Tag: 1964

Class of 1964 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Dimitri Jaron Slory ’21, Brooklyn, NY

I’m sitting in my friendly recliner, updating my notes for the spring edition of the Wesleyan magazine. The outside temperature here in central Florida is a balmy 36 degrees. I’m watching the Weather Channel and its coverage of frozen america, where winter storm Grayson has left its record-setting imprint on the eastern seaboard. During one night, the temperature was 27 degrees, and I woke up to a power outage. I had all sorts of concerns with not knowing how long this would last. I prayed for the power to return, and it did within a half hour. I was grateful when the lights turned on, but I realized the miracle that is electricity has transformed life.

I’m in the process of selling my house in central Florida, and moving into my condo in Savannah, Ga. My wife and I are moving to northeast Georgia, where the temperatures, on average, are 10 degrees lower than central Florida in the winter months. The difference in temperatures really matter when Arctic air moves down to the Southeast, but I plan to find a condo in Florida to escape the 10-degree buffer.

Steve McQuide answered my request for news, as he “celebrated 50 years of marriage to a wonderful woman, watching three grandchildren grow up, riding the stock market; life is good.” He added, “having come to realize that I’ve become quite a different person than I was at Wesleyan.”

Dan Davis reported completing a deferred charitable gift annuity to Wesleyan. It provided for a nice tax deduction, annual income at a fixed interest rate, and guaranteed money for Wesleyan when he dies. He described it as a “win-win situation.”

Russ Messing shared: “I am totally retired and loving not going into work. My days are spent going to the gym, doing desk work, culling, reading, writing more poetry, breathing deeply, and noticing changes in my mind, body, and the world.”

Duane Starr is mostly retired but continuing part-time in the Global Security Directorate of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He’s looking forward to turkey season in the spring. Until then, he’ll have to be satisfied with whatever trout he can pull out of the Clinch River. He realizes that his life is good, having a loving wife, three children, and a moderately comfortable life style. He enjoys singing, and, when time allows, doing woodworking in a shop he set up on his side of their two-car garage. He appreciates what is still working well, much greater than when he was younger.

While working on my notes, I received an email notification of the passing of Michael O. Smith, M.D. on Dec. 24, 2017. He was a psychiatrist, acupuncturist, addiction specialist, and public health planner. He is survived by his daughters, Joanna Smith ’00 and Jessica Hutter.

Once again, Wesleyan graduate, Bill Belichick ’75, has led the Patriots to another Super Bowl after beating the Jaguars for the AFC NFL championship. At the time of writing, they will face the Eagles in two weeks. Dilly-dilly.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

The recent controversies around the playing of the National Anthem before NFL games has added a coincidental factor to my news from classmate Lou D’Ambrosio. Lou was invited to sing the National Anthem before a MLB game in Angel’s Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., in June. He also sang, “Take Me Out to The Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch, and he included a video of the event. He said, “I had the honor and privilege of singing our National Anthem.” It is our National Anthem, and it’s always a choice in how to pay respect to the ideals it brings to mind.

Lou celebrated his 45th wedding anniversary with his lovely wife Christy, “reliving our past honeymoon in beautiful Carmel.” They also went up to Napa, Calif., to visit with Steve Humphrey ’63 and wife Ginny, where they played golf and sampled lots of tasty wines. Lou and I played with Steve on Wesleyan’s baseball team in 1962-1963, with Steve being a bulldog on the pitcher’s mound, and a pleasure for me to be his catcher.

I received a photo of Lou lunching with Wink Davenport and Jay McIlroy, all with wide smiles of retiree contentment. Unfortunately, they informed me of news about Jim Reynolds and his wife, Patty, who are facing serious health issues. Our prayers go out to them.

Oliver “Chips” Wood Jr. and spouse Crete have retired from the fast lane of real estate in Carmel, Calif. They are building a home south of Pueblo, Colo., on the Saint Charles River where Crete was born. They offered an open invitation to drop in and enjoy the vistas in their state.

And congratulations to David Skaggs on receiving the 2017 Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress at its annual meeting on September 27 in D.C.

