CLASS OF ’59 – November/December 2008

As I write this, 5556 hours remain ‘til I’m back at Cornell for our 50^th reunion. How long from the time you read this? Check out the countdown timer on our class website (http://classof59.alumni.cornell.edu), created and maintained by Alan Newhouse. Lots of other neat stuff on the website too, including—thanks to the efforts of Jane Wiegand—a growing list of classmates who have indicated they’ll be attending reunion.

Dave Dunlop informed me that our reunion group will be housed in the Court-Kay-Bauer Community, an addition to North Campus that opened in 2001—and that conveniently offers air conditioning, which other dormitories lack. (Originally, the entire dormitory with its three wings was named Court, after the courtyard it formed. Later, two of the wings were renamed after $10 million donations from each of the Kay and Bauer families.)

Full information on reunion is scheduled to be mailed to 59ers in March. Meanwhile, plans are underway to create a DVD featuring our past reunions, with input from Chuck and Nancy Sterling Brown. Ron Demer has taken the lead on developing the affinity group network. George Schneider and Dave Dunlop have prepared a budget for the reunion. Your help is needed, too! Let me know what role you’d like to play in preparing for what promises to be a fabulous event.

“See you in June” writes Marianne Smith Hubbard of Tryon, NC. She has been doing lots of traveling—to London, Michigan, the Stratford Festival in Ontario, etc. Bert ’49 and Gail Freeman Warner enjoyed a 14-day river boat cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna. “That’s why I keep working, to pay for my trips, says realtor Gail Stanton Willis of Houston, TX. Another avid traveler is Rose Marie Urfer O’Toole of Sarasota, FL. She’s been to 94 countries, and hopes to add six more to reach 100. “I’d love to do more traveling,” writes Marjory (Midge) LeShure Marshall of Rochester, NY. She’s a professor of English at Monroe Community College as well as a freelance acting teacher and director of teen theatre productions. “After hours” she enjoys power vinyasa yoga and competitive ballroom dancing.

Morgan Larkin Rankin of Santa Cruz, CA, and her sister Bourke Larkin Kennedy of Auburn, NY, “did the wonderful CAU trip to the Galapagos Islands over Christmas.” Of 2007. Morgan continues to edit and publish The Battle Mountain News for residents of the Bonny Doon community. She also put together a “Bonny Doon Directory of Skills and Services,” which covers everything from animals and artists to yard work and yoga. In addition, she is director of voter services for the Santa Cruz League of Women Voters. Bourke is artistic director of Second Stage, which operates under the Auburn Players Community Theatre. She recently retired from the Christian Peacemaker Teams, where for 15 years she was part of a violence reduction team in Hebron in the West Bank of Palestine.

Bill Hellriegel of Chatham, NJ still consults and develops financial planning programs for the mutual fund industry. Ed Tavlin of Delray Beach, FL was retired for five years, then decided to return to insurance sales, focusing on life settlement insurance for seniors. Len Edelstein of Pound Ridge, NY is a vice president and financial advisor at Morgan Stanley’s Stamford, CT office. Like many 59ers, grandchildren are a major focus of Len’s life—“trying to protect them from our cockamamie culture” is among his extra-curricular activities.

Adalberto Stratta of Southern Pines, NC is executive in residence at Methodist University’s Reeves School of Business, educating college students on resort and club management. His “after hours” activities focus on coaching soccer in a local youth program. Anne Carpenter Robertson of Redwood City, CA tutors several elementary-grade students at Selby Lane School, helping the Spanish speaking youngsters learn to read, write and speak English.

Janet Jones moved from Waterford, NY to 2000 Ocean Blvd, Rye, NH and now lives near her daughter and her family. Janet retired from teaching in 2007, and loves retirement, but hoped to find part-time work in an elementary or middle school as a teacher’s aide. She also would like to set up a Cornell Retirees Volunteering in Schools (CRVIS) program in Vermont and New Hampshire and to that end would like to make contact with other Cornell retirees in the area.

If you still plan to give to the Cornell Fund for the 2008-09 year, remember that you can specify that your donation should go to the Class of 1959 Scholarship Fund. Our current scholar is Miranda Uzoma ’09, a biometry and statistics major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In a letter of appreciation, Miranda thanks us “for helping to reach my academic goals and giving me the wonderful opportunity to complete Cornell without any financial worries.” • Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.