Class Notes 1948

As you may know, we are planning to shut down our class as an active member of the College community after our 75th reunion. If you have any thoughts, you would like to express through the Class Notes, let me know and I’ll pass them along in my last notes in the September issue.

The College has offered to put ’48 class members up gratis at the Hanover Inn for two nights during the reunion. It would be nice to give Bud Munson some company and have a nice closure.

Very best to you all.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

No new news to report, but I regret we have recently lost two class members.

Henry H. Woodward Jr. died October 31, 2022, of complications from Covid. Hank was commissioned in 1945. He was called back for Korea and finally released as a lieutenant. At Dartmouth he was a premed major and stayed on campus for an M.A. in geology. He joined the U.S. Geological Survey and became the geologist for the State of Maine Development Commission in 1950. He earned a geology Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1955. He moved to Beloit College, where he soon advanced to chairman of the geology department, a position he held from 1957 to 1987. Hank and his wife, Helen, had two children and three grandchildren. He remembered good times at Dartmouth, including intramural hockey and baseball, skiing, and some hunting. He said that Dartmouth made possible many of the good things that made up his life. He was supportive of the College, and I had several pleasant conversations with him during recent years.

Edward C. Curtis died October 1, 2022. Ed joined the class in 1944 and subsequently went into the Navy. Returning to campus, he became a member of Gamma Delta Chi, the band, Barbary Coast, and the Handel Society and majored in music. Following graduation he got into the consumer finance business and made it his career. He and his wife, Henrietta, had three children and four grandchildren. They moved to Florida in 1957 and remained there the rest of his life. He enjoyed golf and fishing.

Hope you all had happy holidays. While we miss our home in Clinton, New York, living outside of New York City we see much more of the family, which is a convenience to them and nice for all of us. We gather in July at Joyce’s family house in Ocean City, New Jersey, where we rent a couple of condos and average about 17 for dinner during a week or so. It has gotten to be a tradition and it’s nice the family wants to be together.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Our class president Bud Munson is doing well and handling all the details required by the College to sustain a class. Following are his comments on what’s going on at Dartmouth in Hanover. Utilizing land from the golf course approximately 1 mile north of campus, the College plans to build housing for 400 students, probably in three dormitories. This would not be suitable for freshmen, who need to absorb more of the college and town environment. It will require shuttle buses. Although Thayer Hall will continue to be fully engaged, the residential units will have kitchenettes available, which Bud says it is a trend in colleges today. The approximate $40-million internal renovation of Dartmouth Hall should be completed by your reading. The next major renovation in the same order of magnitude will be for Hopkins Center.

After 46 years as a coeducational college, Dartmouth has a new president, Sian Leah Beilock. She is a cognitive scientist with a strong administrative background as a provost and then as president of Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia University. She sounds like a great choice.

Alvin Everett Gilbert died July 11, 2006, in South Paris, Maine, we have just learned. Al joined the Navy and trained as a pilot during World War II. He studied at the University of North Carolina and Dartmouth (probably V- 12) and in 1950 graduated from the University of Maine, Orono. He joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture, serving 30 years, 17 as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service traveling and working throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. After retiring in 1982 he returned to his hometown of Danville, Maine, with his wife, Jane, and family of five children and became actively involved in the nearby Auburn community.

Donald J. Graham Jr. died October 8, 2021, in Seattle at the age of 98. At Dartmouth Don was a member of Phi Delta Alpha/Phi and received his A.B. in 1949. In 1952 he earned his J.D. from the University of Washington. He is survived by sons Donald III and Frederick.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Under the heading of “When insults had class,” John Price was kind enough to pass along to me “these glorious insults from an era before the English language got boiled down to four-letter words.” I thought they were more fun than talking about living in retirement homes.

“He had delusions of adequacy,” said Walter Kerr.

“He had all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire,” said Winston Churchill.

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary,” said William Faulkner about Ernest Hemingway.

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it,” said Moses Hadas.

“He has no enemies, but is intentionally disliked by his friends,” said Oscar Wilde.

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play: bring a friend if you have one,” said George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill. “Cannot possibly attend the first night, will attend second if there is one,” said Winston Churchill in response.

“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here,” said Stephen Bishop.

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator,” said John Bright.

“Some cause happiness whenever they go, others whenever they leave,” said Oscar Wilde.

“He used statistics as a drunken man uses a lamppost for support rather than illumination,” said Andrew Lang.

“He has Van Gogh’s ear for music,” said Billy Wilder.

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but I’m afraid this wasn’t it,” said Groucho Marx.

Please send me any information you might have that you think will be fun or of interest to the class.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

John Price was nice enough to send me an email, which I’ll quote to you. “Barbara and I have been together for 27 years. We got married four years ago and find that we’re even closer than before. Barbara is a retired teacher and now a docent at our local art museum. Her work is very limited because of the pandemic. Last year I retired after 64 years of practicing child and adult psychiatry. I’m playing tennis several times a week with a bunch of 80-year-olds who should know better. It’s good exercise.

“We have a large flower garden, and I specialize in growing and hybridizing daylilies. Here they bloom mostly from mid-June to the end of July. I wanted more to bloom in August so I started to hybridize them with that goal in mind. Fifteen years ago I began making crosses starting at the end of July and continuing through August so that most of their offspring would bloom in August. Now my daylilies bloom all summer long! When I want to make a cross between two daylilies, I snip off a stamen from one (at the end of the stamen is the anther, which is covered with pollen) flower and rub the pollen against the tip of the pistil of a flower on the other plant. Amazingly, cells in the pollen extend down the pistil to the base of the flower, where the eggs are. If they fertilize—about half the time—egg seeds develop. I then harvest the seedpods about six to eight weeks later and plant the seeds outdoors the next spring. 

“Lastly, we play bridge. During the pandemic we started playing with friends on the internet on a site called Bridgebase. What a tough game! We both have our booster shots and are beginning to play bridge in person and go to restaurants. We are both very troubled by the increasing polarization in our politics and hope our country can become more reasonable.

“I look forward to our 75th and hope to see many of you there!”

I look forward to hearing from you on anything you would like to talk about—from Dartmouth to daylilies. Silence is not golden!

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Unit 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

I was able to reach John VanRaalte at the Becher Nursing Home in Ossining, New York (914-941-730), where he is recovering from a broken hip. He is doing well but will be there for some time. John’s probably our most versatile athlete lettering in squash and tennis at Dartmouth, best golfer at our reunions, and most remarkably an accomplished polo player. Bobo Russell’swidow, Barbara, called to send the class a film she had just found of our 10th reunion that she had been asked for years ago. She is still living in the same old house and enjoying the view over the Hudson River. Her daughter lives nearby and does all her shopping and her two sons visit occasionally. She is doing well and walks every day.

Bud Munson, Ellie Huke, and Judy Cross, who was John Hatheway’scompanion for a number of years, are the last Hanover area residents involved with our class and still get together for an occasional monthly lunch. Judy broke her hip this year but sounds fine and is handling this and her balance problem with “lots of physical therapy.” The best way to reach her is using Kendal’s base number, 603-643-8900.

Ronald I. Spiers died June 24 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He was a distinguished career diplomat who had a long involvement with the Dickey Center. He retired in 1992 with two Presidential Distinguished Executive Service awards and the honorary rank of career ambassador awarded by the president and the U.S. Senate that is reserved for a small number of career officers who have served with distinction in the highest positions of the foreign service. He was the highest-ranking American citizen in the UN secretariat. I covered his remarkable career in more detail in recent Class Notes.

Gordon K. Mann died July 1 in Meredith, New Hampshire. He graduated from Milton (New Hampshire) High School, received an A.B. from Dartmouth and an M.Ed. from Boston University. He also studied mathematics at the University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont, and Louisiana State University. He served in the U.S. Army in 1945 and 1946. Gordon came to Conway, New Hampshire, in 1950 and taught mathematics at Kennett High School for some 30 years. He also coached baseball, football, basketball, and softball and was inducted into the N.H. Coaching Hall of Fame. Hiking, travel, and photography became his hobbies and during his lifetime he visited 73 countries.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Considering incorrect addresses, we are now down to around 30 reachable, active class members. Class Notes are probably our best means of reaching them and others who scan these notes. After some 10 years on the job, I am no longer reaching out to contact class members for detailed information, which is mostly redundant as we are now doing little traveling. I am very interested in hearing from you guys on any subject you would like to touch on regarding you and your progenies, thoughts on the College, or anything else you would like to cover. Using the below addresses you can send me a message, just dictate an email, or give me a holler on the phone. You don’t have to do any of the high-tech stuff with which your children and grandchildren are so comfortable. I also read letters with enthusiasm.

