Having just received the class of 1941 list from the alumni magazine, I counted some 61 of us still going strong and almost 300 widows still in touch with the College! So almost 10 percent of our class has made it into the 90s, compared with far less than 1 percent of the U.S. general population of males. All epidemiological population studies agree that the major single factor in human longevity is support—financial, social and spiritual. We Ivy Leaguers should realize the gift of these ingredients. Having little else to have learned from you the past few months, I resort to the medical literature and quote the latest report for nonagenarians like us. From the U.S. Census Bureau: American nonagenarian population to quadruple by 2050: The population of Americans aged 90-plus nearly tripled in the past three decades, reaching 1.9 million in 2010, according to a new report released by the U.S. Census Bureau and supported by the National Institute on Aging. Those in the 90-plus-age range represent 4.7 percent of the 65-and-older population in the United States, according to the report. This is up from 2.8 percent in 1980. By the year 2050 the number of U.S. nonagenarians is expected to more than quadruple to roughly 8.7 million Americans. This age group should account for about 10 percent of all American seniors. I have a birth date December 6, 1920. Any one of you younger? So hang in there, ’41!


I have received belatedly a notice from Gilbert Stokes’ daughter, Stephanie Stokes Leguia, informing the College he died on August 3, 2007, and would very much have wanted his obituary recorded in the alumni magazine. Gil’s grandfather, Dudley Leavitt Stokes, father Leroy Stokes and twin brother Gordon ’40 all graduated from Dartmouth. She feels her father’s devotion to Dartmouth deserves a notice of his death and recognition of his outstanding teaching career (see the online obituary).


—Gene Stollerman, 53 Lyme Road, Apt. 10, Hanover, NH 03755; gstollerman2@comcast.net