Tag: 1953

The first persons I encountered on Friday of our 65th Reunion on the lawn of the president’s house were Marilyn and Atwood “Woody” Dunham from Maine and Bill Teachout from Santa Ana, Calif. After greeting President Michael Roth ’78 we shared past and recent events. Woody’s daughter and my son, Thomasjohn, joined us for dinner in Usdan. Crossing High Street to Downey House I joined a reception for ’53 and ’58, when Sandy Millar and his companion, Fran Hitchcock, from Wellfleet, Mass., and Honolulu’s Phil Olsen, appeared in the crowd of ’58ers. Phil will visit his great uncles’ fishing village, north of the Arctic Circle in Norway.

Early Saturday morning, some of our classmates listened to Professor Logan Dancey discuss the changes in political party demographics over the past decade. I listened to a discussion on identification of medications to eliminate the effect of genetic abnormalities, while others found interest in “Wesleyan and the Great War.” Lining up for the alumni parade behind North College were Judith and Mel Katz from Greenwich, Conn., Joan and Bob Lavin from Duxbury, Mass., and Warren Eastman with his son, Richard ’81. Warren relocated from Florida to Connecticut to be near family after the passing of his wife. Joining the short parade around College Row to the chapel was Shirley Muirhead Jenkins, wife of two Eclectic men. The class banner was carried by Woody and Sandy. Class members and guests occupied two tables for the post-50th Reunion lunch to enjoy a talk by Mike Whalen ’83, Wesleyan athletic director, on recent events.

Our class reception and dinner featured a table of Eclectic alumni and their companions, including Ann Teachout, Shirley, Gunilla and George James ’52, and a table of Phil, Mel and Judith Katz, John Miller and his son, and two representatives of the university. Reminisces flourished!

Pre-Reunion messages: Herb Kelleher was restricted from travel as a result of a recent illness and sent greetings. Earl Forman telephoned to state doubtful attendance, as he has good/bad days from cancer. Milton “Snuffy” Smith travels with an electric scooter around his retirement village while his wife has taken over driving. Ed Lifset wished a successful weekend from California. Jim Griffis lives in a great senior retirement apartment facility in The Woodlands, Texas, with 4 p.m. happy hour and penny poker three times weekly. His son, Jim, born April 1952 while dad cooked breakfast at the Deke house, lives nearby, as do two grandchildren. His motor scooter gets him out.

Post-Reunion messages: Two missed their first Reunion since graduation, Harold “Oggie” Locke, my freshman roommate and fellow chemistry major, and Jerry Zackin, who scheduled a Dubai-Rome cruise long before Reunion. Steve Friedland attended a granddaughter’s graduation in Washington and looks forward to our 70th. Bill Rack is looking forward to enjoying tennis and golf with Bill Teachout, who is moving to Santa Barbara.

Our fundraising goal of $30,000 has been exceeded.

Attendees asked how many were in our class and how many are living; 167 graduated and about 120 graduates and nongraduates are deceased. The last two Wesleyan issues identified four additional passings, and one since Reunion. John S. Brownson, 85, died on Feb. 26, in Watertown, Mass. Born in Asheville, N.C., a Sigma Nu, an economics major with a master’s from Columbia and PhD from Boston University. Survived by his wife, Sonja. Private burial services were in Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Mass. He was Korean veteran.

My second freshman roommate, Raymond Drakoff, 87, born in NYC, died on Aug. 13, 2017. John Wesley Club, a chemistry major, a retiree of Lever Brothers Research Center, and active in art appraising and collecting. He was living in Bal Harbour, Fla.

Sargent Bradlee Jr., 87, born in Boston, died on July 15, 2017. A Chi Psi, he left at end of sophomore year to earn a BA from Harvard. He was a consultant to ISS Corporation and lived in Hanover, N.H.

Charles “Charlie” A. Hoyt, 85, born in Middletown, Conn., died on June 19, 2017 in Millbrook, N.Y. A Delta Tau Delta, an English major, Mystical Seven, he earned a master’s and PhD from Columbia. Best known as manager-star (from Olla Pod) of the High Street Five, a professor of English literature at Marist College, professional jazz musician, and freelance writer. He specialized in the romantic movement and Shakespeare and authored a textbook on the history of witchcraft. He is survived by five children and eight grandchildren. His jazz band was featured at several Reunions.

