Columns compiled by your class correspondents<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1940s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1950s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1960s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1970s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1980s<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n 1990s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2000s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2010s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2020s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Grad Notes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t receive any news from classmates for this column, but I hope you all took the time to fill out and return the Share Your News form that was recently mailed to you along with class dues information. If you haven\u2019t yet, it\u2019s not too late! Please do send us your news\u2014via that hard-copy form or the online news form<\/a>\u2014so our future class columns can be full of news from all of you. Whether your life is changing or uneventful, we want to hear about it! \u2756 Dorothy Taylor<\/strong> Prey, 1 Baldwin Ave., #501, San Mateo, CA, 94401; tel., (650) 342-1196; email, dmprey@aol.com. Class website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs we enter the third year of the COVID-19 virus, having experienced record-breaking numbers of cases and record-breaking numbers of deaths, we need to watch for the impact on children. As a psychologist who grew up during the Great Depression, I know that children will be the ones who will suffer the most. The pandemic will be no different.\u201d So begins a blog post about confidence in children, written earlier this year by our classmate Jane Ruggles<\/strong> Pinel on her website<\/a>. She notes, \u201cI have the opportunity of looking back and sifting through all of the information acquired over my 96 years and thinking\u2014lots of thinking\u2014about what makes sense in the lives of children. Each week I plan to share my thinking in a blog with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane is also the author of two books, Dolly: Her Story<\/em> and The Picnic Basket<\/em>. Over her varied and venerable lifetime, she has worn many different hats. She was a professional potter; a special ed teacher; a homeowner and land developer who restored an abandoned Colonial in 1975 to its former glory with a woman partner; a restaurant and bakery owner (with the same partner, when they needed to pay off the restoration mortgage); a children\u2019s and art magazine publisher; and an art gallery owner with the husband she married at age 75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane is hoping to attend our 75th Reunion on campus this June 9\u201312. Among the items in her possession are some Cornell treasures: a dress she wore to a big band dance; a Cornell blazer; books from taking air navigation classes with the naval officers in training (she was also taking flight lessons at the Ithaca airport); and pink footed pajamas that she wore to sleep in the (unheated) attic of a fraternity building when wartime officer training on campus required her to give up her spot in the girls\u2019 dorm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are any of you planning to attend Reunion? Please write and let us know what it was like to be back on the Hill! \u2756 Class of 1947<\/strong>, c\/o Alexandra Bond \u201912<\/strong>, abb83@cornell.edu. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have no news to offer from my fellow 1948 classmates but instead will express my recent feeling of considerable pride in being a Cornell Chemical Engineering graduate when I learned that the two scientists\/engineers responsible for the unbelievably rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccines were fellow Cornell Chem Es: Robert Langer \u201970<\/strong>, who co-founded Moderna, and Paul Mensah \u201994<\/strong>, who led Pfizer\u2019s effort. By their time at Cornell, it appropriately was called the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, while in the 1940s it was just the School of Chemical Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of this was reported in the November 2021 issue of the Olin Hall News<\/em>, and, speaking as one raised before the electronic generations, I probably would never have learned of it if the magazine had not arrived in my mailbox to be read. \u2756 Ray Tuttle<\/strong>, 65 Oyster Reef Dr., Hilton Head Island, SC 29926; email, RayTutt@aol.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hope you all took the time to fill out and return the \u201cShare Your News\u201d form that was recently mailed to you along with class dues information. If you haven\u2019t yet, it\u2019s not too late! Please do send us your news\u2014via the hard-copy form or the online news form<\/a>\u2014so our future class columns can be full of updates from all of you. Whether your life is changing or uneventful, we want to hear about it! \u2756 Class of 1949<\/strong>, c\/o Alexandra Bond \u201912<\/strong>, abb83@cornell.edu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gordon<\/strong> Dibble <\/strong>(gldibble5@aol.com) is retired in London, where he spent most of his working years as an engineer for American companies. He lost his wife after 51 years of marriage and now has a \u201clovely new partner, a Dutch lady with a home in suburban Heemstede, in the Netherlands,\u201d and they spend time in both locations. He plans to attend the June Reunion and also visit his old hometown of Stamford. Gordon reports that his Dutch acquaintances are dismayed about US politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this issue, it\u2019s a pleasure to feature our class treasurer, Fred A.<\/strong> \u201cBen\u201d Williams Jr.<\/strong> (Ithaca, NY). How he acquired his lifelong common name Ben and how he became our class treasurer for life are mysteries. Ben was born on a 144-acre, stony, side-hill, 25-cow dairy farm, midway between Ithaca and Dryden. His dad completed a Cornell Ag short course and, as Ben says, \u201cAfter that it was all Cornell.\u201d Both sisters attended Cornell and both married Cornellians. For grades one through six, Ben attended a two-room school in nearby Etna, then went on to Dryden Central School, where he played football and basketball\u2014and tuba in the high school orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a Cornell freshman, Ben lived at home and commuted daily to campus by the then-common method of hitchhiking. The following three years he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, lived in the house, and waited tables. He was a member of Ho Nun De Kah, played sousaphone in the Big Red Band, and sang bass in his fraternity barbershop quartet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduation, he took a job in a Syracuse bank but was soon drafted into the Army. After training in machine accounting, he was assigned to the Army Security Agency in Frankfurt, Germany. He lived in barracks and, indulging his travel interests, used furlough time to visit six European capitals. For these train travels, his GI buddies dubbed him \u201cFurlo Freddie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1952, Ben returned to his former position with the Syracuse bank, married, and parented three children: daughter Tracy (Green Mountain College), an Ironman Triathlon athlete, former law firm administrator, and now executive assistant to the director of St. Paul\u2019s School in Concord, NH; son Thomas (Lafayette College, MBA UConn), former administrator for major utility companies, now senior caregiver and rehabilitator of abused dogs in Kanab, UT; and daughter Sheryl (Miami U., EdM SUNY Cortland), 33-year elementary school teacher in Lansing, NY, retired in Ithaca with husband Jeff, a former hospital administrator in Cortland, NY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiring of bank work, Ben responded to an ad in the Cornell Placement Bulletin for the position of assistant to the president. He got the job and served with President Deane Waldo Malott for five years and with President James A. Perkins for two years. Reflecting on that experience with great pleasure, he reported post-retirement visits with President Malott, who was fond of saying, \u201cBack when you and I were running the University, Ben \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1965, curiosity and travel interests enticed Ben to become administrative officer for a Cornell\/USAID project in Monrovia, Liberia. That position afforded annual R&R visits to Europe, as well as travels in the countries of Ivory Coast, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. His three young kids attended the American Cooperative School and Ben served as president of the school\u2019s board. When this project closed in 1968, he returned to campus to become director of eight Cornell regional offices. He then took a hiatus from Cornell employment to serve as vice president of Park Communications, a company of TV, radio, and newspaper properties. In 1984 he returned to campus as director of public relations for the Boyce Thompson Inst. for Plant Research and retired in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of all classmates I have written about, Ben may hold the record for world travel: five visits to the UK, including visits to his mother\u2019s birthplace; ten bike trips in Europe with Road Scholar; 23 travel visits with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel), for example, to Morocco, India, China, Egypt, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Latvia, Lithuania, Israel, Turkey, and Sicily; and, in 2013, trekking in Nepal with a Sherpa guide. On a visit to Peru, he met companion Marlene Pierson. They plan two OAT trips this year to South Africa and Southern France. All this, plus train travel several times across the US with visits to many national parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In between travels and work responsibilities, Ben found time and dedication to his community: Dryden Board of Education member and president for eight years; trustee, Masonic Care Community in Utica; 35-year member of Friends of Ithaca College and president, 2007; lifelong member, board member, and treasurer of Tompkins County Senior Citizens Council; board member and president of Dryden Town Historical Society; choir member and treasurer, First Presbyterian Church of Dryden; and 62-year member of the Masons, serving in local district offices and the New York State Grand Lodge. As for Cornell Pride? 35-year season hockey ticket holder; 30-year volunteer usher for Commencements; regular Class of \u201950 Reunion attendee; and Jeep license plate \u201cCRNL 50.\u201d One Cornell life well lived!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our column can use more stories like this. For your kids, write a two-page bio and send me a copy. Your classmates would love to read about the good life that Cornell gave you. \u2756 Paul Joslin<\/strong>, 13731 Hickman Rd., #4207, Urbandale, IA 50323; email, phjoslin@aol.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt 90, I\u2019ve slowed down,\u201d writes Raymond Firestone<\/strong> (firestonerayjean@yahoo.com), \u201cbut I\u2019m still kicking! I continue doing research in chemistry (on my own dime), playing chamber music (piano), and attending concerts. I see my children, grandchildren, and great-granddaughter regularly. I also spend time reading books and magazines, exercising daily, and paying a lot of attention to politics. My wife and I have been careful to avoid the plague\u2014so far successfully.\u201d \u2756 Brad Bond<\/strong>, email c\/o Alexandra Bond \u201912<\/strong>, abb83@cornell.edu. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As our\u2014to me, amazing\u201470th Reunion is coming up, June 9\u201312, the first words in this column go to our Reunion co-chairs, Tom Cashel<\/strong>, LLB \u201956, and Cappy Heyl<\/strong> Innes. First, Tom: \u201cWe are working on the final plans, schedules, menus, and budgets, and all the other stuff that needs to get done for the 70th Reunion of our great Class of 1952. It seemed an act of hubris five years ago to accept this job, but it looks like we will make it in person on the Hill this June 9\u201312. Looking back over the 70 years since graduation from Cornell is a long view of memories of the University and our hopes and dreams, successes and failures, friends and family, all of which we can share with those of our class who are able to be at this landmark Reunion. CU in \u201922!\u201d Cappy adds, \u201cRegistration forms for our 70th Reunion will be sent out from the Alumni Affairs office in late March or early April. If you do not receive the mailing, please contact our alumni representative Brenda Canniff at (607) 255-1916. Registration will then commence by email or snail mail. CU, \u201952, in \u201922!