1951
Writing on the eve of an election day in a time of international uncertainty, for reading between Thanksgiving and Christmas, now is perhaps the most appropriate time to express some thoughts I've been nurTuring since returning home in August from my '51 cross-country tour.
When I set up the trip, I wrote to some classmates I knew well, to some I knew as passing acquaintances, and to some I scarcely remembered. Yet I received from all and their families so warm a reception that parting more often than not left this stodgy old bachelor more choked up than he would like to admit.
While the year has not been without its sorrows and tragedies for the Class, most can give thanks for happy homes with loving wives and healthy, intelligent, lively children. I give thanks for the privilege of knowing such real people and having them as my friends. To all the '51 family: The merriest of Christmases, and may the New Year smile favorably on you and yours.
Maybe this sounds like just so much corn, and maybe it is corn. But this kind of corn is the mortar which holds a society together. It also makes a bachelor wonder, after one of these lovable kids has wrapped himself or herself around your legs or garnered your lap, whether the grass really isn't greener on the other side of the fence.
With that preface, let me pick up the threads of my tour. In the Los Angeles area, John and Muriel Sargeant and their four girls were my hosts. About a year or so ago John was very ill and, as a result, forced to abandon his insurance agency in Florida. The family then moved to Pasadena, where his home is within walking distance of his office with Pacific Employers Insurance Company.
That evening, four other classmates showed up at John's home. Wes Nutten, another lawyer, is associated with Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton in L.A. Pete Smart, production manager for Tuttle & Bailey Pacific's plant in La Puente, spent the evening baiting Wes and myself.
Banker Milt Olander confessed that the freeway traffic jams give him time to read newspapers, says it takes him an hour and a half to drive in from suburban Corona and two hours to drive home. Milt is Assistant Manager of First Western's main office in downtown L.A. Bob McGill is with Systems Development Corp. in Santa Monica, one of those electronics "think" factories.
After Disneyland and a family stop in Riverside, I headed across the desert to Phoenix, Ariz., where Bill Miller (who is as bald as I am) welcomed me to the 110° heat. Fortunately, Bill, wife Carli, and two children reside in an air-conditioned home. Bill is a partner in the investment counseling firm of Van Cleef, Jordan, Wood, Arnold and Miller, with offices in New York, Washington, Cleveland, and Troy, N.Y., as well as Phoenix. Bill was active in organizing the local Dartmouth Club and does more than his share in enrolment and interviewing in Arizona.
Two nights later, my hosts in Oklahoma City were Al and Marion Odell, their son and two daughters. Al is now District Office Manager for Firestone. George and MarilynEmerson showed up to view the Reunion films. George "peddles" Tappan ranges over a wide area.
Another two nights later, my hosts were Jim and Carol Robinson, their two sons and daughter, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Jim, Secretary-Treasurer of American Manufacturing Co. (metal hardware), is active in enrolment and interviewing. Wife Carol turned out to be an alumna of Beaver College ii} my home town. Jim is the only '5l in Chattanooga and dying to roll out the red carpet for any classmate who passes through. I can attest that you will find the most gracious of real Southern hospitality.
From there, I slipped over the border into North Carolina, where, as far as I can determine, all the '51's are expatriate Yankees. Ed Isbey put me up in Asheville. His wife and three offspring were away on vacation, but his two thoroughbred cockers (one with eye problems which ophthalmologist Ed is treating) were on hand to give a yelping welcome.
It was a short haul from there to Winston-Salem, where Dave and Susan Saxton were my hosts. Jack and Betty (the only genuine Southerner in the group) Sutton kept me amused that afternoon. That evening, Jim and Joan Culberson and Paul andHolly Simel were also on hand.
One night later, I was in Washington, D. C., where I enjoyed my first lobster in a month, courtesy of Loye and Joan Miller. Loye did the August 17 Time cover story on Senator Byrd and was about to take oft with Lyndon Johnson on his Mediterranean and Middle East tour.
Also on hand were Dick and Olive Mason, Roy and June Reynolds and Dave andGeorgiana Stillman. Dick is with the Johns Manville Washington office. Roy, another baldie, is a naval officer engaged in negotiating rights for foreign bases and the like. Dave manages a furniture store which specializes in Danish modern.
From the D. C., it was back home, where I arrived not much ahead of returning Philly expatriates Jim Balderston and "Buck"Scott. '51 Chicagoans, watch out! '51 Philadelphians are going to give you a run for your money in regional class activity.
Jim left Sprague Electric to become Supervisor of Product Analysis for the Corporate Financial Staff of Philco Corp. Jim, wife Dorie, son and two daughters now live in nearby Meadowbrook.
"Buck" has left the production end of I-T-E Circuit Breaker in Greensburg, Pa., to work out of Philadelphia as a field application engineer. Buck says the fancy title means sales. Buck, wife Mary, five daughters and one son will have taken up residence in suburban Wynnewood by the time you read this.
One of the things I discovered in trying to set up my stops was that we are a class of gypsies. I wrote Air Force Capt. DonKope in Arkansas and received a reply from California advising me that he would be in Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, La., before I passed through. Whether he's still there or not, I don't know.
Dr. John Per-Lee, who had been in the service in Los Angeles, turned up in Atlanta, Ga. John joined the faculty of Emory University in July as an Instructor in Surgery (Otolaryngology, whatever that is). He has responsibility for student and residency training programs and is also engaged in private practice.
Finally, we wrote Chuck Ryan in Memphis, Tenn., and learned from wife Susan that he had left Firestone to become Assistant Manager of the Mohawk Tire and Rubber Company plant in Helena, Ark. They were then looking for a new home, which subsequent communications from the College indicate they have found.
John "Sandy" MacDonald has been promoted to product manager of the heavy duty products division of the Kordite Corporation, Macedon, N.Y. He had been working as the Southeast district sales manager and as an assistant product manager in the company's Spotless resale division. Sandy was married to Ann Gebhart last September. He also has a degree from the Northwestern University Graduate School of Business.
Cosmopolitan Abdul Sheikh returns to this country in February for a two-and-a-half-month lecture tour on Islam in Africa and with color slides of his pilgrimage to Mecca. If you would like to have Abdul as a speaker at a local Dartmouth or other gathering, write him at P.O. Box 1670, Nairobi, Kenya.
In October, I journeyed up to Baghdad-on-the-Hudson for a Practicing Law Institute Forum on the Common Market and American Business Abroad. Among the speakers was Columbia International Law Professor Dick Pugh.
Ed Tolley turned up among my fellow students. After service with the Army in Korea, Ed worked as Export Manager for Vick Chemical Co., traveling frequently to Latin America in connection with the development of various businesses. Somehow, he managed to attend law school at N.Y.U. at night during the same period. Ed has now been with the Wall Street law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore for three years. Ed, wife Carol, one son and two daughters call Port Washington, L.I., home.
It's a matter of timing for Cy Gsell'52 (second from left) as he inspectsSwitzerland's Oris Watch factory withthe company president on a recent trip.
Secretary, 2107 Fidelity-Phila. Trust Bldg. Philadelphia 9, Penna.
Treasurer, 3225 Observatory Ave., Cincinnati 8, O.
