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| SEP./OCT. 2005 VOLUME 108 NUMBER 2 | Class Notes |
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31 | It is pleasing to see the names of our departed classmates live on at Cornell and in its activities. For many years we have had the "Sy Katz Parade" down Fifth Avenue in New York City after the Columbia football game (through the enthusiastic support of the Katz family); and tennis coach Laura Glitz's position is named the "Carl H.Meinig '31 Head Coach of Women's Tennis" (through the generosity of the Meinig family). Our own Hal Craft is being remembered in the retirement of his son and namesake, Hal '60, PhD '70: 34 years of service to Cornell, early on supervising the construction or rehabilitation of buildings and facilities worth nearly $1 billion (from the Arecibo radio telescope to Duffield Hall), and subsequently as vice president and chief financial officer of the university.
". . . and now there are four"--class officers remaining, that is (not that it matters very much, as our duties have largely been taken over by the Alumni Office). Back in April, Peggy Gordon '60 advised us that her father Len Gordon, our longtime vice president, associate reunion chair, and faithful attendant at CACO meetings, had finally lost a bout with the old man with the scythe. Peggy said Len had "suffered a heart attack in Nov. 2003, and his doctor had put him in a hospice because of his condition." That was no problem to a tough '31der like Len. Ten months later he took a "vacation" from the hospice and went on a Caribbean cruise--and then on a second one! The second time out, according to Peggy, "he tripped, fell, and broke his hip."He survived the surgery to repair the hip, but apparently he could not dodge a pulmonary embolism. Before retiring to Florida, Len had extended his criminal defense legal career by taking on a traffic violation judge's job in New York City. He once told me he was waiting for a classmate to be brought before him, so he could "throw the book" at him. I am sure the "book" Len would have thrown would have excused the violation, and the judge would then have quietly suggested that the miscreant classmate send the amount of the fine normally due--or a multiple thereof--to Cornell University.
I attended Reunion 2005, staying at the Continuous Reunion Club headquarters.With a lot of help in transportation (without which my arthritic knees would have stranded me several times), provided by Margaret Gallo '81, MBA '81, and her cohorts in the Alumni Office, I joined the Class of 2000 at their first quinquennial reunion, and the 40th Reunion of my son Bill '65. I am very pleased to report that our donation to the Class of 2000, to help finance the promotion and functions of this initial gathering as alumni/ae, was very clearly money well spent. There was a large, lively crowd present, and they were obviously having a good time with each other. They were extremely grateful for our help. This class is off to a good start, just as we intended. At their class meeting I was privileged to tell them that they were already a distinguished class, as it would be 995 years till the next "triple 0" class, but that it was up to them to add to this distinction by working with the Alumni Office and the Cornell Fund to become "the Great Class of 2000" during their tour as alums.
You '31ders will remember that at our 65th Reunion, ours was the first stop for the then-new President Hunter Rawlings and his wife Elizabeth. On Saturday morning it was announced that former president Rawlings will act as interim president until the appointment of a new CEO for the university. Let us hope it is a good omen that their first visit to a class reunion event in their renewed capacities was to that of the Class of 2000. It was exhilarating to watch the exchange between them and the class officers at the table. This latest generation of alumni is ready to carry on the tradition of the truly GREAT CLASSES of Cornell!
The 40th Reunion of the Class of '65 was headquartered in Balch, and was a classic nostalgia trip for a '31der--Has Forman's son had just sent me a slide photo of Sy Katz's teepee set up in the Balch Courtyard at our Reunion there. It was great fun watching these still very vigorous 60-year-olds carry on like they were half that age, just as we had done in our day. One of their dinners was held in a big tent on the Beebe beach, and the big difference I observed was the lake-full of wine that was consumed vs. the hard stuff in our time. Cornell reunions are still very stimulating events--and GREAT FUN!-- Bill Vanneman, 237 No.Main St., #250, S. Yarmouth, MA 02664-2088; tel., (508) 760-4250; e-mail, ggrampi@gis.net.
