JOSEPH H. McCABE, who retired as international credit manager at the Stanley Works after a 40-year career there, died Aug. 8, 2013, at age 83. The brother of James E. McCabe of the class of 1939, he was a member of Eclectic. He played first base for Wesleyan’s varsity baseball team. Survivors include his three children, three grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews, as well as the mother of his children, Roberta King McCabe. One daughter predeceased him.
JOHN FREDERICK WOODHOUSE, of Houston, died October 29, 2012. He was 81. A member of Sigma Chi, he received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan with high distinction in economics and earned his master’s degree from Harvard Business School. Beginning his career with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto, he later joined Ford Motor Co and served as the treasurer of Cooper Industries. His affiliation with Sysco Corporation began in 1969, as a founding director and CFO; he ultimately became chairman and CEO. Sysco thrived under his leadership, growing to become a multibillion-dollar food service distributor.
While he additionally served as a director of a few other large corporations, recently Woodhouse had turned his attention to nonprofits and educational institutions, with Wesleyan a great benefactor of his knowledge, expertise, and attention. As President Roth wrote in tribute to Woodhouse, in a blog entry titled, “Thinking of the Extended Wesleyan Family,” on Nov. 2, “John served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1976 through 1979 and again from 1980 through 1992. After retiring from the Board, John chaired the Wesleyan Campaign from 1997 through 2005, meeting with countless alumni all over the world to seek support for Wesleyan. Following the Wesleyan Campaign, John was an active member of the Development Committee (2005-2008) and, most recently, the current Campaign Council (2008-present). In recognition of his loyal service to Wesleyan, John was honored with the Baldwin Medal in 2005. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1993 during his 40th Reunion and he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Wesleyan in 1997. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends, and all of us fortunate enough to have worked with him.” Woodhouse is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marilyn (Lyn) Morrow Woodhouse; son John C. Woodhouse, II ’79 and his wife Deborah Pearson Woodhouse ’79; daughter Marjorie Ann Woodhouse-Purdy and her husband R. Scott Purdy; as well as three grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Robert W. Woodhouse and his wife Barbara of Blue Hill, Maine.
DONALD J. WATT, a retired psychiatrist, died July 5, 2007. He was 76. After receiving his degree with honors, he received his medical degree from Columbia University. Among those who survive are his wife, Barbara Rhody Watt, two children, two brothers, and four grandchildren. (See further information in the Greensboro, N.C.,News Record, of 7/7/2007.)
ROBERT A. WAIT, a retired executive with General Foods who was the longest-serving food lobbyist in Washington, D.C., during his time, died March 29, 2007, at age 76. He was a member of Eclectic and was a US Army veteran. He is survived by his wife, Carol Wait; two daughters; his former wife, Patricia McCary Wait; two stepdaughters; and several grandchildren and step-grandchildren. Two daughters predeceased him.
DWIGHT VAN de VATE JR. ’52, a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Tennessee, died Aug. 25, 2012, at age 84. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he enrolled at Wesleyan, where he was a member of Gamma Psi, received his degree with honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received both an MA and a PhD from Yale University. His career began at Florida State University; he then taught at the University of Mississippi and Memphis State University before he joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee, where he spent 33 years.
The author of numerous books and articles, he was also active in civic affairs and was an accomplished painter. He is survived by his wife, Anita Van de Vate, three children, two stepchildren, six grandchildren, his brother, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Walter Pories, M.D., was recently honored by the Harris County (Texas) Medical Society and Houston Academy of Medicine as a “renowned surgeon, educator, and international leader in research” with the prestigious John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award. This award recognizes “a multi-accomplished physician who exemplifies the Oslerian ideals of medical excellence, humane and ethical care, commitment to medical humanities and writing, research, and harmony between the academician and medical practitioner.” Congratulations, Walter!
Once again, we report with sadness the death of another of our classmates, Joe McCabe, on Aug. 8, 2013. You can find an obituary online at hartfordcourant.com, as well a notice in the magazine, with an obituary in the online magazine (Go to wesleyan.edu and follow the links to the magazine). We extend our very sincere sympathy to Joe’s family
Hal Buckingham reports that he had lunch in Worcester, Mass., with Don Kipp ’52 and ’56 whom he hadn’t seen since 1950 when he left Wesleyan for the service. “We picked right up where we left off 65 years ago!” Hal says, and adds, “Don told me a very interesting story that is well worth passing along: One of his roommates and fellow Psi U brothers sophomore year was the late Paul Kerr. Paul had a brand new blue Pontiac convertible. That in itself was unbelievable for a Wesleyan student in those days! But Paul was unbelievable, too!
“It seems that Paul spotted the photographic portrait of a Joan Appleton on the Dec. 12, 1949, cover of Life Magazine. Paul was smitten. He learned that this young woman was a student at Wellesley, so he gassed up his Pontiac and took off for Wellesley determined to meet her.
“Arriving at Wellesley, he sweet-talked himself past the housemother of Joan’s dorm and soon down the stairs came ‘the’ Joan Appleton. The only thing known to have transpired during that encounter was Paul’s invitation to Joan be his date at the next House Party Weekend at Wesleyan. And Joan accepted, as fate would have it!
“The term ‘bird dogging’ was prevalent back then. It was used to describe the actions of a fellow student/fraternity brother without a date who would ‘take over’ someone else’s date.
