Tag: 1965

Dear Classmates, Thank you for your responses to the latest request for news as follows:

       Bertel Haarder from Copenhagen, Denmark: “President of the Nordic Council of parliamentarians, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Royal Danish Theater. Twenty-two years as cabinet minister and 41 years as member of Parliament. My Wesleyan experience has been very valuable, particularly through my 15 years as minister for education and research.”

      Dan Hinckley: “Surviving the pandemic. We get our second Moderna shots Monday, February 22, which is a huge relief. Florida has managed OK given the massive numbers of over-65s around here. Kids and grandkids (in Switzerland and Maryland) are all OK, and we even got to see four of the five from the Swiss side for 36 hours last week, first time since exactly a year ago. We moved back to the U.S. in 2014 after 25 years in Switzerland for me and 45 for Katherine. Plan is to be back to Maine as usual by Memorial Day, with perhaps a trip to Switzerland in the fall.”

   Tom Bell: “Still living in Halifax, Nova Scotia and enjoying life here. The family is all doing well.”

      Clyde Beers: “Donna and I are now at our home on Grand Cayman. After a brutal two-week quarantine (never risked being sent to jail) we now have beautiful views, highs of 82 and lows of 75, zero non-quarantined cases and no masks on the whole island. So, a tough start rigidly enforced leads to lots of vacation positives compared to a super cold Pennsylvania. Back in Pennsylvania in time for serious gardening and seeing the rest of our family.”

    Carl Hoppe: “Slowly winding down my psychology practice after 49 years, I am devoting more time to doubles tennis.”

     Brian Courtney: “Retired last year after practicing dentistry for 50 years. It was always easy for me. Enjoyed good health and retired at the top of my game. Living on Lake Sinclair in Georgia.”

     Brian Baxter: “As I begin my fourth year as president of the board of our 731-unit condominium community of 75 acres and 12,000 trees on Little Sarasota Bay here in Florida, I continue to seek an appropriate balance between a volunteer job that can easily be more than full time and my retired life with my family. Developing policies, rules, and a culture of safety during this coronavirus pandemic has been a great challenge over the past year, with about one-half of one percent of our residents reporting coronavirus infections compared to over six percent of residents in the surrounding area.”

   Rob Abel’s latest book, Is Death Really a Mystery?, chronicles extraordinary reports from ordinary people who have had visitations while asleep or awake, as well as near death experiences. The book is available on Amazon. My wife and I both found it to be a very satisfying read. 

     Rob also offered some memories of Norm Shapiro, who passed away last year: “Over the years I would visit him on campus, send copies of my books and, in return, receive one of his magnificent opi with a humorous inscription. Without being overt, Norm would be intensely interested in (and committed to) the lives of all who wandered into his orbit. He was one of us and yet resided in a higher realm, to which we can only aspire. . . .”

     Rob also stepped up to help a recent graduate, Zoe Garvey ’20, who was hoping to conduct research during a gap year before medical school. They have now collaborated on several mind-eye connection studies and a presentation (“Harnessing Eyes for Capturing Mental Status”) for the American Psychiatric Association.

     Art Rhodes: “Still alive and retired. Wife Leslie Newman and I are spending our time with our collective five children and 10 grandchildren in Chicago and New Orleans. Wishing everyone well in life in the time of COVID-19.”

    Paul “Dutch” Seigert: “My law practice in New York City is booming because everyone is suing each other as a result of the pandemic.  Now, I am working 52 hours a week (i.e., 13 hours a day from Monday to Thursday).  On Fridays, I check into the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, where I am a professional poker player and play all day Friday and Saturday. I am back in Yonkers, New York on Sunday mornings to attend church services or my wife would kill me.

      “By the way, more than 50 years ago when I was in the military as an enlisted man and going to Vietnam, I met my Deke brother and a great guy, Tim Lynch, who was a naval officer, on a pathway at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippine Islands. Tim said, ‘Dutch, what are you doing here’ and I said the same to him.  But I forgot to salute him.  This has bothered me for many years.  Tim, I salute you!”

    Bill Brooks: “The big news—apart from surviving both COVID-19 and the greater evil of DT-2016—is that I will retire from teaching, fully, completely, and utterly, in July 2021. I’ll still go back and forth to and from Europe and England, but only as a visitor; thereafter my home will be in Champaign, Illinois.”

    Finally, on a sad note, in late February our class lost an outstanding individual, Peter Whiteley. A wonderful tribute to him by his son Mark can be found in the online version of ’65 class notes (magazine.wesleyan.edu).

     Wesleyan and countless alumni also lost in February a wonderful friend, Don Russell, who passed away at age 90. Don was very close to many ’65ers and attended a number of our reunions. He was admired as a highly successful coach, advisor, administrator, and community leader.