My wife, Becky, and I drove from Florida to Lafayette, Ind., in mid August, to attend a fantasy football draft with my brother-in-law and other educators, in a league we’ve been a part of for a number years. The main reason for the trip was to attend the wedding of Becky’s nephew just east of Indianapolis two weeks after our draft. My wife came up with something to do in the interim gap of the schedule.

We took an Amtrak train from Lafayette to Union Station in Chicago, and connected to the California Zephyr heading for Emeryville, Calif. The latter leg of the journey took 51 hours which included meandering through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Sierra Nevada mountains, while we rode and slept in coach seats. We adapted to life on board a train, and fashioned plans to take train trips in the future. We spent two evenings and a full day in the San Francisco area, returning to Chicago on the Zephyr for another 51-hour adventure. We’ve entertained friends by retracing our adventure for them.

After the wedding in Indiana, we delayed driving back to Florida, as someone named Irma visited the state in an unwelcome manner. Upon our return, we had lots of cleanup to do from the trees around our house that the winds thinned out. Our house somehow was spared damage, including the new roof we replaced in July.

I submitted these notes on the morning of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, with the loss of countless lives. Once again, I found myself praying for the victims of this ugly event. This is in contrast to some wonderful people I met in our recent adventure. I find in myself the value of having a personal relationship with the God of the Bible, beyond a religion about God. I find comfort in the good news about my Savior.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Quotation from a friend of about our age: “I had always thought it would take much longer to get to be this old.”

This was part of an update I received from Duane Starr, but some of our classmates didn’t reach our age. I think mostly of Stephen Thuet, who was killed flying a combat mission over Vietnam. I’ve visited the Vietnam Memorial a number of times, never failing to spend a moment in front of his name etched in the black marble. I remember some of the controversy when the design of the memorial was first released. It’s a profound experience each time, recognizing heroes in a conflict that should never have been. The moment President Kennedy was killed, these heroes were sentenced to their fate.

Interestingly, in preparing my notes, I received sharing from Ron Young ’65 because of a mix-up in classes. In 1995, he attended a meeting of middle-aged anti-war activists and octogenarian former OSS (predecessor organization of the CIA) officers who had served with Ho Chi Minh’s Vietnamese forces fighting the Japanese occupation during the closing months of World War II. The American officers supported Ho’s appeal to President Truman urging U.S. support and recognition for Vietnam’s independence. Truman never replied. Instead, the U.S. financed the French war to recolonize Vietnam. It’s worth reflecting on how our country might be different today if we had recognized Vietnam’s independence in 1945, and initiated normal relations then, rather than 50 years later following our American war.

Chris Chase shared that wife Karen (a non-smoker) was discovered to have a small tumor in her right lung. The mid and lower lobes were removed in early December. Thankfully, neither chemo nor radiation was required. Recovery has been steady, and for this and other reasons, they’ve chosen to enter a retirement community in Hanover, N.H., earlier than planned. With tongue-in-cheek, they find downsizing fun. Chris completed his report with these words: “Still, the last couple of years have had their joys. We have been able to spend time with our now 6-year-old grandson. I have enjoyed reading what I want to and when, from dry treatises on wealth distribution (anyone else read Piketty?) to family documents in Italian, to poetry in Old French, having learned these languages in the last three years.”

Duane Starr and wife Nancy are still living in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Duane retired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Global Security Directorate in 2011 and does occasional work there as a “casual employee.” He puts together computer models of uranium enrichment cascades. His recent work included participation in an assessment of the Molecular Laser Isotope Separation (MLIS) for enriching the 235 isotope of uranium. When he removes his thinking cap, woodworking, hunting, fishing, and singing are his passions. Like others of our mid-70s age, a significant amount of time is spent in doctors’ offices.

Speaking of doctors, Dave Best retired, about three years ago, from a very rewarding practice of nephrology, with a sideline of biomedical ethics. He and his wife have been living at the same address in Virginia Beach, Va., for 41 years. They are building a home in Cape Haze, Fla., hoping to have it ready early next year.

