Tag: 1957

In late May Gordon Wilmot and Marilyn flew from Providence to Portland, Oregon, to enjoy a cruise up the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The daily informational meetings brought back everything they had forgotten about Lewis and Clark and their contribution to our history.

In last year’s fall issue, Mark Feldman mentioned the oral interview of his experiences as an attorney in the D.C. area, including the State Department. It has now been published as a book, entitled Footnotes to History, Law and Diplomacy. You can find it on Amazon and read it on Kindle for only $4.

A sad update is the passing of Ed Porter’s wife Elaine, after 59 years of marriage. Ed and his two sons are trying their best to adjust to life without her at their side, but it’s difficult. Condolences to all the Porters.

George Willauer and his wife went to his 70th high school reunion in Philadelphia. Having attended the school K–12, he was “a lifer.” Despite canes, walkers, and one wheelchair, all eight people there had a memorable time.

I got a long note from Hal Ochsner. Although he spent his senior year, followed by med school, at Indiana, his memories of Wesleyan and his Clark Hall roommates are strong. He moved to California in the 1960s and still practices medicine there, despite the leukemia he treats with infusions. Hal is our class agent, and you’ll probably be hearing from him later this year.

Ken Travis writes that a conversation with friends over dinner some 45 years ago led to student exchanges with a remarkable French family that culminated this year with 16 Americans attending a lovely wedding outside Paris. Four generations of French and American families partied most enthusiastically. Ken and Janice are about to celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary. He wishes all the best to the ’57ers.

I just learned that Jack Braitmayer died last July. He grew up in Marion, Massachusetts, and went to Tabor Academy there. A successful businessman, he also served as a trustee at both Tabor and Wesleyan. Jack loved boats and sailing and was a huge supporter of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Condolences to all the Braitmayer family.

This spring Betty and I took a road trip up the East Coast. We spent a week at the time-share we own in North Carolina. (It’s for sale, by the way.) Then to Maryland where we got to see our great-grandson and his identical twin sisters. Finished by visiting cousins, nieces, and nephews in Virginia Beach, where we got married almost as long ago as the Travises. Great time.

Stay well and try to beat this heat.

Bob

George Willauer writes that he’s on the steering committee of a start-up foundation, PARJE, or Public Art for Racial Justice Education. So far, the organization has mounted five public murals in southern Connecticut towns and sponsored numerous educational programs in their schools.

Mark Feldman refers to an interesting New York Times article about the upcoming Supreme Court decision re affirmative action, and its potential impact on the admissions process at colleges and universities. The article uses Wesleyan as a vehicle for its storyline, with some beautiful pictures. The link is www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/us/affirmative-action-admissions-scotus.html.

A sad note is the passing of George Davies on February 9th. He and his twin brother Kent were great wrestlers, and it was exciting to watch them on the mat. I had forgotten that George was our class secretary for many years in the ’80s and ’90s. When input was on the low side, he would fill space with tales about his own family. You can read about his life well lived in the online Obituaries section. Condolences to Dusty and Katie.

Gordon Wilmot and Marilyn are still cleaning out her mother’s house. They’ve found 70 years of National Geographic magazines in the basement. That’s a lot of magazines! They’re getting to be experts at restoring cast-iron pots and pans using electrolysis and differentiating between sterling silver and silver plate.

I heard from Jim LaCrosse. He will be at Wesleyan this May for his grandson Will’s commencement exercises, marking four generations in a row to graduate from Wes. Jim was the second generation, joining us after an all-expenses-paid trip to Korea in the early ’50s, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Our firstborn turned 60 in March, and he’s making noises about retiring. Those are two indicators that we’re getting old, if aches and pains aren’t enough. And our youngest has decided to relocate his family from Canada to the USA. We are their base of operations during the process. It’s novel to have a six-year-old running around the house.

If you would like to get my call for notes and updates before each issue of the magazine, send me your email address and I will update its database, which is different from the directory the University keeps of all alumni/ae.