In November 2019 Joyce and I moved into a retirement community to be near our family, and a week or two later flew down to our winter golfing community in Naples, Florida, where we still are at this writing. With our two shots behind us we should be home shortly. Understandably, the difference between the two communities in handling the Covid are remarkable. While both require masks and spacing, the golfing community is much more aggressive in providing meals with entertainment. During the epidemic they have built courts and established strong programs for pickle ball, bocce, and croquet. Tennis and golf are normal except for allowing single golf carts.

Glen B. Peck Jr. died December 26, 2020. A lifelong resident of Cambridge and Belmont, Massachusetts, he was a graduate in 1944 of Cambridge High and Latin School, where he was president of the class and a member of the hockey team. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II in the Pacific theater. After graduating from Dartmouth he went to the Northeastern Law School, where he received his J.D. After a brief law career he pursued his passion to teach children. He taught elementary school in the Cambridge school system for more than 40 years. Glenn was a tireless teacher, sub master, and president of the Cambridge Teachers Association. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and their four children. Daughter Carolyn and husband Marco live in Hanover.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave, Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Not much going on in our class right now with our diminishing vigor and with Covid, traveling and visiting is at a minimum. Our fully funded scholar-athlete award is suspended until the Ivies resume competition. Our president, Bud Munson, hopes to keep the class operative until the 75th reunion, which reminds me of some of the nice physical things we have left the College. We continue to support our rocking chairs on the porch of the Hanover Inn for the next five years and, I hope, in perpetuity. The program we established with the Hood Museum is noted by a plaque there. We have a recent chair on the north end of the campus south of Hitchcock. Last and probably least, but one of my favorites, is a little garden in front of Crosby that gets overgrown and which I weeded out on two mini-reunions.

Neil Gilbert, professor emeritus at University of California Davis (UCD), passed away last April. He completed his A.B. at Dartmouth, where he enjoyed hiking and camping with the Outing Club, and a Ph.D. at Columbia in the history of philosophy. Neil went on to teach at North Carolina State College, Cornell, Columbia, the University of Buffalo, and UCD, where he helped establish a religious studies major. In 1968 he received a Guggenheim fellowship, which he considered one of his life’s highlights, to research manuscripts and ancient libraries of Europe.

Jerome H. Zins died October 4, 2020, with his wife of 68 years, Edith, at his side. After graduating from Dartmouth, where he was a member of Pi Lambda Phi, and New York University Medical School, Jerry joined the U.S. Air Force. He went on to a fulfilling career in private practice as an internist specializing in cardiology. He raised his family of four children in Short Hills, New Jersey. While he had strong instincts and opinions, he was always open-minded in lively discussions and willing to listen and learn.

Donald H. Smith died November 12, 2019. He was a member of the French Club and Jack-o-Lantern at Dartmouth, where he earned his A.B. before earning an M.C.S. at Tuck in 1949. He subsequently earned an M.B.A. at Stanford in 1954.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

I had a nice chat with Bud Munson, our president and general factotum and only class member still living in the Hanover area. He received a nice note from Bob Herrick’s widow, Margaret, who says she is still active living in their house in La Jolla, California, and just this year was having someone handling the gardening. Pete Foster told Bud he and Anne are very satisfied with their retirement home in Haddam, Connecticut, but commented most of the residents were widows.

At this writing apparently half the classes at Dartmouth will be virtual. Tricky, particularly for foreign students. Thayer School has completed its major construction, and Bud’s reaction is that the last building looks like a medieval fortress. That area reminds me of the main campus at Duke, which is one large building after another around a rectangular mall with a little grass on which you’re not allowed to walk. Dartmouth says the shortage of land and an annual seven-figure loss are causing the closing of the golf course. We are purportedly a rural campus in a charming town and this diminishes the school. It’s a shame.

I have talked about Jerry Wensinger in this column and know he is only recently retired as professor emeritus of German and the humanities at Wesleyan College. He is shown on the internet as having written 33 works (including several books) in 100 publications in three languages. He met Wallace Bradway ’47 at Dartmouth and they became close friends until Wallace died this year and left his estate to the College, which asked Jerry for his written comments, which I am briefly excerpting. Wallace had the highest grade-point average in his class at Dartmouth, was an avid reader, and joined the Chicago Art Institute later in his career. Wallace and Jerry kept in touch, as they both had summer homes in New Hampshire, and in the 1970s and 1980s traveled to Italian apartments in Florence, Venice, and then Rome. Wallace retired earlier than Jerry and for the last 25 years entertained friends in his large apartment just outside of Yale University. Jerry comments, “Wallace was a kind, modest gentleman; a person of abundant good cheer, deep intelligence, simple tastes; a brilliant conversationalist; someone for whom the guest invariably came first; and generous to a fault. It took a while to get to know him, but the wait was invariably repaid in manifold ways.“

This indeed speaks well of both parties.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

I received a thoughtful note from Chip Gedney ’70 that his mother, Ginny, passed away April 3 in her sleep at the Greenwich (Connecticut) Nursing Home, where she lived for the past five years. For many years she and Bud Gedney hosted Sunday brunch at our annual mini-reunions. Joyce and I remember their home in the country outside of Hanover off a very rural road in the woods with a lovely meadow replete with a huge and fortunately very friendly dog. They served a grand repast and the get-together was always a highlight to our weekend.

I’d sure like to hear from any of you guys or gals on what you may be doing, what your progeny are doing, and any memories you’d like to pass along. You can reach me by phone, cell message, or email as listed below. Not the latest technology, but adequate for our generation. During the years I have avoided listing recently deceased class members because they are listed in DAM, but because my phone calls to active members are becoming redundant, I’ll comment on personal aspects on some of these obituaries.

Robert D. Eckerson died January 27. He joined the Navy at age 17, learned to fly a Stearman biplane, and was a member of the Navy V-5 and V-12 at Dartmouth, earning his Thayer degree in 1949. His sister, Margaret, introduced him to Arlene Linder, a beautiful Swedish girl from New York City whom he married in 1948. They had two children and were married for 66 years until her death in 2014. They loved to explore the world together, traveling to six continents and memorably, with their children in the back of a newly purchased Volkswagen Beetle, driving across Germany, France, Sweden, and the winding roads of the Alps. In addition to his engineering career, Bob was a meticulous woodworker and built furniture and beautiful trim work. He also designed one of their houses.

Jeremy M. Copleston died December 11, 2019. He enlisted in the Navy in 1945 and, after graduating from Dartmouth, found his calling as a self-taught engineer. He and Joyce were married for 65 years. After retirement he served as a Coxsackie, New York, councilman and worked on building the Vedder Library. He was a lifetime member of the Coxsackie Yacht Club. He thoroughly enjoyed tending to the farm, hunting, flying, skiing, snowmobiling, and boating. Bob showed a great love for all animals, large and small.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Class of 1948 scholarship-athlete awards for 2019 were James Foye ’20 for basketball and Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 for track. James started all 30 games as a junior and was one of the top three scorers for Dartmouth. He is an economics major with a 3.96 GPA. Cha’Mia is a psychology major and an academic all-American with a 3.67 GPA. She was two-time Ivy League champion in the long jump and six-time champion in the hurdles. She was twice named most outstanding performer in the Ivy indoor championships. Winners used to join us at our mini-reunions, but we may have had our last mini, as it was cancelled last year for lack of attendance. Pat McAllister has been an honorary member of our class and run a very active and successful widow’s program for many years, with widows representing an increasing portion of our reunion attendees. She is no longer able to handle this program, which apparently will not continue without her. On behalf of the class and myself I would like to extend our appreciation of all the time and effort she has extended for us. Pat, you’ve been great!

