CORNELL ALUMNI MAGAZINE ARTICLES FOR 2005
JANUARY/FEBRUARY
2005 - WOMEN
After 36 years of living in the Washington
suburbs I decided a change of scenery and life style might be
an interesting adventure. So last September I moved to Sun City/Hilton
Head and bought my first house. I'm looking forward to a slower
pace (no Beltway traffic!), sunny skies (the snow boots are packed
away), and improving my golf game (so I can keep up with Marj
Nelson Smart at our 50th).
Speaking of fiftieths, Phyllis Whithed Spielmann and Warren '55 will be on the hill next June for "Champ"s reunion. Phyl says that she's volunteering for Food Finders, a non profit that collects food from markets, delis, etc, in the LA area and delivers it to homeless shelters, senior centers and the like. Her group collected 7 million pounds of food last year that would otherwise have been thrown away. She also serves on the board of Precious Lamb Preschool that cares for children of families in crisis. Last fall Phyl and Warren were in Galveston just before Ivan hit and then in Richmond, VA where Phyl attended the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA as a commissioner. The Spielmanns in live Long Beach, CA and Phyl still keeps in touch with Carolyn McKnight Oldham.
Another west coaster in the LA area, Carol Gehrke Townsend sends word via e-mail that she loves being retired "except I never know what day it is when I wake up. Had a grand trip on the Russian waterway between St.Petersburg and Moscow. Great weather until smoggy Moscow, which is worse than L.A. Then went to Vermont to see my only 2 grandchildren. Leaves were lovely even though not at their peak."
Final reminder that if you are planning to
be in the NYC area January 22 that your class officers will be
meeting that weekend. As usual the area classmates get together
for dinner so get in touch with me if you need more details.
Kudos to Phil McIndoo, mostly retired but recently appointed vice chair of the board of Inform, Inc., a company dedicated to finding non-polluting ways of doing business, "prevention rather than remediation." One area of recent research involves the mercury levels in florescent lamps, encouraging business and government to purchase lamps with the lowest mercury content in order to lower the mercury levels in land fills. This will enable our children, grandchildren and beyond to not develop problem nervous, renal and respiratory systems.
Also to Dan MacKay, involved in numerous volunteer projects, primarily church and YMCA (somebody should write a song). He claims that working with volunteers can be taxing, and is practicing saying "NO" in front of a mirror. Grandchildren output is five and holding.
Jim Broadhead serves on 2 outside boards, one of the non-profit variety, and attended the Presidential Counselors meeting in September with Bob Staley, Paul Tregurtha and Steve Weiss. Jim's daughter will graduate from the Johnson School of Business this spring.
Duane Dann has cut back somewhat, but still puts in considerable time as pastor of the United Methodist Church in Noravia NY.
Don Fellner is staying healthy by lifting weights, running on the treadmill and playing golf 3 times a week, living the easy life along with women's correspondent Judy Reusswig on Hilton Head Island.
George Rocklein reports a bumper crop of 3 grandchildren born in 2004, one to the wife of George, Jr., class of '87.
4th grandchild (and 44th wedding anniversary) for Mike Stone, whose present "day job" is listed as "retired."
Sam bookbinder, former restaurateur, is now in the real estate business with Weichert Realtors in Philadelphia, and reports that his granddaughter started last fall at Lawrenceville School in NJ, Sam's alma mater when all prep schools were single gender.
Dave Biddle sends along the news that his wife, Dinny, is recovering nicely from a stroke. Due to Dave's talent as a houseboy and some terrific "clot buster" medication, the recovery is in the "remarkable" Category.
Late last summer, Bob and Linda Watts went to Montana to visit Linda's sister and brother-in-law, fitting in 3 hikes - one to a large ski area known "cleverly" as Big Mountain, another along the continental divide in Glacier National Park, and a third in Idaho's Bitterroot Mountains on a part of the Lewis & Clark Trail. He dined one evening with former roommate Jack Brewer, whom he had not seen since his San Diego Navy days 22 years ago. Jack lives in Polson MT, but shepherds automobile agencies in Denver and San Diego.