Until next time, stay well. Bob

As our Class Notes move closer and closer to the front (only nine to go), I enjoy reading the notes from the 1940s. In the spring issue there was a great one from an alumnus (age 100!) who, when he was a teacher at Chicago Latin, persuaded Jack Dearinger, Bill Wallace, and Norm Wissing to come to Wesleyan. Now that’s recruiting.

On the home front, our great-grandson has become the proud big brother to identical twin sisters!  Mother and babies are doing well, after a few weeks in NICU for the little girls. We met them for the first time over Thanksgiving. Beautiful, and so small.

Al Kalb checked in with a short note and promises news for the next issue. It was still good to hear from him.

With a variety of viruses still around in Nova Scotia, Ed Porter and Lainie are limiting their social life and keeping masks handy when out and about.  He hopes that in this season a spirit of respect may transcend the other forces at play in our present world. Well said.

Jim Brown and Betty took a romantic Caribbean cruise in May. They should have stayed home. She fell and hit her head, requiring 13 stitches, and he totally tore his left rotator cuff. They’ve both recovered, but Jim is still doing rehab because he enjoys it. He’s back to his college weight of 185, packaged differently. I know what he means.

Last issue I mentioned the Zoom session we had just before our 65th. It was great, and Dick Cassie wants to do it again. I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not hopeful. Maybe in 2027 Wesleyan will organize another one for us.

Gordon Wilmot and Marilyn will be driving down to Pennsylvania in December for their granddaughter’s graduation from Penn State. For several months now, they have been clearing out the house where her mother lived for 84 years. He allows that’s not very much fun.

I got an interesting email from Lars Erik Knudsen, who as a 19-year-old, came to Wesleyan on a Fulbright Scholarship from Denmark, where he still lives. The email was in Danish, which was no problem for Outlook to translate. He recalls his first-year roommates in Harriman Hall, Bill Moody ’59 and John Briscoe ’59. After his one year in America, he returned to Copenhagen, studied law, and became an attorney. He’s been married to Grete for 57 years and they have four sons.

Stay well and have a great 2023.

In preparation for our 65th Reunion, Michael Schramm, director of Annual Giving, hosted a virtual Zoom meeting in April, joined by 10 of us. It was great to see faces and hear what long-ago classmates are doing to keep active. I understand the actual reunion was not well attended. Better luck for our 70th!

Mark Feldman writes he once had a boss with the first name of Roberts and promises not to call me “Bobs.” Last year he agreed to an oral interview about his experiences as an attorney in the D.C. area, including the State Department. His current project is to transcribe all that was discussed (https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Feldman.Mark.pdf). If you have a couple hours to kick back with an iced tea, it is fascinating, and long.

Ken Travis is no longer a northeasterner. He and Janice have relocated to Bainbridge Island, Washington, to be close to family. This past year they’ve been able to attend a grandson’s commissioning as a Marine Corps officer and a granddaughter’s wedding, plus their daughter Leslie ’85 became a grandmother. He does confess to missing that old Cape Cod.

Ed Porter continues to be a sailing-boat enthusiast, although he limits his cruises to local waters, no longer taking more adventurous coastal trips, when he had larger vessels to sail aboard. He wonders how many classmates are also still dealing with wind and tide in their spare time.

Gordon Wilmot is also a sailor. He and Marilyn spent two weeks in March looking for a future winter home, and found the beautiful town of Beaufort, South Carolina, not too far from where I live. They expect to escape the cold Rhode Island weather there. Severe cases of bronchitis kept them from attending our reunion.

I recently learned of the passing of Bill Daley. He was a longtime GE employee, as was I, and we even roomed together early in our careers in Schenectady, New York. Bill was very active in his Trumbull, Connecticut, community, as well as the Deke house at Wesleyan. Condolences to Barbara and his family.

