Phil Viereck came to Dartmouth in the U.S. Navy V-12 program. He then volunteered for overseas duty as a midshipman second class and was aboard the Casablanca class escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea when it was sunk on February 21, 1945, off Iwo Jima by kamikazes. He was rescued after two hours in the water. After his discharge Phil returned to Dartmouth and earned his A.B., majoring in economics and minoring in geology. He was very active with the Dartmouth Outing Club, captain of the Woodsmen Team and chairman of Cabin & Trail. He met Ellen at a square dance in Wyoming (at 6-foot-4-inches tall he was very visible) and they were married in December of 1948. They spent their honeymoon in one of the Wigwam Circle condos. He took some courses at Vassar while Ellen completed her degree. They then went to work for two years teaching Eskimos for the Alaskan Native Service at King Island in the Bering Straits. It’s 100 miles from the Arctic Circle, primarily a bird rookery, and Russia is visible on the horizon. They went to Plymouth State College in New Hampshire to get master’s degrees in education. For his thesis Phil wrote and Ellen, who still paints primarily landscapes, illustrated a book called Eskimo Island, which was published by John Daly Co. Through the years they have collaborated on several published books, including Independence Must be Won and New Land (an anthology of new world explorers from Verrazano to the Plymouth landings). They taught school in Cordova, Alaska, for two years before buying their home, a 1785 farmhouse, on 50 acres in North Bennington, Vermont, where they raised one son and three daughters and taught in the school system. Phil was principal of the grade school for the last 17 years of his career. They have always had horses and a large garden, where Ellen raised flowers and Phil grew vegetables. Phil is now in a nursing home, but is alert and cheerful. I heard him play the harmonica very well. We’ve missed him at our class outings. 


—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (315) 853-3582; djkurr@verizon.net