Carl Schwarz couldn't make it (wedding in France),
but the rest of the remaining '57 crew got together in September
at Bob Staley's farm in Michigan. Carl reports that his active
days at McDermett Will & Emery are numbered due to mandatory
retirement age, but he will stay around for a year or so to bother
the partners as "Counsel."
Our freshman year, I was assigned a room in Risley. In a double at the end of my corridor lived Anne Horne Warder and Mollie Turner. I learned how to play bridge in that room, thanks to Mollie and she remained a lifelong friend. She was someone who was beating the odds on survival from ovarian cancer - traveling, skiing, serving as a class officer and visiting many of her Cornell friends despite constant chemo. But last July we lost Mollie. She will be missed. We will also miss Bob Smart who did a fabulous job for our 35th reunion along with his wife Marj. Many of their Cornell friends rallied to Marj's side when Bob died last fall.
Steve Weiss and Judy Lund Biggs have been trying to help raise funds for a professorship to honor and be named for Clinton Rossiter, their favorite professor in the Government Dept. Any contributions should be sent to Carol True Palmer, Director of Alumni Affairs & Development at the university.
Barbara Flynn Shively is using her expertise with computer graphics to design brochures for the Morris Choral Society in Morristown, NJ. She initiated the idea of releasing the brochures before the concert so attendees will be well informed about the compositions, soloists, etc. Fredda Ginsberg Fellner, retired professor of pediatrics, says her most pressing problem is "more leisure time than I ever had so may go back to work one day a week." She and Michael MD '56 take advantage of all that New York City has to offer as well as frequent trips to the DC area to see her son and grandsons.
Olga Duntuch Krell writes that the most pressing problem for her at this time is the Brazilian currency and an unstable government in Brazil. As for having chosen another college at Cornell to attend, she lists medical school because she's a frustrated doctor and surgeon. Olga, like many of us, runs into doctors who tell her to quit reading up on everything - how else can we make informed decisions, eh?
CAU participants last year - Carol Johnson Saylor, Vanne Shelley Cowie, Barbara Weissman Lewis, Grace Wohlner Weinstein and spouses, enjoyed learning about the History and Horticulture of the Hudson Valley in June. Attending the summer theater in Stratford, Ontario were Dorothy Eiseman Litwin and Thomas '55, and Helen Kuver Kramer and Ron MBA'57. The Kramers were in NYC for a family gathering last fall to cheer on their daughter Marjorie '87 as she ran the marathon.
Jane Graves Derby is grandmother to twin girls who are almost two and it "takes us both to baby sit". Dennis and Jane cruised on the Danube from Budapest to Passau last year.
Sally Blake Lavery cruised around the British Isles and visited London and Paris for the first time. She volunteers in all the historical associations in Amesbury, MA, where the Amesbury Carriage Museum is about to open and enjoys Cornell chatter with Gordon Breidenbach, '76 at the Scandia Restaurant in Amesbury.
I received a delightful e-mail from Ed Staats in which he chronicles most of what we need to survive, to wit - keep a low profile in this world, especially when you fall asleep in class - live long enough and you win everything (he won a 5 mile ocean swimming race last year in the over 60 class - one of 2 competitors - the runner-up was classmate Stephen de Gott) - looking down from 14,000 feet keeps a lot of things in perspective (experienced in a 3 generation sky dive with son, daughter and grandson) - don't get too dressed up and deep moving and they'll never think you're over the hill - only hill he reports ever having trouble with was Libe Slope. Ed spent 10 years sailing to 4 continents, did a few biking triathlons to celebrate his 70th year, white water rafted in Idaho, and will bike through the French vineyards this summer. (I write this from the prone position on my couch).
Paul Noble has retired (but I'll bet still active in many things), spending 8 months in Palm Beach and 4 months on Fire Island. Hurricane Frances got in the way of some remodeling, and he and wife Paulette Cooper spent some time in temporary quarters.
Keith Stewart had a similar experience, running afoul of Hurricane Charlie in Punta Gorda, and spends most of his time at a new home in Tennessee, having sold his condo in Portsmouth RI.
Daniel Hunter is also retired, and he and Francoise spend 3 months each year in their house on the French Mediterranean. Last year they went to Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest and Prague, where they hooked up with Carl and Daniele Schwarz for a memorable dinner.
Pete and Ann Blauvelt also traveled extensively in Italy last year, joining a Veterinarian group (they have a dog) that included many Cornellians. Pete has won another term as Town Justice (he was unopposed, which reinforces Ed's "live long enough and you win everything" theory), and hopes that his term expires before he does. When not dishing out frontier justice (your correspondent has audited one of these sessions), he remains board chair of a community college near Rochester. He and Ann now have 4 grandchildren competing for their time.
Peter and Anita Cattano have become grandparents for the first time, and soon will have their grandson swimming in one of the upscale pools that Peter's firm designs and builds. One of their award-winning designs was recently featured in the trade journal WATERSHARKS.
Howard and Lenore (Brotman '56) Greenstein have 9 grandchildren, one of whom (Jake Greenstein) is the # 1 ranked 10 year old tennis player in Memphis and #5 in the state of Tennessee. Howard continues serving as Rabbi of a congregation in Marco Island in the winter and Lenox MA in the summer.
Bob Watts passed along the sad news that Bob Smart passed away in October. His ashes were scattered in a military cemetery in Randolph VT. I know I speak for all classmates in expressing our sympathy to Marj.
Have any contributions for the class historical album? Martha Ballard Lacy has put her talents to work and created a marvelous album which she shared with class officers at our January meeting. Volume One is almost complete but Martie would still like you to send any memorabilia to her at 4617 Grace Pl, Jamesville, NY 13078. As well as being a consultant with Creative Memories Martie also enjoys dabbling in genealogy. So she and Dick connected with their roots on a visit to Ireland last fall.
Ela Oudheusden Shacklett has been doing quite a bit of traveling since she retired in 2000. Japan, Singapore, Dubai, Australia, and Holland have been on the itinerary. She continues her volunteer work with visually impaired preschoolers in Shawnee Mission, Kansas.
Sue Davidson Braun is on several committees in San Diego that are working to get universal preschool in that area. In June she was able to travel with her husband to Normandy for the 60th anniversary of D-Day but dealing with a serious back problem and cataract surgery took a bit of the starch out of her in the fall. However, Sue is on her feet once again and even hit the ski slopes in Utah in February.
Florence Bloch Farkas is retired and spent a long winter in Boynton Beach, FL and Bob(nc) and Marcia Wishengrad Metzger enjoyed part of the winter at their new house on Hilton Head Island, SC. She still practices law in Rochester, but at a slower pace.
Sari Feldman Zukerman has just completed her
first year of a three-year term on the Guttenberg, NJ Board of
Education. Rita Feldman Cohen is very involved in Cornell activities
in the northern NJ area. She continues to run Education Associates,
a tutoring service for all those exams - SAT, LSAT, GMAT, etc.
To celebrate Harvey's 75th the entire family took a trip to the
Bahamas. And her most pressing problem? - learning to become computer
literate.as is Judith Lund Biggs, who serves on five different
boards including the Foreign Policy Association and is raising
funds for a professorship in honor of Clinton Rossiter.
Beverly Robertson Murrell volunteers in a number of organizations
in Columbia, MO. A second grandchild arrived in December and the
Murrels visited their youngest son in Japan at year's end.
The Canadian Rockies, Alaska, and Sicily have been on Ellin Salit Rind's recent travel list. Ellin is an English professor at NY Institute of Technology.
Karen Anderson Mahshi, an accomplished quilter,
is the West Coast coordinator for the Rotary/Rotoplast quilt project.
