Class Note 1942
Issue
November-December 2021
I asked Jon Mendes what contributed to his choice of Dartmouth and did it play out? His answer in his own words: “At 11 I was fortunate to acquire a pair of toe strapper skis that I would carry to the top of the golf course hill and then slide down. By age 17, in high school in New Rochelle, New York, I became a ski instructor. When the alumni interviewing committee came to my high school, the alumni thought they had the next captain of the Dartmouth ski team and admitted me to the class of ’42. However, the prep school boys were so good I did not make the freshman team. I did win the four-event intramural ski trophy, which on my 70th reunion I placed in the trophy cabinet of the Dartmouth Outing Club.
“During the course of my life from age 11 to 93 I skied in more than 80 places winter and summer—even was flown to a snow field at the top of a glacier in New Zealand and skied down.
“While at Dartmouth I had intended to apply to Harvard Business School; however, WW II intervened so I spent four years flying for the Marine Corps. At the end of WW II I was able to apply to the Harvard Business School’s class of 1947 and was accepted.”
Stu Finch reports that his two daughters and one son helped him celebrate his 100th birthday on August 6—with a party of 30 of his friends brought by bus from his retirement home. Stu used to do magic, so a magician was hired to entertain. The menu was surf and turf. There were two significant gifts. Stu never officially graduated from Dartmouth due to the fact that he left after three years to start medical school and then WW II started. His daughter wrote to the College, which looked up his records: Indeed, he had enough credits, and so Dartmouth granted him his official diploma in time for his 100th birthday. The second daughter looked up six generations of Stu’s and his wife’s ancestors to create a family tree in beautiful calligraphy and presented it to him as the second significant gift. Stu was thrilled.
Please send me news for the next column.
—Joanna Caproni, 370 East 76 St., Apt. A 406, New York, NY 10021; caproni@aol.com
“During the course of my life from age 11 to 93 I skied in more than 80 places winter and summer—even was flown to a snow field at the top of a glacier in New Zealand and skied down.
“While at Dartmouth I had intended to apply to Harvard Business School; however, WW II intervened so I spent four years flying for the Marine Corps. At the end of WW II I was able to apply to the Harvard Business School’s class of 1947 and was accepted.”
Stu Finch reports that his two daughters and one son helped him celebrate his 100th birthday on August 6—with a party of 30 of his friends brought by bus from his retirement home. Stu used to do magic, so a magician was hired to entertain. The menu was surf and turf. There were two significant gifts. Stu never officially graduated from Dartmouth due to the fact that he left after three years to start medical school and then WW II started. His daughter wrote to the College, which looked up his records: Indeed, he had enough credits, and so Dartmouth granted him his official diploma in time for his 100th birthday. The second daughter looked up six generations of Stu’s and his wife’s ancestors to create a family tree in beautiful calligraphy and presented it to him as the second significant gift. Stu was thrilled.
Please send me news for the next column.
—Joanna Caproni, 370 East 76 St., Apt. A 406, New York, NY 10021; caproni@aol.com