Condolences also to the family of Naren Bali, who died at home in June, after a long cardiac illness, surrounded by his family. For many years he was an IT consultant at Techint SA de CV, a Mexican construction and engineering company.

Jim Killough’s daughter Sarah ’88 emails that Jim passed away last December. She attached a glowing tribute/obituary written by Evan M. Drutman ’86. You can view it by clicking on Jim’s name in the Obituaries section or here.

Betty and I made a long car trip to Canada this summer, for the sixth birthday of our last grandchild. We spent a week in the Georgian Bay area of Lake Huron. Beautiful country, and a lot for tourists to do.

Stay well.

Until next issue,

Bob

Hello classmates, Bob Smith here, and I have agreed to be your new Class Secretary. I’m looking forward to all your emails; the more I get the more fun this job will be. If I can do half as well as Art, I will be happy.

Ed Porter and Lainie are still enjoying life on Heckman’s Island on Nova Scotia’s south shore. He has been retired from teaching for 20 years and finds his time filled with looking after home, fields, and woods. He uses his chainsaw to pile up about six cords of wood each year, to feed the kachelofen that heats his house. I had to Google that one.

Gordon Wilmot writes that he and Marilyn sold their Bradenton, Florida, condo, in one day, and spent this past winter in their Rhode Island home (without the benefit of a kachelofen). In responding to the request for class notes, he came across his Wesleyan 50th Reunion booklet, a great 85-page publication dedicated to the class of ’57, including biographies of most of us. Vic Butterfield is on the cover with a thoughtful charge to the graduating class. Gordon wonders if it has been digitized and resides deep in the Wesleyan Archives. If he finds it, he promises to send us the URL.

John Allison notes the passing of dear friend Sam “Sandy” Bergner. There have been several deaths recently: Claude Brancart, Don Ramsey, Henry Fulton, Rod Henry, Herb Benson, Dave Sanford, and of course Art Typermass. Condolences to all their families and friends.

Also, I learned that Jerry Baker died two summers ago, after a lengthy illness. He was gritty on the gridiron, and a fine outfielder. We once played a round of golf, and he confessed he didn’t let all those rules interfere with his enjoyment of the game.

The pandemic has affected us all, but George Willauer and several friends, including John Parkin and John Chaplick, use Zoom every two weeks to stay connected. Their annual meetings in New York and Princeton have necessarily been postponed.

Speaking of John Chaplick, he has a new novel out, entitled December of the Dark Sun.  The jacket blurb looks like it’s a great read.

Mark Feldman sends two items of interest:  the sad passing of his Wes roommate Jon Altschuler, and in January, he and Mimi Feinsilver celebrated their 20th anniversary together. Mark has finally retired from teaching at Georgetown Law but keeps busy filing amicus briefs at the Supreme Court and with webinars for the Washington Foreign Law Society.

Jack Goodhue and Jane, his bride of 65 years, are both healthy and living comfortably in North Carolina. Because of all the COVID restrictions, a trip to the grocery store has become a major event. He keeps in touch with fellow Tarheel John Corkran ’58, who is a great ambassador for Wesleyan. Jack still writes a monthly business column for Lubes’n’Greases, a print and digital magazine. Give him a read.

Betty and I are enjoying the retirement life on Hilton Head Island. We have lived in the same house for 25 years, which is a record for us. I play a little golf (poorly) and volunteer at the local computer club. I also run the NFL pool at our men’s club.

We used to travel a lot, but lately we have been limited to driving up I–95 to visit our daughter in Maryland. She became a grandmother last year, so you can figure out what that makes us.

This May was our 65th Reunion. Unfortunately, we couldn’t attend. Our granddaughter graduated from UVA the same weekend, and we committed to be there for the occasion. If you went, let me know the highlights for the next issue of Wesleyan magazine.

If any of you gets the chance to visit Hilton Head, please look us up. We can show you places of interest and where to dine.

Until next issue, Bob.