John M. Williamson, 85, born in Rochester, N.Y., died on July 31, 2016. A Gamma Psi, a psychology major, active in the theater, he retired as a packaging engineer at Eastman Kodak in 1991, and was a U.S. Army veteran. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Joanne, three children, and seven grandchildren.

Condolences to the families of these classmates.

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

Walt Cutler wrote in November: “My wife, Didi, and I enjoyed two good trips this summer: one on a French barge in Burgundy with friends, and the other to Leipzig and Dresden for classical music. I am still involved with several Washington think tanks promoting international exchanges, and serving as an adviser to a California-based investment bank doing business in the Middle East. I haven’t been back to Wesleyan since I chaired a panel on the Iran-Saudi Cold War several years ago. Unfortunately, that part of the world continues to go from bad to worse.” Our wishes are to see Walt again on the campus.

It is with sadness that I report the passing of Jan B. van den Berg, 87, on Dec. 26, 2017. He and I roomed together for three years in Harriman, spent summer 1951 at a Michigan resort, and toured five European countries in 1952. Jan, born in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, fled ahead of the Nazi invasion and lived in New Rochelle. He was a math major and Alpha Chi Rho. Jan was known for his swimming ability, having set frosh records in two distance events, being New England champ in the 440, and captain our senior year. In Paris we met the 1952 Olympic champ in the 440, whose time today would not make the high school team. (Progress!)

With an MBA from Stanford, he joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant and later became a managing principal. He lived in Amsterdam, London, and Greenwich. I recall his attendance our 40th Reunion in 1993. Upon retirement he moved to Bend, Ore., from where he traveled around the world until being stricken with Alzheimer’s. He is survived by his wife of 13 years, Patricia, a son, and two daughters, to whom our condolences are extended.

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

Our thoughts and hope for recoverable survival go to more than a dozen classmates who live in hurricane-wracked Florida, Texas, and surrounding areas, and to those who spend a portion of the winter months there.

Planning began the first week of October for our 65th Reunion, on Friday, May 25, and Saturday, May 26, 2018—mark your calendars! Text me in the coming months as to your plans or of eventful happenings.

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

With condolences to the families, the deaths of John R. Parsons, 85, Jan. 27, 2017, and John P. Gorsuch, 85, Feb. 15, 2017, are reported. John Parsons, of Worcester, psychology major and president of Sigma Nu, served in the Army, and was employed by Connecticut General Life and as a consultant before founding Parsons, McKee & Co. in 1976. John was northeast Ohio’s go-to expert for pension plans. He was active in the school system and the library as a resident of Avon Lake. He is survived by his wife, Joyce, four children, 12 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

John “Jack” Gorsuch, of Denver, Beta Theta Pi and history major, went on to Yale Divinity School and was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1956. He served churches in Washington, D.C., Great Bend, Kan., and Yakima, Wash. In 1985, he founded the Center for Spiritual Development in Seattle. Retiring in 1992 as executive director, he continued practicing in the Northwest. He moved to Milwaukee in 2014 to be closer to family. Jack passed away shortly after learning that his nephew, Neil Gorsuch, was a Supreme Court nominee. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and three grandchildren,

As for me, before driving to our New York farm for the summer, I will attend the installation on June 9 of my daughter-in-law, Mother Tracy, as priest of the Episcopal Church of St. John, Aptos, Calif. My son assists with the driving from Oklahoma to New York.

In less than a year, our 65th Reunion will offer an opportunity to return to campus and renew friendships. During the winter send me a note of your thoughts about Reunion.

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

As many struggle to survive winter’s blast, others bask in Florida and our southern border states, but none go as far south as Phil Olsen, who will enjoy Antarctica’s summer. No longer flying, he did pilot in a command for three years after his 80th, thereby joining the Union of Flying Octogenarians (UFO). Phil reports the passing of his wife, Gail, in May. We remember Gail as faithfully accompanying him to Reunions. Our condolences are extended to Phil.

In anticipation of our 65th next year, send me your latest. At our age, even the mundane can be interesting to our classmates.