36 | My apologies to Ruth Fisher Rosevear (527 McAlpin Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45220) for not being able to include her news in a previous column. For over 25 years she has been giving demonstrations of pairs of experimental rats showing the effects of good diets and junk food diets.When an article about her and her rats that appeared in her local newspaper included her age, "requests to show the rats fell to zero."Not fair! But she still continues to write weekly for her church's Nutrition Gazette. Here's an edited version of the article that appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer:
"Ruth Rosevear specializes in nutrition and rats. She enjoys taming and raising rats, but Rosevear, a licensed dietician who will be 90 in December, is not doing it for fun. The rats are part of her decades-long effort to teach people the importance of good nutrition. She always has a pair of rats, and they're always named Goodie and Junkie. Her husband, Francis '33, PhD '37, drives her to schools and health fairs where she shows the rats and tells how Goodie thrives on healthy food, while Junkie's junk food diet--white flour and sugary foods--makes him a sickly shadow of his roommate. The Goodies always grow bigger, with better fur, muscles, and bones. Junkies have ratty fur and they're restless and not at all healthy."After 12 weeks the Junkies get good food so they won't die and are given away as pets. She has been doing this since 1979, and she is now on her 108th pair. She has traveled the world studying nutrition, including ten days in Copper Canyon,Mexico, in 2002 studying an Indian tribe known for its excellent diet and health.Wonderful story, Ruth, and I'm sure many people are better off because of your work.
In the same vein, Dr. Ralph M.Heinicke (1124 Rostrevor Cir., Louisville, KY 40205) is still working hard selling us his "magic juice,"Noni. "At a talk I gave in Mexico, I was blinded by the spotlight and walked off the stage. After bouncing a few times, they led me back to the stage, where I told the audience that this was a feat I only performed for special audiences. This convinced them that Noni actually works." Ralph, are you offering free samples for those of us who make our 70th? Wendell J.Wheeler (211 Woodbury Ave.,Mount Dora, FL 32757) writes that his wife of over 60 years passed away about four years ago and he is now remarried to Wilma Vogt. They live in Waterman Village, a "premier retirement community" about 30 miles northwest of Orlando, where there are several other residents with past connections to Cornell.
Sally Clark Shumaker, networking VP for the Class of '71, has sent us this report on her mother, Helen Harding Clark. "Our family had a wonderful 90th birthday party for her at the home of my nephew and his wife, who live in Whitney Point, NY. All four of my mom's daughters were there, and four of her grandchildren and four of her great-grandchildren, as well as her brother, age 82. It was a fantastic family event.My mom has lived for the past five years at Garden House, an adult home in Binghamton, NY. She sends her best to all Class of '36ers!"We also have heard from Marcia Crockett, who tells us that her mother, Sarah JaneWilder Silcox, passed away last April. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Hampton G. III. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and got her nursing degree from Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, where she was a night nursing supervisor and then a graylady at Abington Memorial Hospital for over 35 years. Robert C.Winans has moved to the nursing home at Shell Pt. Village, 15071 Shell Pt. Blvd., Room 328, Fort Myers, FL 33908. His son and wife live nearby "when they aren't cruising."
Now for some brief class business. I received a letter from the editor of this magazine, saying that the price of the alumni magazine will be increasing by one dollar. As you know, our magazine subscriptions are paid through our annual class dues, the level of which is set by our class administration. I wrote our president, Dorothy Greey Van Bortel,MS '41, suggesting that we keep our dues the same as they have been for some time and let our class treasury "eat" the additional $1 cost. At this writing I haven't heard from her, so apparently she agrees and everything will stay as it is.
One final personal note. Just as so many of you have done before me, I have lost my wife. After 38 years of marriage, she passed away only a week before this was being written. She had been in intense pain for almost two years due to a badly repaired broken hip, with no prospect of improvement, so she had nothing but pain in her future and her heart finally decided it had had enough. In that sense it was a true blessing for her.-- Bill Hoyt, 8090 Oakmont Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95409; e-mail, subilhoyt@SBCglobal. net.