Through the years I have casually kept abreast of class members downsizing into retirement communities. Last year Joyce and I decided to do it, as all four of our daughters were 250 miles or more away from Clinton, New York. Sorting out all the details and coordinating various responsibilities was extremely time consuming. While we ended up outside of New York City, we spent some time in Boston and had a great time at the Harvard-Dartmouth game, where to our pleased surprise we were late because they had an estimated attendance of more than 20,000. We bought tickets and without looking at them walked up to the last row of the stadium and over to about the 35-yard line. It turned out that by the end of the first half much of the Dartmouth student body had the same idea and we were in the middle of the noisiest rooting section. It was like being back in the 1940s, and while we had to stand up in the second half, it was great fun. The ending was incredible. We turned the ball over twice in the last five minutes and with about two or three minutes to play, Harvard had first and 10 on our 4-yard line. With no timeouts left we got the ball back on the 8-yard line. Getting the ball to about the 50 with a couple of fourth-down passes was as remarkable as the final six-second hail Mary. Unfortunately, we lose our 250-pound running quarterback next year. I guess his injury caused us problems at both Cornell and Brown. However, a half a loaf is better than none.

Send me stuff. I don’t review basketball games.

—Dave Kurr, 603 Mountain Ave., Apt. 331, New Providence, NJ 07974; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Received a lovely note from Ellen Springstreen.She heard from Bob Eckerson that he had recently fallen and had to move to an assisted living facility. He is slowly on the mend and looking forward to our 75th reunion, as does Ellen, who enjoyed the 70th. Her granddaughter, Jess Menville ’16, is a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps and was recently home after a seven-month deployment. Ellen didn’t know Lou until his time as a student at New Brunswick Seminary, but understood his love of Dartmouth and commented on his activities there from letters she recently uncovered. Like many of us he came to Dartmouth in the summer of 1944. It was broiling, and he and his roommate, Bob Kirkpatrick, moved from room 302 to 114 at Wheeler at an increase of $10 a month because it was lower and cooler. Lou attended a lecture by Robert Frost and commented, “First half very interesting, but the second half I spent petting his Collie.” He sent the laundry home weekly and enjoyed the goodies that were always in the returned crate. He was drafted in January 1945, served in the Army in Germany, and returned to Dartmouth in the fall of 1946.

I got a call from Mort Thalhimer ’46 (graduated in 1948, Navy V5 flier), who said my recent comment on the Army shirt (explained below) reminded him of a recent visit he got from a woman who had a Navy summer jacket with his name on the collar that she wanted to keep as memorabilia. To make it more complete he found a set of shoulder boards and wings for her. As for my Army shirt tale: Army always kept its squash courts very hot because this made for longer, exhausting rallies. In our match at Dartmouth, the unheated courts were well below freezing. If you dropped a ball from your waist it wouldn’t bounce above your ankle. I kept the points short, made lots of finishing shots, and the match was over before my opponent or the ball warmed up. Following Army-Navy custom, he offered me his shirt and said it was the first match he had lost. I declined the shirt and observed with only a little poetic license that it was the first I’d won.

—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Sam Katz, who is still collecting honorariums, was selected as one of the “25 Most Influential Alumni” in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine’s 250th anniversary issue that led off with Daniel Webster. Sam pioneered and promoted the widespread use of the measles vaccine, which wiped out the disease in the United States and transformed global children’s health. He and his pediatric infectious disease specialist wife, Dr. Catherine Wilfert, were the first in the United States to treat children with AZT, the first FDA-approved AIDS medication. 

Foxy Parker is hanging in there, but comments that the ski poles are now used for walking. Their two daughters, who live in Colorado, now come east to visit with him and Helen.

John VanRaelte’s heart problems keep him from driving, but he is coping well and he has a woman who comes in three times a week and leaves meals and food in the refrigerator. Let me reminisce. John was a fine golfer with an eight handicap at one time, an excellent equestrian and polo player, and he and I competed vigorously for ladder position on the Dartmouth varsity squash and tennis teams. No. 1 was a dubious honor in the latter instance, as in my senior year we faced leading amateur players ranked nationally, including Charlie Oliver at Army, ranked eighth; Dick Savitt at Cornell, who won Wimbledon in 1951; and Rolla Wray at Yale, who, while not ranked nationally, was in the same category of competence. My father saw only my match with Rolla. I was adjusting my Ace bandages (broken ankle skiing at, of all places, Oak Hill) after warmup, and he came over to offer some advice. I liked my dad; he always told it like it was. He said, “Son, I hope you are not under the illusion this is going to be a match.” I wasn’t—and it wasn’t.

If you want these Class Notes to continue, we really need some input. If what you’re doing is negative or boring, send me some reminiscences or stuff about your progeny by email, message, or cell phone. Next issue I’ll tell you how I got a not-so-sweaty Army shirt.

—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Bob Eckerson tells an interesting story about his relationship with our late classmate Lou Springsteen,who became a minister and presided over several of our reunion ceremonies in Rollins Chapel. His wife, Ellen, attended our 70th reunion. Bob writes: “I grew up in Old Tappan, New Jersey, a farm town for New York City. Within one month of my 17th birthday I was sworn into the Navy V-5 program, was sent to Dartmouth, and eventually learned to fly. After discharge I returned to Dartmouth in the engineering program (A.B. and master’s from Thayer) and had little contact with other undergraduates. After World War II it was decided to subdivide the Eckerson farm into pieces for the four children. When my sister received her piece, she chose to subdivide it for a church. The officers of the church realized they needed space for a manse and parking and contacted me for my adjacent piece of land. An agreement was reached and the land belonged to the church, which built a home for the minister. The church had several ministers as the years went by and in 1958 there was a call for a new minister. Who was knocking at the door but Lou Springsteen. He was accepted and was its minister for 35 years until he retired. In this way, I had contact with Lou each time there was a baptism, wedding, or funeral in my family.”

Sissi Shattuck advised that that she and Gil are both active, he with the Manahan photo collection and research of his family history and she with painting. She has sent several images of her recent work, from portraits to landscapes, reflecting a distinct and interesting style. Bud Munson thoroughly enjoyed a river cruise down the Rhine last summer. Rather than it being sedentary, he said that he had more than enough exercise walking through the villages and castles every day. Hugh Ettinger is still working regularly as a “jack of all trades” for a New Orleans private company owning thousands of apartment units in several states. More information on his doings in my next notes.

—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Regional family get-togethers are a lot of fun and from a generational point of view there is a nice sense of continuity watching cousins relate to each other. Pete Foster’s annual gathering—45 people this year–is held in July at the Charter Hotel near Vail, Colorado. He and I remonstrated that when our children start to retire it’s a clear sign we are aging. His oldest son, Michael, is retiring after a career working with psychologically disturbed students in the Middletown, Connecticut, school system. His other two children, Susan and David, are continuing interesting careers. Dr. Sue Foster has been the pastor of the East Woodstock (Connecticut) Congregational Church for the last 30 years. She completed her doctor of ministry degree at the Hartford Seminary in 2014. She comments, “I am a writer, preacher, retreat leader, counselor, wife, mother, volunteer chaplain, daughter, sister, friend.” Her new book, Retreats to Go: Twelve Creative Programs that Renew and Refresh, is available on Amazon. David Foster, who got his Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota, is a faculty member at Harvard, where he teaches ecology and is director of the Harvard Forest, the university’s 4,000-acre ecological laboratory and classroom in central Massachusetts. He is the principal investigator for its long-term ecological program. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, its more than 100 scientists and students investigate the dynamics of New England’s landscapes and the effects of climate change, human activity, and natural disturbances. His latest book, Meeting of Land and Sea, published in 2017, reviews the ecology and future of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Don Smith is no longer driving, but is mobile, healthy, still “mean and nasty,” and enjoying the weather in Los Angeles. He was very sorry to hear of John Hatheway’s passing, and we reminisced about when he, I, and Sonny Drury lived in the Tuck School dorms in 1949. He stayed in close touch with John and would get together for dinner with him and Judy during their annual visits to the L.A. area. He met with Sonny and Joan on occasions in Houston and commented on Sonny’s remarkable memory. Carl Felsenfeld joined the Fordham Law School faculty in 1983 and was teaching commercial law courses fulltime until he suffered a stroke two or three years ago. He now lives mostly indoors on Riverside Drive and says he has trouble remembering words (who doesn’t), but sounded vigorous and articulate over the phone. Incidentally, Judith’s name does not appear on our ’48 directory or the College list, but they have been happily married for nearly 40 years. I told Hank Woodward he could not join my LinkedIn network because I don’t have one. I casually asked what he was doing and found out one heck of a lot! In the past year he’s had a book titled Up River, Down River, Out to Sea published by Nook Press and available on Amazon. The story is about growing up in a commercial fishing community at the mouth of the Merrimac River, which flows southeast from New Hampshire into the Atlantic at Newburyport, Massachusetts. Undaunted, he has finished writing another book whose publication is only delayed by being digitalized (whatever that means). It’s to be titled Canoeing Guide to the Geology of the BWCA Quetico, which is a wilderness area in northern Minnesota and Canada. Tad and Georgette Comstock live in the same very attractive assisted care retirement community in Exeter, New Hampshire, as Ron Spiers. Tad uses a walker, enjoys the community, and plays some duplicate bridge to stay sharp. They are visited by lots of family and had 17 for Easter. Don’t forget the 70th and the Hanover Inn hospitality.

