Class Note 1949
Issue
March-April 2020
Bob “Deke” Jackson checked in from Mt. Dora, Florida, regretting that he couldn’t travel to reunion. However, he and his wife, Nadine, are still “staying out of hospitals and nursing homes,” so he figures he’s ahead of the game. Deke thoughtfully sent me the following obituary of our honorary classmate.
Thaddeus Seymour Sr. died on October 26, 2019, in Winter Park, Florida, where he lived. Thad, who was of our vintage, came to Dartmouth as an English professor in 1954 and began a 10-year run as dean in 1959. He left Hanover in 1969 to become president of Wabash College in Indiana. In 1979 he became president of Rollins College in Winter Park, rejuvenating it through the next decade until he retired. Thad is survived by his wife, Polly, two sons, and two daughters.
Thomas Jefferson Swartz Jr. died unexpectedly at home in Chatham, New Jersey, on October 18, 2019. Just three weeks earlier Tommy was celebrating with me and a dozen other classmates at our 70th reunion. He stopped to visit Jay Urstadt on the way home, and I had expected to see him at a lecture in neighboring Morristown two days after he passed away. What a shock! Tommy spent his career at Thomas Textile Inc., a family manufacturer of infant and toddler textiles, retiring as president. He is survived by sons Tom III ’76 (who was with him at reunion), Gary, and Craig. Skip Ungar represented the class at his memorial service.
Walter Jan de Hoog died on March 16, 2016, probably in Santa Barbara, California, where he lived since 2000. Born in Holland and educated in Italy, Walter entered Dartmouth in 1946 as one of only two foreign-born students in our class. (Christian Bugge, Norway, was the other.) Walter spent most of his career making film documentaries. However, he will be especially remembered for Tulipano, his book detailing his harrowing 1944 escape from the Gestapo in Italy by jumping off a death train bound for the Mauthausen concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Austria. (Read the gripping extract that appeared in the July-August 2013 issue of DAM at dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/train-doom.)
—John Adler, 1623 Pelican Cove Road, BA123, Sarasota, FL 34231; (203) 622-9069; (941) 966-2943 (fax)
Thaddeus Seymour Sr. died on October 26, 2019, in Winter Park, Florida, where he lived. Thad, who was of our vintage, came to Dartmouth as an English professor in 1954 and began a 10-year run as dean in 1959. He left Hanover in 1969 to become president of Wabash College in Indiana. In 1979 he became president of Rollins College in Winter Park, rejuvenating it through the next decade until he retired. Thad is survived by his wife, Polly, two sons, and two daughters.
Thomas Jefferson Swartz Jr. died unexpectedly at home in Chatham, New Jersey, on October 18, 2019. Just three weeks earlier Tommy was celebrating with me and a dozen other classmates at our 70th reunion. He stopped to visit Jay Urstadt on the way home, and I had expected to see him at a lecture in neighboring Morristown two days after he passed away. What a shock! Tommy spent his career at Thomas Textile Inc., a family manufacturer of infant and toddler textiles, retiring as president. He is survived by sons Tom III ’76 (who was with him at reunion), Gary, and Craig. Skip Ungar represented the class at his memorial service.
Walter Jan de Hoog died on March 16, 2016, probably in Santa Barbara, California, where he lived since 2000. Born in Holland and educated in Italy, Walter entered Dartmouth in 1946 as one of only two foreign-born students in our class. (Christian Bugge, Norway, was the other.) Walter spent most of his career making film documentaries. However, he will be especially remembered for Tulipano, his book detailing his harrowing 1944 escape from the Gestapo in Italy by jumping off a death train bound for the Mauthausen concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Austria. (Read the gripping extract that appeared in the July-August 2013 issue of DAM at dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/train-doom.)
—John Adler, 1623 Pelican Cove Road, BA123, Sarasota, FL 34231; (203) 622-9069; (941) 966-2943 (fax)