Tag: 1956

Jim Jekel writes, “I am doing OK, but very much missing my wife, Jan, of 64 years. I live with my daughter, one block from number 1 son, three miles from number 3 son, but about two hours’ drive from number 2 son. I saw them all for the Christmas feast and games. One of our grandchildren, a U.S. fighter pilot in Texas, recently married another fighter pilot there (she’s one year behind him in seniority), and we got to meet her. She’s very nice, a good addition to the family.

            “I have trouble remembering the names of all of my 13 great-grandchildren, whom I don’t see so frequently. (With another in the pipeline, we are approaching 16 great-grandchildren, putting us in line for some sort of mathematical sequence: two [my wife and me], four children, eight grandchildren, and ….  Since I did not major in math, this has nothing to do with that!)  

            “Best wishes for 2025 to all our surviving classmates.”

            Art von Au’s wife, Rosalind, writes: “After 50 years, Art has relinquished his leadership of a contemporary literature reading group. Participants now rotate leadership of the group discussions. Art would like to recommend two books: James by Percival Everett, a retelling of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, and The Road to Wisdom: Truth, Science, Faith and Trust by the former director of NIH, Dr. Francis S. Collins.”

            Writes Don Gerardi: “Since COVID, my regular yearly travels have stopped. I had spent a good deal of time in Berlin as a kind of home base but did not neglect other European countries, as well as trips to Egypt, Turkey, and several New Year’s Eves in St. Petersburg, until Putin came on the scene. I saw him introduced on New Year’s Eve on TV. As I remember, he looked rather . . . uncomfortable.

            “Since grad school at Columbia, I’ve lived in the West Village and spent satisfying decades teaching at Brooklyn College, where I am now emeritus professor of history, religious studies. After retiring, to keep focused, I began a research project in the Trinity Church archives. The result is a book manuscript in search of a publisher: The Rector of Trinity Church: Morgan Dix and the Challenge of Urban Ministry in 19th Century New York.  

             “Warm good wishes for the new year to our classmates still with us.”

            Mort Paterson reports: “I recently worked up, with the help of my sons and dear wife, Sue, a video that I have put on YouTube, accessible there as Mort Paterson Speaks Shakespeare’s Verse. I’m still on stage from time to time with the neighborhood Olde Academy Theatre, a fun group.

            “I now have a grandson! Granddaughters Emma and Grace are already over 20. 

            “We celebrated New Year’s Eve with Sue’s sister in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Did I bring my statins?)”

            Al Haas contributes: “We are in good health, productively engaged.” In his yearly newsletter he reports that his grands, Jan and Kelly, and Ned and Kristina, celebrated their silver anniversaries as happily married couples. And also from the next generation:Ryangraduated from the University of Miami with a cum laude degree in atmospheric sciences andcontinues in a graduate programatSUNY Albany; Jack graduated from Dartmouth College with honors in computer science and is currently employed as a data analyst in a start-up beverage company; Alex (film production) and Maja (environmental studies with focus on markets and economics) will follow next year to earn their diplomas from the same schools as their brothers; Cooper has begun his sophomore year at Skidmore College as a double major in business and computer science and enjoys success on the LAX field; and Tyler will be finishing his successful career at Wellesley High School and heading off to Bucknell, where he was accepted early decision on New Year’s Eve day!” 

            Al, of course, retired last year from Educational Futures.

            Finally, John Foster harrumphs “to [your] perseverance to live and provoke your classmates to pen some inanities to the class notes. Last time around I said, ‘Nah, I think I’ll pass,’ only to say, ‘I’ll toss in something to help George out only to carrying it too far.’ So, I write now to let people know that I’m still aboveground, living with my wife at home, despite the begging of a new and attractive retirement facility here.  

            “On New Year’s Eve day, Lila and I gave thanks for our so long-departed daughter and our two sons living here in Marblehead. For me, I find myself so grateful for all of it, yet I wonder how it could have been, given all of the sorrows of the world.”

            Thumbs up!

Who of us, way back in 1956, could even have imagined the big NINE-OH—a 90th birthday!—especially our own? But now it has (or will) come! I suspect that most of us survivors are thankfully—and gratefully—taking it in stride. But before we celebrate, we must remember those who are no longer with us.  

But for now, Larry Tremper reports: “I celebrated my 90th on the 11th” (that’s 7/11!) “with my family in Virginia—including a two-month-old second great-granddaughter. Unfortunately, Flo is having complications from her accident, so I have become the caretaker, but I don’t do everything right. Say a prayer for her.

“I’d been playing golf until it got too hot. However, I can’t bend to put the tee into the ground, but I’m not hitting the ball much worse.”

Larry wondered, “How many of us are left?” I’m sorry to say that I don’t know.

