Class of '50

I was glad to hear from Charles Carlton after I serendipitously ran into him in Stowe. We enjoyed spending time with him and his wife. He wrote afterwards that he enjoyed our 50th reunion very much. He especially enjoyed seeing classmates with whom he had worked on the Cynic, including Joan Ediff Adams, Emerson Melaven, and Bob Taisey. Over the years, Charlie has kept in touch with Emerson and Bob as well as Jack Inman, Dick Nostrand, Teresa Tomasi, and Harriet Towne. While in Vermont, he also visited Salina Webster, widow of Truman Webster, who was both his French and German teacher. He also spent an afternoon with Alan Roberts, now in his ‘80s, who runs a tree farm in Starksboro, Vt. Charlie officially retired in 1999, and since then, he and his wife have traveled to Florida to see Charlie’s mother and son Stephen in Georgia, son John in Boston, and son David and family who moved to Cincinnati. Charlie continues his work on Romania. He recently read papers in Liege and at Case Western University. I also heard from Lillian Cotnoir Doyle, who continues to be active in skiing. I told her about the 70+ club to which my husband and I belong. We will be skiing with that group in February. Hope to hear from more classmates for the next issue.

Class of '51

It’s been a long time coming, but now it’s time for OUR 50th Reunion. Thanks to all the hard work that our class reunion committee, led by John Tampas, has done to date. Watch the mail for information about our special class memory book. Please send your information back by February 15 so that all of us will be included in this special memento of our golden reunion. Ruth Warrell MacKay and husband Allister ’52 met Ruth’s sisters, Alma Warrell Briggs and Marion Warrell (’52) Danes, and Alma’s husband in Branson, Mo. Ruth wrote the headline, “The Warrell Girls Do Branson, Missouri,” to announce the trip. She noted that at one show, they were asked to greet their neighbors, and she met the four people who were seated in front of her, who were from Burlington, Vt.; one was a UVM graduate. They also visited Rose Mary Traynor (’50) Meyer in nearby St. Louis.

Class of '52

Jerome Agel was honored by Fordham University for outstanding action in his field of media ecology. Congratulations! The award was presented for his work with Marshall McLuhan on his classic book, The Medium is the Massage, a worldwide best seller for more than three decades. Jerome has written and produced more than 50 major books, including collaborations with Carl Sagan, Buckminster Fuller, and Stanley Kubrick. As a student at UVM, he created what was to become UVM’s Lane Series, and he was sports publicity director for three years. Jerome’s son, Jesse ’84, is UVM’s assistant men’s basketball coach. Patricia Wilson Bove wrote sadly that our classmate and her former roommate Louise Stephenson Fitzgerald died in June 1999. Another former roommate, Theresa Girard Gordon, and her husband, Lewis, live in Hannibal, Mo. Now retired, they are enthusiastic ham radio operators. Mary Shepardson Granger lives in Shelburne, Vt., and she, too, is retired. Patricia and her husband retired in 1996, and, since then, they have done quite a bit of traveling, most recently to Spain and Portugal. They attended the UVM Medical School class of ‘55’s 45th reunion. The Boves have five grandsons, ranging in age from a year to 14-years-old. Harriet Pratt Willett of Denver, Colo., enjoys traveling to Vermont to visit her sister, Pam, and brother Jarvis.

Class of '53

We are sad to report the passing of our long-time class secretary, Patricia Williams Morris, on October 20, 2000 after a long illness. Pat will be remembered by her classmates for her loyalty and dedication to UVM and to our class and will be missed by all. Our condolences to her family.

Class of '54

When Sweden and Denmark agreed to build a “fixed link” between the two countries in 1997, Bill Thomson was appointed North American director for Denmark’s new city, Orestad. The Orestad Development Corporation works directly for the Queen of Denmark, and Bill traveled to Denmark several times a year as well as throughout North America. He previously had retired from IBM, and he retired from his second career in December 1999. He makes his home in Darien, Conn.

Class of '55

Wow! We had another great reunion blast. Classmates, with or without partners, returned to campus for several wonderful days of camaraderie, terrific campus events, and just plain fun. The mix of the classes of ’54, ’56, and us was fabulous in every way. Bill and I have since heard from many of the 85 of our class that were in attendance who raved about the fun we all had. Along with everything else, our class was recognized for the special contributions we have and continue to make to our university. Our 50th will be here before you know it, so send in your thoughts and suggestions to me here in Pennsylvania or directly to the Alumni Office. For those of you who didn’t make it in June, I am sorry you missed a truly grand event. I hope that you and we will all be together in five years. On a personal note, last April, Bill and I jumped from having five grandchildren to having nine when our son, Tim, and his wife, Cheryl, gave birth naturally to two sets of identical twin boys, Max and Kyle, Cameron and Sam, a true phenomena of nature. Big two-year-old brother, Jack, is holding his own and protecting each. To see is to believe. Stanley Stein, M.D., wrote that he continues to practice pediatrics full time. He is the proud grandfather of 13. Major Donald Cook sent the following update: “My reported demise in Vietnam in the mid-60s caused much confusion. I did survive, and now, the military extravaganza is long over. Today we enjoy spending much time in Normandy at a family cottage near Deauville. Remember Samuel deChamplain? He sailed from the nearby port of Hongleur in 1609…We are a family of professional students. My daughter, Babette, is well along at Harvard Medical School; son Steve is a geophysicist, pursuing his master’s in computer technology; wife Gigi is retired from the financial world and immersed in high-level gourmet cooking. I recently completed a master’s program in urban affairs.” Don toasted us in absentia for our 45th, and he hopes to join us at a future reunion. Do send me news of you and yours ASAP. So much goes on, and we’d love to hear from you so we can share it with everyone. More anon.

