Tag: 1952

Categories Class Notes, Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1952 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

I am very sad to report that we have lost the leader of our class, Bill Wasch, who died on August 28, 2021. After a decade-plus absence, Bill returned to Wesleyan and worked for the University from 1964 to 1985. Bill’s Wesleyan legacy includes the establishment of the Susan B. and William K. Wasch Center for Retired Faculty and the Baldwin Medal in 2012, awarded to him for extraordinary service to the University.

Hal Buckingham advised that Bill, wheelchair bound, had visited him a few weeks before he died. Bill was not doing well as he had advanced Parkinson’s—his voice so weak, Hal could not hear him, but noted that his mind was there.

A complete obituary for Bill is available in the online Class Notes or in the Hartford Courant. Our most sincere condolences go out to his children, grandchildren, and classmates.

Alan Ward reported that he just celebrated his birthday vaccinated and boosted and is a bit nostalgic after his grandson’s 2021 graduation severed his last active Wesleyan tie. He was a Deke in 1952 and still is. He identified several persons at Wes who enriched his life, expanded his understanding, and helped him to live, namely, Don Dalessio, Herb Kelleher, George Brodigan ’51, Bill Wasch, and John Driscoll ’62. He extended his best wishes to all our 1952s, as he didn’t expect to physically be with us at alumni weekend, but he would be in spirit.

Don Stauffer finally bit the bullet and moved in with his longtime friend, Susan Shipherd. Since she is in the same retirement community, it was a short move, but with a lot of downsizing. One thing he unearthed was the December 1950 issue of The Cardinal. A lot of the contributors were ’52ers: himself, Bill McCluskey, Jack Murray, Ralph Glisson, and Ed Banks, most of whom were English majors, including the editor in chief, Dixie Sanger. He said it marked the first and only time he was included in the same publication as Robert Ludlum ’51.

Our 70th Reunion will have happened by the time you read this. I hope those of you who were able to come enjoyed seeing friends and the campus.

Categories Class Notes, Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1952 | 2021–2022 | WINTER ISSUE

I am saddened to report the passing of our classmate George N. Morris, and Joyce Buckingham, the wife of our former scribe, Hal Buckingham. George’s wife Ann wrote that he died on January 20, 2021, from heart failure. He is survived by his wife, three children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandson. He was a world traveler, having visited all seven continents, and he crossed the Antarctic and Arctic Circles numerous times. Following graduation, he served in the US Army, graduated from Harvard Business School, and had a long career in finance in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.

Joyce died on June 25, 2021, after a short illness. Hal began dating Joyce in her Oneonta, New York, hometown when she was a junior in high school and he was a freshman at Wesleyan. She was a regular at house parties and other weekend events while a student at Mount Holyoke. Those of us attending class reunions will recall that Joyce was always there at Hal’s side.

Harry Collings writes that he is still on this side of the ground at 91, living in a Del Webb Sun City in Lincoln, California, about 30 miles east of Sacramento. He lost his wife Peg seven years ago after 65 years of wonderful marriage and misses her every minute of every day. Playing bridge keeps him occupied, as does his two children, four grandchildren, and six great-grandkids. He worked 36 years for the DuPont Company. He reminds us that his dad was buildings and grounds superintendent at Wesleyan from the 30s to 50s and put in the original steam power plant, which has now probably been replaced. He sends his best wishes to all of us left from the class of ’52.

Zdenek V. David is still with the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., as a senior scholar. His publications in 2019–20 included a book, eight articles, and a translation. See Amazon for a complete list.

Alan Ward says hello to our classmates and writes that he missed his grandson’s graduation this year after attending three family graduations and quite a few others, once after a Middletown flood blocked almost all access to Wesleyan. He is not sure about our 70th Reunion, maybe, but it looks like his lifelong ties to Wesleyan—graduate, parent, grandparent, alumni association, trustee, counsel for the antitrust investigation, and 70 years as a Deke—are drawing to a close. He offered his grateful thanks to Vic, Colin, Arthur Vanderbilt, Millet, Snow, Woodbridge, Banks, and so many others.

Jack Murray reports that last fall he finally discovered his whole father’s side of his background. He disappeared shortly after Jack was born in 1930, a Depression story. The discovery was through a new-fangled service called Ancestry.com. He discovered that he has two living (half) sisters and a late brother who went by his same name. Since his mother was seventh of eight children and his father eighth of nine, you can imagine the cousin and niece and nephew glut. Nice thing to find out in your nineties.

Finally, I am happy to report that my granddaughter, Eliza Bender ’24, child of Samuel Bender and Ellen Friedman Bender, both class of ’82, finished a very successful first year at Wesleyan. Her sister, Madeline, graduated Yale School of Public Health and is writing articles for Scientific American as an intern, among other publications. I celebrated my 65th anniversary with Barbara in August as well as number 90 in September. I wish all in our class the best and ask that they send me news about themselves and their families.