In July 2016, Dan Davis, M.D., retired after 19 years with the FDA Division for Bone, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs. It was a fine second career after 20 years in private practice in obstetrics and gynecology in western Massachusetts. He enjoys skiing, golf, and tennis, and has been doing some part-time consulting this year. His wife, Suzanne, is an ordained United Church of Christ minister and very busy with her church work. They travel more now and hope to see their three grandkids more often.

I wrote a book about my attending baseball fantasy camps in the 1980s, and I have Hollywood people looking at a possible movie. I became friends with many of the former players from the old Brooklyn Dodgers, and it has been a personal loss when many of them have passed. The amazing thing that happened for me was playing baseball at an incredible level in front of my heroes. In 1986, 16 Hall of Fame legends who coached the campers named me the most valuable player. I called my dad at that time, and his reply was priceless: “Now, you’re MVP?”

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Class of 1964 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Quinn Grom ’19, Belgrade, MT

Once again, I’m coming to you from my trusty recliner, in my man cave, somewhere in the central Florida area. I woke up earlier to a slight chill in the air. Checking my iPhone, the temperature was 49 degrees. It should reach the upper 70s after the noon hour. Looking ahead to the weekend, nighttime temps should be around the 40-degree mark, but only in the 60s by the noon hour. Should I choose to play golf later in the week, 60-degree temp readings mean long pants and shirt sleeves. Any appreciable wind means an extra layer to stay comfortable.

Today was the deadline for submitting my notes. Actually, it was the extended deadline for submission. In all the years of providing my service to my classmates, I’ve always managed to get this information in on time. Well, there hasn’t been much information from classmates, and I believe the election of Donald J. Trump had everyone’s interest. I was going to work on this column earlier, but confirmation hearings in Washington D.C. distracted me. I began to realize that the presidential picks for various cabinet positions carry weight that determines the agenda for our new president, and executive orders and regulations for the various departments impact citizens more than the legislature.

I received an update from Seppo Sailo, and he mentioned art classes we took. He became a painter and it put bread on the table.

Robert Maurer informed us that his debut novel, Passing Through (The Sixties), is available in paperback and e-Book. The opening chapter focuses on the aftermath of the death of Peter Hunting ’63, the first American non-combatant killed in Vietnam. Over the next three years, the intent of four characters is to change the course of American political history. The current climate in American politics would make this novel an interesting read, or at least food for thought.

Food brings me to a lovely evening my wife and I had visiting Chris and Paul Lapuc while they were vacationing at Disney World, along with their son, Douglas, and his wife. Paul works part-time counseling individuals through the conundrums of life, using his experience of a lifetime taking on these challenges.

I had a delightful e-mail from Richard P. Miller, an old fraternity brother, married to Janet for 53 years. They have two daughters, Victoria and Jennifer, who have given them a total of four granddaughters and a grandson. Dick is retired now, having been a publisher of a newspaper in the Detroit metro area. Many years ago, he did an editorial piece about the movie Animal House, where he likened the Tim Matheson character, Otter, a self-appointed stud who became a gynecologist, to yours truly. I didn’t dispute the distinction he suggested.

To close, I’d like to share an e-mail from an old friend retired in Arizona. He sent a quote entitled “Six Ethics of Life”: “Before you pray—believe; before you speak—listen; before you spend—earn; before you write—think; before you quit—try; before you die—live.”

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

I’ve settled down in my recliner, with the sound of raindrops on the roof of my man cave, and it’s Labor Day weekend. My wife, Becky, is out having lunch with her BFF, and our cats are napping, leaving me with the opportunity to do notes for about the 120th time. The television is muted with college football back again, and there is an assortment of games to watch in this information and entertainment age.

I think back to our years at Wesleyan, with the intimacy of our portable football field provided for our gallant squad of Cardinals. Eight games each year with the likes of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Coast Guard Academy, and those other two schools of the Little Three, creating a much-needed break from studies. There were also soccer games and cross-country runs to entertain us. Dave Ransom and Jack Buttles toiled on the gridiron, and athletes such as Lou D’Ambrosio and Peter Sipples powered our soccer teams to successful campaigns.