Class of '57

I visited UVM on Homecoming Weekend in early October and enjoyed seeing the campus. There are now old-fashioned street lights, brick-like paving, signs and stylistic gatepost structures as you drive from Williston Road that emphasize that one is entering the UVM campus and act as traffic-calming features. Just one obvious change in the many things that go on, generally to the betterment of old UVM. I stayed with my sister, Ann Wakefield (’61) Lanzet with whom I attended the UVM reception at Shelburne Farms. There I ran into several classmates. Carrol “Bud” Ockert, retired U.S. Army Colonel, was attending with his wife, Jenny, and daughter Genevieve Marsett. The Ockerts live in Shelburne, Vt., and Bud still works for the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. I also conversed with Don Kidder and Madeline “Maddie” Fournier Murphy. I remarked to Maddie that she was a lovely Kake Walk Queen during our college days, and she laughed modestly. (She is still lovely.) Maddie, now widowed, lives in Ottawa, Canada, and has become a Canadian citizen. She has five children and 16 grandchildren. Don, who came up from his farm in Edgemont, Pa., was accompanying the elegant 97-year-old Helen Stoddard ’27 to the reception. During the weekend, I had brunch with Shirley Campbell Prushko, who lives part of the year in her lakeside home in South Hero. She and husband John would soon leave for their winter home in San Marco Island. Shirley ice skates several times a week for “fun and fitness.” I traveled up to the Northeast Kingdom to visit another UVM friend, Pat Orvis ’56, who now lives in Derby, Vt., where she has a public relations business and continues her writing career. I was delighted to run into several UVMers in Burlington last spring when my sister Ann ‘61 and I attended the May 2000 festivities for the 100th birthday of the high school building that housed Edmunds (Burlington) High School, our alma mater. The handsome brick building on the corner of South Union and Main Streets was the scene of high school days for Suzanne Gurney Day, Lorna Dean Brown, and Marilyn Falby Stetson as well. Other UVMers in attendance included Stuart Alexander ‘62, MD ‘67, Arloa Dean (’52) Leary and husband Frank ’53. During the day’s ceremonies, former UVM Alumni Council President Sally Smith (’56) Hackett saw her father Holland “Dutch” Smith honored as the oldest living Burlington High School faculty member—an outstanding principal, teacher, and coach. Luther “Freddie” Hackett ’55, a Burlington High School alum, was by his wife Sally’s side. Please send us your news. Your classmates look forward to hearing from you. Send it by email or “snail mail” or pick up the phone. Ciao!

Class of '58

More classmates have been moved to send email. Hurrah! Alan Young has worked in new product development in Silicon Valley for 40 years. He and his wife have seven children and six grandchildren. This year, they have three children in college, but Alan reports that state tuition is almost free. Lucky! Nancy Davis Hill and her husband, Lewis, have just had their 14th book, The Lawn and Garden Owner’s Manual, published. The Hills operate Berryhill Nursery in Greensboro, Vt., and write books and magazine articles during the long Vermont winters. Their books have been published by Knopf, Stephen Greene, Rodale Press, and Globe Pequot, and two have been reprinted in Portuguese and Spanish. Steve Solomon (steve2000@mindspring.com) sent an update on his life since 1958. He still lives in Yonkers, N.Y. He has retired as a New York City high school teacher of ESL and has embarked on a new career as a screenwriter. Steve teaches part time at Westchester Community College, and he recently returned from a wonderful trip to Korea. He would like to get in touch with classmates, especially Phi Sigma Delta buddies of that era and the wonderful people in theater under Greg Falls’ direction in 1957-58. Steve remembers Dorothy Decicio, who married David Canter and settled in New Jersey. Are you still out there? Ed Fink reported that grandchild number five was born last September. Congratulations! On a personal note, my son has returned to Vermont lock, stock and barrel, including wife, granddaughter, and two dogs, after having been stationed in Germany and Italy for six years. It was a circus. We finally got everything sorted out. If I seemed a little distracted, I was. More news in the spring.