Fred Nachman called after learning of Hal Gorman’s passing. They were close friends and Chi Psi brothers. Fred sent Donna a lovely message and great photo of Hal pass-blocking for Fred on the gridiron. Fred and wife Linda remain happy and healthy (regular hiking/tennis) in Phoenix. 

 Geoff Geiser writes: “Carole and I celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary this year. Children, Erik and Lynn, and their spouses, Ingrid and Josh, continue to thrive. Grandchildren, Luke and Lauren, graduated from college, and Annika and Zachary are sophomores. Spend our winters in Pennsylvania when not traveling to warmer climates and summers on L.B.I. in New Jersey.”

Rick Borger: “Wife Judy and I are healthy, happy and comfortably retired, living at Cornwall Manor, a continuing care retirement community in Cornwall, Pennsylvania. I am vice president of the residents’ association and teach the AARP Safe Driving course. Each summer we visit our cottage on a pond in central Massachusetts where I grew up.”

Jack Hardin “continues to practice corporate law and to lead Atlanta’s efforts to combat homelessness. Compared to other major cities, Atlanta has had great success in reducing homeless counts. Upon the advent last spring of SARS Cov-2, Atlanta was the first city to test everyone in every shelter and most of the unsheltered, and opened up an isolation hotel and another hotel for the unsheltered. This kept the positivity rate below 2 percent when the general population tested as high as 10 percent, now trending down to 8 percent. Like the nation as a whole, we are facing a potential tsunami of potential evictions and working with landlords, tenants, and philanthropy to attempt to keep people in their homes.

 “A few years ago, I corralled a few of my fellow Wesleyan alums in Atlanta and we created the Greater Atlanta Scholarship that helps Atlanta area students go to Wesleyan. We have three children (including Brett ’91) and six grandchildren.”

Arthur Rhodes: “Retired from seeing patients at Chicago’s Rush University Medical in 2019. Wife Leslie and I are enjoying visiting our combined five children and ten grandchildren in Chicago and New Orleans.”

Guy Archer: “Andrea and I still going strong here in Honolulu—walking several miles most every day, counting the golden plovers, taking online courses, and watching old movies on TV. Last summer we managed a month in Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Austria via Eurail, and never missed a train. Among other European treasures, we saw the all Rembrandt exhibit, the Keukenhof Flower Gardens and heard the Firebird Suite in Amsterdam.”

Tony Shuman: “Very sorry to learn of Hal’s death, and sorrier still to inform you of another recent loss: Bill Brundage. Bill lived an iconoclastic life off-grid on the Island of Hawai’i (the ‘big island’). A champion of self-sufficiency and early environmental consciousness, he expressed this through his own life and in an endless series of letters to the editors of local papers. Over the years we were occasionally in touch, linked by our shared experience in class with Nobby (Norman O.) Brown. Bill never owned a computer, wrote by typewriter, and communicated through surface mail. I know that Guy Archer, also a Hawaii resident, was able to see Bill on his birthday last January. His daughter, Karla’s, poignant words to me follow:

“It is with deep sadness that I write to let you know that my dad, Frederic William Brundage, passed away on September 18, 2020, at the age of 77. I will always remember my dad’s love for the land and community of friends he found in Hawaiian Acres. He was a man ahead of his time in many ways. He always had a passion for the earth and with many of you, he lived his beliefs in his conservation and living as self-sufficiently and off the land as possible. He was a firm believer in recycling, and I recall him starting a recycling center at the Hawaiian Acres community a long time ago. I have always admired his artful life and skill in this way. My dad also had a passion for truth and always spoke what he believed to be true, which led to a very controversial life indeed! He also was an inspiration to me as a writer and artist and shared with me his love of his land. Thank you all for helping him to live a life of freedom, which he valued more than anything.” 

(Tony continues to teach architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology after 30 months as interim dean. He is on sabbatical this year focusing on his work around Newark: development of a physical model of the city; heading the local community development board; co-editing Newark Landmarks (2016); lobbying for the historic Essex County Jail; and promoting “passive house” design for university employees. His family is in good health, with both boys now seniors in college.)

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu

Dear classmates, here’s the news:

Bob Mabon writes: “Last saw you at the 2005 Reunion, which I attended with Nan and Steve Hart and his wife, Jeanette. That’s when I heard the sad news about Sandy Creed’s illness. I corresponded with Sandy, and we reminisced about our superb trip to Europe. It must have been a great joy to Sandy and Alex to have three of Sandy’s best friends, you, Warren Thomas, and Charlie Orr, there at the end of his life. My father also succumbed to melanoma in 1996, which originated during the war when he was badly sunburned in North Africa.

“To Marine Corps OCS after law school, one year on active duty, and in the reserves for five years, retiring as a captain in 1974. Amazingly, Bob Del Bello and I were in the same OCS platoon. In the 50th Reunion class book, I wrote, along with you, a tribute to Sandy, and one for Bob, which recounts my experiences with Bob in the Marines.

