Class of ’59 – July/August 2009

 

By the time you read this issue of our wonderful alumni magazine, our 50^th reunion will be a memory—and we’ll be looking toward our 55^th! Be sure to read the magazine’s September/October issue for coverage of the 2005 Reunion Weekend, including news of ‘59ers who were there. Among the crowds will be many who have worked long hours to ensure the event will be exciting, enriching, and memorable—folks such as Harry Petchesky, the Sol Hurok of our class, for originating the great ideas that will have made this a special reunion; Fred Harwood, for getting people in almost every fraternity and sorority to contact their members and encourage them to attend reunion; Dale Rogers Marshall and Stefanie Lipsit Tashkovich for organizing and running our traditional Saturday morning panel of classmates; Diane Hilliard for “running the numbers” as class treasurer; Al Newhouse for organizing and maintaining the ‘59 website; Neil Janovic for selecting our handsome windbreakers, which will be useful at reunion and afterwards.

       Dave Warner was among the many planning to be at reunion, He’ll take time out from completing a summer cottage in Southport, ME and his major extracurricular activity at present: renovating a lobster boat! Janyce Pelzman Anapolle of Parsippany, NJ—a realtor with Weichert Realtors—and Harry Stern of Chicago—who never before attended a reunion—also expected be there. “I had transferred to Cornell in 1957, and for me those two years were ‘heaven on earth,’ writes Celinda Cass Scott of Indiana, PA, another early reunion registrant. She continues to substitute teach in her fields of French, English, and social studies: “I always learn something and it’s fun to see new ways of teaching.” She’s on the standing committee at the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and active in Circles, a national movement that helps families escape from poverty; program allies/mentors such as Celinda share business skills, help individuals access services, and so on.

       Ken and Lois Rand spend their summers in Hopatcong, NJ and winter in Savannah, GA. Ken is president of Alleran Financial Services, a financial planning, registered investment advisor, and tax preparation firm headquarters in Hopatcong. His extra-curricular activities include golf, competitive tennis, yacht racing, and duplicate bridge. “Sitting on my behind and reading” is an after-hours activity favored by Len Edelstein. He is a vp and financial advisor with Morgan Stanley in Stamford, CT. Now retired from Morgan Stanley is Sam Cooke of Honolulu, HI. Sam chairs the Honolulu Academy of Arts, is president of the Cooke Foundation, and is involved in the Kualii Foundation and Nature Conservancy—“making Hawaii a better place to live in” remains an critical goal for Sam. He and his wife Mary founded the Manoa Heritage Center, a non-profit organization that interprets the history of the Manoa Valley. The center’s property includes the Cooke family home, Kuali’i, named for a great Oahu chief and built with stone quarried on the site; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

       At the other end of the country Valerie Gilardi Moliterno of Myrtle Beach, SC is working on the restoration of the slave garden at the Belle W. Baruch Institute, an academic research institute located on Hobcaw Barony, a former rice plantation on Waccamaw Neck. Among her recent activities: digging up bulbous plants of the genus Leucojum that feral pigs “replanted” in the slave village. Valerie also does water monitoring on the Waccamaw River and is raising a dog for an autistic child. Tom Cowing, professor emeritus in the department of economic at the State University of New York at Binghamton, is a docent at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Remarried last summer, he and his wife Helen now live in Ithaca. Sailing, ballroom dancing, birding, traveling, and keeping up with nine grandchild occupy much of their time.

       Traveling continues to be high on the agenda of ‘59ers. Linda Rogers Cohen of Great Neck took trips to Brazil and Australia earlier this year. Shirley Wilhelm Granda of Poughkeepsie also traveled to Australia, as well as New Zealand. Millie Frantz Miller of Boulder, CO was in Peru as well as numerous places around the U.S. Millie has also undertaken a task that all of us are encouraged to do: writing her memoirs. Dave Harris of Silver Spring, MD has been writing a family history, beginning back in the early 1800s—and “including some real characters!” Dave has recently traveled tin Italy, Israel, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas…and Milwaukee. “Why Milwaukee?” he asks. “That’s where the grandchildren are!”

       Running, hiking, piano, attending concerts, enjoying “children” (oldest now 45) and grandchildren are among Sid Wolfe’s favored activities. A resident of Washington, DC, he continues to head the Health Research Group of Public Citizen and edits an online source of information about prescription drug safety called Worst Pills, Best Pills (and books by the same name). Jack Rosenfeld of NYC is chairman of Potpourri Group, one of the nation’s leading multi-title catalog companies (Potpourri, NorthStyle, Serengeti, Nature’s Jewelry, Young Explorers, etc.). • Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.