by
Barrie
Rich
These notes are being written the first week of May, and
the final reservation forms for the mini class reunion in
Washington
,
D.C.
, November 1-4 should be in the mail momentarily. Those who plan to
attend should have sent in the completed forms by the time you read
this. We are expecting a full house and a great time.
Notice has just been received from Chris Forster
that on May 28 at its commencement exercises Yale granted Dick Gilder
an honorary degree in recognition of his many efforts in the field of
education, both to Yale and elsewhere. This is a great honor of which we
should all be proud. Fuller details will be included in the next notes.
Congratulations, Dick.
An announcement from Steve Kumble says that on
December 22 he was married to Angela Marie Giguere in
Palm Beach
,
Florida
. They plan to live in
Newport
,
Rhode Island
, and
Palm Beach
. Our congratulations to Steve and best wishes to the happy couple.
While CEOs of major bankrupt corporations including
United Airlines have had their pay compensations increased, Gerald
Grinstein of Delta kept his at a low level and has just brought the
airline out of bankruptcy. Employees who endured deep pay and benefit
cuts will receive cash payouts under the final settlement, but Gerald
won't. He is donating what equity benefits he might have received under
the new pay plan to start charities for hard-up employees and retirees.
Congratulations, Gerald. Maybe now you can retire.
Carlos Punceles reports that in April he went to
New Brunswick
to visit his eldest great-grandson, Pepe, who is seven. His
granddaughter, Pepe's mother, is married to a member of the Canadian
Armed Forces who was badly injured last August in
Afghanistan
. The rest of his family, six daughters and 12 grandchildren, are doing
well. For the past several years he has been president of the Yale Club
of Venezuela but he adds that the present economic situation, or rather
turmoil, does not help.
Paul Stanley writes that he has now retired from
his internal medicine practice. During the past 40 years he has worked
with his father and his brother, which he found very rewarding. He is
now enjoying retirement, playing golf and the piano and traveling. Howard
Shoemaker has had an exhibit of his watercolors in
Middlebury
,
Connecticut
, entitled "Trucks and More." His works were displayed at the
Golden Age of Trucking Museum there. His watercolors are really quite
good.
Dick Murphy and Ludmilla have sold their home of
38 years in
Bethesda
,
Maryland
, and have moved to Leisure World, a lovely retirement community in
Silver Spring
,
Maryland
. He writes that they love their new home, with plenty of activities to
benefit one's mind and body. Probably more of us will be doing the same
shortly.
Sadly, there are four deaths to record: Peter R. Veit
died on February 16 at his home on John Island, South Carolina.
Following two years with the Army in
Germany
, Peter became a bond trader at Shields & Company in
New York City
. After a long career there, he owned and operated a transportation
company in
Massachusetts
. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, a daughter, and a son. On
February 17 the Honorable Ronald J. Fracasse died in
Cheshire
,
Connecticut
. After Yale Ronald attended
Boston
College
Law
School
and then practiced law in
New Haven
for 21 years. He was appointed Superior Court judge in 1979 and until
his recent illness he served as a trial referee. He was the husband of
the late Catherine Maher Fracasse, and is survived by three daughters
and a son.
Peter Prior of
Marlborough
,
Connecticut
, died on March 26. Subsequent to Yale he attended the
Wharton
School
and served in the Navy. He then began a banking career with Hartford
National Bank and after 30 years there retired as a senior vice
president. At the time of our last reunion he listed himself as being
with the U.S. Department of Labor in
Hartford
. He is survived by his wife, Jan, two sons, and a daughter. Vance B.
Field died April 19 in
Newport News
,
Virginia
. He had a career in banking and subsequently hosiery, and then served
for 40 years as president of Asheville Mica Company in
Newport News
. He was also an active member of various organizations there. He is
survived by his wife, Martha, two sons, and a daughter.