—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (781) 801-6716; djkurr@verizon.net

Warren Daniell had a successful hip replacement and an operation to untangle his prostate and says he is “Back to normal except for the use of a cane, which will, I hope, stop before the end of 2017.” With that behind them, he and Dot, encouraged by a long overdue Alaska Airlines direct flight from Boston, last August visited their daughter, Beth ’77, outside of Portland, Oregon. They then drove down to their annual family gathering of some 20 relatives in Ashland, a pleasant college town just north of California and home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where they have met since 1982 and almost feel as if it were a second home. They are near the top of the list for a retirement home in Concord, “but the move is going slow.” Foxy and Helen Parker have stayed close to home the last two years. Foxy was pretty well immobilized and had orthopedic back surgery with vertebra fusion in late 2016 from which he continues to recover. Helen has had a heart problem, which with rehab has been brought under control. At this writing they are planning to resume their annual Christmas visit with their two daughters living in Vail, Colorado. Helen and I both observed how family who move to the western mountain area tend to stay there. Foxy, a superb skier, is hoping to get on the cross-country boards. Historic regulars, they expect to attend our big 70th, where, I’m told, we’ll be guests of the Hanover Inn. Pete and Anne Foster have moved to a retirement home in Haddam, Connecticut. Their new phone number is (860) 345-0954. Similarly, Bud Munson’snew number is (603) 442-5782. Everyone at the mini liked his new condo. I am pleased not to have seen those black football uniforms worn at the Penn game last year. The Indian symbol and Eleazar Wheelock were fun, but a problem; the Big Green, blah, but okay; “Go Black”—come on. I would much appreciate hearing what’s going on with you or your progeny. Contacting me at the email below is the easiest way.

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

Ronald I. Spiers spoke with me from River Woods Retirement Home in Exeter, New Hampshire, that he and Patience find “very nice.” Ron is coping with Parkinson’s disease but staying in touch with associates in the U.S. State Department, where he spent nearly 40 years. He came to Dartmouth under Navy V-12 and served as a U.S. Navy officer from 1943 to 1947, where he learned Japanese and was stationed in the Marshall Islands. He returned to Dartmouth for his A.B. and attended the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1950 and earned a master’s in public affairs, specializing in foreign affairs.

Ron and Patience Baker married in 1949 and had three daughters and one son. He went to work for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Agency as a foreign affairs specialist and developed the proposal that gave birth to the International Atomic Energy Commission. He joined the State Department in 1955, when he worked in a variety of assignments, typically involving arms control. He served at the U.S. mission to the United Nations as a negotiator for the statute of the International Energy Agency and similarly with the Soviet Union on several treaties.

His career highlights chronologically included serving as director of NATO affairs, political counselor and charge d’affaires and U.S. embassy deputy chief of mission in London, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, first U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, U.S. ambassador to Turkey, assistant secretary of state of intelligence and research, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, undersecretary of state for management through the Reagan administration and undersecretary general of the United Nations for political affairs, where he became the highest-ranking American citizen in the UN secretariat.

The Hon. Ronald I. Spiers retired in March 1992 with two Presidential Distinguished Executive Service awards and the honorary rank of career ambassador he was awarded by the president and the U.S. Senate in 1984 that is reserved for a small number of career officers who have served with distinction in the highest positions of the foreign service. Ron said I could flesh out his comments on the Internet and I’ve taken that liberty.

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

I had a cheerful chat with Jim Hudson,who was born in New York in 1927, brought up in Brooklyn and matriculated at Dartmouth, where his schooling was interrupted by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II. After graduation he earned a doctor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. In 1961 he joined the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta with the responsibility of strengthening its nephrology program. He and Janet, who died in 2003, had three daughters and he now has nine granddaughters. Jim retired in 1990 and he and Julia married about 12 years ago. Still living in Augusta, he says they are both doing fine. He’s an avid “lousy” golfer, playing a couple of rounds a week. When I confessed my golf playing incompetence he suggested I try using my muscle memories and not my brains. Jim has had tickets to the Masters for years, but now gives them to his girls.

Ray Richard lost his wife, Gloria, earlier this year and I wondered how the social environment was at the Woodlands in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He couldn’t have been more positive, stating there were a lot of nice, interesting people, including Dartmouth alumni, faculty and administrators; lots going on; good company for dinner; and great cuisine. He concluded, “I’m blessed to be here.” Ray says he’s completely over his debilitating neck problem and his “congestive heart failure” condition is medicinally controllable and improving with exercise. With the loss of John Hatheway this past May, our monthly class luncheons are reduced to Ray, Bud Munson,Pat McAllister and generally another widow. Before and after his retirement from a 49-year career at Young and Rubicon, John was involved in innumerable Dartmouth alumni affairs including service as class president, chairman of multi-class reunions, board member and president of Dartmouth Club of New York City, board member of the Hanover Inn and Dartmouth’s public affairs advisory committee. At his death he was class vice president, Dartmouth Life board member and Tuck School class secretary.

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

Completing my last notes covering our mini-reunion, Martha Beattie, vice president of alumni relations, gave a very positive and informative dinner speech. She stressed her concern and responsibility that all living alumni are kept informed of all aspects of Dartmouth. She said President Hanlon was committed to a liberal arts education where professors teach, where there is a “sense of place,” where adventuring and risk are stimulated and where there is a feeling of “the community of Dartmouth.” Summarizing her comments on the new housing system: All freshmen are assigned to a housing cluster where they will remain affiliated for their undergraduate years. Twelve such clusters are planned, with six now operative, each with a house professor and now handling a total of some 670 students. Students can move to Greek and affinity houses and living learning communities that are now consolidated in the McLaughlin cluster. Martha sees the development of intramural sports, social and other programs between the housing communities.

Gil Shattuck writes, “Sissi and I are both busy. I joined her for four weeks in Austria in June and July. She had several painting commissions to finish up and deliver. While she was doing this I spent a few days in Prague, did several day trips and visited with friends and relatives. We had a week together in the mountains. I took about 1,000 photos with my new iPhone.” Gil is still busy on his photographic collection from a defunct, historic studio, with 97,000 conserved and less than 20,000 to go. He ran unsuccessfully for his sixth term as a member of the N.H. House of Representatives, but plans to continue working behind the scenes. Sissi was relieved, as it is a long trip for him to Concord in the winter and this is less stressful.

As a result of our Class Notes column, Warren Daniell renewed his acquaintance with Ken Carpenter, whom he knew well at Thayer.It seems they both got into the Navy by passing the famous Eddy Test, which qualified them for a rigorous nine-month program to become electronic technician mates, a coincidence they had not realized until now.

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

John Hatheway,John Jr.and Judy Cross attended the graduation of John’s grandson, Patrick, at Hobart and William Smith colleges, located in the heart of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. Judy has been a trustee and vice chairwoman of the board of trustees of William Smith and was previously given an honorary doctor of humane letters degree by Hobart, which enabled her to wear a “beautiful orange, purple and white hood.” Following his father’s footsteps, Patrick majored in architecture, and Hobart professors set up an interview in Rome so he could take an intensive course in Italian and continue his studies next year in Italy, where his girlfriend will also be located. Tom Byrnes ’55, who represents classes on the Alumni Council that graduated 55 years or more ago, commented about the spring council meeting that, “Both the administration and trustees are strongly behind the new plan for residential housing and expressed confidence that it would significantly improve the social life on campus by providing a four-year home for students.” While not negative, Tom wondered if it might lead “to more pressure on the Greek organizations or affinity housing to disband.” He observed, “The College’s firm commitment to diversity and inclusion was quite evident in both committee and plenary meetings, almost to the exclusion of other desirable considerations.” John VanRaalte,one of our fittest alumni, had some chest pains April 19 and went to see his doctor, who checked him out on the treadmill. John promptly had a severe heart attack and was rushed by ambulance to the nearby White Plains, New York, hospital, where he was immediately operated on and had four stents implanted. He was then transferred to the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, one of the finest in the country and specializing in heart care, where he spent 10 days for evaluation and treatment. At this writing, he’s doing well and is active as the treasurer of his condo and writing all of the checks. Another fit athlete, Lanny Brisbane, is back in form and was planning to play in the tennis seniors 90 and over nationals with a possible No. 1 seeding.

