Class Note 1949
Issue
July-August 2020
Richie Wolff checked in from his senior living residence in Portland, Oregon, to let me know his brother, John ’46, had died. Richie and Beth returned from Bali in December on probably their last international excursion.
Slade Gorton lives in the adjacent town to Kirkland, Washington, where coronavirus was initially reported. He’s locked down but still telecommutes for his law firm in Washington, D.C.
George Day wrote from his assisted living apartment in Minneapolis, probably using a Braille keyboard. We share a common interest in the Civil War. George really regrets not being able to make our 70th reunion.
Our class lost one of its most prominent members—and I lost a close friend—when Charles J. Urstadt died on March 2 at his home in Bronxville, New York. Jay co-captained the Dartmouth swimming team (with San Francisco’s Deke Jackson) and set several world breaststroke age-group records into his 80s. Jay served as Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s state commissioner for housing and urban renewal, and he built the acclaimed Battery Park City on 92 acres of filled land along the Hudson River. For the last 30 years Jay was CEO of a NYSE company that operates 82 shopping centers. He is survived by his wife, Elinor, daughter Catherine, and son Charles.
The College sent me an obituary for Russell G. Hemenway, six years after he died at his home in New York City on January 30, 2014. In contrast to Jay, who was a major Republican Party supporter and well acquainted with Fred Trump and his son (whom he called “Donny” prior to his current job), Russ apparently was the most progressive liberal in our rather conservative class. Quoting from his obituary, Russ was “a true warrior spirit in American politics, combatting the radical right from the days of Joe McCarthy to the extemporary influence of extreme conservatism.” Russ served as national director for National Committee for an Effective Congress (founded in 1948 by Eleanor Roosevelt) for 48 years and “was considered the father of campaign finance disclosure reform in the early 1970s.” Russ was survived by his daughter, Anne, and his son, Brent.
—John Adler, 75 Silo Circle, Riverside, CT 06878; (203) 622-9069; (203) 637-3227, fax
Slade Gorton lives in the adjacent town to Kirkland, Washington, where coronavirus was initially reported. He’s locked down but still telecommutes for his law firm in Washington, D.C.
George Day wrote from his assisted living apartment in Minneapolis, probably using a Braille keyboard. We share a common interest in the Civil War. George really regrets not being able to make our 70th reunion.
Our class lost one of its most prominent members—and I lost a close friend—when Charles J. Urstadt died on March 2 at his home in Bronxville, New York. Jay co-captained the Dartmouth swimming team (with San Francisco’s Deke Jackson) and set several world breaststroke age-group records into his 80s. Jay served as Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s state commissioner for housing and urban renewal, and he built the acclaimed Battery Park City on 92 acres of filled land along the Hudson River. For the last 30 years Jay was CEO of a NYSE company that operates 82 shopping centers. He is survived by his wife, Elinor, daughter Catherine, and son Charles.
The College sent me an obituary for Russell G. Hemenway, six years after he died at his home in New York City on January 30, 2014. In contrast to Jay, who was a major Republican Party supporter and well acquainted with Fred Trump and his son (whom he called “Donny” prior to his current job), Russ apparently was the most progressive liberal in our rather conservative class. Quoting from his obituary, Russ was “a true warrior spirit in American politics, combatting the radical right from the days of Joe McCarthy to the extemporary influence of extreme conservatism.” Russ served as national director for National Committee for an Effective Congress (founded in 1948 by Eleanor Roosevelt) for 48 years and “was considered the father of campaign finance disclosure reform in the early 1970s.” Russ was survived by his daughter, Anne, and his son, Brent.
—John Adler, 75 Silo Circle, Riverside, CT 06878; (203) 622-9069; (203) 637-3227, fax