I frequently think about the why when it comes to a liberal arts education at a place like Wesleyan. I learned to trust my capacity for learning, and the ability to translate the knowledge to answering questions. I can’t imagine how many answers I have given in the domain of exams or in my career in obstetrics and gynecology. There came a time at Wesleyan where I studied for an exam, and found myself prepared to give the answers. I found the capacity to choose the moment that I was prepared to handle whatever was asked of me. I trusted that they would ask me questions that I had the right answers for. My Wesleyan experience led me to trust my abilities to handle the tasks that were ahead in medical school, and as a practicing physician, to answer requests by patients, nurses, and other medical professionals. I believe I learned not to fear making the wrong replies after four years at Wesleyan.

News from alumni: Garry Fathman is still active as a professor of medicine at Stanford. He has three children, all married and employed, and three grandchildren ages 4-6. He celebrated his 74th birthday last week and says, “All is well in my world.”

Wink Davenport: “It has been a few weeks since the Olympics have been over and I still think about them and what they mean to me. You will remember that they have been a big part of my life: Player in 1968 in Mexico, referee in 1984 in LA, and administrator in 1996 in Atlanta where my daughter, Lindsay, won her gold medal in tennis. Watching our athletes compete and win was amazing and made me proud to be a part of the games.

“This summer has been very quiet. Jay McIlroy has been in Poland with his wife for several months and won’t return until November. Louie D takes off to his place in Montana and Palm Springs. We will all get together around the election and try to figure out where our country is going. It doesn’t look too promising.”

Rusty Messing: “I have finished my second book of poetry, Midnight’s Breathing, and am very pleased with it. I am still writing and hopefully will come out with a third book sometime next year. There have been other big events in my life. Our daughter, Ali, now has a beautiful little girl, Rumi. Our son, Jake, also has a beautiful little girl, Goldie. Jake and his wife will soon be leaving their condo in Brooklyn and moving cross-country to Healdsburg. Our other two grandsons, Joe (16) and Solly (14), along with our daughter, Jeanne, are dealing with the challenges of being teenagers. My health is good (knock on wood), my mind is slower, my smile is as wide.”

Brooke Jones: “I’m retired from 30 years at Rockwell, International, and doing some part-time work with a start-up. Now doing part-time math instruction for kids at the North Orange County Community College District. My wife, Judy, and I toured Italy last year to celebrate our 51st anniversary. This year, we’ve been enjoying our children and grandchildren, who all live within a couple hours’ drive. I’m also running for the local water board to run out the bums who used the drought to raise our rates last year to 250 percent of the previous rates, with promises of more to come. See facebook.com/Jones4YLWD.

“Sadly, we lost Spurgeon Leon Robinette who died in his sleep in June. A memorial service was held in September at Triple Creek, his home for many years in Arkansas.”

Allen Ames: “I am still alive and able to sit up and take nourishment. I live in a condo in Clinton, Conn., near the water with my ADHD dog. I have renewed friendships with a number of former students through social media. I have ’swallowed the anchor’ this spring and I am boatless for the first time. I have five children, 10 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, if I am counting correctly. All are beautiful and/or handsome, talented, and brilliant.

“Finally, coach Don Russell is being inducted into the Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1960 and always related to our class of 1964. He was my freshman basketball and baseball coach and did a great job. He eventually was athletic director at the powerhouse that was and is Wesleyan sports.”

Harry Lanford has lived in Maine since 1979 and in Bangor since 2005. He retired from a career doing marine electrical and electronics for the Hinckley Company in Southwest Harbor. He married Ann Davis in 2005 and has children from an earlier marriage to Sheila Wilensky: Brook Wilensky-Lanford (married and in a PhD program in American religious history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Ethan Wilensky-Lanford (married and PhD student in anthropology at Rice). Ann and Harry enjoy traveling in a motor home.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

I’m back in my recliner, once again, taking on my assignment of sharing updates about our class. In this age of social media, I’m not sure where my conversation fits into the mosaic of our common memories. I am present to the phrase about Wesleyan that we all share, “shrine of long ago.” I just hesitated for a moment in recalling whether it was “long ago” or “long, long ago.” I can still see “the altar fires our fathers lit”—as long as I have my glasses on (cataracts aren’t an issue yet).