“Retired from investment banking in 2010, having spent the last 17 years in London. Nan and I travel to the U.S. annually, except this year due to COVID-19, to see our two daughters, who live in NYC and Boston, respectively. We have four grandchildren. In 2010, we bought an apartment in a brownstone in Park Slope. It was built for the last mayor of Brooklyn in 1885. Our home in South Kensington was built in 1844. We frequently travel to Europe, especially Italy, where we lived in Venice from 1989 to 1992, before moving to London. (Steve and Jeanette live in Paris, and we see them often.)”

Carl Calendar writes: “At Brookdale Community College at the Jersey Shore for 48 years, ending up as dean of humanities. Still give lectures for the lifelong learning program. I worked three years in the summers for the state department in Malaysia and Borneo, promoting better writing and press freedom. And, had summer grants to study Shakespeare at Princeton and Exeter College, Oxford. I have traveled widely, including walking 200 miles on the Camino de Santiago where I earned my Compostela. Married to Jody Shaughnessy Calendar, former managing editor of the Asbury Park Press and Bergen Record. We have two sons: Bart runs his own communication company in Montpellier, France, and Shane is a corporate attorney in New Jersey.”

Gar Hargens writes: “In Beantown last weekend to watch grandsons Grayson and Holland (senior co-captain and sophomore) play two basketball games for Newton North High School. I connected with Susan Mead for a long-overdue lunch and reminiscence about Kirt and Wesleyan. She has four terrific grandkids and splits time between Cambridge and Marion. In December, Missy and I were invited to Costa Rica to meet 2-month-old granddaughter, Charlie Collett Hargens, my seventh grandchild. Youngest daughter Kendra ’04 is a senior designer for Patagonia, and with generous maternity leave, elected to introduce Charlie to surfing on the West Coast and have us down.”

Jim Henderson writes of the young man—a gifted singer—whom he, wife Connie, and a loving community have supported, and who just completed his sophomore year at James Madison University on a full scholarship. Homeless through most of high school, he lived with Jim and Connie before college.

Jim and Connie visited with a former exchange student they hosted in the 1980s from Dusseldorf. They remain active with book clubs, classes, and a number of civic and charitable organizations. They traveled in England last summer, which tied into Connie’s longtime love of English gardens and participation in a woman’s Shakespeare class that has been active for over a century. They live in Carrollton, Va., and would welcome hearing from friends who are visiting the area.

Arthur Rhodes writes: “Just retired from Rush University Medical Center. Leslie and I will be spending more time with our combined families of five children and 10 grandchildren in Chicago and New Orleans. Homes in both places. Surprised how each day flies by when I am not seeing patients.”

Roger Spragg writes: “At UC San Diego for 50 years, now retired from the department of medicine and patient care but continuing some mentoring and investigative activities. Carole and I celebrated our 50th anniversary last winter with our two sons and their families at our home near Whitefish, Mont. Travel, hiking, and reading on some subjects I neglected at Wesleyan are major activities. I’d enjoy hearing (rspragg@ucsd.edu) from Wesleyan friends.”

Dick Travis writes: “In June 2019, Evelyn and I celebrated our 50th anniversary with our first return to Glacier National Park since our family was there in the summers of 1983 and 1984 when I was at the park with the U.S. Public Health Service. Then off to Banff National Park, Lake Louise, and other parts of the Canadian Rockies. Most of our life now revolves around church and grandchildren’s activities. Our grandchildren range in age from 22 in graduate school to a 9-year-old, and we are thankful to be in their lives.”

Due to the pandemic, we had our 55th Reunion online, nicely organized by Wesleyan (Mark Davis and Ann Goodwin ’79) and our fine leaders, Hugh Wilson and Mark Edmiston.

Because of a commitment, I got in on the conversation a bit late, but enjoyed seeing everyone on the zoom and hearing their voices.

Participating in the call were: Tom Bell, John Dunton, Gary Witten, Fred Nachman, Fred Joseph, Major Moise, Dan Gibbs, Art Rhodes, Win Chamberlin, Richard Smith, John Hall, Tony Schuman, Peter Kelman ’65, MAT ’66, Bob McLean, Jim Henderson, Steve Halliwell, Phil Russell, and Clyde Beers.

To cap off the good chat and family/professional updates, Jerry Melillo ’65, MAT ’68 was asked for his assessment of the future given the reality of climate change. Among other potential results he mentioned are cyclones, hurricanes, oil spills, etc. from a warmer Gulf Stream, and additional compound events. A sobering, but important, message on which to end our evening.

Thank you all for participating!

Sad news to report: Professor Norm Shapiro, Hon. ’72 and Jono Hildner passed away.

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu