1955
Again, death has taken one of our outstanding classmates from us. On February 8, Gordie Hope was killed instantly when he was struck by an aircraft propeller while on Naval maneuvers aboard the U.S.S. Leyte. We all remember Gordie as a dynamic member of our Class, active in student government, his fraternity, religious activities, and the life on the campus in general. He demonstrated, in every activity, a natural capacity for leading others, and brought credit to his Alma Mater throughout his Naval career. Gordie Hope's death has carved another part from the whole we remember as Dartmouth, and the whole will bear the scar until it ceases to exist.
Marty Aronson answered the "vox clamantis" on the edge of the Okeefenokee with a newsy sketch of Dartmouth doin's in and around the Boston area. Marty and his wife Myrna are established there while he finishes his law course at B.C. Mrs. A., an alumna of the U. of Michigan and Boston U., is "currently keeping (her) hubby fed" by teaching in Newton, Mass.
Don Aronson recently returned from Africa where he and wife Margie were stationed with the Air Force. Don and Margie were greeted by one "welcome-home" party in the New York area, with a Dartmouth '55-type crowd, and another in Boston. NormFine and his wife Marilyn were present at the latter "D" get-together. Norm's now working as an electrical engineer with a new electronics company located in Waltham, Mass. Also on hand for the festivities were Mat Smith and bride Sandy - at Tufts Med., and Jerry Bernstein from the same institution.
Marty reports that Lew Wolfson spent the past summer at Harvard Summer School, and is currently at the Columbia School of Journalism. Lew recently completed his Naval career. He and Jay Benenson were both present at the New York gathering mentioned previously.
Bob Fanger and his wife Iris, an Alumna of the Columbia School of Drama, are living in Brookline, Mass. "Bouncing, boy-type baby, Michael shares the Fanger tee-pee." Bob received his Business Master's last June at Columbia, and is working with a local grocery chain in Brookline. Al Pill and wife Lois, Wheaton '56, were North for the New Year's holidays. The Pills call Alexandria, Va., their home while Al finishes up with the Army Finance Corp.
Bernie Siskind passed through "sunny" Georgia on his way to Palm Beach for a respite from the retailing business. Two days later, two inches of snow - the first in about fifty years around there - prodded him further South, and a recently-arrived post card pinpoints his present position as the Bahamas. There have been no reports of snow in that area.
Lt. Gene Gerard writes from the Northeast of France - Toul-Nancy area specifically - where he's a Deputy Finance and Accounting Officer with Uncle Sam's foot soldiers. Gene reports that he ran into Bob Comer while he was in Stuttgart, but that Bob is now re-established in the City of Brotherly Love, U.S.A. Gene ran into Capt. Bruce Gilmore '54 at Toul, and the two of them celebrated Winter Carnival, and introduced milk punch to the European Command. Thanks to Gene, the Toul Yachting Club is now going full blast, and a Class-wide invitation to the Annual Spring Regatta (First Annual, I suppose) and Corillion should be forthcoming. At present, the "Club" consists of only one five-man racon boat, valued at twenty-five dollars. Gene's teaching for the overseas program of the University of Maryland in his spare time - that is when yachting and Carnival-type affairs don't interfere. Any Fifty-fivers in the area are promised a red-carpeted welcome to the Toul area, and a guided tour of the local scene.
The increasing influx of Dartmouth '55ers into the business world brings news of class: mates who have donned the button-down and moth-balled the khakis. George McGregor is now working for the James Page Insurance Agency in Haverhill, Mass. George attended the Aetna Insurance Co. School in Hartford after completing his Army tour. Hi Allman is a trainee with the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Co. Paul Sweetnam is an analytical engineer at Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford, Conn., and Jim Knox is with Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corp. in Grants, N.M.
Another short glance at the military reveals that Leon Martel has just graduated from O.C.S. at Newport, R.I., and is now a Naval Ensign. Bob Bagdasarian is out of the Navy and back in Worcester. Bob Cleveland is a Student Naval Aviator with the Marine Corps at Corpus Christi, Tex. Jack Doyle is an Ensign aboard the U.S.S. William Rush. Torn Waddell is aboard the U.S.S. Comstock operating out of San Francisco.
For a change, we'll take a short look at things matrimonial. Warren (Skip) Mansur married Carol Clark last month in a ceremony held in Annisquam, Mass. Carol is an Abbott Academy graduate. Skip is now associated with the Robert Pitcher agency of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. John Mackinnon is engaged to marry Catherine Anderson, a University of Texas Alumna, and a native of Calvert, Tex. John recently received his business degree from S.M.U.
George Briggs married Jeanne Thaller of St. Louis, Mo., in a ceremony held in Marblehead, Mass. Jeanne is a former airline hostess, and a graduate of the University of Colorado. George and Jeanne left for a honeymoon in the Bavarian Alps, after which they will reside in Munich where George is stationed. Dave Zimmerman will marry Marilyn Moor of Pleasantville, Pa., this coming June. Marilyn is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing. Dave is now a student at the U. of P. Medical School.
That about covers the Fifty-five scene for this month. Thanks for all the letters you've sent lately - more will be welcomed at any time. So long for now.
Secretary, OMS Box 114, Moody AFB, Valdosta, Ga.
Class Agent, Dartmouth Club 37 East 39th St., New York 16, N.Y.
