I'm writing this column in mid-June surrounded by Corona Virus
and civil unrest. You will receive your
Alumni News in October shortly before a national election of great importance
and controversy. We live in interesting
times. On a lighter note we have news
and updates from several classmates.
We begin
with a lengthy note from Jane Sessler, “After spending my entire life living
on Long Island, I have decided t sell my house in Manhasset and make my
permanent residence upstate, outside Saratoga Springs. Six years ago I
bought a small modular house in a wonderful over- 55 community to enjoy summers
at the thoroughbred horse races. I have
owned racehorses for 20 + years and considered it my retirement activity after
39 years of teaching mathematics at Manhasset High school where I was District
Math coordinator. I’ve had lots of
experience with our racehorses from winning over 30 races to breeding our own
horse, Heavenly Blaze, who won twice at Saratoga. We’re still looking for a Derby horse. I hope the move occurs by June for my 80th
birthday although I have already celebrated that event by taking my family to
Iceland in January. Twelve of us went
hoping to see the Northern Lights and although we were not lucky in that
respect, we had an exciting trip with 90 mph winds closing the roads one day
while the following day found us swimming in the Blue Lagoon. It was a
fantastic trip for everyone – young and old. “
A brief note
from Al Galves (agalves@comcast.net ) remembering the mighty BoBurger complete with fried egg and grilled
onions. We enjoyed these late down
by the train station. As Al recounts, “A
great place to go after a date and tell lies about your date.” Trigger any memories? The burgers were great. Nobby
Holmes wrote from Vero Beach, FL. “Playing a lot of golf and having fun
with the market. Laughing almost every
day at the swamp and reading a lot, especially good old newspapers. I see a lot of Frank Spitzmuller and
had a nice visit with Nick Niles here in Florida.” Favorite dining
experience – “Returning from hockey practice on a cold winter night to a fine
dinner at Alpha Delt.”
My
Facebook account picked up a posting from Fran Raab addressed to
the Cornell Class of 1961.“You’ll never know what you will find when you clean up
your basement!” Fran included a photo of
several LP’s including Cayuga’s Waiters “Cocktails for Twelve” and “The Sherwoods at Zincks”. Bill Onorato added to the post by Fran that he had worked on the
production of the Sherwoods album. From
Laguna Woods, CA. we hear from May Lee Ling.
“I volunteer as a lay counselor at the Health
Ministry at Saddleback Church Laguna Woods Campus teaching CPR and first
aid. We have nine grandchildren with
three graduated from college. I’m
blessed with a great husband, family and friends. Hopefully the Covid-19 crisis will pass and
we can continue travelling.”
From Linda
Bors. “We’ve lived in Ithaca for almost 55 years, just a few
blocks from the campus. Looking forward
to our 60-year reunion! Would like to
hear from Pat W, Debby O, Ann W, Brit O
- and anyone else from 330 Triphammer Road and, I’ll always remember the
great food at the Martha Van cafeteria… and the toasters on each table!” Linda continues to volunteer at the Friends
of the Library Book Sales in Ithaca.
George Downs (downs.george@gmail.com) sent a Class Note.
“What’s keeping me busy? Staying physically fit (for an 80 year old), managing family finances and travel fill my
calendar along with twice a week visits from our eight year-old granddaughter. Eight years of retirement has been a big
change after 17 years at JPL and 27 years at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory.” Also, Theresa Baker-Degler (Elzas) sent a Class Note from Stanford CA. “I’m active in Stanford organizations including
continuing ed. classes, exercise, book club, friends and keeping contact with
sons and grandkids. Sons Julian and
Felix live in NYC. I have six grandchildren.
The oldest will enter Harvard this Fall.
Her father Julian went to Harvard also.
Felix, who got his BS, MD and PhD at Stanford is now on Stanford’s Board
of Trustees. Hopefully the Covid-19
pandemic will relent and we can resume our travels.”
News from
Gail Ripans (Kweller) (gkripans@gmail.com). “Sadly, my
husband Allan died in January after we had celebrated 55 years of
marriage. I have relocated to Lenbrook,
a senior community in Atlanta. This is a
time of transition for me and our family.
I would like to hear from my classmates and, hopefully, will attend our
60th in June 2021”. Again,
on Facebook, Bob Iverson copied me on the obituary of Jim
Spindler. Jim was an outstanding oarsman and career
attorney in Boston. Unfortunately, on a similar
note I was informed of the passing of Bruce Le \Page. Bruce and I
struggled through Mechanical Engineering together. Years later we worked side-by-side at IBM in
New York city. Bruce was a fine
professional and friend.