Guilds provide quilts for children who have had surgery to correct
cleft lips and palates, mostly in Central and South America. These
quilts accompany medical teams who donate a week of their services
and operate on over a hundred children during each mission. Karen
received the bronze medal from the American Rose Society for her
leadership role in the Contra Costa Rose Society.
MAY/JUNE
2005 - MEN
John Fisher had a 95th birthday party
for his mother recently, and her 98 year old sister attended.
It made me forget that we are being accused in some quarters of
being old.
Ed Neuwirth puts that theory out to sea with his ascent to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro (over 19,000 ft.) last fall. He received a certificate from the Tanzanian government for his efforts.
Roger Jones reports his day job to be flying in new high performance Cessna, cruising his Nordic tug, serving on the board of the Navigation Foundation, performing volunteer legal duties for a number of organizations, composing jazz, ballads, etc. on his organ, and trying to keep up with 12 grandchildren. He spent part of last summer in several European countries, fitting in a week on Ted Raab's vintage French canal barge.
Dick and Heidi (Wells '61) Gross are active in multicultural consulting, staying young with their 3 grandchildren and traveling extensively in France and the U.S.
Jerry Levey continues as Dean of the School of Medicine at UCLA, while Barbara is involved with Biomedical Affairs, also at UCLA.
Irwin Schlossberg grinds on full time in radiology at Columbia Presbyterian,
Todd Kennedy, president of a major landscape nursery, received the "Man of the Year" award from the National Landscape Association, and celebrated by sailing to Maine from his home port of Greenwich, and Stu Fischman is active in retirement from SUNY Buffalo School of Dental Medicine by monitoring clinical trials of toothpastes, mouth rinses and chewing gum.
David Nye has moved from Washington to a total care community in Tempe, with one of the perks that of being close to his daughter, Jeanne, an elementary school principal finishing up her Doctoral degree at ASU. Having lived all over the U.S. and in Libya with Mobil and the Communications Satellite Corp., he is happy to unpack.
Michael Daly reports that his new CD album, "Ireland form Glen to Glen," is doing well. It was recorded by RCA with the cooperation of the Cornell Glee Club.
The mileage award goes to Jim Wright, who, along with Carol, drove 9,171.5 miles to and from his high school reunion in the State of Washington, including a delightful visit with Georgia Freeman in CA, and also to John Brooke. He and Gigi didn't keep quite as accurate records, but reported 14,000 miles into a trip to OR and CA. The AAA is investigating their claim.
I am saddened to report the death of Sam Bookbinder
and Phil McIndoo's wife, Erica. Our prayers go out to Phil and
to Sam's family.
Now that many of us have reached another milestone this year perhaps it's fitting to include a comment from Mary Neill Hanna's news form. She writes that "It is a great era to begin being in the 70's in age! Dreams can be still realized, health can be recovered and/or enhanced and old age is still 15 year older than one is". Mary is a psychologist at the Community Health Center in Iowa City, IA and enjoys living in this idyllic small college town near her physician daughter. Fredda Ginsberg Fellner's daughter Melinda Fellner Bramwit '89 is an attorney.
Rochelle Krugman Kainer, an analytic psychologist in Washington, is finishing her novel about a woman who has four husbands. Although a graduate of the ILR school she says that being the literary type maybe she should have been in A&S. Rochelle was a Fulbright Scholar at St. Petersburg University in Russia last year.
Gloria Welt Sage is a consultant with the Syracuse Research Corporation and president of the Outer Comstock Neighborhood Association in Syracuse. Martin '55 and Gloria celebrated the recent engagement of their son Daniel, a math professor at LSU, to Marla Kameny, MBA'00.
Phyllis Lorberblatt Kahn was reelected in the fall to the Minnesota state legislature where she has served since 1972. Connie Dimock Sebald accompanied Al'54,JD'59 to Middletown Ohio when he was inducted into the football Hall of Fame last August. Connie is a volunteer at Roxborough State Park and a caregiver for some elderly dear friends.
For Joyce McDowell her most pressing problem is "finding enough time to do everything I want to do." After reading her annual Christmas letter I can understand why. The year started aboard the Clipper Adventurer for a cruise to South America and Africa. When she returned to California Joyce had to undergo successful surgery for spinal stenosis. Then she and Ed'54 headed east by car to attend Ed's 50th reunion and to make a circuit of Atlantic Canada. In the summer they cruised across the Arctic Ocean by way of the North Pole from Murmansk to Pevek in Siberia. London in the fall and an October visit to Patagonia capped a year of world wide travel for the McDowells. Phew!
Marj Nelson Smart and Mary Hobbie Berkelman,
both living in Ithaca, managed to get in a bit of skiing at Greek
Peak this past winter. In March Marj visited Tom '56 and Marilyn
Way Merryweather in Tucson. In addition to hiking, bird watching,
tennis, and golf Marj and the Merryweathers did a lot of reminiscing
- something we'll no doubt find ourselves doing in just two years.
The "R" classification reports extend from "semi-retired" Al Collard, who has been a patent attorney for 38 years, having founded his own company in Roslyn, Long Island. Son Bill married last July, and daughter Liz Richter (Chemistry '91) has 2 children and has followed in her father's footsteps with COLLARD & ROE. While waiting for more grandchildren to arrive, Al has become a junior Bill Schmidt by learning to photograph, crop and paint color photos by computer. He saw Al Suter at a Cornell engineers Christmas party in NYC last year, and recently ran into Russell Taft, who works at the observatory at the 9,000 ft level on Mt. Haleakala on Maui.
At the "mostly retired" level is Jeremy Fitz-Patrick, who is most certainly one of the few great grandfathers in the class, and who will celebrate in September, with Judith, 50 years of marriage. They still go to Bermuda in the summer/fall and "south" in the winter. He has seen Mike Linehan, who now lives in Virginia Beach.
Straight up "retired" is Roy Hassel, who was senior pastor at the Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church in Ridgefield CT fo 18 years, where a section of the church has been named in his honor. He and Judy have 5 grandchildren, and their oldest son, Jeff, is in his 5th year as a missionary in Lithuania.
Ditto for Dennis Greene, who was in commercial real estate for 18 years after 30 years in the army. Last fall, he and Riitta (sic) cruised to southern Italy, Sicily, Tunisia and Malta.
Retired "again" describes Ike Eisinger, this time from teaching religion at an Episcopal school for 9 years. He is now investing and playing with his 10 grandkids. Ike might be investing with Dwight Emanuelson, who is active as Sr. VP of Wachovia Securities in Hilton Head and Palm Beach, specializing in estate planning.
Don Singer has a few more years as a reference archivist at the National Archives in College Park MD, working with World War II military records. He ran in the Baltimore marathon last fall, qualifying for the Boston marathon in April.
Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers has announced
the appointment of Alan Altshuler as dean of the Graduate School
of Design (GSD). Alan received a master's degree and doctorate
in political science from the University of Chicago, teaching
at Swarthmore, Cornell and MIT, where he chaired the political
science department for several years. Alan has served on the faculty
of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard as well as that
of the GSD prior to his appointment, and brings a unique combination
of expertise in political science and urban planning to his new
position. He has also distinguished himself in the public sector
and has authored enough books and articles to fill up several
libraries.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
2005 - WOMEN
Hurrying to catch a pan that I had
left burning on the stove, I tripped on one of my needlepoint
rugs and went flying across the living room, arms outstretched,
to land hands first on the ceramic tile floor." So begins
a belated Christmas letter from Judy Madigan Burgess. Long story
short, it was the day before Thanksgiving and as Judy lay on the
floor watching the smoke gather from the heated pan and wondering
if it would set the house on fire, her son walked in the door
just in time to call 911 and turn off the burner on the stove.
