Class Note 1951
Issue
Sep - Oct 2018
In a column earlier this year I quoted Andy Pincus, whose research shows that two-thirds of us served on active duty following graduation. Parke Sickler points out that nearly 10 percent of these veterans were enlistees in the very selective U.S. Marine Corps, and many of them fought in Korea. Highly decorated ’51s in this group were John Hoskins, Bud Lang, Rob Jackson, Jerry Mitchell, and Dick Reed.
Bill Mulligan was a World War II veteran before enrolling with us in 1947 (U.S. Army in graves detection and identification). News of his death in 2012 in Monterrey, California, which only recently reached us, includes confirmation of his long-time service in the CIA, which honored him with its Distinguished Medal of Service.
Jack Skewes reports on a regular round of golf in Hanover with Mike Choukas, his North Country neighbor (“He often shoots his age”). Mike has at last hung up his hockey skates, but still skis “flat out,” according to Jack. Earlier this year Mike lost his wonderful wife, Nita, who was a regular hostess and day-brightener at our reunions.
The theater has been a long-standing joy for Jan and Don O’Dowd. Wherever they have lived they have launched or helped build theater companies. They are traveling less but still make an annual visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Don and Jan recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary at their home in Santa Barbara, California. Large-number wedding anniversaries are cropping up regularly among our classmates (Mary and Buck Scott also celebrated their 65th), a reminder of our advancing years. Another clue: Jean and I are part of a growing group whose “kids” have started to retire.
Katie Pfaff, Pinky’swidow, is an active volunteer. She helps look after a Syrian refugee family sponsored by her church in Stamford, Connecticut, drives seniors to medical appointments, and tutors young students. Doris and Joe Lindner and Elaine Bovaird also servetheir communities, Elaine following Jim on the board of the Winnetka Community House and overseeing the Jim Bovaird Memorial Gardens there.
We report with sadness the deaths of Ralph King and Bob Meyer.
—Pete Henderson, 450 Davis St., Evanston, IL 60201; (847) 905-0635; pandjhenderson@gmail.com
Bill Mulligan was a World War II veteran before enrolling with us in 1947 (U.S. Army in graves detection and identification). News of his death in 2012 in Monterrey, California, which only recently reached us, includes confirmation of his long-time service in the CIA, which honored him with its Distinguished Medal of Service.
Jack Skewes reports on a regular round of golf in Hanover with Mike Choukas, his North Country neighbor (“He often shoots his age”). Mike has at last hung up his hockey skates, but still skis “flat out,” according to Jack. Earlier this year Mike lost his wonderful wife, Nita, who was a regular hostess and day-brightener at our reunions.
The theater has been a long-standing joy for Jan and Don O’Dowd. Wherever they have lived they have launched or helped build theater companies. They are traveling less but still make an annual visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Don and Jan recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary at their home in Santa Barbara, California. Large-number wedding anniversaries are cropping up regularly among our classmates (Mary and Buck Scott also celebrated their 65th), a reminder of our advancing years. Another clue: Jean and I are part of a growing group whose “kids” have started to retire.
Katie Pfaff, Pinky’swidow, is an active volunteer. She helps look after a Syrian refugee family sponsored by her church in Stamford, Connecticut, drives seniors to medical appointments, and tutors young students. Doris and Joe Lindner and Elaine Bovaird also servetheir communities, Elaine following Jim on the board of the Winnetka Community House and overseeing the Jim Bovaird Memorial Gardens there.
We report with sadness the deaths of Ralph King and Bob Meyer.
—Pete Henderson, 450 Davis St., Evanston, IL 60201; (847) 905-0635; pandjhenderson@gmail.com