Categories Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1952 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

We have a new leader in the classmate who exceeds Ron Daniel or myself in the number or generations of offspring attending Wesleyan: Richard Barth. Mary E. Barth reports that her family counts three children, two in-laws and one grandson with Wes degrees and she is hoping to add to the list. They are Lea Barth ’84; Michele Barth Still ’91; her husband Charles Still ’90; Alexander Barth ’97; his wife Sara Brodsky Barth ’97 and Lea’s son Nicholas Petrillo ’14. What an accomplishment—keep it up!

Maggie Sanger, the wife of our classmate Richard Paulett Sanger, known as “Dixie” (a nickname coined when he pitched for his high school baseball team), wrote that he passed away on April 20, 2020, survived by three children: Christopher Dick Sanger (Jane Biggs), Peter Marvel Sanger (Mary Jane Macintire) and Molly (Margaret) Sanger Carpenter (S. Preston Carpenter), seven grandchildren and four great granddaughters. Dixie graduated with honors, was an editor of the Cardinal, and served as president of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Dixie spent 24 years with the Wilmington Daily News Journal in various reporting and editorial assignments and was elected president and editor-in-chief of the two newspapers it then published before leaving the company in 1975. In 1976, he founded TRIAD, the Trinity Alcohol and Drug Program, also known as TRIAD Addiction Recovery Services, an important outpost in the community’s struggle to come to grips with the major public health crisis of our time. He joined his wife in becoming one of the first husband-and-wife real estate teams in Delaware. Dixie spent nearly 50 years as a trustee for Wilmington University and longtime chairman of the University’s Student and Alumni Affairs Committee. Maggie spent many happy years visiting him while he was at Wesleyan and is still in touch with his Alpha Delta brothers though many have died. They would have celebrated 67 years of marriage in August. 

I also received notice that Anne Delight Colby Zachos, the widow of Kimon Zachos, our classmate, who passed away in 2014, died on July 2, 2020, having battled Alzheimers for almost 10 years. She was survived by their three daughters, Ellen, Elizabeth and Sarah, having instilled in them the belief that they could accomplish anything. She hosted Gloria Steinem in her guest room, lobbied for passage of the ERA, and actively supported Democratic candidates, despite Kim’s position in the New Hampshire Republican Party and their frequent political debates. 

Hal Buckingham informed me that kudos are due to Seth Rosner, who received this accolade from Michael J. Van Zandt, chair of the Senior Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association in its 35th year of existence: “I want to express my appreciation to the extremely dedicated past leaders of the SLD under whom I’ve served and who’ve been an inspiration to me. Since my association with SLD, I’ve been privileged to know and experience the leadership of many past leaders, but I especially want to thank  . . . Seth Rosner. . . . These leaders of the SLD are an inspiration and model for us all.”

The COVID-19 epidemic caused cancellation of the June cruise I planned to celebrate the numerous occasions mentioned in the last newsletter, but we are hoping to plan another as soon as we are able, as I will be celebrating 90 years of age and 65 years of marriage to Barbara. Also, Maddie Bender (daughter of Samuel and Ellen ’82) will be graduating from Yale School of Public Health with a master’s degree, and grandson Gabriel is graduating high school in Tucson, Arizona.

Please keep well during this unprecedented crisis and send me news.

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

Categories Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1952 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

I hope all of you and your families are well during this unprecedented crisis.

Robert Kelman wrote that he and Mary are doing fine in this time of semi-plague (it’s not the bubonic plague or cholera). In mid-March, they were in Southern California visiting family and rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park when suddenly everything closed, including the park, the LA opera, and restaurants. It was difficult returning to Colorado as their flights were canceled. They are glad to be able to visit with family on Zoom. Their children and grandchildren have jobs they can work from remotely, so they are not being impacted personally in the dreadful way that so many Americans are.

Frank LaBella ’52, MA’54 and his wife, Arlyne, both “townies,” will soon be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary. He is a professor emeritus (faculty of medicine, University of Manitoba) who is still researching a novel sensor he invented.

Zdenek “Zed” David has been with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., since 1976. The Center is the national memorial for President Wilson, granting residential scholarships to scholars who pursue projects relevant to international affairs. He was on the staff until his retirement in 2002. Since then as a “senior scholar,” he has researched the history of East-Central Europe, especially Czechia (his native land, known then as Czechoslovakia). He has published two books and a third one scheduled to appear in November unless the virus interferes with the publication process.

Hal Buckingham writes, “To all of my Class of 1952 classmates and other readers of these notes. Our very own class scribe, Joe Friedman, and his wife, Barbara, have achieved a milestone of historic proportions, in my view. Their granddaughter, Eliza Ruby Bender, a graduate of Horace Mann School in Riverdale, N.Y., has been accepted on early decision to the Wesleyan Class of 2024! Eliza is the daughter of two other Wesleyan offspring of Barbara and Joe—their daughter, Ellen Friedman Bender ’84 (but ’82 for Reunions), and their son-in-law, Samuel D. Bender, MD ’82. How about that?! With three generations of Wespersons, Joe matches Ron Daniel (Stephen ’82 and India ’22) in generations but exceeds him in number—so far, at least. Congratulations, Barbara and Joe!”

Do you know of any other classmates who can equal or exceed Joe and Ron generationally or in number? I hope that Eliza and the rest of the 2024 class can enjoy the beauty of the Wes campus in the fall instead of online learning.

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