Dear classmates, as the amazing Mark Winkler mentioned in our most recent class newsletter, I have decided to step down after two years of writing our class column. Mark was a wonderful resource when I began, and I hope I can be of help to my successor, Stan Weil. I appreciate the opportunity that I have had to serve our class.


As I write my last column, I find myself reminiscing; earlier this month my husband and I attended our younger son’s graduation in Hanover. Owen ’11 joins his older brother, Drew ’08, as a Dartmouth alum. For my family, it’s the end of an era that began with me in 1975. I hope it’s one that the next generation will continue! I hadn’t expected our sons to have the same Dartmouth experience I had, but I was still surprised to see the College through their eyes.


While Conan O’Brien’s speech was a highlight of the weekend, so was seeing Dartmouth trustees Peggy Epstein Tanner and Peter Robinson standing behind George H.W. Bush, President Kim and Conan O’Brien for photos in front of the Hop. Peggy’s son Eric was also graduating. In other Commencement weekend activities, Gregg Engles was elected as a trustee. Congratulations to him, and three cheers to our great class for having three trustees. In the Alpha Delta tent, at an evening-before-graduation dinner for brothers and their families, Owen and I were joined by Jon Zehner and his son Carl, Lyman Missimer and his son Lyman and Bob Grant and his son Charlie. And certainly there were other ’79s in town for Commencement as well. 


Through the past few years I have taken a lot of time to think about my own undergraduate years. I am so appreciative of the wonderful education, the rich experiences, and the phenomenal professors, including Penner, Oden, Stinson, Green (both of them!), Lyons (both of them!), Higgins, Hirsch and Rassias. I made great friendships, and have stayed in touch with Cindy Vitko.I had friends I have reconnected with such as Tom O’Neil, Brendan Cameron, Burr Gray, Adam Samuels and Bill Newell. I had important relationships, such as the one with Ames Abbot. I have lost touch with people I spent a lot of time with, such as Britta Hurley, Doug Barker and Sandy Pooler. And I have wondered why I didn’t keep in closer touch with Belinda Heckler or Colleen Sullivan. But in the past two years I have had an excuse to get in touch with Tom Trethaway, Renée Diao, Margot Schaaf and others. And that makes me think I should continue to reach out to classmates I haven’t spoken with in years, such as Owen Dempsey, Simon Margolis, Steve Munger and Andy Farb. Where are my former trip mates or roommates Rachel Krevans, Robin Louis and Ann Radosevich? Why haven’t I tracked down Joe Neuhaus, who was in Hitchcock with me, to tell him I live in his hometown?


I know you all have your own memories and your own stories. Please share them!


—Deborah Krieger Jennings, 34 Godfrey Road, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043; (973) 744-2582; djennings@mka.org