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

Ken Carpenter came to Dartmouth from Medford, Oregon, in the summer of 1944 and then joined the U.S. Navy for 15 months before returning to receive his degrees from Dartmouth in 1949 and Thayer in 1950. He went to work in the San Francisco area and was programming test systems for Lockheed Martin before retiring in the early 1980s, when he and his wife, Barbara, moved to 12 acres in the hills outside of the unincorporated village of Honeydew in the northwest corner and the most undeveloped portion of the California coast. Honeydew is only a spot on the map with a general store and post office, one house and an elementary school. Residents live in the surrounding hills. The climate is remarkable. The village is in the Mattole River valley, where temperatures typically reach the upper 90s in mid-summer and mid-50s in the winter, with annual rainfall of 100 inches. While only 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, it is on the eastern edge of the King Range, which has 4,000-foot peaks. Ken is quite self-sufficient. He is off the power grid and gets his electricity from solar panels, supplemented by a gas generator, has a Vermont Casting wood stove as a primary heating source, purchases local produce, favors organic and avoids genetically modified foods and watches no TV. He is very active on the Internet and was working on two computers when I called. He likes where he’s living, despite “an occasional forest fire, earthquake and rattlesnake.” He adds, “Then there are the pot farmers dotting the landscape with their greenhouses.” Now a widower, Ken’s not reclusive and is treasurer of the Mattole Grange, near Petrolia, where he is past treasurer of the local community center. John Hatheway advises that the mini-reunion is scheduled for September 23 and 24. You should have more information by the time you read this column, but give me or John a call if you have questions. John recently attended a Williams-Wesleyan double-header, where his grandson, Kollen Hatheway, the Williams shortstop, hit a home run in the last inning to win the first game and another to start the second. Grandchildren are fun.

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

This issue is excerpted from Rauner Library’s The War Years at Dartmouth. Sonny Drury’s dad came back to Dartmouth from Cleveland for a couple of years to get his civil engineering degree, but the family loved Hanover so much that he put his shingle over Main Street, “Dan Drury, Civil Engineer,” and he and his wife lived there for the rest of their lives. When President Hopkins walked down the street, “People would pour out of the stores to shake his hand.” While he was quite elderly and was not visible, “He met privately in his office with every student.” Sonny felt the town-and-gown relationship was very close. Most of the College officers were citizens of the town and had children in Hanover High School who knew they were going on to Dartmouth. Skiing was paramount to Sonny, and he and Olympian Colin Stewart anchored the high school and Dartmouth teams. The Dartmouth Outing Club was a major attraction to Sonny from his first hike over Mount Washington the July 4th weekend in 1944 immediately after he entered Dartmouth. Warren Daniell has a strong memory of John Sloan Dickey, who became president in the fall of 1945. He commented: “Dickey was a mover and a shaker and basically he picked the College up from the Depression and war years and started going ahead. One of the very positive impressions I had of the College was the ‘Great Issues’ course, where he was able to bring in practically everybody of positive notoriety in the government. It was a tremendous experience to listen to all those people.” Pete Foster commented: “One of the things I have always appreciated about Dartmouth is that there was no segregation or distinction difference made by anyone, either in the administration, faculty or other undergraduates. It was as if we were all brothers together.” John Van Raalte and Iboth enjoyed playing varsity squash and tennis and remember coach Red Hoehn as a good friend.The students really supported the athletic teams. As John said,“When Joe Sullivan was going through the line he had the whole school behind him.”

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

John Boggia came to Dartmouth in 1944 as part of the U.S. Navy V-12 and V-5 programs and completed his service in air training before returning to Hanover. While at Thayer School he recalls climbing from his fourth-floor room at Middle Mass to the roof during a night snowball fight, falling off, losing his spleen and breaking a variety of bones. More productively, he supplemented his G.I. bill working at Wards Department Store. He married Dorothy, whom he dated for 10 years, in 1948. In 1950 they moved to Lexington, Massachusetts, where he spent his business career with the New England Candy Co. (NECCO), retiring as VP about 20 years ago. Dorothy worked for the New England Telephone Co., to whom I used to sell packaging. NECCO’s roots go back to 1847, when a founding company invented the first American candy machine, a lozenge cutter, to make chocolate wafers, still its most popular item. It sells a wide variety of candies worldwide. In 1864 it operated in Paul Revere’s house in in the north side of Boston and in 2003 consolidated operations in an 810,000-square-foot plant in the suburb of Revere. John and Dorothy winter at Saint Martin in the Caribbean, where they have a time-share. John had been in good health until last fall, when he had congestive heart failure and trouble with his sight that left him legally blind. His heart condition is being controlled with a pacemaker and he’s hopeful of improving his sight. John’s hanging in there with good spirits. I’m sure he’d enjoy hearing from you. I fondly recall our annual, bacchanalian parties after the Princeton football game. One year, to extend the cocktail hour, we partiers organized a “Tinkers to Evers to Chance” combo, flipping the hot potatoes from the oven and past our unsuspecting Tiger hostess through the kitchen, dining room and out the backdoor. Please send by phone, email or Morse code information of past or present activities of you or your progeny from anecdotal to archival and avoid future such gross remembrances from me.

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

Charles Major came to Dartmouth during World War II in the Navy V-5 program, went to Notre Dame Midshipman School under V-12, spent 18 months on destroyers off the China coast, came back to Dartmouth and graduated in February 1948. He entered the University of Tennessee (UT) for his master’s of science, was recalled to the Navy in 1951 and put in two more years of sea duty on a destroyer in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. He married Mary Henderson, a geneticist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and his former laboratory partner at UT. He returned to UT for a Ph.D. in physiology.


Charles says, “My roommates will be astounded to know I added six more semesters of biochemistry after my less-than-sterling Dartmouth organic record.” He taught at Rochester Medical School for two years and then went to the University of Maine, where he taught physiology, pharmacology and drug uses and abuse for the next 35 years until his retirement. He and Mary, who died two years ago, had three children and there are numerous grand- and great-grandchildren. He was active politically and a foot soldier in national and state elections. He organized the faculty union statewide in the Maine system and was active in the civil rights movement in Tennessee when a graduate student. He was a courtesy driver for the Martin Luther King Jr. funeral. His daughter, with whom he now lives, caught him shoveling snow off his roof and the family decided it was time for him to give up independent living. Charles says he is in reasonable health and recently took a river cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam. As he’s essentially deaf, to contact him I suggest using his email, major_acadia@yahoo.com.


Tad Comstock says he and Georgie enjoy day trips and boating at their summer cottage at Bow Lake, New Hampshire. He sent a picture of their first homemade Nantucket reed basket. Looks great. He led the Gaspee Day parade in Warwick, Rhode Island, in honor of a pre-Revolutionary War event. He says, “We wish we were able to attend the mini-reunions. They were always good times.”


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


Received the following report from Sam Katz: “My most recent trip to Hanover was October 16-18, when the Dartmouth Medical School (now named Geisel after Dr. Seuss) awarded me one of its first Alumni Scientific Achievement Awards. This was an especially enjoyable time to be there as it was annual alumni return weekend and our dinner in the Hanover Inn gave a perfect view of the huge spectacular traditional bonfire on the commons. It was fun to read your note about Bob Pillsbury’s continuing performances as a jazz musician. In our ancient (1944-45) Dartmouth days he and buddy Nat Merrill were the two musicians I knew and most admired. Nat, unfortunately, has died but he had a brilliant career as one of the music directors for the Metropolitan Opera.” I received an interesting email (by accident) from Ray Richard critiquing the application of his grandson, Jonah Richard, for a Fulbright to Columbia, where he expects to graduate this year with a B.S. in chemical engineering and a B.A. in physics. Ray had his accustomed perceptive observations and closed with, “Please forgive my boldness.” He never said that to us. We’ve missed Nancy and Earl Chambers at our recent reunions. When I called them, Nancy told me that Earl has dementia and is in a “very nice” nursing home. She’s living nearby at home. (As we go to press, I have learned that Earl passed in January.) I enjoyed talking again with Woody DeYoe and learned that he came to Dartmouth the summer of 1944 when he was only 16 years old. He subsequently served in the armed forces during the Korean War, after which he returned to Cornell University to complete his law degree. He spent his career as a litigating lawyer until retiring as a senior partner in his firm. After recovering from a hip injury last year, Woody played as usual in the annual hockey golf outing at Dartmouth. We discussed the hot and cold vagaries of the old Davis rink. He said the new rink is great and the team strong.


