Tag: 1951

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

When Ken Barratt wrote in late summer, he and his wife had recently returned from a trip to Alaska and the Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada. They visited Dawson City and learned what life was like there in the gold rush days. They visited the kennels of Jeff King, who had won the Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome for four straight years, and toured the tundra for a view of the mountains surrounding Mount McKinley, then headed back home to Green Valley, Ariz., in time to experience Arizona’s monsoon season. Ken said they were glad to have escaped at least some of the early summer heat wave, which sent the temperature soaring above 100 for 39 days in a row at their locale.

King Berlew wrote from Topsham, Maine, where he and his wife Jeanne spend seven months of the year. The Highlands Retirement Center, where he wrote from, is just across the Androscoggin River from Brunswick and Bowdoin College. For a small annual fee, they became friends of Bowdoin and have enjoyed taking advantage of numerous events at the college. They saw Bowdoin beat Wesleyan in football two years ago and hoped to see that result reversed this year. By the time this sees print, the Berlews will be back in Florida, where they spend the winter-spring months at their condo in Sea Oaks, which stretches between the Atlantic Beach and the intercoastal waterway.

Les Aroh wrote from Louisville that he was still active in leasing and managing the office warehouses he has had an interest in. He and his wife, Janet, had cut back on travel, but instead have enjoyed interacting with their two sons’ families, which, Les said, for the most part lived only minutes away from them. One granddaughter lives in Yuma, Ariz. At the time Les wrote, he and Janet were getting ready and had just learned that their oldest granddaughter would make them great-grandparents in March.

Walter Cook wrote in late August from Connecticut, where he and his wife, Marie, spend their summer months before moving to Florida for the winter. “We have families in both states, which makes it nice,” he wrote. Walter was a World War II veteran who was stationed for two years in France. As part of his voluminous summer reading he has recently read a lot about the war. But the best story was written by a member of his own family. Walter’s nephew convinced his father, Walter’s brother, to tell his story of a mission his brother had not told anybody for 69 years, the story of a bombing mission his crew carried out on Nov. 4, 1944. Their B-24 was shot down over Vienna and the crew had to bail out. Walter’s brother landed on a farm, where he was sheltered by a 20-year-old American exchange student named Vicki, who was hiding with her brother from the Nazis. She sheltered Walter’s brother until he could assemble his crew and they then made a 30-day trek across country, helped by the Underground, finally making it back to their base in Italy, from which they flew 43 more missions. After the war, Walter spent 41 years with the UniRoyal Chemical Corp. “So far, Marie and I are doing okay,” Walter wrote.

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