Class Note 1962
Issue
January-February 2026
Class Note 1962. Following a $128.3-million refurbishment, the Hop reopened in October. New spaces include the 15,000-square-foot, $25-million Daryl and Steven Roth Wing with a theater and a performance space designed to accommodate dance and with movable seating for about 250. Dorothy and Frank Kehl, Elaine and Ernie Jacobs, Genie and Rusty Hayes, and Wendy and Jim Blair met on October 15 for the Irwin Kramer dinner in Ramsey, New Jersey. Jim reports that he and Wendy are in good health, considering, fit to lug three cords of wood (12,000 pounds, he figures) to the automatic log splitter.
Neil Drobny writes: “I was fortunate to retire to something as well as from something. Since moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2020, I have been part time on the faculty in the business college at Western Michigan University. I developed and lead a team-based student competition built around sustainability. Students work not for grades but for prize money, which I raise from corporate sponsors. It has been a nice way to stay engaged.” Al Cook checks in: “I have long thought that retirement was an idea to be avoided (for mental and physical health reasons), so I was delighted when my son, after a successful career in international relations, called from D.C. to ask if he could join me in my financial advisory firm. It’s been a wonderful 12-plus years together, and my ‘legacy’ clients have bonded with him, relieved that he is there to take over! Mary Jane and I continue to enjoy camping, especially in our beautiful Colorado mountains, recently coming back from a trip to Weston Pass at 10,200 feet, sleeping in a tent and on the floor with a mattress and sleeping bag. Mary Jane does Pilates and I swim and do weights, so we’re both pretty flexible.”
I regret to inform you of the deaths of George M. Billings Jr. of Kissimmee, Florida, on May 21, 2025; Barry W. Levine, M.D., of Newton, Massachusetts, on July 20, 2025; Lowell E. Jaeger of Lebanon, New Jersey, on July 30, 2025; and Charles “Chuck” C. Cohen of Naples, Florida, on August 27, 2025.
—David L. Smith, 1810 Columbine Pl., Sun City Center, FL 33573; (775) 870-2354; david@davidl smith.com
Neil Drobny writes: “I was fortunate to retire to something as well as from something. Since moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2020, I have been part time on the faculty in the business college at Western Michigan University. I developed and lead a team-based student competition built around sustainability. Students work not for grades but for prize money, which I raise from corporate sponsors. It has been a nice way to stay engaged.” Al Cook checks in: “I have long thought that retirement was an idea to be avoided (for mental and physical health reasons), so I was delighted when my son, after a successful career in international relations, called from D.C. to ask if he could join me in my financial advisory firm. It’s been a wonderful 12-plus years together, and my ‘legacy’ clients have bonded with him, relieved that he is there to take over! Mary Jane and I continue to enjoy camping, especially in our beautiful Colorado mountains, recently coming back from a trip to Weston Pass at 10,200 feet, sleeping in a tent and on the floor with a mattress and sleeping bag. Mary Jane does Pilates and I swim and do weights, so we’re both pretty flexible.”
I regret to inform you of the deaths of George M. Billings Jr. of Kissimmee, Florida, on May 21, 2025; Barry W. Levine, M.D., of Newton, Massachusetts, on July 20, 2025; Lowell E. Jaeger of Lebanon, New Jersey, on July 30, 2025; and Charles “Chuck” C. Cohen of Naples, Florida, on August 27, 2025.
—David L. Smith, 1810 Columbine Pl., Sun City Center, FL 33573; (775) 870-2354; david@davidl smith.com