Judy wound up in the hospital with two broken arms and rotator
cuff injuries but after treatment was able to be back home the
next day to supervise all the family helpers as they prepared
the Thanksgiving feast. A few days later she returned to the hospital
for surgery, then into rehab and therapy, and finally came home
a week before Christmas. Judy is now back on her own again and
in May visited with Bob '53 and Susan Alder Baker on her way to
Vancouver and an Alaskan cruise. This fall Judy is off on a 10,000
mile road trip to Atlanta, Nova Scotia, and Tennessee to visit
family and friends. She is fully insured.
Linda Wellman Stansfield traveled with a Cornell group to Iran and she describes Persepolis, 555 B.C. as "glorious and so impressive in its magnificent condition". Barbara Timen Hostein visited her daughter in London last year where she got to see her newest (5th) grandchild. Then it was to Prague to see her other daughter who is producing a movie.
Judy Bird has left Pawley's Island, SC to live
permanently in Hawaii and Bob '56 and Mimi Hester Ridgley have
a new home in Camas, WA. On campus in June were a number of classmates
whose husbands were celebrating the 50th reunion for the class
of '55: Adele Petrillo Smart, Grace Wohlner Weinstein, Jo Field
Bleakley, Harriet Merchant Shipman, Sue Sutton Moyer, Barbara
Haglund Schlerf, Gwen Barrera Hart, Myrna Lacy Rooney, Nancy Krauthamer
Goldberg, Sue Westin Pew and Vanne Shelley Cowie among others.
The Continuing Reunion Committee (aka
CRC) gathers each year to enjoy the reunion weekend and among
those who made it this year were Joe '56 and Sue DeRosay Henninger
as well as Connie Santagato Hosterman. Marcia Wishengrad Metzger
celebrated with The Law School Class of '60 at their 45th. Just
two more years and it's our turn to tread the hill once more.
Jim Broadhead and Paul Tregurtha hosted a reunion in March for several members of their Chi Psi class of 1957. Attendees included Peter Buchanan, Tom Criswell, Guy Henry, Walt Gundel, Doug Love, Chuck Slater and Clint Walker. Only Brad Wright and Steve Smethurst were not able to attend. A Friday night dinner kicked off the festivities, and a Saturday evening reception was held at the home of Jim and Sharie Broadhead; followed by a Sunday brunch at the home of Paul and Lee Tregurtha. Golf, tennis, biking and lolling on the beach were high priorities during the day. It seems that no one has changed, and the singing voices were in great shape.
I received a delightful e-mail from Jason Wright, a member of the class of 2002. He graduated this spring from the Ohio State Univ Moritz School of Law, and passed on to me his great respect for Sheldon Halpern, the C. William O'Neill Professor of Law and Judicial Administration. Sheldon was the highlight of Jason's experience at Ohio State, taking Copyright, Trademark and Defamation courses from him .In his 21 years at the school, Sheldon has distinguished himself in many ways, notably in the case of McFarland vs. Miller, involving the unauthorized use of the name of George "Spanky" McFarland, the actor in the television show "Our Gang."
Another outstanding teacher was Sandford Lowe, who died in March. He taught religious studies at Santa Rosa Junior College in CA. Ordained as a Reform Rabbi at Hebrew Union College in New York, and having earned a doctorate of ministry from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Sandy became a much beloved professor, known for his expertise and interpretation of the Christian Bible. He taught at Santa Rosa for 30 years, retiring in 2001.
I recently visited Tony and Gail Cashen at their farm south of Albany, where my grandson, five years old and a lock for Cooperstown, lives. Tony is retired to the point of doing pro bono only head hunting and Gail is active in several community organizations. The highlight of the visit was Tony's four wheeler thrill ride with the future Hall of Famer hanging on remarkably well. At least two wheels were on the ground at all times.
Class president Bob Watts has served his country, our class and Cornell with great distinction, and the following is a quote from President Lehman. "I am very pleased to notify you that the Board of Trustees has elected you to the Cornell University Council for a four-year term beginning July 1, 2005. You were nominated by the Council for membership because of the leadership and outstanding service you have demonstrated in your profession, in society, and especially for Cornell." (Special thanks to Sue and Joe Henninger for finding out and forwarding this wonderful news.)