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim Ling <\/strong>(LINGKAL2@outlook.com) writes from Fort Collins, CO, \u201cI\u2019m still not traveling as much as I\u2019d like to because of all the COVID restrictions that seem to pop up unexpectedly. I did visit the D.C. area in October for the annual meeting of the Military Officers Assn. to watch my wife, Shelly, receive an award of excellence for the Wyoming-Colorado Border chapter of which she is president. I continue play my bagpipes at special events if requested, but no more parades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sue Youker <\/strong>Schlaepfer (dsueysch@gmail.com) writes, \u201cMy warm place for the winter, Green Valley, AZ, was in the high 70s last week and weekend but is plunging to the 50s for the next several days. I drove down from Parker, CO, on January 1 and 2 with my daughter Cyndy Schlaepfer-Youker \u201978<\/strong>. I am all settled in my home here. Cyndy made sure I was well provisioned and taken care of. She then took off to referee some lacrosse games in California. She stopped by again to be sure all was well here before heading back to her home in Parker. I am excited about the plans that Reunion chairs Tom and Cappy have made for us. We have meetings off campus as well as at the Statler, where we have breakfast and other meals, and handicapped arrangements are available for our transportation. We will have our talk with Corey Earle \u201907<\/strong> in a room they have reserved that is just down the hall from our registration. The Cornell golf club, where we hold our class meeting and dinner, is beautiful and easily accessed. If it has been a while since you visited campus\u2014well, you won\u2019t believe or recognize the changes. We will need a guide to bring us up to date. I hope you can come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard C.B. Clark <\/strong>(capeclarks@aol.com) wrote from the Cape, \u201cFall 1950 seems a long time ago for me, when I transferred to Cornell from St. Lawrence U., arrived in Ithaca on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, became a Sigma Chi, and then, following courses in all seven undergraduate colleges, graduated in 1952. The Army Security Agency followed as the Korean War wound down, and my Boston banking began. This was followed by my being hired by Cornell to open and operate the University\u2019s Northeast Regional Office in Boston from 1968 to 1984. Recently, Sandy and I moved in 2020 to a condominium unit at the Cove in Osterville, MA. We love it here and are blessed with decent health and an active life. COVID-19 changed all our lives, but with both Pfizer vaccinations, the booster, and flu shots, we feel as safe as possible. As a cancer survivor, I keep busy with golf (I managed to shoot my age at 90 this past summer), walks, fitness efforts at the YMCA Cape Cod, and continued virtual fundraising for the Pan-Mass Challenge in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Inst. We hope to return to international travel in the future. We look forward to Palm Springs, CA, for two weeks in February and are looking forward to our 70th Reunion in Ithaca.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patricia Thornton <\/strong>Bradt\u2019s card from Muhlenberg College reads \u201cAssociate Professor Emerita Environmental Science.\u201d Pat is one of just a few of our women who have achieved a position in academia. Asked on the news form how her life has changed, Pat writes that she has been widowed four and a half years. She planned to retire from teaching at Muhlenberg in December 2021. Pat reports that she is enjoying many activities and residents in the continuing care retirement community where she lives. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: \u201cDid not enjoy teaching over Zoom!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots about Reunion here. I\u2019ve reserved at the Statler. I am not sure how I, my husband, and our rollators will get there, or if we will, but we are hoping. See you, \u201952, in \u201922. \u2756 Joan Boffa<\/strong> Gaul, joangaul@mac.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonagenarians, all\u2014greetings from Bob Neff<\/strong>! When we departed Cornell during the \u201cEisenhower years,\u201d the prospects of achieving age 90 seemed truly remote\u2014but 13 presidents and seven decades later, here we are, still bonded together by our Cornell experience. Recently the University reached out, requesting updated information from us, and the responses have yielded names, contact points, and information to be shared. Every response I have read pointedly requests that the classmates\u2019 email addresses be shared. These classmates want to hear from you\u2014don\u2019t disappoint them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n My second observation is that most of us now fall into one of two lifestyle categories: some are still engaged in the general areas of their lifetime professions, whereas others have stepped away into comfortable retirement situations from which they can access friends and family. Kudos to both groups for managing these dividend years productively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Julian Aroesty<\/strong> (jma38@cornell.edu) and his wife, Elaine, are domiciled in Scituate, MA, and they winter in Longboat Key, FL, where Julian does an impressive amount of cycling. He maintains his medical license and writes for the electronic clinical resource tool UpToDate. Two young grandchildren and the constant developments of modern medicine keep him happily busy. Herb Neuman<\/strong> (herbneuman@aol.com) lives on Central Park West in the Big Apple, where he remains active in real estate. Herb is a widower, but with three energetic grandchildren, a program of active fitness walking, and multiple philanthropic commitments, his time is fully dedicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n C.O.<\/strong> \u201cChuck\u201d Berlinghof<\/strong> (cberlinghof1@cox.net), a five-year BME student who entered Cornell with our class in 1949, lives with wife Mary in Newport, RI. Chuck has overseen the reconstruction and revival of Newport\u2019s iconic Opera House Theater and Performing Arts Center over the course of several years. What a great retirement project and productive application of one\u2019s skills! Congratulations to a favorite roommate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Genie Mandelbaum<\/strong> Deutsch (genie.stan@gmail.com) is widowed and living comfortably in a long-term care facility in Mequon, WI. She has four children scattered throughout the US and a fifth in Israel, plus 30 grandchildren! What a great \u201cfootprint\u201d that is! Congratulations, Genie. Al Finkelstein<\/strong> (alfink2001@aol.com) recently lost his wife of 67 years and would truly like to hear from classmates who are similarly navigating in retirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Johansen<\/strong>, MBA \u201954 (surecast1@sbcglobal.net) writes that retirement agrees with him, and he is planning soon to enter into a retirement facility that will provide more time to interact with family members. Mari Hartell<\/strong> Quint (mari.quint@comcast.net) has made \u201cdownsizing adjustments\u201d in her lifestyle since the loss of husband Peter. She moved from a high-rise condominium in Baltimore City to a comfortable garden home in Broadmead, a Quaker retirement community in Baltimore County. This has enabled Mari to participate actively in classes and to communicate via Zoom with friends and family everywhere. A key focus in Mari\u2019s ongoing communications is on her two granddaughters in New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gerry Shepard<\/strong> (gershepard1931@gmail.com) just turned 90 and is in good health. \u201cI\u2019m still an active insurance broker and continue to play lots of golf\u2014when weather permits here in Batavia, NY, which has about the same winter weather as Ithaca. I wish good health to all my friends.