Class Note 1943

A warm, uplifting, and most welcome letter from the son of one of my favorite classmates, Fred “Fritz” Geller, made my day! Jim Geller ’79 mailed it to this fledgling Class Notes writer. Jim, who lives in Devens, Massachusetts, wrote to say he was “happy to see ’43 Class Notes in DAM again.” His dad, who died 14 years ago, was Tri-Kap. Many of my closest friends were Tri-Kap: Tracy Breed, Bob Clark, High Lena, Jim Mullins, Russ Sherburne, Don Taylor, Howie Thomas, and Holden Waterbury. Son Jim also mentioned seeing, now and then, Jim Hyde (also Tri-Kap), a longtime family friend living in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, who is doing okay but slowing down (like the rest of us).

I’d like to reflect on how a student in Tokyo wound up in Hanover. It was February 1939 when principal Harold C. Amos of the American School in Japan waved me into the hallway and said, “I have an extra application for Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. You love to ski and ice skate, and your best friend, Harvey Daniels [who was a year ahead of me at the school], will be a freshman there too.” I didn’t even know where New Hampshire was, so we looked it up in the library. I mailed the application, and weeks later received Dartmouth’s letter of acceptance. My family and I were happy to read the news. It was a new challenge for me to study at a school “back east.” A month later Takanobu “Nobu” Mitsui phoned and we had lunch together in the school cafeteria. Nobu asked if I would like to share a dormitory room with him. And that’s how we wound up together in 109 Middle Mass, the largest dorm on campus with 96 students.

Heartfelt condolences to the families of Dr. Stan Bolster Jr., who died October 16, 2018; Robert Field, who died June 23, 2018; Charles Does, who died May 2, 2018; Robert Ehinger, who died March 8, 2018; Charles Kane, who died April 29, 2018; Robert Fieldsteel, who died September 25, 2018; and Roberto Herrera, who died January 2, 2015.

—George Shimizu, 2642 Saklan Indian Drive, Apt. 2, Walnut Creek, CA 94595