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 - WOMEN
Among those celebrating the 70th (rbirthday, not reunion!) this past summer were Jan Nelson Cole and Joan Reinberg Macmillan. In June Jan and her family enjoyed wonderful weather and a stay at Tide's Inn on the Northern Neck in Virginia. Swimming, fishing, and a dinner cruise on son Nelson's boat capped a great weekend. In early July Jan was in Colorado for a few weeks and reports that a group of young alums was playing in a lacrosse tournament in Vail. Cornellians are everywhere! By the end of July Jan was off to Ithaca and a week at CAU learning about the ecology, geology, and archaeology of Cayuga Lake and the region.
Hurricane Dennis caused a one-day postponement for Joan's surprise birthday party organized by her daughter in Tallahassee,FL. After making her entrance on a red carpet and greeting her many guests, Joan sat down, not to play the piano, but to enjoy the entertainment by some of her friends in the Tallahassee Little Theatre group. Joan wound up her summer of celebration joining Marj Nelson Smart for a Cornell Alumni trip to Italy's Lake District.
Shirley Wagoner Johnson spent most of her summer in Maggie Valley, NC after moving from her Lakeland, FL home to a townhouse in Atlanta, GA. Also in the Atlanta area is Lyn Nehrbas Alexander. Lyn, grandmother of seven, aged 2 to 19, has been teaching swimming lessons to children and aquarobics to adults, along with a bit of yoga.
You probably have received the class dues renewal form by now. PLEASE take time to fill in some information about yourself, family, etc. Your news is what keeps this column going. Class officers will be meeting in Philadelphia next February 17-18 and as plans begin to gel for our 50th Paul Gladstone and Dori Goudsmit Albert will be looking for volunteers. Perhaps you'll be interested in adding your name to the list.
We lost a dear classmate in August, when Jack
McCormick passed away a week shy of his 70th birthday. Jack
was a great supporter of Cornell, and this was more than evident
in the many times I visited him both in Florida and New Jersey.
One of my fondest remembrances involves Jack's visit to our house
in KY many years ago, when he was president of King Edward Cigars.
He brought a box of samples, and I have a picture of Jack and
my 2 sons (ages 9 & 10) lighting up. A memorial service
was held in Ponte Vedre, and thanks to Gerry Grady for keeping
me posted on Jack's situation and the service.
Steve and Lee Laden hosted a pre-orientation pep rally for the
65 incoming freshmen in the Philadelphia area in August in their
Mt. Airy home. In addition to meeting each other and several
alumni/alumnae, the new Cornellians were treated to a vast array
of horticulture originating at Cornell, thanks to Brad Baker,
'83, father of incoming freshman Audrey Baker and owner of a world
famous landscape design firm.
Steve Levine sent along a delightful e-mail in which he reminisced
about the Baker Hall freshman year when he an Phil McIndoo were
hall mates, and the fact that the 50th is creeping up on us.
Steve's father was a member of the class of 1928 (as was my father)
and his daughter Lauren graduated in '87. Son Jeffrey has
an 8 year old daughter who might be Ithaca bound in a few years,
making the Levine family a 4 generation Cornell conglomerate.
Steve worked for Bell Labs for 38 years, followed by 4 years with
a fiber-optic undersea cable division of AT&T, and he and
Elaine are now residing in an adult community in Somerset NJ.
Let's not tell the admission folks, but if it weren't for some
"help" from freshman roommate (and high school classmate)
Bernard Horton on a Latin Regents Exam in his high school days,
the 4 generation gig may not have gone down.
A note from Gil Lamb recalls his army years which took him away
from Cornell ( he came back to finish in '59) and his 5th year
adventure of rooming with Ike Eisinger. They had both lost
several roommates over the years, and Gil believes their membership
in Mummy/Majura may have had something to do with their "extended"
education cycle.