\u201d Bill Gratz<\/strong> (wfgratz@optonline.com) reports that he enjoyed a big backyard party with 31 relatives to celebrate his 90th birthday. He observes some changes: \u201cSince the start of the pandemic, life has slowed down. Instead of being out several nights a week, I\u2019ve discovered the joy of spending time at home with my husband, Jay. Fortunately, we have stayed healthy (although with more aches and pains!) and time goes by pleasantly.\u201d Bill looks forward to visiting Cornell in person soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we had one of the better experiences on campus when we were at Cornell,\u201d observes Ronald Bay Furry<\/strong>, MS \u201955 (rbf2@cornell.edu), professor emeritus, Cornell\u2019s Dept. of Biological and Environmental Engineering. \u201cIt certainly was more entertaining! Remember the canoe races on Beebe Lake? Great parades? Dances to big-name bands in Barton Hall? Vaughn Monroe sang \u2018Racing with the Moon\u2019 as I danced in the gloaming. I remember the girls in Balch Hall egging the guys on in a panty raid, waving their undergarments from the second-floor windows! And we made new shortcut paths across the Arts Quad that the University eventually paved with asphalt. I never saw the statues of Ezra Cornell and President A.D. White walk across the Quad and shake hands in the middle, but their footprints were there! At that time all undergraduate males were required to take ROTC and we had huge annual military marches and assemblies on the Arts Quad and old Alumni Field. How about the time Fall Creek ran green from vegetable dye that some sneaky students dumped into the water? Or fireworks shot from the bottom of the gorge! Yep, those were the daze!\u201d Ronald asks: \u201cWhat is your memory of those days?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stewardship Report: The Class of \u201953 supports several endowment funds, including: 1) The 1953 Cornell Tradition Fellowship, founded in 1983 to celebrate our 30th Reunion, which in 2021 provided a payout of $5,776 for assistance to a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences; and 2) The Class of 1953 Library Endowment, established the year of our 50th Reunion, which had a 2021 fiscal year payout of $3,281 that helped purchase library materials. Thanks to the many class members who continue to support these special funds. If you are interested in an in-depth report of the current Campaign for Cornell, visit this website<\/a>. \u2756 Bob Neff<\/strong>, princetoneff@aol.com; Jack Allen<\/strong>, jwallen@msu.edu; Ed Gibson<\/strong>, edwincosgibson@gmail.com; John Nixon<\/strong>, nixn1@hotmail.com; Caroline Mulford<\/strong> Owens, 53news.cornell@gmail.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our class vice president and former president Jack Vail<\/strong> (jdvail@aol.com) was on the move early in 2022. Jack sold the home he lived in for 55 years in Vestal, NY, and has settled into a retirement community in Vero Beach, FL. He has discovered that his fraternity brother John Mariani<\/strong> lives there too, and that classmates Mike<\/strong>, MBA \u201955, and Dot Noll Hostage<\/strong> have a place there also\u2014as do several other non-classmate Cornellians. Jack won\u2019t lack for friends as he starts his new life in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another class officer, our webmaster Jan Jakes<\/strong> Kunz (JJK.JAJ3354@gmail.com) of Corrales, NM, has been volunteering at various New Mexico historic sites including doing the website for one of them, which she has found to be challenging but enjoyable and enlightening. For example, Jan writes, \u201cI\u2019ll bet you didn\u2019t know that a major Civil War battle took place in New Mexico. I certainly didn\u2019t. If you want to look it up, it\u2019s the Battle of Glorieta Pass.\u201d We will take your word for it, Jan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A year ago, we wrote about Mimi Cohen<\/strong> Levine (mimilev@cox.net) and her husband, Len, who were still living in their Virginia house after 51 years. Well, this year they finally bit the bullet, sold the house, and moved into a retirement community in Springfield, VA, ten miles from their old home. Our earlier column about Steve Weinberg<\/strong> and Shelly Glashow<\/strong> brought back many memories for Mimi. They were classmates of hers in Prof. Dale Corson\u2019s Physics 2 class and knew all the answers about physics, which made it difficult for Mimi and others in the class and prompted her to discover computers, switch to majoring in Math, and ultimately join IBM after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elaine Harrison<\/strong> Cohen of Upper Darby, PA (ehc23@cornell.edu) writes that 2021 was a difficult year for her and her family with the COVID isolation we all experienced. Getting vaccinated and mastering Zoom has made 2022 a much better year for Elaine. Most notable has been freedom for her to spend quality time with her two great-grandchildren: a 4-year-old boy, already a veteran preschooler, and an active 2-year-old girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elisavietta Artamonoff<\/strong> Farnsworth, who is the author of a number of books and pieces of poetry under the byline Elisavietta Ritchie, has written a new book titled Issues of Immortality<\/em>. At our age, it sounds like an interesting must-read. Learn more at her website<\/a>. \u2756 Bill Waters<\/strong>, billwaters@optonline.net; Ruth Carpenter<\/strong> Bailey, rcbhtb@gmail.com. Class website<\/a>. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Wertis <\/strong>(the elder) reports: \u201cLife in Trumansburg (a dozen miles northwest of Ithaca) is good. I sign writings for local consumption with \u2018the elder\u2019 because my son, who is also a John but not a junior, doesn\u2019t always agree with what I might put into print. My partner, Marian Pritchard (Roosevelt High School and Columbia School of Nursing), and I gave up our commercial meat goat raising operation five years ago, but we lease out our farmland to a local organic farm now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLast night I had to choose between attending a Town of Ulysses Planning Board meeting or being part of the audience at our Ulysses Historical Society program about the few times in history when Seneca and Cayuga lakes have frozen over. As I am the Ulysses town historian and a board member of the society, I opted for the latter. No freeze-overs in the 1950s, but in 1979 my 14-year-old son and I skated from Ithaca northward against the wind for an hour, stopped at a friend\u2019s lakeside cottage, and, with him and my son and me holding on to a sunfish sailboat sail, zipped back to our starting point in a matter of minutes.\u201d What a great adventure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim Van Buren<\/strong>, MD \u201959, writes, \u201cSo far, we\u2019ve survived COVID\u2014vaccinated, boosted, and a recent negative test, along with minimal social activity. Mary (Martin) \u201956<\/strong>, with major chronic medical problems, is stable. I have decreased stamina, poor balance, multiple joint problems, and a need for an afternoon nap\u2014but still enjoy weekly golf! We just had our 64th wedding anniversary and still enjoy living in our house of 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From John Massey<\/strong>: \u201cI spent the first half of my life in New England, and the last 41 years in San Clemente, CA. My wife of 60 years, Jiffy, and I loved skiing together and with our three kids, but now in our late 80s, we\u2019re happy to not be shoveling or slipping in it. Our three kids are very happily married, and have blessed us with eight star grandchildren, one of whom, a granddaughter, is on the Darien, CT, high school varsity ice hockey, field hockey, and lacrosse teams.\u201d Congratulations to all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following classmates were on the February 1 class Zoom meeting: Dave Sheffield<\/strong>, BArch \u201960, MRP \u201961, Hal Fountain<\/strong>, Bernie Rodee<\/strong>, BS \u201960, Ron Ganeles<\/strong>, Ted Hymowitz<\/strong>, Phil Alkon<\/strong>, and myself as host. If you would like to join us for future class Zooms, please send me your email address and I will add you to the invitation email. Ron, Ted, and I also met at the Banana Boat in Boynton Beach during March, as we have done annually, to celebrate Ron\u2019s and Ted\u2019s birthdays!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane Rasmussen<\/strong> Wilcox says, \u201cI have three grandsons at Cornell this year. I picked Greg Powers \u201924<\/strong> and two foreign students up for Thanksgiving break and brought them to my home on Henderson Bay for a fun turkey celebration.\u201d Priscilla Rice<\/strong> Oehl and her husband, Dan, divide their time among Pittsburgh, Florida, and Avalon, NJ. In spite of three kitchens to keep track of, they\u2019re enjoying these golden years. Pris is also writing a column for a local newspaper and enjoying tennis, golf, and bridge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And from Elizabeth Colton<\/strong> Wislar: \u201cLife and God are good. I live with my Yorkie in a lovely house outside Atlanta. I love driving my Genesis, and just got my handicapped hanging card and license plate. I have a knee problem, but a brace will do wonders. Living in the DG house and running a final rush dinner with an ice carving\u2014and getting married in the chapel the day after graduation\u2014are like yesterday!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An update from Nancy Taft <\/strong>Whitman: \u201cI moved into a friendly retirement community and have been keeping up with most of my outside activities, even with COVID. Last fall I co-taught an Osher Lifelong Learning Inst. (OLLI) course on music and mathematics. It was OLLI\u2019s first attempt at a dual course\u2014both on Zoom and in person\u2014and it was a bit harrowing to teach.\u201d Nancy also co-chairs an OLLI special interest group called Out to Lunch, which meets at different (preferably ethnic) restaurants. \u201cFive of us (Laura Weese<\/strong>, Claire Desaix<\/strong> Simpson, Pat McCormick<\/strong> Hoehing, Meem Morack<\/strong> Sauer, and me) who were planning to attend our 65th Reunion are meeting by Zoom.\u201d Staying connected is key!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Rooney<\/strong> (tomrooney55@gmail) informed us of the death of his wife, Myrna (Lacy) \u201957<\/strong>, in 2020 and we send condolences to you, Tom. Tom lives in Vero Beach, FL, and is in contact with Jim Van Buren, \u201ca fellow footballer.\u201d Dick Bernhard<\/strong>, PhD \u201961, writes, \u201cI\u2019ve now been a widower for nearly three years but have been able to adjust pretty well. I\u2019m still professor emeritus of industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina State U. and am actively serving on the faculty senate, the College of Engineering executive committee, and the university library committee. Even at age 88, I\u2019m still blessed to be in apparent good health, but like all the rest of us in the Class of \u201955, it\u2019s getting harder to pretend to be just 39 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am wondering whether any women from the Class of 1955 who lived in Dickson freshman year can recall the night we donned wool scarves as disguises and \u201craided\u201d the adjacent floors. Harmless pranks but great fun. I know my fellow classmates remember the Sunday routines of ordering breakfast around the table, each girl adding her order to the earlier ones and trying to remember them all. Singing the \u201cAlma Mater\u201d after Sunday dinner was required\u2014and no slacks were allowed! You can send your favorite memories to me: \u2756 Nancy Savage<\/strong> Petrie, 85 Brook St., Noank, CT 06340; email, nancysavagepetrie@yahoo.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My thanks to class president Joe Henninger<\/strong>, MBA \u201958, for the 2022 Cornell calendar! Roberta Karpel<\/strong> Silman<\/strong> recommends the book The Hare with the Amber Eyes<\/em> by Edmund De Waal. She is working with her team at Campden Hill Books to publish a new novel called Summer Lightning<\/em>, and she\u2019d like to get back to work on husband Bob<\/strong>\u2019s memoir, Notes from the Scaffold<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Lael Jackson<\/strong>: \u201cAmazon has published my long-awaited uplifting memoir, Jump at the Chance<\/em>, where you can read all about the Cornell undergrad experience of the 1950s. Some things don\u2019t change \u2026\u201d \u2756 Phyllis Bosworth<\/strong>, phylboz@aol.