Contact:
Barrie
Rich
4522 Woodmere Rd.
Tampa, FL 33609
gaiusiv@aol.com
|
|
Email Barrie Rich
by
Barrie
Rich
By last count well over 220 have signed up for the
mini-reunion in
Washington
,
D.C.
, November 1-4. Our top capacity is 240, so it looks as if we will be
coming in close to that. The schedule-of-events brochure is most
impressive and the whole weekend looks grand. It will be wonderful to
get together again with such stimulating surroundings.
We are planning the traditional skybox reunion at the
Harvard game November 17 in
New Haven
. This year there will be a grand dedication of the 1954 class football
field, before the game at the Coxe Cage, instead of our usual breakfast
and talk. Everyone planning to come to the game is urged to attend this
momentous event as well. Full details will be mailed when received,
along with reservation forms for parking and the usual reception after
the game. There will be no dinner this year at Mory's Friday night.
As announced in the last class notes, during the
commencement exercises in May Yale awarded Dick Gilder its
highest honor of doctor of humane letters for his lifetime of service to
Yale and the general public. The award was accompanied by the following
comments which are well worth recording here in full: "Your passion
for American history led you to create, with your longtime friend Lewis
Lehrman, the largest collection of American historical documents ever
amassed by private citizens. And your generosity and patriotism then led
you to make the entire collection available to the public. You are the
most creative of philanthropists, envisioning and supporting the
renaissance of Central Park and the superlative renovation and addition
to the
American
Museum
of Natural History. At Yale, you convinced your classmates to invest
modest sums at the time of their 25th reunion, creating the largest 50th
reunion gift in Yale's history. We are proud to count you as a son of
Yale and pleased to express our admiration for your life's work by
awarding you a second Yale degree." Congratulation, Dick, from all
of us who are proud to have you among us.
Dick Thornburgh continues to go from strength to
strength within the
Washington
corridors. He has just written a thought-provoking book entitled
Puerto Rico
's Future: A Time to Decide. In a forward, former President
George H. W. Bush writes: "Dick Thornburgh's admirable work
emphasizes the need for Puerto Ricans to determine their own fully
permanent democratic status." The thrust of Dick's book and a
companion article in the Wall Street Journal is that
Puerto Rico
is currently in a state of limbo. The existing commonwealth status is
unacceptable; while its residents are
U.S.
citizens, they cannot vote for president or a congressional
representative. He argues that it is up to Congress to start the ball
rolling to hold a plebiscite in
Puerto Rico
to choose among statehood, independence, or sovereign nationhood under a
treaty of free association. An enhanced commonwealth status, he feels,
is not acceptable. Hopefully we can hear more from Dick during our
mini-reunion in November.
Three of our classmates accompanied their wives in
attending the 50th reunion of the Class of 1957 at Vassar in early June.
These were David Oestreich with Brenda, Gray Williams
accompanied by Marian, and your secretary with Marguerite. In addition,
the widows of George Eustis and Ralph Tucker were also
there.
Andy Vladimir writes that his new book, Selling
the Sea -- An Inside Look at the Cruise Industry (second edition),
was published in May. It was co-authored by Bob Dickinson, president of
Carnival Cruises. The first edition written ten years ago sold more than
35,000 copies. But the industry has changed dramatically since then and
grown at such an astounding rate that the publishers asked them to
rewrite the book.
In a recent note Arthur Giesen reports that he is
presently special assistant for government relations with
James
Madison
University
in
Harrisonburg
,
Virginia
. He will also be teaching political science there where he hopes to be
able to relate to the younger generation some of his 50 years of being
involved in
Virginia
politics.
George Spaeth apologizes that he will be a bit
late to the mini-reunion but he will be tied up running a fellowship
program in
Philadelphia
at the Willis Eye Institute. Some of us never seem to slow down.
Contact:
Barrie
Rich
4522 Woodmere Rd.
Tampa, FL 33609
gaiusiv@aol.com
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Class
Notes