I love my iPad, which I have trained to store tidbits about our class members and, by the efficiency of copy-and-paste, my labor is minimal. A retired physician with whom I play golf every week commented to me that I was a minimalist as I guided our cart through thick and thin. No wonder—he had so many academic credentials justifying his comment about your class secretary. My dad, who is 95 years young, recently was seen by a dermatology physician assistant, who happened to have shadowed me one month during his training, and who asked if he was related to me. Upon learning he was my father, he shared how amazed he was assisting me on a C-section and seeing how quickly I handled the case, while carrying on conversations about news, weather, and sports.

Back to my task. Stephen Baker, M.D., writes: “I have just retired after 25 years as chair of radiology and associate dean at New Jersey Medical School. Way back when, I was able to study geography at Columbia, courtesy of the GI Bill, and then I taught there for many years for fun. Now after combining my two interests interior spaces and distant places, I have become liberated to learn more about the world as a discipline and a destination.”

Daniel Davis, M.D., texted: “I am finally retiring after 19-plus years in the Division of Bone, Reproductive and Urologic Products (DBRUP) at the FDA in Silver Spring, Md. After 21 years practicing OB-GYN in western Massachusetts (1975–96), the transition to the FDA was perfect, with no night call and a flexible work schedule. Highlights have been working with drugs for contraception, emergency contraception, medical abortion, GYN disorders, and female sexual dysfunction. I’m looking forward to more time with family, tennis and golf, church work (my spouse, Suzanne, is an ordained UCC pastor), and volunteer activities.”

Bob Rutherford is still “doing some volunteer orthopedics—teaching family medicine residents and working at two clinics for underserved patients. I’m taking photography classes, traveling, riding my bike, playing pickle ball and still snowboarding. Worse yet at my age, my wife of 45 years, Diane, and I are building a house. Diane decided she didn’t like the condo to which we downsized in Coeur d’Alene, and we couldn’t find one to buy that was ‘just right.’ So…happy wife, happy life. There aren’t many Wesleyan alumni out here in north Idaho, but we have enjoyed getting together with Lang Dayton and John Jones over the years.”

From Roger Montgomery: “After working many years in Southeast Asia (mostly Indonesia) my wife, Barbara, and I have retired in London, UK, where we have lived for the past 25 years. Anyone coming through London is invited to bend the elbow at 7 p.m. any evening: 25 Belsize Crescent, London NW3 5QY. Phone: +44 207 794 1254.

“P.S. My wife, Barbara Bisco Montgomery, has published three novels, all of which take place in Southeast Asia. All available from Amazon or the Book Depository (free postage from the latter).”

Reunion and Commencement Weekend is fast approaching. I hope a memorable time will be had by all. I’m exploring the easiest way to look in on the festivities and listen to the speakers all from my recliner. What a year with the political winds blowing every which way and the Summer Olympics in August. This is a Ryder Cup year, with the matches in the USA this time. But more important, will “the Cubbies” be in the “Fall Classic” and raise a World Series championship banner over Wrigley Field?

I’m not in my recliner as I add some sad news. I’m at the “Y” and just received notification of the passing of Jim Workman on April 25th. He was always someone who cared about others and I know family, friends, and colleagues will truly miss him. After Wesleyan, he received a law degree from Harvard and practiced law in Wisconsin. Since his retirement, he contributed his time to church and community and was a true leader.

I recently lost a close friend and pastor who I believe is in a new place, much like a spaceship speeding through time and space. Someday I will meet up with those who have passed on, and it will be but a short time for them and a longer time for those of us still in this dimension.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Class of 1964 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Quinn Grom ’19, Belgrade, Mont.

