Class Note 1958. The column prior to this one was written in a rehabilitation hospital, where secretaries go when they fall and break a hip! This one was written at home but with my spouse now occupying the rehab hospital bed after rebreaking the hip she broke 18 months ago! The last column therefore lacked a very important element that was not in reach there. This column will start with a catch up on the many, too many, classmates who have died in the meantime: Charle J. “Chuck” Neff Jr., Maylert M. Armstrong III, John F. “Jeff” Strayer Jr., Richard T. “Dick” Bilinsky, M.D., Wylie T. Scott Jr., M.D., Eric M. Horter, Herbert G. Isaacson, David C. Chapin, Jerome K. Green, David S. Harwood, Jerry Manne, George D. “Douglas” Richmond, Lee A. Wesselman.
All classmates who die are special, but this bakers’ dozen includes some names that shake our class foundation. I will highlight only one. Jerry Manne spent his enormously successful career trading commodities on the Chicago Board of Trade. He recorded complex trades on cards manually and said he’d only ever retire when he couldn’t do that anymore. True to his word, he retired when he couldn’t do that anymore! He was a true Luddite and proud of it. Funny thing though, he used a cell phone that probably was more powerful than any computer that threatened his manual recording of trades! He was also a true aficionado of Scotch whisky of all meads and peats.
We heard from Ward Burian, who spends parts of his summers in Chatham, Massachusetts. He reports that he and Martha continue to live in a continuing care retirement community in Williamsburg, Virginia, the rest of the year. Proving you’re never too old to overcome your fears, Walter Vail reports that he underwent cataract surgery during the summer on both eyes that restored not only his ability to see his computer cursor but also to see well enough to drive again! Scottie is relieved to have been relieved of being his chauffeur!
—John Trimble, 2735 Golfside Court, Naples, FL 34110; (508) 737-7420; jtrim99@comcast.net