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greetings, classmates, from Connie Santagato<\/strong> Hosterman. This column begins a change. Your correspondent John Seiler<\/strong> has decided to retire from this role. This follows the recent retirement of Judith Reusswig<\/strong> from the same role for the women\u2019s column. Both Judy and John served for many years, indeed decades, in keeping us up to date with our many activities. Their loyalty, service, and dedication deserve our immeasurable gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many years, John and Judy were able to continue our class tradition of separate columns, begun at our graduation. We began our alumni life with two separate councils, and both a men\u2019s column and a women\u2019s column. The two councils merged at some point before one of our early Reunions. One instruction put in place at the merger was to nominate future class presidents for five-year terms, alternating men and women. Our president Betty Starr<\/strong> King will be completing her term at our upcoming 65th Reunion. Her successor will be on the slate proposed by nomination chair Bob Watts<\/strong>. This procedure had an interesting result; our class may have set a record for the number of classmates involved in class leadership roles since graduation. At last count, we had at least 75 classmates volunteer their time and talents for our \u201cClass Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This column will appear in plenty of time for you to make your final plans to attend our 65th Reunion. At our early Reunions, we noticed that those alumni who were celebrating their 50th Reunion were housed in the Statler Hotel. As if we were reaching for infinity, that headquarters goal moved further and further away. Were the members of those classes preceding ours living longer? Were our senior alums returning in greater numbers? No matter. We enjoyed our 50th in Court-Kay-Bauer, our 55th in Alice Cook, and our 60th in Mews\u2014all \u201cclimate-controlled\u201d dorms. At last, we will have our Reunion headquarters in the Statler Hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our Reunion co-chairs Mary Hobbie<\/strong> Berkelman and Roberta Grunert<\/strong> DeVries have set reachable goals for our class. Previous classes have set certain records for their 65th Reunions. We want to break the record for attendance, for amount donated to the Cornell Annual Fund, and for the total number of donors. Even as this is written in mid-February, using the number of Statler rooms already reserved, we are well on our way to reaching our goal of 100 attendees. We need to increase the number of donors to the Cornell Annual Fund; each donor will count, even though the donation threshold is a mere dollar per classmate. That is interesting because I noticed that my annual donation to a scholarship fund in Architecture in memory of my son Daniel is not counted as a donation to the Cornell Annual Fund. I will remedy that by sending a modest donation to the Annual Fund and invite you to do the same before our Reunion. The site can be accessed at giving.Cornell.edu<\/a> and then just click on \u201cExplore Giving,\u201d then on \u201cCornell Annual Funds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An explanation of how I fell into this role is in order. John Seiler\u2019s son, Casey, is the editor of the Albany Times Union<\/em>. I live in nearby Schenectady and subscribe to this newspaper. In one of his columns, Casey mentioned a recent visit to see his dad. When I emailed John to see how he was doing, he responded by saying he thought it was best that he relinquish his role as class correspondent. He asked if I would be interested in adding this role to that of being class secretary. With class president Betty\u2019s OK, here I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all had our own special reasons why we chose to enroll in our alma mater. Don\u2019t laugh, but I chose Cornell because there was a roller-skating rink near campus. The joke was on me as I went there only once. I had a much more interesting time after I joined WVBR in my junior year. Paul Noble<\/strong>, Marcia Wishengrad<\/strong> Metzger, JD \u201960, and the late Chuck James<\/strong> became lifelong friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My class activities started when I was on the committee for the Reunion when we were housed in Clara Dickson. I was busy in the lounge when I heard laughter in a stairwell. I never knew there were dorm rooms in the Dickson basement, but that is where these men were coming from. I asked who they were, as they were not our classmates. They were members of the Continuous Reunion Club, a group who attended Reunions every year, not just their class Reunions. I loved Reunions and told them that I wanted to join. They just laughed and told me that it was a \u201cmen\u2019s only\u201d organization. In the late \u201980s, wives of some of these men, including our Sue DeRosay<\/strong> Henninger, petitioned to change the rule that had been in place since the organization\u2019s inception in 1906. I joined CRC in 2000 and was in charge of hospitality until the pandemic halted in-person Reunions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did continue as a member for several of our class Reunion committees and actually made a huge red nylon banner with white \u201957 numerals. It has been hung outside our HQs for each class Reunion since our 35th. I hope there is a place for it at the Statler. Most of all, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing you in June! \u2756 Connie Santagato<\/strong> Hosterman, shenhoop73@gmail.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t have very much news these days, so if you are reading this column now, how about sending us some? Warren Wildes<\/strong>, over the years, has been working to preserve the woods and lakes around his home in St. Paul, MN. The woods and lakes are part of the campus of U. of Northwestern, St. Paul\u2014where he established the environmental science research program. Music has become a big part of his life. Warren and his wife, Mary, both sing in various performing groups locally, at church, in senior groups, and in their resurrected \u201cStompers Dixieland Band.