Well, guys. I’m in my recliner, NFL Network is on, and the Super Bowl is the topic. Roger Staubach is on the segment, which is appropriate for us, as he attended the Naval Academy around the time our class was at Wesleyan. It was an era where the service academies had top teams in college football, and it was an opportunity for top prospects to get a great education and enter the military as officers as opposed to grunts. Today, the service academies are not in the elite group of college football programs. Top prospects look forward to the NFL draft, and not the Selective Service draft that was the system we looked forward to.

Lou D’Ambrosio and wife Christy welcomed their eighth grandchild last year. Lou’s year included being out of breath from time to time and feeling a little dizzy. So: treadmill, nuclear treadmill, angiogram, stent, and angioplasty. Feeling great ever since. I was interested in cardiology in medical school but there didn’t seem to be enough doing, other than listening with a stethoscope. Fortunately, progress has been amazing and Lou’s experience is commonplace these days. If any of you have symptoms, don’t sit back and hope it goes away, but trust where cardiology is in the present.

Joe Miri writes, “I’ve postponed my retirement from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in order to continue to try to help New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware resolve issues with New York City and New York State over how to share the Delaware River, which supplies water to millions of people in Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.” Joe lives with wife Jan and granddaughter Edera in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Frank Sutterlin, an Eclectic, writes, “Can only say that after 46 years as a Presbyterian minister, including 18 years in the financial industry and 16 years as a dental hygienist, I have finally retired from seeking what I want to be when I grow up. I’ve appreciated being kept aware of Wesleyan growth and activities through newsletters and alumnus magazines. Sorry I didn’t graduate with my class of 1964, but I’ve been proud to promote Wesleyan in various conversations over the years.”

I set the notes aside and watched the Super Bowl. I predicted the Broncos would win because the NFC is basically weak, particularly the southern division where Panthers prowl. It is now Tuesday and the voters of New Hampshire have the floor. I’m fresh off watching the latest episode of The Bachelor and enjoyed the scenery of the Bahamas.

Ted Ridout gave up going south, moved to Northampton, Mass., with his spouse, and enjoyed downsizing. Lots of interesting culture, including Smith College, where my daughter, Jen, graduated from; I miss the trip to the area. I used to go see her on the weekend when Wesleyan football was across the river at Amherst College.

In contrast, Bob Rugg, and wife Sallie sent an update from southern California, where they were with her family celebrating her birthday. They spent time in China in 2015 and connected with a former student who is director of the Chinese Commission on Peace and Disarmament. They have a home in Virginia, so they are always in range of the white stuff that occasionally falls. Speaking of white stuff, I experienced a 49-inch storm in December 1969, while I was in my final year at The Albany Medical College. Albany, N.Y., is far enough away from lake-effect snow so the capital district was ill-prepared for the Northeaster that dumped such a blanket of snow. Tons of the stuff was carted away from streets and dumped in parks and the frozen Hudson River. The temperature didn’t go above freezing for the next six weeks, so the snow banks just sat there.

There was an update from Allen Ames, who I remember being in makeup for his love of theater. His health is good but there was a comment about “ever-advancing states of decrepitude.” His long-term memory is good but, with a blonde at his side, he needs her to guide him to their condo near the marinas of Clinton, Conn. (She has four short legs and fur.)

I continue to live in Mount Dora, Fla., with my wife Becky, and the company of two lady cats, Chloe and Tiggy. I’m a stay-at-home person but I recently became an expert resource for the website JustAnswer.com. I’m one of some ObGyn docs who answer questions posed by subscription members or non-members on a call-by-call basis and I receive pay based on a formula and customer satisfaction. If I don’t get at least three out of five stars, I receive nada. It has been a blessing for keeping my mind up-to-date, and the income has steadily increased as I sit in my recliner.

I’m still in my recliner and the MSNBC moderator said, “…1968, before any of us were born.” Democracy is the young, remaking or reinventing the wheel, and the older folks, who use the wheels and have families and relationships to tend to. Responsibility, integrity and accountability.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com