. You might tell him that my daughter’s across-the-street neighbor in Wellesley, Inge Reinhard, over 90, now lives at LaSalle, and we have visited her there with our daughter. With all good wishes, Frank.”

We received a handsome poster from David Black, a sculptor, who has been a professor of art at Ohio State University. Titled “Urban Sculpture,” it has a photo of David as well as a large-scale metal sculpture in red. Made of generous swirling lines, placed in the center of a central plaza walkway, the piece dwarfs the people who relax nearby or walk past and casts interesting shadows on the paved stone below. It’s a beautiful, truly impressive piece. The text is also in an Asian language, and the English version reads: “David Black terms his large-scale sculptures ‘proto-architecture’… a combining of architectural forms: columns, arch-like units, canopies, benches… with sculptural elements: imagery, a mix of stable forms with high energy, projecting movement. Black, in fact, began his college career as a physics major. His highly imaginative constructions are carefully engineered. He’s what the Russian constructivists called an ‘artist-engineer.’

“Black’s sculptural enclosures seem in flux as one walks in and under. Fresh images cut through banal urban settings with integrally designed walk-in, walk-under sculptures. Black has almost 40 now sited across the U.S., from Alaska to Tucson, San Francisco to Washington D.C. His sculptures soon evolve into ‘people places,’ a livable city’s invitation to pause and reflect. They are recognized for a special clarity and tridimensional vigor.”

Bud Dorsey | margiedorsey5@gmail.com

161 Shore Rush Drive., St. Simons Island, GA, 31522

912/638-5616

Last fall, Margie and I drove from St. Simons Island to Savannah for a weekend visit with Janet and Fred Irwin ’51, who was celebrating a birthday. Fred was my roommate at Delta Tau. We had a great time wining and dining, and they took us to the Jepson Center for the Arts, featuring Impressionist paintings, including several by Monet.

Shortly after Christmas, I telephoned Bob Fithian and his wife, Becky. Bob was the president of Delta Tau Delta our senior year. Bob and Becky live in Marietta, Ga., where they were part-time antique dealers. Unfortunately, Bob broke his hip and back, and Becky is recovering from a stroke, so they now have permanent caregivers, but we enjoyed reminiscing about our Wesleyan days.

I had a nice talk with Bill Malamud, a fraternity brother at Delta Tau Delta. He is a retired psychiatrist and now lives in LaSalle Village in Massachusetts. His wife, Camille, died several years ago, but they had five children and a very happy marriage. He said that he is “very active and still has all his hair.” It was good to talk with him after all these years.

I am sorry to report that Bob Metz died of pneumonia on Dec. 13, 2015. Bob was a member of Sigma Nu. He loved theater and was very active in plays at Wesleyan. He was “proud of being a native New Yorker and of never living anywhere else.” He was president and CEO of United Media, a licensing and newspaper-syndication company.

Roger Haskell was kind enough to inform me of the passing of his friend Warren Kaufmann: “Dear Bud, This is to inform you that Warren R. Kaufmann, Sigma Nu, died quietly in his sleep on Feb. 18, 2016, at his home in Sarasota. He was preceded in death by his son. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Cynthia, three other children, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Warren was retired from the Chemical Bank of NYC after a long and successful career as a vice president. I could give you much more info about his life, since Warren and I maintained a very close friendship over all those years

“I am a retired physician from the US Public Health Service, after 16 years providing medical care to Native Americans all over the western U.S. I am enjoying my retirement with my wife, Edna, in Greer, S.C. Warm regards.”

We also regret the loss of Fred Pitts, who participated in football and wrestling, and was a member of Chi Psi. He was an art major, but later changed his focus from art to medicine. He specialized in neurological surgery. After retiring from medicine, he relocated to Costa Rica, where he ran his sheep ranch for 35 years. He died a year ago, but a memorial service was scheduled for March 21, 2016, at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

Bud Dorsey | margiedorsey5@gmail.com

161 Shore Rush Drive St. Simons Island, GA, 31522

912/638-5616

Hi, guys! I’m Bud Dorsey, and I was just asked to be the new Class Secretary, so I guess you could say I’m “the new kid on the block.” My wife, Margie, and I moved from New York to St. Simons Island 21 years ago, and we love it here… nice climate, slower pace, friendly people. I am retired from the investment business and now do quite a bit of volunteer community and church work.

I had a nice conversation with Bob Birney, who preceded me as Class Secretary, and he had just returned from playing 18 holes of golf at the tender age of 90. Not bad, eh? After graduating from Wesleyan, Bob received a PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan and taught at Amherst College from 1954–1968, and then helped create Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. He now lives in Williamsburg, Va.

We regret to report the death of Bill Anderson, who died on June 20, 2015. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, and co-captain of the golf team. We extend condolences to his family.

We also regret to inform you of the death of Peter Fernald. A brief account of his life and accomplishment follows: Distinguished Wesleyan alumnus and benefactor Peter Fernald died Sept. 25, 2015, at age 86. At Wesleyan, Peter was an Eclectic, fenced and played soccer. He was awarded the Thorndike Regional Scholarship, which forged his enduring desire to support financial aid at Wesleyan. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in English and extensive coursework in mathematics, Peter served in the U.S. Air Force. He then obtained an MA and MBA at Harvard and worked at Arthur D. Little. Peter was hired by the Chandler family, owners of the Los Angeles Times, to help them develop their affiliated businesses. He spent many years as the Times-Mirror Corp’s director of planning, overseeing strategic development and acquisitions. In 2009, Peter was interviewed and featured at length in the PBS documentary Inventing LA: the Chandlers and their Times, which highlighted the ways in which the growth of the Times-Mirror Company was tied to the development of modern Los Angeles. Peter never married, and he remained close to the Chandler family in his early retirement years, living in the hills of Pasadena, Calif.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend our 65th Reunion on Memorial Day weekend. Were any of you there? We would love to hear about it by phone, e-mail or “snail-mail.” (See addresses below.)

And, whether or not you were at the Reunion, if you are alive and kicking, we would like to hear from you…..where you are and what you are doing. So, keep in touch!

Bud Dorsey| margiedorsey5@gmail.com

161 Shore Rush Drive., St. Simons Island, GA, 31522 912/638-5616

Calling all gentlemen of the Class of 1950! Can you believe it—the 65th Reunion for this class! Save the dates: May 21–24, 2015. It’s sure to be a fantastic weekend—but only if you come! If you’d like to have input as we plan events, please e-mail Katie Tedford (ktedford@wesleyan.edu). And thanks to those already participating!