Donald Gerardi “reached the significant marker in June. Just another reminder of the cliché time flies. After graduate school at Columbia, where I got a PhD in history, I remained in New York as a professor of history and religious studies at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. They were years of profound changes in academic and urban life. Since retiring about two decades ago, I’ve done a good deal of traveling. Berlin has become a home away from home—not surprising since I was a quite active member of the German Club on campus. I’m now completing a retirement project, The Rector of Trinity Church: Morgan Dix and the Challenge of Urban Ministry in 19th Century New York. Getting it published is the next hurdle.”

From Douglas Northrop: “I spent a couple of seasons playing basketball with Andy Milewski and was lifelong friends with Dick Boyden. It is sad to lose such friends, relatives, colleagues, or classmates. Even sadder in some ways is to know some of the brightest guys are suffering various forms of dementia. Meanwhile, Al Haas and I muddle on—not the brightest of the class, but maybe the youngest. I remember going for my scholarship interview at the tender age of 16 and being noticeably immature. 
            “The good news is that a colleague at Ripon College, where we taught, is going to be 95 in September, and to celebrate his birthday, the play reading group we belong to is going to perform—texts in hand—Twelfth Night so he can be Malvolio, a role he always wished for. So, even if we can’t remember our lines, we can still have fun together. And in October I will offer an adult seminar up in Door County on Cinematic Sherlocks, following my last year’s seminar on Cinematic Cinderellas.”

The news from Al Haas is that he is finally retiring after a satisfying career as a math teacher, high school principal, human resource director, and—for the past 40 years—an independent educational consultant. The transition was announced on his web site: www.educationalfutures.com. If you would like to learn more about what Al has been up to and meet the new team, you can Google “educational futures” online.

From Jim Wagner: “On July 22, Betty and I celebrated the first birthday of our fifth grandchild, born to our daughter, Carmen. Two of our sons will drive us to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to celebrate [Betty’s] 60th high school class reunion. We have given up that skill. And on August 9, we will be celebrating our 55th wedding anniversary.”

Jim Jekel adds: “I don’t think I have anything newsworthy, but as an update, I am trying to keep my memory strong enough to remember the names of four children plus spouses, eight grandchildren plus spouses, and thirteen great-grandchildren (no spouses yet). That seems to be as hard now as remembering human anatomy was back in 1957. The good news is that their activities are fun to hear about and sometimes observe. Right now I am trying to discard scads of paper, to save my heirs the task. That helps to keep my mind off the crazy world news of the moment.” 

Mort Paterson is “Still kickin’—at age 90. Even on stage, as a bigoted senator in The Alabama Story. A wordy role—let’s hope I can learn by September. It plays at Old Academy Players, the amateur theater here in Philly where Grace Kelly got her start.  

 “Travel these days is a challenge. Did I forget my pills? Where’s my boarding pass? How do I put on airplane mode? Terminal what? Fortunately, my wife, Susan, saves the day as travel agent and computer techie. Last year we managed a trip to Paris with side [trips] to Mont St. Michel and Chamonix. Thankful to be able to do it.   

 “Can’t shake that old ‘achievement motive’ I learned about at Wesleyan: I hope to put a video on YouTube next month about the ‘right way’ to speak Shakespeare’s verse. My sons say I’ve ‘gotta get it out there.’”

George: Far be it for me to indulge in one-upmanship, but on July 30, Ann and I celebrated our 64 years of wedded bliss. By the way, I don’t drive, but Ann still does.

As I write, Ann and I have just returned from a family pilgrimage to Grand Isle in Lake Champlain—between Vermont and New York—where we witnessed in all its glory the April 8 total eclipse of the Sun. It was Ann’s and my 11th successful total viewing around the world: from Aruba in the Caribbean to Zambia in the middle of Africa to Novosibirsk, smack in the east-west center of all Russia—also including the Black Sea (a Wesleyan sponsored tour), Turkey, the South Pacific, Indonesia, Chile, and two other sites in the continental USA. Our two misses, both weather related, were in Hawaii and Shanghai but have not dimmed our continuing quest. Believe me, it never gets old.

      The next total solar eclipse visible from the continental USA will be in 2044, but take heart, and set your sights on either Iceland or Spain in August 2026.

            We’ve received remembrances of three recently fallen classmates.

            In case you missed it, our most recent loss was Andy Milewski, who died in January. Like many of you, I’m sure, I remember Andy—with Larry Tremper—as one of the twin towers of the Cardinal hoop squad. Andy was a local product (Meriden) and lived most of his subsequent life in Connecticut, where he devoted much of that life to civic service.

            Bob Calvin remembers: “Andy Milewski was a fraternity brother of mine at Delta Sigma. He was a big, sweet guy with a passion for basketball. The obituary you sent really reflected a life I would have expected for Andy. I have not seen him since graduation. Strange to not have seen someone for almost 70 years and then read his obituary.”