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

In a sympathy letter to me, The Rev. Frederick S. Wandall wrote that his wife of 53 years, Virginia H. “Ginger,” passed away on Apr. 7, and that her 82nd birthday on Aug. 11 was kept in memory of her. Since 2011 they have lived in Greenspring Village, a retirement community in Springfield, Va. They have a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren. At age 86, Fred still assists in weekly chapel services. He served parishes in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, taught at St. Stephen’s School in Alexandria, Va., for 20 years, followed by 20 years at the Truro Church in Fairfax, Va. Our condolences and sympathy are extended to Fred and his family.

Jim Griffis keeps me posted, with an occasional e-mail, of his status as a displaced “Buckeye” in Texas. As a memento of track and field days, he keeps a 16-pound shot on his balcony, which he claims nearly exceeds his lifting capacity.

After attending my granddaughter’s May wedding in Michigan, I spent three-and-a-half months at the New York farm with my two ladies, a pit bull and long-haired Chihuahua, and enjoyed a week-long July visit from my son, who assisted with minor maintenance. Although much of New York State experienced drought conditions, our area was an exception, with ceiling-high corn and green lawns.

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

A note from Jerry Patrick indicates, “Life goes quite well.” Indeed, it does! After sailing bareboat in the Virgin Islands in January, he expected to meet up with Cope Murray during a June trip east, followed by a September visit to France and Spain. He recently formed a writers group and has received good feedback on his short story collection Voices: and Other Stories, available from Amazon.

Belatedly, we received a report of the death of Philip T. Church on July 17, 2015. Phil was a math major, Phi Beta Kappa, a member of Sigma Chi and a four-year Argus staffer. He grew up on several Connecticut chicken farms and met his wife, Patricia, who survives, at Middletown High School. After an MA from Harvard and Ph.D. in mathematics from Michigan, he began a 43-year career on the Syracuse faculty. He lived in Fayetteville, N.Y.

Class Vice President Stephen May passed away March 31, 2016, at Georgetown University Hospital. Born in Rochester, N.Y., Steve was an American Culture major, a member of Alpha Chi Rho, captain of the basketball team, a three-year letterman in soccer and baseball, and active in other campus groups. He received an LLB from Georgetown University in 1961. He served as Rochester councilman and as mayor 1970–1973. After being active in New York state politics, he served as assistant secretary for Congressional Relations, HUD, until 1988. He pursued his long-life interest in American culture through writing and lecturing. His first marriage, at age 75, was to Kathryn, who survives.

Condolences of the class are extended to the wives and families of these classmates. For further details see obituaries at magazine.wesleyan.edu.

Finally, sadly I report the passing of my wife of 43 years, Mary Ruth, April 8, 2016, after a week in a nursing home. She leaves behind a large family, including 19 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

JOHN W. MILLER | Jwalmiller@aol.com

306 Autumn Court, Bartlesville, OK 74006 918/335-0081

Some of us happily live day-to-day, whereas others plan ahead. Among the latter is Jerry Zackin and his wife. Sandy. In addition to spending winters (seven months) in Sarasota and summers on Cape Cod, they travel quite a bit: “Caribbean in March, Mediterranean in July, and Elbe River from Berlin to Prague in October. Next year we are planning on the Far East (Bangkok to Hong Kong), Rhine River, and Romania, Bulgaria, etc. It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it.” Then our 65th Reunion in 2018. During Homecoming last fall his granddaughter (Wesleyan class of ’10) discovered in the bowels of the gym a photo of the 1953 swimming team that includes Jerry and yours truly. Not sure whether it was ever seen by us, since it is the 1952 team that appears in our ’53 Olla Pod.

Many of us maintain mobility by carrying around pieces of metal, i.e., a knee or a stent or a new hip, as does Bob Lavin since last fall. He is reported doing well.

I will be in St. Joseph, Mich., over Memorial Day for my second and last granddaughter’s wedding before traveling to our N.Y. farm for the summer.

Those of you who occasionally see classmates are the envy of us in the hinterland. Drop me a note to share your good fortune.

JOHN W. MILLER | Jwalmiller@aol.com

306 Autumn Court, Bartlesville, OK 74006 918/335-0081