38 | Mable Levy Gerhart, MA '39, writes from Perkasie, PA, that she keeps busy attending to a three-acre property in the woods with two acres of lawn and landscaping-- she loves gardening and her flower beds. Reporting on the wet summer of 2004 with an abundance of weeds: "I'm not a friend of chemical weed killers, so it seems I was weeding by hand every day somewhere."Unlike this year, that summer was too cold or rainy to use the swimming pool, and she missed her daily water exercises. She did, however, take two trips: to Madrid and Malaga in April, and to Munich last fall, arriving there just as Oktoberfest was ending. "I had studied in Munich at the university right after graduation in 1938, and though I've been to Munich several times since then, I did a more thorough sightseeing this time, visiting the house where I lived in 1938 and the university buildings again, and reminiscing. How Munich has changed in the intervening years. Of course, so has the rest of the world. Sometimes I wonder whether it is all for the good." Lucille Howard Jarvis has also been traveling--to Hawaii to visit her daughter; to Barcelona, Spain, to visit her granddaughter; and to China to produce a TV documentary covering 30 years ago to the present, "China, Then and Now."
From last fall in Los Angeles, CA, Helen O'Brien Cyran reported "heavy, heavy rains and wonderful flower growth--over 50 stems of orchid buds!"Another source of delight: two great-grandchildren. Helen serves on the board of the Assistance League of Southern California, enjoys art at L.A.'s great galleries, and sends greetings to all. William and Elsie Harrington Doolittle write from Glastonbury, CT, that they never gave a thought to being "greats," despite granddaughters' weddings in 2001, 2002, and 2003, but they now have a new great-grandchild, born in April (bringing their clan up to 21). Their youngest child lives in Connecticut and runs a retirement home for elderly horses. Bill still builds ship models (which superseded mini-railroads), and Elsie is in her 19th year as a docent at the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art in Hartford. They plan a trip to California,Michigan, and Peru, NY, this summer.
We sadly report two deaths. Roy Lockwood died in February 2004. Roy was a civil engineer and worked at Mobil Corp. from the mid-1940s to the mid-'70s.He worked briefly on the Shasta Dam construction project in 1938, helped bomb-proof the Panama Canal locks in anticipation of hostilities in 1939, and worked on government building projects supporting the Norfolk Naval Station during WWII. Roy's other activities included being a communicant at his church and membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Nassau Club of Princeton, NJ. He also had a strong interest in genealogy and could trace his roots back to 1630.
Coleman D.Asinof's son Robert wrote that his father died last December in Quechee, VT. A veteran of WWII, Coleman made landings in North Africa and Italy early in the war, and later saw combat in France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and Germany, including the Battle of the Bulge. Coleman participated in many Cornell alumni activities and loved golf, downhill skiing, squash, and tennis. He was also an avid reader and Boston Red Sox fan.
Robert C.Hickey, MD '42, and his wife Rose, a well-known sculptor, have five children and five grandchildren. Two of their daughters live in Scotland.While at Cornell, Robert worked at the NY Ag Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, helping to develop a test for water contamination. This technique is now being used in Iraq to test the waters of the endangered Tigris River. Evelyn ThomasWood reports in from Roanoke, VA, and Mary Nardi Pullen sends greetings from Orono, ME.
William A.Kumpf, MS '50, says he is getting used to having moved from Rochester, NY, to Elk City, OK, except for the food: "From haddock to catfish and sweet corn to okra--ugh!" Robert A. Shaw observes, "When the Motor Vehicle dept. issues an operator's license to an 87-year-old for another eight years, they have already received their legacy! However, I am looking forward to the time when I can renew again! We are fortunate to have a daughter residing in the Washington, DC, area, so that we could visit the WWII Memorial, which took so long to become reality."-- Class of '38, c/o Cornell Alumni Magazine, 401 East State St., Suite 301, Ithaca, NY 14850.
39 | Reunion Weekend 2005 has come and gone. It was notable for two things: one, the hottest, driest weather I can remember, and two, the surprise resignation of President Jeffrey Lehman '77. The alumni, the campus, and the town buzzed all day Saturday, June 11, and the speculation still goes on. I doubt whether we shall ever find out the real story because so many people on campus are gifted with the evasive language of academe, but I do know he was very popular with the students. I think the shock waves will go on for a long time.