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


Warren Daniel advises that Bob Pilsbury is still active playing in the New Black Eagle Jazz Band. This group, formed in 1971, specializes in New Orleans jazz. They have toured throughout the United States and Europe, produced more than 40 recordings and have an active schedule in New England this year, which can be accessed on the Internet. This fall they are performing monthly at the Sherburn Inn in Sherburn, Massachusetts. Coincidently, John Van Raalte and Joyce and I flew to Colorado Springs, Colorado, this summer. We attended our grandson’s wedding and John his granddaughter’s graduation at Colorado College, a well-considered liberal arts school featuring the block plan, which includes three-and-one-half-week, single-subject semesters (32 in total). She went to New Zealand last summer for the Blister Gear Review, which monitors the performance of ski bindings, and joined the company after her graduation. Interestingly, she feels her English major and resultant writing competence was a strong plus. Through the years I’ve seen a lack of written skills at executive levels. In addition to economic, engineering and science requirements, you can argue for the cultural benefit of a liberal arts background as a career enhancer. I need classmate readers’ help to keep these notes interesting and fun. Give me anecdotal happenings past and present covering your generation as well as your progeny and their progeny, where most of the action is these days. Contact me by phone, post and email, but no longer by teletype, which is how the away games in the 1930s of my beloved Brooklyn Dodgers were broadcast. You could tell when something major was happening because you could hear the chattering in the background. I remember taking my mom, who was an elegant lady somewhat overdressed for the occasion, by train to Grand Central Station and subway (her first) to Ebbets Field in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, where we watched Cookie Lavagetto, the Bums third baseman, hit a looping, line drive past our seats along the third base line for a double that won the game. There’s a remembrance; send me a bunch!


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


Beloit College recently honored emeritus professor Hank Woodard on his 60th anniversary as a faculty member by establishing the Woodard Laboratory in the geology department. Hank came to Dartmouth in 1943 as part of the U.S. Navy V-5 Air Force program, which was folded into the V-12 regular Navy. He was transferred to Columbia, where he was commissioned as a line officer, went to the South Pacific for destroyer duty and returned to Dartmouth after the war in the fall of 1945, receiving his A.B. in 1947 and M.A. in geology in 1949. He was recalled by the Navy in 1950 for the Korean War, joined Beloit as its first geology professor in 1953 and completed his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Chicago in 1955. By 1957 Hank had established a geology department at Beloit and was named its chair. In 1949 he married Helen “Lyn” Herald, who was also a geologist and partnered with Hank in their careers. They managed to visit some 38 countries together in their geological field trips and raise a family of two boys. They spent 64 years together until she passed away last July. Through Hank’s summer research—spanning four decades in the pristine Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Canada west of Lake Superior with more than 100 students from Beloit and other colleges—the field of geology developed an understanding of the formation of the northern midsection of North America 2.6 billion years ago. In 1987 the National Association of Geoscience Teachers presented Hank with the prestigious Neil Miner Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions in stimulating interest in the earth sciences. He was a founding member and coordinator of the Keck Consortium, a model for collaborative undergraduate and faculty research. He continues office hours on campus and is active with the Society for Learning Unlimited.


Sonny Drury remembers talking with Duke Ellington at the Roseland Ball Room in 1946 to check his program for Green Key the next weekend. The Duke said, “We know what to play.” They opened with “Take the A Train” and the place was theirs.


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


This Class Notes is from guest columnist Sonny Drury: “Were you on the July 1944 DOC hike over the Presidentials led by Al Gustafson with Charlie Kaufmann? It was hot! They were first into icy Lake-of-the-Clouds on Mt. Washington but exited even faster. Foxy Parker forgot his sleeping bag and almost froze that night on the summit. Ian Macartney and I took a side trip up J.Q. Adams, our first of many peaks in Mac’s lifetime. Pete Owen and Bob Tracy were there plus other ’48s. Just a great trek!


“We honor two ’48 Marines who lie in Arlington National Cemetery: Bob Sebilian, Silver Star for Gallantry, and the Smithsonian’s Hanover native Wilcomb Washburn.


“Dr. Tom Huffman says the Opera Colorado tradition in Denver as founded by Nat Merrill continues even after Nat’s death. He also noted the passing of DMS classmate Lou Clarke, well remembered for a recent ’round-the-world sail in a small sloop. Tom added that old Crosby buddy Jim Woods still flourishes in Florida, not far from Howard Cook and Murphy Robins. With Dick Dahl and Bud Gedney, Tom provided vital help in finding qualified assistance that we hope will enable Sam Wilkinson to recover. (Other ’48 doctors Bill Cummings, Sam Katz and Jack Price wanted to help but Sam’s case is distinct.)


“Scenes: fantastic noise in Davis Rink from banging sideboards in tight games; skis standing overnight along dorm walls while green Faski dried. Whose Big Band played to a national radio audience one 1944 summer evening on Memorial Field (Miller, Dorsey, Harry James or…)?


“Is writer Steve Kandel in Truro the last current ’48 resident of the Cape Cod area? Gone are Stan Alger, Aud Knight, Ted Tischler, Homer Young. Any others still there? Dave Karukin still has an APO address; still in Thailand?


“Geology Ph.D. Hank Woodard is still active at Beloit College and has worked problems in all 50 states and on all continents except Antarctica. Don Drescher still cries over the big bottle of mixed sidecars in Harvard Stadium, for a post-game party, that someone accidentally kicked! 


“With deep sadness we mark the death of DMS doctor Noel Levy in May in Amarillo, Texas, after lifetime of service and 59 years of marriage to his beloved Joan.”


—Warren Daniell, P.O. Box 304, Concord, MA 01742; wdaniell48@aol.com


This Class Notes is from guest columnist Jim Schaefer: “Some guys have all the luck. They live in or near Hanover, enjoying retirement and volunteer or business activity, and each month they get to lunch with other ’48s at the Norwich Inn. The lunch attendees usually include John Hatheway, still active on the editorial board of Dartmouth Life and in advisory capacities at the Medical School and medical center, and Bud Gedney, another retired ad agency honcho, up from Claremont, New Hampshire, with Ginny. (The class remains forever in the Gedneys’ debt for their great annual hospitality at reunions.) Ray Richard, for years an active executive working from his Hanover base, is also a regular, as are Bill Scott and Marjie from nearby Lake Morey, Vermont, and Bud Munson, one of our confidential government service retirees (along with brother Bob Munson), who drops over from his Hanover home, where he and Barbara have hosted classmates yea many a year. Bud Elliott, Pete Foster and Joe Smith often join the group, and prexy Warren Daniell presides when class business intrudes on the general jollity. Not to be outdone, the ladies of ’48 usually convene in a separate room, so as not to restrict the masculine nature of conversation, their number often including, in addition to the aforenamed, Pat McAllister, Anne Foster, Ellie Huke, Jean Guthrie, Gloria Richard, Dotty Dahl and Dot Daniell. Additional to the usual brain trust, not infrequent luncheoneers have included Sam Wilkinson, Foxy Parker, Dick Dahl, Mort Smith, Gil Shattuck, Dave Kurr and Phil Viereck, with their lovely distaffs as appropriate. The private room and lunch table being expandable, a seat awaits all ’48s without reservation first Tuesday of most any month. Try the liver and onions. Goes well with the inn’s own ale.”


—Warren Daniell, P.O. Box 304, Concord, MA 01742; wdaniell48@aol.com


Guest secretary Sonny Drury writes this issue’s column. Few ’48s who arrived on campus as early as March 1944 graduated as late as February 1950. Dave Anthony did. He roomed with Fritz McTarnahan in Crosby and later Richardson in a friendship that served Uncle Sam’s Navy and continues today. Dave missed the Bema ceremony but with his geology degree joined Cities Service Oil in Oklahoma as the only ’48 resident ever of that state. He married Patricia 60 years ago this September. Marine Dave Barr reached Hanover in July 1944, when he moved into MiddleMass. He played the outfield on Red Rolfe Field for four seasons, with our Hank Mueller much of the time. His biggest moment: his late inning triple in 1947, which cleared bases and beat Navy 3-2. Dave has 100 percent Alumni Fund record and still inspires kids in St. James School in Maryland.