            From Al Haas: “Dick Boyden was one of a kind in many ways. Among other attributes, he was loyal, sentimental, diligent, thoughtful, and smart. He did not suffer fools gladly, and he could sniff out self-aggrandizement, pomposity, and arrogance with ease. He was a loyal class agent for many years and a steadfast scribe for our delegation at Eclectic for decades. He was the glue that sustained our bond to the fraternity and to our relationship with Wesleyan, achieving one of the sustaining records of support for the College. In real ways, physical, spiritual, and values, he was a giant. He was one of the best amongst us.” 

            Dick Bauer remembers: “Jack Dunn and Ed Thorndike very graciously invited me to share their Clark Hall fourth-floor dorm digs even though I was a Beta and not an Eclectic brother. I guess that made me ‘Eclectic adjacent.’ It was a happy experience for me for sure.
            “The three of us joined in a psych project—running rats to see how well they navigated their maze. Just keeping them from dying off was enough of a challenge for me. We did write it up, but it never got published in Nature.
            “Ed knew what he was good at, wanted to be, and with whom he wanted as his life partner, even as a sophomore. He would go through his physics problems at lightning speed, skipping intermediate steps, and putting a square figure around his answer, which was invariably right. As much as he liked his Eclectic brothers, he wanted to get on with his life, which meant marrying his beloved Liz ASAP… which he did. It took me a couple more years to get to that point, but I, too, married a Smithie—very happily so.
            “It seems both ironic and cruel that Ed should suffer from dementia, but he illustrated how ‘time and chance happen to us all.’

            “It was heartwarming to learn of the Thorndike dynasty at Wesleyan.”

            How about some news from the here and now?

            Jim Jekel writes, “As with most of our class who are still alive and kicking, I’m alive but kicking far less, with a usual assortment of illnesses, pains, and forgetfulness. Fortunately, I live close to all four children and frequently see most of my eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren (with more in the pipeline). My old brain could never pass a Wesleyan test now, but it still functions normally for everyday matters. 

            “If any classmates are passing just west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I live in Camp Hill and would love to have them stop by.”

Slim pickings on the news front, but we have one extraordinary tale to tell.

Jim Katis wrote: “Living in Greenwich, Connecticut, at age 90 with the wife of 59 years, Lauma. We are both retired psychiatrists and McGill graduates with three sons and five grandchildren.”

Out of curiosity, I asked Jim about Lauma’s ethnicity. Here’s what he had to say: “Lauma is Latvian. She has quite a storied life. . . . Born in 1929, she lost her mom at age three, and her father was the leader of the Latvian resistance against the Soviets and the Germans. She lost him at age 15 (killed by the Germans during WWII). She eventually made it to Canada as a displaced person and, after graduating med school at McGill, moved to New York.” If that story doesn’t deserve a hearty “wow,” I can’t think of anything that could!

Incidentally, I reminded Jim of his role in my tale of mistaken identity. I followed my two brothers, Al ’52 and Phil ’53 to Wesleyan. We didn’t think so, but we must have had some sort of familial resemblance, so I’ve spent much of my life answering to all three names. Anyway, one Sunday morning during our freshman year, I managed to rouse myself and get to a service at the Old South Church at the corner of Pleasant and Church Streets. There I saw just three familiar Wesleyan faces. The first was Jim, who sang with Al in the chapel choir. He greeted me with a tentative, “Hi, Al.” Second was the college physician, Donald Arnault ’40, whose in-laws had a camp on the same lake in the Catskills as did our family. He greeted me heartily: “Why Phil, I haven’t seen you in years!” The third was Norm Daniels, who was then instructing my PE section. His exact words were, “Hello, Chien.” End of story!

Dave Fricke writes: “Hi, all. Beryl and I are slowing down, doing okay here in Silver Spring, Maryland.”

From Bob Bretscher: “I’ve moved to Presbyterian Village Athens, Georgia. I’m healthy: enjoy half-hour walks and small gardening and reading. My present book is Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. It’s old but refreshingly stimulating. Now that I’m a nonagenarian, old books have a special appeal. My very best wishes to the class of 1956.  I’d be happy to text with anyone interested in doing so. Cheers.”

(If you’re interested in emailing a classmate, let me know and I can put you in touch.)

In case you hadn’t heard, Rick Francis ’58 died on July 8, 2023. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, two children, and five grandchildren. Rick, of course, matriculated with us in the fall of 1952, but having taken two gap years, graduated with the Class of 1958. He later taught, for 42 years, mathematics at Williston Academy, where he was also head football coach, coached basketball, and served as athletic director. At Wesleyan, Rick became a Little All-American footballer, but he’s best remembered by us ’56ers for that momentous pass to Denny Denault that put the only dent into the ’56 Trinity’s team otherwise unblemished gridiron record.