The Class Council meeting at Calhoun the morning of the Princeton game went smoothy and productively under Secretary Joe Staley’s practiced stewardship. The gathering was once again graced by the presence of Calhoun’s popular master, Jonathan Holloway, who has returned from a year’s sabbatical, as well as two Calhoun undergraduates who had been able to attend a student science and economics forum in Budapest over the summer courtesy of stipend provided by the Class of 1959 Fund for Excellence. For some years now, the Fund has underwritten annual summer fellowships and other activities that would otherwise be beyond reach of the students or the college. Mr. Holloway asked that the fund be continued, and it most assuredly will, underwritten in part by the generous voluntary dues paid by class members (for which Ben Gertz recently mailed his annual appeal, so please don’t round-file it).
Among those on hand (for the meeting, or the class tent at the game, or Al and Peggy Atherton’s convivial reception at their downtown home afterwards) were Staley, Gertz, Piroumoff, Charlie Hoyt, Austin Hoyt, Charley Ellis, Greenberg, Atherton, Buchanan, Griffith, Kaestle, Vanderkloot, Herb Hallas and the undersigned.
The Fund for Excellence, established originally at the suggestion of Ed Greenberg, was one of the many reason why Yale this year chose to award Ed the Yale Medal, the university’s highest honor for alumni. The medal was presented to Ed and several other deserving Yale graduates on the Friday night before the game. The citation noted not only his many contributions to our class but his tireless service to the AYA, the Alumni Fund, the Yale Alumni Chorus and the Yale Club of Stamford. It has always mystified me how Ed has also found time to raise a family with Sue and have a successful career on Wall Street, but he has. All in all, remarkable record of achievement, for which the university and our class are much the richer.
Sadder news:
Paul Brubacher died from prostate cancer in October in Redlands, CA. After graduation, and the Army, Paul devoted the first one-third of his professional life to higher education, serving in top administrative posts at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of Redlands. In 1980, he switched gears and became a financial consultant and agent at the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. An avid tennis player and Red Sox fan, he is survived by his wife of 50 years, Elaine, and three children.
Stu Pearis died of leukemia in September in Vestal, N.Y., near Binghampton. Stu is one of those guys who stayed put. Born in Binghampton, he returned there after Yale, Yale Law School and two years as a clerk on the NY State Court of Appeals, to join the law firm founded by his father in 1929. He was extraordinarily active in local civic affairs and in his law firm. He is survived by his wife, Jill, and two children.
Rich Warren died in October at Yale New Haven Hospital following a stroke. He was another guy who stayed put — a lifelong New Haven resident who migrated as far as Simsbury for prep school at Westminster and Cambridge for a masters in education at Harvard in 1960. His passion was choral and vocal music. He came back to Yale in the 1960’s and in 1970 was made curator of the University’s Collection of Historical Sound recordings (HSR). He continued on a part-time basis until his illness, compiling 45 years of service to Yale altogether. He was nuts about cats, trains trolleys and gadgets, to the delight of his grandchildren. He leaves his wife, Mary-Jo, and two children.
David Henry died at his home in Mill Valley, CA., in September David was born and spent most of his life in Newton, MA., but moved to the West Coast eight years ago to be near his children. Married and divorced twice, he is survived by a son and daughter, both in the Bay area. He worked as a chemical engineer for the Badger Co. in Cambridge, traveled widely and lived for several years in Holland.
Just as I was sending these notes to New Haven I learned from Hoyt Ammidon of the passing of my old friend and fellow Newsie, Dan Walker. Dan lived in New Haven and was for many years an educational consultant. In recent years he has survived stoically and against considerable odds while suffering from a variety of complex illnesses. I’ll have more to say about Dan next time.
Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, you have in hand Ben Gertz’s class dues appeal. Please take a moment to jot down something about yourself and your lives, or send an email. Preferably on the upbeat side.