Class Note 1959
Issue
Mar - Apr 2017
These notes are being written at the end of 2016, but it will be mud season of 2017 in Hanover when they are published. Even though those in the senior wing of the class have already crossed into the fourscore age category, 2017 is the year when a majority of us will reach that milestone. Some may prefer to slink by without fanfare, but the odds are that, whatever our preferences, most occasions will be conspicuously celebrated by family and friends.
Many of us, once fully engaged in careers and civic activities and later in very active semi-retirements, have seen a loosening of the grip of professional and civic responsibilities. There are, of course, some classmates who just don’t slow down very much.
Mal Swenson continues to be actively engaged as the worldwide dean of architectural stone consultants. Our beloved anthem refers to “granite in their muscles and their brains,” but Mal has it in his DNA, having been raised in a family of granite quarriers and working during high school and college summer vacations as an apprentice quarrier and stonecutter. Following business school and a rocky stint in the family business, Mal became a consultant, first in China and then expanding around the globe, to countries and institutions that build with granite and other stone construction materials. Although his business has offices and employs people in a number of countries and Mal travels frequently, the nerve center of Swenson Stone Consultants is within earshot of the bells of Baker Library. When he gets a chance, Mal still enjoys downhill skiing.
Alan Ziegler is another classmate with a full plate of responsibilities. He continues to be engaged in the life insurance business in the Rochester, New York, area, although somewhat less actively than in previous years. In addition, he became a trustee of Keuka College in Penn Yan, New York, several years ago and, since 2015, has served as president of the board. Until he developed knee problems a couple of years ago, Al was a top-ranked national and international senior squash doubles player.
—Dick Hoehn, 845 Union St., Marshfield, MA 02050; (781) 834-4113; rhoehn@choate.com
Many of us, once fully engaged in careers and civic activities and later in very active semi-retirements, have seen a loosening of the grip of professional and civic responsibilities. There are, of course, some classmates who just don’t slow down very much.
Mal Swenson continues to be actively engaged as the worldwide dean of architectural stone consultants. Our beloved anthem refers to “granite in their muscles and their brains,” but Mal has it in his DNA, having been raised in a family of granite quarriers and working during high school and college summer vacations as an apprentice quarrier and stonecutter. Following business school and a rocky stint in the family business, Mal became a consultant, first in China and then expanding around the globe, to countries and institutions that build with granite and other stone construction materials. Although his business has offices and employs people in a number of countries and Mal travels frequently, the nerve center of Swenson Stone Consultants is within earshot of the bells of Baker Library. When he gets a chance, Mal still enjoys downhill skiing.
Alan Ziegler is another classmate with a full plate of responsibilities. He continues to be engaged in the life insurance business in the Rochester, New York, area, although somewhat less actively than in previous years. In addition, he became a trustee of Keuka College in Penn Yan, New York, several years ago and, since 2015, has served as president of the board. Until he developed knee problems a couple of years ago, Al was a top-ranked national and international senior squash doubles player.
—Dick Hoehn, 845 Union St., Marshfield, MA 02050; (781) 834-4113; rhoehn@choate.com