Class Note 1966
Issue
Nov - Dec 2018
In September 1962 Hector Motroni moved into brand new Bissell Hall. That’s where he first encountered Dan Gulden. Safe to say they hit it off. Hector and Dan roomed in the same Bissell suite for the next four years, along with classmates Gary Rubloff, Greg Sharp, Paul Stockstad, and David Stout.
In April, a snappy 21,690 days after Hector and Dan first met, Hector and his wife, Myra, attended the wedding of Dan and Candice Gulden’s daughter, Gina, in Exuma, Bahamas. “The wedding on Jolly Hall beach was breathtaking,” Hector said. “It is hard to imagine that Dan and I were freshmen 56 years ago!” It is, indeed!
Scott Cheyne retired about a decade ago after 31 years helping build the Boston-based advertising firm of Hill Holiday into a national powerhouse. He reports that he’s still close to a number of allegedly retired classmates—Dick Sheaff, the renowned art director and graphic designer who worked on more than 500 published U.S. postage stamps and who still maintains the fascinating website www.sheaff-ephemera.com (check it out!) from his Bethel, Vermont, home; Dr. Win Steubner, who spent 30 years as a primary care doctor in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and has now immersed himself in volunteer leadership roles with a half dozen Berkshire County organizations, from the Visiting Nurses Association to the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation; and former Vietnam Marine fighter pilot Kevin Trainor, who stepped away from a 40-plus-year career as a lawyer in Twin Falls, Idaho, earlier this year and remains a licensed river guide, contract charter pilot, and devoted Harley rider.
A possible Netflix pilot? Utah high school student Steve Coles decides he wants to be a marine biologist, but is not sure what that means. It just so happens that Dartmouth offers its first course in marine biology in our junior year. Steve is one of six in the course. He goes on to earn a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Hawaii, where he meets Renuka from Fiji via New Zealand. They marry, settle in Hawaii forever, and raise two kids—Devi, who lives in Geneva, and Sean, now in L.A.—each of whom now has two adorable children.
“I’ve had the great opportunity to work in or observe coral reef environments throughout the world and, to my surprise,” Steve says, “am still involved in research after being retired nine years.” His latest research, on whether corals could have adapted to higher water temperatures during the last 50 years, is just out.
Other episodes can cover Steve and Renuka’s travel adventures and Indy, Steve’s amazing golden retriever pet therapy dog, which cheers 80 to 100 people each month.
On the last weekend in July Pete Barber, Bill Duval, Tim Barnard, and Warren Cook ’67 were in Princeton, New Jersey, to remember the life and legacy of Bill Smoyer ’67. Bill’s sister, Nancy Smoyer, traveled from Alaska to join Bill’s friends and teammates at the informal graveside ceremony 50 years after Bill’s tragic death in Vietnam. A lasting void. Vivid, warm memories.
Our deepest sympathies to the friends and families of two classmates who passed away earlier this year: Jim Tent, a dedicated college professor and historian, and Dick Wells, an early computer pioneer.
—Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (914) 860-4945; lgeiger@aol.com
In April, a snappy 21,690 days after Hector and Dan first met, Hector and his wife, Myra, attended the wedding of Dan and Candice Gulden’s daughter, Gina, in Exuma, Bahamas. “The wedding on Jolly Hall beach was breathtaking,” Hector said. “It is hard to imagine that Dan and I were freshmen 56 years ago!” It is, indeed!
Scott Cheyne retired about a decade ago after 31 years helping build the Boston-based advertising firm of Hill Holiday into a national powerhouse. He reports that he’s still close to a number of allegedly retired classmates—Dick Sheaff, the renowned art director and graphic designer who worked on more than 500 published U.S. postage stamps and who still maintains the fascinating website www.sheaff-ephemera.com (check it out!) from his Bethel, Vermont, home; Dr. Win Steubner, who spent 30 years as a primary care doctor in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and has now immersed himself in volunteer leadership roles with a half dozen Berkshire County organizations, from the Visiting Nurses Association to the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation; and former Vietnam Marine fighter pilot Kevin Trainor, who stepped away from a 40-plus-year career as a lawyer in Twin Falls, Idaho, earlier this year and remains a licensed river guide, contract charter pilot, and devoted Harley rider.
A possible Netflix pilot? Utah high school student Steve Coles decides he wants to be a marine biologist, but is not sure what that means. It just so happens that Dartmouth offers its first course in marine biology in our junior year. Steve is one of six in the course. He goes on to earn a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Hawaii, where he meets Renuka from Fiji via New Zealand. They marry, settle in Hawaii forever, and raise two kids—Devi, who lives in Geneva, and Sean, now in L.A.—each of whom now has two adorable children.
“I’ve had the great opportunity to work in or observe coral reef environments throughout the world and, to my surprise,” Steve says, “am still involved in research after being retired nine years.” His latest research, on whether corals could have adapted to higher water temperatures during the last 50 years, is just out.
Other episodes can cover Steve and Renuka’s travel adventures and Indy, Steve’s amazing golden retriever pet therapy dog, which cheers 80 to 100 people each month.
On the last weekend in July Pete Barber, Bill Duval, Tim Barnard, and Warren Cook ’67 were in Princeton, New Jersey, to remember the life and legacy of Bill Smoyer ’67. Bill’s sister, Nancy Smoyer, traveled from Alaska to join Bill’s friends and teammates at the informal graveside ceremony 50 years after Bill’s tragic death in Vietnam. A lasting void. Vivid, warm memories.
Our deepest sympathies to the friends and families of two classmates who passed away earlier this year: Jim Tent, a dedicated college professor and historian, and Dick Wells, an early computer pioneer.
—Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (914) 860-4945; lgeiger@aol.com