Howie Westney has lost his lifetime buddy Bill Ivins. But from that first summer he recalls reorganizing the Green Collegians band of 14 men, including trumpeter Ed Curtis, Rog Zorn on sax, “88 Keys” Pilsbury on piano and drummer Howie. 


Imagine the stories told by ’48 sailors Lou Clarke and Sam Wilkinson when they met in Portland, Maine, for one notable lunch shortly before leaving us: Lou in recalling his small sloop sail around the globe, Sam reciting his mostly solo sail on Sally B (for his Sally) yawl from Maine to Bahamas to Virginia.


Nationally prominent attorney Dick Donahue is living in Lowell, Massachusetts, but we don’t know if he and Nancy still live in the house they were in when Senator John F. Kennedy called on him prior to the senator’s successful campaign for the presidency in 1960, resulting in Dick’s life in the White House. It may be doubtful the current residence is still the same, as on the earlier occasion the Donahues had a household of 11 children.


We join Fos DeGiacomo in wishing best for Nancy, who suffered a stroke just before these lines were written. Jack McKeon’s daughter sadly advised he may not leave the hospital, to which we add fervent hope for Jack’s recovery.


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


Richard “Fisty” Flynn tells me he is struggling with Alzheimer memory loss, but his recall is remarkable. Before coming to Dartmouth late in 1944 he served as a master sergeant in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific, where he was wounded and subsequently discharged. He remembers helping Lou set up his restaurant in Hanover and then slinging hash there to supplement his GI benefits. In the late 1950s he established an insurance business with an Italian company in Spain that was effectively expropriated by the Franco regime, came back to the United States busted, married, adopted three children, eventually moved to San Francisco area and established a successful residential home-care insurance business that he sold about 10 years ago. He still gets back to Dartmouth every year around Memorial Day.


Tom Huffman also came to Dartmouth in 1944, went into the Merchant Marines February 1945 through September 1946, back to Dartmouth and med school there and in Rochester, NY, and then completed his military responsibilities as a medical officer in the Navy in 1954 through 1956. He subsequently practiced medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1972 moved to Colorado. He and Beth have four sons, all of whom still live there. Tom skis in the winter and has a cabin retreat in north Fort Collins, where he relaxes and enjoys fly-fishing. He’s active in his community foundation and as a correspondent for Dartmouth Medical School.


Woody DeYoe relates that he has two sons, two daughters and six grandchildren. He goes regularly to his law office, but it’s “only to open the mail.” He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and is an enthusiastic golfer carrying a not-too-shabby 23 handicap off the men’s green tees. He regularly attends the Dartmouth hockey golf outing in September and visits with his daughter Cathy’s family in Norwich, Vermont.


Don’t forget our annual mini-reunion is the weekend of October 8.


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


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


Nice to hear from John Hatheway that his grandson Jack (son of Geoff ’81) has been accepted into the class of ’17. Jack received an achievement award as the top male student athlete at Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York. Ken Pinkero was U.S. Navy V-12 at Dartmouth in 1944 and went into active duty in time to be in an LST during the landing on Iwo Jima in February of 1945. It was the last and one of the bloodiest battles in the South Pacific. Ken completed his education at the University of New Hampshire. Recently deceased David Walsh (see obituary on DAM website) was in the Air Force from 1942 to 1945, flew 18 missions as a radio operator and side gunner before being shot down, and was a POW for 18 months before returning to Dartmouth and a subsequent lifelong career in foreign service.


Dick Donahue joined our class in July of 1944, living in Crosby Hall, presumably drinking as much booze as we all did there. Turning on the fire hose to wash down the stairwells seemed perfectly reasonable. He spent one year in the Navy, returned to Dartmouth for his A.B. and went to Boston University for a law degree. A partner in the law firm of Donahue & Donahue Attorneys from 1951, he became the personal lawyer for Jack Kennedy and moved his office from his home in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he still is in private practice, to Washington, D.C., from 1960 to 1963. (Read more about his work during that time on page 34.) He was made president and chief operating office for Nike Inc. from 1990 to 1994 and then vice chairman of the board of directors, where he had been a director since 1977. Dick was an original member of the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Committee, which he served and chaired at its inception in 1989. The annual award is presented to a public official who has demonstrated a willingness to choose public interest over partisanship. Dick and Nancy, who has served a variety of institutions and been a community volunteer and advocate, have been married for 59 years with 11 children and 20 grandchildren. They enjoy traveling.


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


For a number of years our annual mini-reunions have enjoyed John Hatheway and Judy Cross’s hospitality for Thursday night cocktails and munchies at John’s lovely Hanover home. A big thank you from all of us and we’ll miss it this year since you and Judy now reside in Kendal at Hanover. They spent five weeks this year at the Rancho Mirage Country Club in Palm Springs, California, and enjoyed golf at their course and elsewhere, great shopping, and picturesque sightseeing. Their highlight was two days visiting the annual March Indian Wells tennis tournament, which is probably the biggest tour event in the United States after the Open. With the weather guaranteed, it sounds worth trying. John and I both went to work in 1950 after graduating from Tuck. My starting salary was something less than $4,000 and, as I recall, was a couple of hundred bucks more than his at Young & Rubicon (Y&R). John got some raises and stayed with Y&R until retiring in 1989. He particularly enjoyed his last four years expanding the San Francisco office as executive vice president responsible for West Coast operations.


John Van Raalte visited his grandson at State University of New York, Binghamton, and spent some time with the Dartmouth tennis team, which was playing there. My old teammate expounded on how hard they hit the ball and predicted a great season, which prognostication came to pass. They missed a tie for the Ivy League title in a tough 4-3 loss to Harvard on the last match of the season. Remarkable to be in contention. John visited another grandchild in Los Angeles and took him to the La Brea Tar Pits, which are described on the Internet as “one of the richest sources of mammal fossils in the world, including 60 different species such as sabre tooth cats (i.e. tigers) and mastodons.” Fortunately, John was not interred. He is still a working stiff handling clients in a crazy stock market.


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


Bob Eckerson advises that he and Arlene, who still live in their house in Durham, New Hampshire, and their two children and two grandchildren are all doing well. One granddaughter is now studying in Portugal for a doctorate in music. Bob came to Dartmouth in March of 1944 for one year under the Navy’s V-5 program; went to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for preflight training; returned to Dartmouth in 1946, where he got his B.A. and master’s from Thayer School. As a mechanical engineer, Bob worked for six different companies, all manufacturing machines of one type or another, and retired in 1989. 


Gene Finke is now working full time at the University of Phoenix in El Paso, Texas, as chair of both the colleges of humanities and natural sciences supervising some 130 faculty members and teaching courses year round in the humanities, history and political science in abbreviated five-week semesters geared to furthering the education of working adults. Gene entered Dartmouth in 1946 in the Navy’s V-12 program and graduated in 1948; remained in the service, where he saw action in the Korean and Vietnam wars; was decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal; and retired as a captain after 34 years. He acquired master’s degrees from George Washington University in international relations and the University of Texas in public administration and a Ph.D. from New Mexico State University. Gene served three terms on the El Paso city council and held several trustee positions in the school system. He and Connie, who taught in the El Paso schools for 32 years, make an enthusiastic team. 


Russ Carlson is now home with Nancy recuperating from a stroke last year. He came to Dartmouth in the Navy V-12 program, spent one and a half years in the service and returned to graduate with the class of 1948. After retiring in 1989 as president and chairman of the board of the Onondaga Savings Bank, he remained active as the financial officer of Onondaga Community College (where he was awarded an honorary degree this spring) and served on the board of the Everson Museum of Art. He’s on our executive committee and we look forward to getting together again.


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


Don Smith entered Dartmouth in March of 1944 and received his A.B. in 1948 and M.B.A. from Tuck in 1949. He served in the Air Force at Cape Canaveral during the Korean War. To improve his accounting background, he got another M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1954. His business career included stints with Standard Oil, Ford Motor Co., United Greenfield, Parker Pen Co. as secretary treasurer of Eversharp, and Xerox.


He retired in 1990, but has remained active politically and in fundraising in Los Angeles. He was appointed commissioner of cultural affairs by Republican Mayor Riordan, and subsequently appointed to two four-year terms, ending in 2015, as commissioner of the Los Angeles Convention and Exhibition Authority by Democratic Mayor Villaraigosa. Don enjoys traveling and is planning a three-week European tour this spring to include Paris, Zurich and northern Italy. His highlight last year was accepting a November invitation from the president and his wife to an “Evening of Country Music” in the East Room of the White House and a following reception in the State Dining Room. Don was one of the original contributors to our Hood Museum Space for Dialogue program. 


