Class Note 1970

Greetings, fellow ’70s. In my last column I warned that if no one offered up news, Ann and I would be forced to seek it out. Well, the past two months have been spent validating that threat. So send news or risk a visit from the Wilsons. Think we’re kidding?


Our first visit (victim) was Geoff Scott. Prior to a trip to North Carolina in March I contacted Geoff and he and Caroline were kind enough to invite us for dinner at their Chapel Hill home. Geoff and Cari relocated from Connecticut almost 10 years ago and are loving life as Tar Heels. As I write this Cari has just finished her first Boston Marathon. Geoff has several “Bostons” under his belt and has since moved on to triathlons.


Knowing we would be in the Triangle area of North Carolina I also reached out to Tom Merrick, whose last address in our book was the town of Cary. Tom responded that he and Nan were at their winter residence in Florida. Lucky for Ann and me that we were headed to the sunshine state a few weeks after that. Tom and Nan were kind enough to host us, Jennifer and David Rowe and Sandy and Tom Doyle for an evening at their home. Merrick recently retired as CEO of Doe and Ingalls, a chemical supply chain management company that he co-founded in 1986. He remains a member of its board of directors.


Although retired from his dental practice in Holbrook, Massachusetts, Steve Straus is still active on the local music scene. A recent article noted that he would be playing as part of a jazz combo at a benefit brunch on Sunday and then, two days later, perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with a chamber orchestra. Talk about range. Many of you will remember Steve as a founding member of the Dixieland group, The Dartmouth Five, during our undergraduate days.


I recently had a chance to catch up with freshman and sophomore year roommate Bob Huiskamp on the phone. Following Dartmouth Bob married his high school sweetheart, Patti, and embarked on a successful career in the paper industry. Bob and Patti eventually landed in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he was general manager of James River’s paper operations there. A few years back he switched careers to the investment advisory profession. Bob vehemently denies that he advises clients to print money on the paper he used to manufacture.


That’s all for now folks. To all the dad’s out there, happy Father’s Day. The class news inventory is running dangerously low so please send word about you, your offspring, your spouse or any other class-related persons of interest.


—Bill Wilson, 85 Blueberry Lane, Concord, MA 01742; wilson8689@aol.com