\u201d He initially established the band for a brief run in the \u201980s (playing trumpet) before careers interfered. \u201cNow we have had another eight years and are still playing the music we both love in Minnesota and in the San Diego area (mid-winter).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barbara Wood<\/strong> Gray published a book of poetry called Sharing the Song<\/em> in February 2021 and she says it appears to be doing well in her demographic (over 75!). She has been doing poetry readings at senior communities in the area and her poems have been appearing in the Presbyterian Outlook<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, in 2021 we lost one of our outstanding class leaders, Art Brooks<\/strong>. He was our class president and a very accomplished lawyer. On the Hill, Art was in Q&D, a founding member of the Sherwoods, and president of the student council and SAE. In his early career days, he fought for the elimination of discriminatory housing policies. Art was an adjunct faculty member, served two terms in the Ohio House as chairman of a House Judiciary Committee section, and served on both the House Energy and Environment and Transportation and Urban Affairs committees. He also had plenty of time for his family, singing, tennis, basketball, and just enjoying people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s all the news I have for now! \u2756 Janet Arps<\/strong> Jarvie, janjarvie@gmail.com; Dick Haggard<\/strong>, richardhaggard11@gmail.com. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From rocket scientist to maestro: At the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, CA, Bob Weinman <\/strong>(runningbob@aol.com), splendid in a sequined jacket and red shirt, helped usher in 2022 as a guest conductor in the Santa Barbara Symphony\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve gala, leading a rousing salute to the nation\u2019s armed forces and earning enthusiastic applause from the audience. A video of the performance<\/a> quickly appeared on YouTube and was shared among some of Bob\u2019s \u201959er friends and acquaintances. \u201cI love the music,\u201d says Bob. \u201cI always have. When we were at Cornell, I frequented the music room at Willard Straight, both for the music and for the socializing.\u201d Bob is on the boards of directors of both the symphony and Opera Santa Barbara. His other artistic endeavors include painting and sculpture, with many of his pieces making points about politics, the art world, and other contemporary issues. Why create a painting of soup cans when one can create a piece of art using real soup cans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat inspires your generosity for Cornell?\u201d asked a University mailing. I doubt anyone responded more beautifully than another Santa Barbara resident, Gaines Post<\/strong>: \u201cGratitude for: 1) superb education\u2014first-rate faculty in Arts & Sciences; 2) rowing on the varsity heavyweight crew; 3) enabling me to win a Rhodes Scholarship following my military service in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDespite the pandemic, Susanne and I had a pretty good year,\u201d wrote Nelson Joyner<\/strong> as he looked back on 2021. \u201cA short trip to Sweden that included summer gatherings of friends and relatives; a short, fun trip to New York; and a whitewater rafting trip for the whole family on the Green River in Utah. The same immediate family\u2014a dozen of us\u2014gathered at our home in Reston, VA, for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun: we ate and ate, went to a Washington Caps hockey game, and had a family golf outing.\u201d The couple keeps up with their water aerobics and Pilates, and Nelson has added a new addiction\u2014the fast-growing sport of pickleball\u2014to his longtime addiction, golf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teaching eager students at the U. of Nebraska, Lincoln and serving as a resource person for Nebraska\u2019s growing grape and wine industry continue to bring Paul Read<\/strong>, MS \u201964 (pread@unl.edu) great satisfaction. Paul and his wife, Christine, recently welcomed their first grandchild, Clara Rose. Tom Golden<\/strong> (tom@thomasgolden.net), who lives in Upstate New York, and his family are renovating a home in Lake Worth Beach, FL. Many of us can relate to his response to a Class Notes question: \u201cWhat brings you the most satisfaction in your life these days?\u201d He says, \u201cThe \u2018most\u2019 of anything is impossible to specify, since it changes so often. It is similar to asking my favorite song, or actor, or singer. So many favorites, so many bests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Byron Roe<\/strong>, PhD \u201959<\/strong> (Byronroe@umich.edu) and his wife moved from Ann Arbor, MI, to Fremont, CA, to be near children and grandchildren. A professor emeritus of physics at the U. of Michigan, Byron continues to be involved with the MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab, which is designed to observe neutrino oscillations. In 2020, Springer Verlag published the third edition of his book Probability and Statistics in the Physical Sciences<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs all of you who know me can attest, I prefer working in the collegial atmosphere of a law firm, and I have found a great match with my new firm,\u201d reports Harry Petchesky<\/strong> (Harry@hjpesq.com). As reported in our last column, the law firm with which Harry had had an eight-year \u201cgratifying affiliation\u201d closed its doors at the end of 2021. Within weeks, Harry notified clients and friends that, as of January 1, 2022, he became of counsel to Scarola Zubatov Schaffzin PLLC. Notes the firm\u2019s website: Harry\u2019s \u201cpractice and expertise includes extensive work in public and private securities offerings, representation of clients in SEC, Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange, and FINRA investigations and disciplinary proceedings, the formation and sale of business entities and of cooperative and condominium apartment housing entities, commercial leasing, purchases and sales of commercial and residential real estate, trusts and estates matters and probate and administration, and family law, as well as trial and appellate litigation in all of these fields.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reminders: Just two years \u2019til we pack our cases and head to Cornell for our 65th Reunion! Mark the dates on your calendars: June 6\u20139, 2024. Previous class columns can be found at this link<\/a>. You can always email your latest news to me directly. However, please note that since early January I do not use nor have access to the \u201csbcglobal\u201d email account I long used. \u2756 Jenny Tesar<\/strong>, jet24@cornell.edu. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Saying that she has been \u201cremiss in sending news to Class Notes,\u201d Byrd Avery<\/strong> Lochtie reports that a trip she took \u201chas prompted me to send you some information. In October I went to the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands with a group sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We were a group of 13, led by Dr. Irby Lovette from the lab and Fausto Rodriguez, our Ecuadorean naturalist, living together on a yacht. This trip was planned for October 2020, but of course COVID-19 intervened. We were very lucky to be able to go when Delta was waning and before Omicron hit in late 2021. This really was the trip of a lifetime! We went to 13 different islands, hiking over lava rocks and through deserts, seeing many exotic birds, giant tortoises, and marine iguanas.\u201d Now back at home in Eureka, CA, Byrd says, \u201cEveryone in my family is doing well,\u201d and she plans a trip to Billings, MT, in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another cheering report comes from Allyn Smith<\/strong>, MS \u201967, who married Mary Ann Prior in November 2021 and moved from Riverside, CA, to a retirement community near Valley Forge, PA, where the newlyweds say they \u201care both healthy, active, and happy with the decisions we have made.\u201d Allyn notes that \u201cwhile living in Ithaca and working at Cornell, my wife and I got to know Mary Ann and her husband, who lived in Harrisburg, PA. Over the next 40 years, our families spent vacation time together and became close friends. After her husband died and my wife died, we began visiting each other, she in Pennsylvania and me in California.\u201d When they discovered the appealing senior community Shannondell in 2021, they decided to sell their respective homes, marry, and move in together. Allyn says, \u201cWe love Shannondell and our children are pleased.\u201d Warm good wishes to you both!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephen Crane<\/strong>, JD \u201963 (scrane.jams@gmail.com) writes from New York that, as of August, \u201cI have been married to Elaine (Foreman) \u201961<\/strong> for 62 years. She retired from Fordham U. as Distinguished Professor of History Emerita, and I have limited my practice as an arbitrator and mediator at JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service) to a select few cases, in order to enjoy retirement. Our daughter Melissa<\/strong>, JD \u201991<\/strong>, is pursuing the path in the law that I took. Last year she was elected as a Supreme Court Justice in New York County and assigned to its commercial division. So now I am referred to as Judge Crane the Elder.\u201d Ginger Barney<\/strong> Maiman (gingermaiman@gmail.com) says that she and her husband, David, normally found in Buffalo, \u201csnuck in some travel after vaccines and between pandemic surges. We made a family trip to Jackson Hole, attended weddings in Philadelphia and New York City, and made visits to kids and grandkids in Florida. I\u2019m now wintering in Sarasota, having been tutoring refugees and interviewing families for Habitat for Humanity before the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answering the question about whether his daily life is different, Bob McDermott<\/strong> responds, \u201cAre you kidding? Everyone\u2019s life has changed over the past two years. We are less active these days and haven\u2019t been able to travel to the UK or Norway, my wife Torill\u2019s home. As members of the San Francisco Yacht Club, we used to be regular sailors, but this has been drastically reduced and our docent activities at the Tiburon Railway Museum have come to a halt. We\u2019ve been keeping in touch with two sons in the UK and one in San Francisco, all happily working from their homes. We did venture to New York City and neighboring Connecticut in October for my 65th Reunion at Darien High School. I was happy to see Ginny Seipt<\/strong> at our class luncheon.\u201d Paul Auchter<\/strong>, JD \u201964, sent word from Key Biscayne that he and his wife, Flos, are officially Florida residents; he is a licensed attorney and real estate broker, and they live in a building that fronts on Key Biscayne Beach. They enjoy swimming in the ocean, bike riding, and playing tennis. The Auchters attended a niece\u2019s October wedding in Vermont and plan to be at a granddaughter\u2019s wedding in Nevada in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a long career as a writer and editor who also offered memoir-writing services, Susan Glowacki<\/strong> Luccini (susan.luccini@gmail.com) writes from California, \u201cI recently closed my personal history business and essentially retired.\u201d As to what\u2019s next: \u201cFirst, I\u2019m taking care of some medical issues, such as cataracts. Secondly, I\u2019m waiting to see what doors open. Perhaps many will, perhaps one, perhaps none. We also have scaled down our social life because we live in a county with high COVID infection rates.\u201d What brings the most satisfaction? \u201cSeeing friends again.\u201d Bostonian arts advocate Ron Mallis<\/strong> reports, \u201cI\u2019m still running\u2014or given COVID, figuring out new ways to run\u2014the nonprofit I started about 12 years ago that\u2019s focused on supporting art in public places: BostonAPP\/Lab. I\u2019m also working out every day for 90 minutes, plus walking six to six and a half miles. I\u2019m involved with the Boston Arts Academy as a member of their Foundation Advisory Council, and helping plan a 20th Reunion at MIT, where I received a master\u2019s in city planning. I also get satisfaction from staying connected with friends from back in the day.\u201d Send news to \u2756 Judy Bryant<\/strong> Wittenberg, jw275@cornell.edu. Online news form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twenty classmates joined in early March for a Zoom \u201961 class officers\u2019 meeting hosted by co-president Dick Tatlow<\/strong>. Several Reunion and class topics were discussed. The primary item was completing the funding for the Peter Meinig<\/strong> memorial room in Olin Library. As a class, we are several thousand dollars short of our goal. Dick gave a call for all class officers to make a significant contribution. I have made one, and I invite all classmates to join in. Email me (dougout@attglobal.net) for information on sending a contribution to the Meinig memorial. The dedication of the memorial is planned for Reunion week in June 2022 with special recognition for 1940s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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