Our class treasurer, Foxy Parker, came to Dartmouth in November 1943 under the Navy V-12 program; went to preflight training in 1944; got his wings at Pensacola, Florida, in April 1946 (staying in the active reserve until 1966); returned to Hanover that summer and got his B.S. in 1948 and master’s from Thayer in 1949. He worked for three years at Grumman Aircraft and then joined the family business, the Bard Parker Co., that his father started in 1916 to manufacture surgical instruments. It was sold to Becton, Dickinson and Co. in 1957 and Foxy remained involved until retiring in 1995. Foxy and Helen, who celebrate their 60th anniversary this year, have two daughters and a granddaughter they visit outside of Vail, Colorado, giving Foxy a chance to exercise his expertise on freshly groomed (“otherwise forget it”) black diamonds. 


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


It was a pleasure to have Lou andEllen Springsteen join us again for our mini-reunion last year. Lou grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, and attended public schools there. He served in the Army in World War ll and came back to graduate from Dartmouth on the GI Bill. Parenthetically, I look back at what the country did, with a huge public debt at the end of WW II, for veterans’ education; the remarkable Marshall Plan that financed the economic reconstruction of Europe, including the Axis; the democratization of Japan under General MacArthur’s tutelage (grandiose ego in the right place at the right time); and the formation of the U.N. (with all its warts, a functioning international venue) and NATO. Lou went to work for S.S. Kresge (now Kmart) and then attended Brunswick Seminary, graduating in 1953. His first church was New Prospect Reformed Church in Pine Bush, New York, where he met and married Ellen Jamison. They have three children and six grandchildren. One granddaughter is a freshman at Dartmouth and on the equestrian team. In 1958 Lou became minister of Trinity Reformed Church in Old Tappan, New Jersey, where he remained for 33 years, retiring as minister emeritus in 1991 and settling in Westwood, New Jersey. Remaining active, he served with the Classis of the Greater Palisades, the Old Paramus Reformed Church in Ridgewood, the Old Stone Church of Upper Saddle River and the Community Church of Ho-Ho-Kus. He works with hospice in bereavement counseling and as a parliamentarian for various groups. Lou served as Dartmouth’s enrollment chairman for Bergen County, New Jersey, for 24 years and has faithfully conducted memorial services for many of our reunions. I had a very pleasant conversation with Nancy and Russ Carlson. Russ is steadily recovering from his heart attack of two years ago. He was still using a walker as of the end of last year, but says his mobility continues to improve. While still working on the transportation logistics, they are planning to join us for our 65th. He’s been a stalwart over the years and it will be great to have them with us again.


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


Pete andAnne Foster took a three-week trip last May sightseeing, absorbing Indian lore and collecting artifacts throughout the Southwest. Driving from Albuquerque, New Mexico, through numerous national parks they stopped at Navajo headquarters in Window Rock and drove through the Canyon de Chelly, where they took “scads of pictures of rock formations and ancient cliff dwellings.” They went through the Painted Desert, petrified forest and, en route to the Red Rock Monoliths of Sedona, Arizona, stopped at the Meteor Crater, which is 500 feet deep and large enough for 20 football fields. Their main event in Colorado was the Canyon of the Ancients, Mesa Verde, with its collections of huge cliff dwelling groups, where sizeable tribes prospered until a few hundred years ago. The finale of their trip was a 23-mile historic steam train through the mountains to visit an old mining town in Silverton maintained in its original setting. Pete entered Yale in 1944 and then spent 12 months in the V-5 naval air training program at Yale, the University of North Carolina and Saint Mary’s College of California. He was sent to Memphis Naval Air Station in August of 1945 to get his wings, but when the Navy decided they no longer needed new pilots he was discharged before coming to Dartmouth in 1946.


To those of us who are tired of maintaining homes and considering retirement communities, catch these excerpts from Ray Richard’s e-mail explaining why he missed a class meeting: “Apparently Thetford, Vermont, had the heaviest rainfall in the Upper Valley. Despite all efforts to wet vac the water out I failed because the down spouts were down and couldn’t be restored because of broken gutters. Water was coming in via the foundation in four places.” And he lives on top of a hill! 


A couple of months ago we left Bob Herrick with an ongoing EKG monitoring. He’s now doing fine and planning a cruise to Hawaii this spring. He says if he is disembarked again, everyone will speak English.


Bud Thorne advises that he and Jane are now living full time in Vero Beach, Florida, and go back to New Jersey every summer to visit family and friends. John Hatheway and Marv Axelrod have visited for golf and groceries.


—Dave Kurr, 4281 Indian Field Road, Clinton, NY 13323; (315) 853-352; djkurr@verizon.net


John Gustafson,a retired State University of New York (SUNY), Cortland, biology professor living in Homer, New York, was honored by the Syracuse Post-Standard’s annual Hero of Conservation Award as one of the key people behind the success of the Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture. It all started in the late 1960s, when John and a group of SUNY professors got Cortland County to purchase a 2 1/2-mile right-of-way of the defunct Lehigh Railroad, which has morphed into a 400-acre nature preserve with 10 miles of trails, 300-plus members, a $1 million visitor’s center and more than 23,000 visitors each year. The article continues: “Since the center’s creation Gustafson has become a long-standing board member, treasurer and generous donor. He and his wife, Nancy, even took out a second mortgage on their house so we could acquire property,” said the executive director for the center. Gustafson said he’s been a longtime disciple of Aldo Leopold, a well-known forester and conservationist who promoted the idea that mankind needs to appreciate and care for the natural world. “You love it or you lose it,” Gustafson said. That’s talking the talk and walking the walk, John. Congratulations.


Warren Daniel advises that his daughter Beth ’77 has now retired on full pension after 30 years with the Oregon Department of Revenue. I start to get nervous when that generation retires, but at least she’s still doing some consulting work.


Our class historian Sonny and Joan Drury have moved to Eagles’ Trace, a 72-acre retirement community with plenty of room for walking and running (Sonny’s preferred form of exercise). Their new address is 104 Plum Tree Terrace, Apt. 123, Houston, TX 77077; phone (281) 5311-8608; e-mail joanrem@sbcglkobal.net.


Our annual class mini-reunion will be held September 28 and 29 during the Penn game. If you’ve not heard, with the Hanover Inn under renovation, it’s probable our Friday night dinner will be held at the Dowd’s Country Inn, with overnight accommodations available there and at the virtually adjacent Lyme Inn. It’s a fun group. Come join us. Any questions, give me a holler.


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


With the Hanover Inn not fully renovated, our annual class meeting and both mini-reunion dinners were held during the Penn football weekend at the very attractive Dowd’s Country Inn on the Green in Lyme, New Hampshire. Officers for the next three years who were nominated and elected were Ray Richard, president; Bud Munson, vice president; Dave Kurr, secretary; and Foxy Parker, treasurer. While our class is diminishing with 137 active members, we’re solvent with about $10,000 in the bank. With only 3 percent (five members) of the active class required for a quorum, our executive committee meetings held the first Tuesday of every month for lunch at the Norwich Inn are typically fully empowered. Pat McAllister, an honorary member of our class, has a very strong program with our 70 active widows and they have meetings at the same time. 


Our Scholar Athlete Award students, Sara Leonard ’13 and Josh Konieczny ’13, joined and spoke to us at dinner. Sarah comes from Norwalk, Connecticut, and is captain of the tennis team with a 3.8 grade average as a philosophy major. She plans to get a master’s in her major in the United Kingdom and then go on to law school. John comes from Ohio, has a 3.91 average as an economics major and is stroke on the lightweight crew. His score on the ERG workouts is world class and he hopes to row in the next Olympics. 


Our guest speaker David Spaulding’76 is past vice president for alumni affairs and chief of staff for President Kim and now interim President Carol Folt. With his father in the class of ’52, he said he had a Dartmouth heritage and had worked closely with three college presidents. He felt President Kim had been properly aggressive in making the necessary budget cuts early and had left the College in a stronger financial condition. He endorsed the peak performance program for athletes established by Harry Sheehy and would like to eventually see it rolled out to cover all students. He felt the ROTC program started in 1980 was helpful in working with returning veterans. 


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