Ithaca's first really tall building is almost finished. It was built with the help of Cornell, which will use the bottom floors for several hundred office workers from campus, and house a hotel on the top floors. It's a cooperative effort between Cornell and the City of Ithaca to boost the local economy. As usual, there were many complaints about the height of the building--typical of a town of highly vocal people--but now, I think, it looks fine and fits in very well.
The news letters which some of you sent with your dues are petering out.While you are doing your end-of-summer activities, why not send me a note to help me out, please?
Jane Davison Fast claims she doesn't see or walk well or drive, but she manages to do a lot with the help of family and friends. She goes to church and AAUW and eats out "a lot." She helps with her church newsletter and works her phone for good causes. She finds audio books and satellite TV a blessing and says since nothing hurts, she can't complain! She sent a photo of her granddaughter's wedding party and looks very good to me, even though she calls herself "a tired old lady." Can't imagine why!
EvelynWilson Monroe's daughter Elizabeth asked me to remind you that, though she has lost vision, she loves to get e-mail at ckit1@comcast.net, so all you computersavvy women, gather 'round! Virginia Hoyt Hammond still walks, still drives, still maintains a vegetable garden. That seems to be the magic word--STILL.
Another active classmate is Margaret Dole Chandler, who, with her husband Webster, MS '40, walks a mile daily.Webster was recently honored for 20 years' service to "Meals on Wheels." They both volunteer at the local hospital, and Peggy is still in music, singing and playing two-piano concerts and organ-piano duets in church. Obviously, she's another classmate who has no time to grow old.
Our Reunion Chair Elizabeth LuxfordWebster writes regularly, which I appreciate. The saga of the amount of traveling she and Bill '42 are still doing is amazing. Last year, they drove to Stratford, Ontario, for the theater; to Baltimore for piano camp for Bill (Leezie says she has no talent); to the Adirondacks, where she found out she could still get into a canoe--but not out; and to Maine,Wyoming (where some of her kids live and work), and Vermont. Seeing America is something they do well.
We send our sincere good wishes and condolences to Evelyn Zimmerman Linowitz (Toni to us) and her family, whose husband Sol, JD '38, passed away March 18. Sol was a gifted man, CEO of Xerox, US Ambassador to the Organization of American States, international diplomat, co-negotiator of the Panama Canal treaties, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and much,much more. His life of service to our country should make every Cornellian proud.
Be well, be happy, and don't forget to write! -- Ruth Gold Goodman, 103 White Park Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850; tel., (607) 257-6357; e-mail, bg11@cornell.edu.
Phil (Lawrence P.) Young and his wife Wyona will celebrate their 60th anniversary in July.He only attended Cornell for one year and then went with Michigan Bell Telephone Co. in Detroit. He retired 42 years later, including spending three years in Australia with the Signal Corps. He was brought up in Trumansburg, NY, but now lives at 10810 Old Charley Rd., Gravette, AR 72736.
John Hull and his wife Astrid do a lot of traveling, in spite of both having limiting health problems. They got caught in a snowstorm near Steamboat Springs, CO, last winter, and then visited Naples, FL, and Charleston, SC, on their way home to Dewittville, NY. Later this year they plan to be in Sweden. Rev. Frederick Turner, JD '41, started off studying law, then became a Methodist minister, initially serving at several churches near New Albany, PA, until his retirement in 1980. He and his wife now live at Bethany Village in Horseheads, NY.He is currently compiling a book about his father and his life in the Canadian/American Old West. George DeWitt lives in Lino Lakes, MN, but didn't send any additional news this time.
Glenn Robinson, a Sp Ag student in the mid-'30s, has moved to 21 Tudor Road, still in Brockport, NY, to the home of his daughter and son-in-law. He'll be living in a specially designed "pad" that had been used by his grandsons during their high school and college years, with living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bath. A chairlift to the upstairs will mean he can help with meals. He writes, "This is a perfect arrangement as I move into my 90s.-- Phil Twitchell, 1963 Indian Valley Rd., Novato, CA 94947; email, philtwitchell@comcast.net.