1894

On the evening of February 10 the Secretary's quiet was deeply disturbed by a telegram from the families of Decker Field which said in part: "Frank Decker Field died today en route home Lincoln after vacationing in Corpus Christi, Texas."

After consultation with B Smalley, the Secretary sent the following night letter in behalf of the Class, adding to his own signature the names of B Smalley and Phil Marden: 4 Must not wait assure you deep sympathy and regret all sixteen classmates. Seems impossible his amazing enthusiasm for life quenched. As toastmaster on 55th he was tops and your all being with him at 60th great joy. In abounding loyalty and service, he was Mr. '94. Will write."

Phil Marden arranged for flowers to be provided by a local florist. To these expressions on the part of the Class the following reply has been received: "The family of Frank Decker Field gratefully acknowledge and deeply appreciate your kind expression of sympathy. Jean Field Faires - Lillian Field Dieterich."

We are grateful to Phil Marden for preparation of the memorial sketch which appears elsewhere in this MAGAZINE. How well we all remember what Decker did for us at our 55th. For example, the program he prepared with the pictures of Dartmouth Hall, our Commencement trophy and Dr. Tucker on the first page. Next, the poem, I Am Crumblingin the Corners, affectionately dedicated to "The Antiques of '94," which Decker had dug up for just this occasion. On the last page was "Roll Call — The Latter Day Saints." He was a class secretary's delight, full of appreciation and full of cooperation. One remembers his stopping off to see Gib at his home in Mississippi, the call he made with others on Mrs. Bad Lyon at her home in Vermont, the variety and vividness of his Christmas cards and the hospitality of his homes in Omaha and Lincoln. These and how much more come to mind. But what he was to us of '94 he seems to have been everywhere he went. His daughter Lillian speaks of the feeling for him in the hotel at Corpus Christi, from vacationing at which he started on his fatal journev home: "Judge Brown said that when our sad telegram arrived down there, there were more tears shed by guests, waitresses, bellhops and others than had ever been shed over any other visitor."

The Secretary has kept an anonymous poem which Decker sent out to us and which he must have thought of as expressing a message to his wife in the other world. It ends :

Perchance so much that now seems incomplete Was left for me in my poor way to do, And I shall love to tell you — when we meet — That I have done your errands, dear, for you.

It was, indeed, a happy inspiration when Charlotte Egan Ford was elected an honorary member of the Class of '94. It was appropriate because her uncle, Billy Ford, had been one of our most loyal members, but it was also an expression of our appreciation and the appreciation of other classes for the superb service she has rendered the College as Alumni Recorder. One doubts if any college in the land has a better person serving in that capacity. But as we have come to know her better we have come to regard highly her personal qualities. Phil Marden in a letter had already referred to her as "our dear Charlotte Ford."

So no group was more interested than the Class of '94 when word came that on the 2nd of February she had become the bride of Prof. Henry Sinclair Morrison. Apparently it was a complete surprise to many of her friends, including the members of this Class. We of '94 are very happy about it all and we are sure, Charlotte Morrison, that your relationship to the Class will now mean more and not less. Many of us remember Mr. Morrison's father, Henry C., who was valedictorian of the Class of 1895 .

Not too long ago, the writer of this column was reading Leon Richardson's biography of William E. Chandler, who was for so long a leading figure in New Hampshire politics. In that book he found a reference to an effort which Chandler and other leading New Hampshire politicians made to induce our classmate Sherman Burroughs to become the Republican candidate for governor of New Hampshire. So a letter was sent to Bob Burroughs, his oldest son, and the following reply was elicited:

"The reference to my father which you wrote that you found in Leon Richardson's biography of William E. Chandler interests me particularly because I well recall the evening when a group of the most prominent men in the state came to our home, about 1910, to do their best to persuade Dad to be the Republican candidate for governor. They promised him that they would get him the nomination. However, he did not feel the time was right for him, so declined to have them present his name. I am going to look up the passage about which you wrote."

As a matter of fact, he was later on honored by being elected to the United States House of Representatives from the First District of New Hampshire. He was twice reelected but declined to become a candidate for a third reelection. Bob Burroughs also furnishes us with some interesting comments about his brother, Sherman Everett Jr., who retired as a Rear Admiral in the Navy in 1954 to become Vice President of General Precision Equipment Corporation, which Bob thinks "is the largest company making the curved moving picture screens which we see now in the theaters, and much of the modern projection equipment, together with a wide range of other products"" As is well known, Bob has followed his father in taking a large place in New Hampshire politics and is the head of a successful insurance company in Manchester. He has a son who graduated in 1951, who at last accounts was serving Uncle Sam in Okinawa.

Secretary, 74 Kirkland St., Cambridge 38, Mass.

Class Agent, 45 Chase St., Nutley, N. J.