Tag: 1957

Categories Class Notes, Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1957 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

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

Categories Obituaries, Obituaries | 1950-1959Posted on

James “Jim” Killough III ’57, P’85, ’88

James “Jim” Killough III ’57, P’85, ’88 passed away on December 2, 2021. Evan M. Drutman ’86 provided this memory.

James Killough, III

1935-2021

            It stands as a monument to his dedication, perseverance, and philanthropy.  The landmarked structure at 242 High Street, Middletown, Connecticut, built in 1893 on the campus of Wesleyan University and home to the Xi (pronounced “z’EYE”) Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity, has housed student members for over 125 years.  That grand dame of the campus, centrally located across from the office of the University president, has served daily meals, hosted meetings, seminars, musical and theatrical performances, educational events, and social gatherings for the Wesleyan campus at-large.  And it did so in recent years due to the indefatigable efforts of its de facto chairman, Jim Killough, who died on December 2, 2021, in the Renaissance Care Center in Gainesville, TX, a hospice facility outside of Dallas/Ft. Worth.

That a fraternity would even exist today on the politically “progressive” campus of Wesleyan University is no mean feat.  Much of the credit for its longevity and enduring popularity over the previous 30 years can be attributed to Jim Killough.  He provided the undergraduate members with advice and guidance, sometimes on a daily basis; he helped navigate the organization through the occasional adolescent misconduct of a member; he provided the diplomacy needed for the indulgence of a recalcitrant school Administration; and he had the intuition to admit women members, and to persuade a resistant membership, long before the University mandated co-education in 2014.

Most of all, he had the vision to sustain a traditionalist organization with values largely resembling his own.   Those values were articulated in four broad maxims expressing indisputable virtues which would define the organization and its mission:

  • Service before Self
  • Pursuit of Wisdom
  • Personal Responsibility
  • Virtuous Character 

Those phrases, which Jim labeled collectively as “The Credo”, would become his guiding principles for the fraternity.  In his typical modesty, Jim credited The Credo to someone else: the fraternity’s beloved former faculty advisor and university provost William Kerr; however, few ever doubted its true origin.

James Killough III was born in Albany, NY, on November 18, 1935, to James Killough, Jr. and the former Mary Ann Hunting.  Jim spent his childhood summers in the Thousand Islands, scooping ice cream at the legendary Guzzle on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, a venue to which he would return throughout his life. Like his uncle, he attended Wesleyan, graduating in 1957, and then received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1959.

He briefly served in the U.S. Army, at Fort Dix, NJ, in Army intelligence, from May to November of 1959.

His early career was spent in advertising:  first, with Proctor and Gamble; then with Dupuy-Compton (now Saatchi & Saatchi) in Italy, resulting in the occasional Italian language expression which would inflect his communications.  While in Italy, he became involved in politics, supporting Republican candidates in the United States, including the presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan, for which he worked upon his return to this country.

He had a second career later in life, improbably as an internet company executive, bringing his business acumen to RunTime Technologies, a New York City-based website creator and internet provider, which was suffering from the .com implosion.

Jim’s first marriage, to the former Sandra Davis, ended in divorce.  It produced three children:  James Killough IV, of Los Angeles, and Sarah K. Dhar, of New Canaan, CT, both of whom similarly attended Wesleyan, and John Hunting (“Hunt”) Killough, of Denver, CO.

He married his second wife, the late Donna Simpkins, in 1984, describing her as the “love of his life”, and moving with her from New York to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to be closer to her children.  She predeceased him in 2018, following which Jim spoke for the rest of his life of marking time until he could rejoin her in Heaven.  Jim is survived by his three children, his son-in-law, Vishal Dhar, his daughter-in-law, Angela Killough, four grandchildren, two stepchildren, and a step granddaughter.

Until the end of his life, Jim remained committed to the welfare of “The Xi”, as the fraternity chapter is known by its members, reviewing correspondence, and offering the occasional recommendation.  As the fraternity continues its mission and its search for Jim’s successor—someone with his vision and commitment, someone putting Service before Self, someone betraying his Virtuous Character—it will have one advantage Jim never had:

It will have his example. 

 

Evan M. Drutman 

Wesleyan University, B.A. 1986 

Member, Xi Chapter of Psi Upsilon

 

Categories Class Notes, Class Notes | 1950sPosted on

CLASS OF 1957 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

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.