“Whether Chip Stone ’49 was guilty of bird dogging or not, and he claims no memory of even having been at that House Party, he met Joan for the first time on that occasion when she was Paul’s date. The rest is history, as the saying goes. Miss Appleton soon became Mrs. Charles B. Stone, Jr. and has remained that to this day, all thanks to a Life Magazine cover photo, a blue Pontiac convertible, and an assertive Paul Kerr.”
Hal adds: “Interestingly, his street number is 52 as shown in the photo. (He started with us, but is listed with his graduating class of ’56, I think.)”
DONALD T. SANDERS
33 Sunny Hill Drive, Madison, CT 06443
dtsanders1@sbcglobal.net
G. Vance Smith Jr., an advertising, public relations, and marketing executive, died Feb. 22, 2009. He was 78. At Wesleyan, he was a member of Chi Psi. After beginning his career with Central Advertising Agency, he also served as a vice president of Standard Life Insurance Company of Indiana and retired from the Indianapolis Star in 1998. He was an Eagle Scout and served on numerous local and civic boards. His wife of 49 years, Virginia Reavis Smith, survives him. Also surviving are a daughter, a son, a sister, and three grandchildren.
GEORGE E. SLYE, 81, the co-founder of Spaulding & Slye Corporation, a national real estate company, died July 13, 2012. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received his degree from Babson Institute. A U.S. Navy veteran, he began his career in 1958 at Texaco, Incorporated, where he worked in sales promotion and real estate—specifically, developing and executing plans to leverage the federal highway program started by the Eisenhower administration. A career in real estate planning, development, construction, and management began at Dwight Building Company of New Haven and continued at American Urban Corporation of Meriden, Conn., where he served as Executive Vice President and Secretary and oversaw numerous mixed-use and industrial park developments. Having met his future business partner, Charles Hank Spaulding, at an Urban Land Conference in 1965, George co-founded Spaulding & Slye Company in 1966 and grew the business from a local urban and suburban development concern into a nationally recognized full-service real estate platform with an active presence throughout the Boston-Washington corridor, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Birmingham among other locations. Following a planned transition of leadership at Spaulding & Slye between 1981 and 1987, he founded GESCOM, a diversified investment platform, through which he joined numerous Boards and started several new business ventures. He pursued business interests in communications, banking, and real estate. He purchased Hayden Tolzmann & Associates, which was subsequently sold to Boston Mortgage. He served as a director on two real estate investment trusts for Travelers Insurance Company, as advisor to RealEnergy and Brentwood Capital Partners, and was a trustee at Babson College, where he started the Babson Center for Real Estate and was also awarded the Babson Medal for Distinguished Accomplishment and Service. He served on the Wesleyan University Hill Committee, as well as on many other boards of educational and community institutions. Among his hobbies was modeling (railroads and buildings), and his work was seen in National Geographic as well as on public television. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Goodwin Slye; four children, including Paul E. Slye ’84; a stepson; his brother; 12 grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren. His first wife and the mother of his children, Susan M. Mayer, predeceased him.
ANTHONY SAVAGE JR., 81, a criminal defense attorney, died Jan. 3, 2012. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he received his law degree from the University of Washington. A mentor to defense lawyers in the Seattle area, he practiced law for more than 56 years. His wife, Barbara Scribner Savage, predeceased him. Among those who survive is his sister.
ROGER E. SCHUBERT, a pioneer in the computer business, died Feb. 22, 2009. He was 78. After receiving his degree with honors and with distinction in mathematics, he joined General Electric and continued from there to other technical firms, where he was on the leading edge of computerization of banking and printing, including the development of the Universal Product Code, the elimination of bank passbooks, and the conversion of printing systems from hot type to photography. After his retirement from Atex-Kodak, he was a RSVP volunteer for 20 years. Survivors include his wife, Barbara Hall Schubert, four children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandson.
Roger Edward Schubert, 78, of Palm Coast, passed away, Sunday, Feb.22, 2009, at the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House, Palm Coast, Fla., after a three-year battle with cancer. Roger was born on March 21, 1930, in Manchester, Conn., to Lena Roth & Max Schubert. A graduate of Manchester High School, 1948, and Wesleyan University, with Distinction, Middletown, Conn., 1952. He was a member of the DeMolay Masonic Lodge in Manchester and played on the football team at Wesleyan for four years. A veteran of the Korean War from 1952 to 1954. He and his loving and devoted wife Barbara were married for 56 years. He spent his entire business career as a pioneer in the computer business, starting at General Electric in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1954. In 1959 he joined Bunker Ramo in Stamford, Conn., to program and install the first savings bank on-line system, eliminating the use of the banking pass books. In 1965 at RCA in Princeton, N.J., he was systems manager devoted to converting the printing of newspapers, books and government documents from hot type to a photographic printing system for the first time. In 1971, his family moved to Westboro, Mass., where he worked with RCA, in Marlboro, to develop the Universal Product Code, in competition with IBM who won the UPC contract, and today is found on every product purchased. His career continued as Vice-President of Systems at Photon, Inc., Wilmington, Mass., then to the printing business at Atex-Kodak Bedford, Mass., in the ’80s where he retired in 1989. On retirement he and his wife, moved to Sea Colony in the Hammock, Palm Coast, Fla. Roger enjoyed golfing, cards, and crossword puzzles. He and his wife were active at the Palm Coast United Methodist Church. A great thinker, mathematician, debater, and humorist, he loved to watch the birds, the moon and stars, the sunrise and sunset, and appreciated great art and music. A RSVP volunteer for 20 years he worked with Whitney Labs and Marineland. Roger leaves his wife, Barbara, four children, nine grand children, and one great grandson.
