1916

The deep sympathy of the Class is expressed to the families of our three classmates who died in the last two months of the old year, - Perc Whipple, November 26, Cliff Gammons, November 28, and JackEnglish, December 11.

Perc was not widely known to the Class because he was with us only two years. His wife. Elinor, wrote me that he was obliged to transfer to Harvard after his sophomore year in order to be at home with his parents who needed his help, but she adds that he always retained his interest in Dartmouth and his love for the old College.

Cliff was also not so widely known as he would have been except for his unassumed modesty. He was tremendously capable and one of the busiest men in the Class. He had many interests in Wilmington, and he attended meetings of the New Castle Zoning Board until just before his death. He found this work, which took a great deal of his time, most interesting and rewarding. On the lighter side, he was an accomplished musician, and a photographer of no mean talent. He also enjoyed golf, canoeing on the Brandywine near his home, and duck hunting in North Carolina.

His wife, Sally, has asked me to thank the Class for the bouquet of red roses, and for the many letters of sympathy sent to her.

Jack was one of the best known members of the Class, and also one of the most loyal and enthusiastic Dartmouth men of our generation. Although, of course, he was not the first to coin the phrase "Once a Dartmouth man, always a Dartmouth man" I shall always associate it with him. To his mind the two greatest institutions were his church and his college. And inclusive in the college was his class, 1916, which he considered "the greatest." He counted it his extreme good fortune to have been a Dartmouth man, and he was continuously singing the praises - literally - of his Alma Mater. At every reunion and class gathering there was the sound of music from a group that included him, - and among others, Stirling Wilson, Sam Cutler, Tog Upham,King Cole, and Ken Tucker. When he organized a singing group at the Universite de Montpellier, after World War I, I think it was for the purpose of disseminating Dartmouth songs. Although Jack was a Kappa Sig he had an inordinate regard for the '16 Fiji delegation and spent a good deal of his time at the Phi Gam house. The late Carl Holmes was wont to propose that he be pinned with the "Great White Star" and be given the password and the old fraternity grip.

He carried on the widest correspondence with the class of any member, with the possible exception of the late Stirling Wilson. Jack was the first to get a letter of encouragement to one in the hospital, or of sympathy to one bereaved, and he wrote each year to the widows of the class who memorialized their husbands by gifts to the Alumni Fund, expressing the appreciation of the Class and the College. He was my chief supplier of news — hardly a week went by that I did not receive a letter or two from Jack enclosing letters to him from others m the class. I shall miss this help tremendously.

Some time before his death the late Stirling Wilson wrote an appreciation of Jack to be used upon his decease. I am sorry that it is too lengthy to be included in the class notes. It will, however, be published in a Newsletter. If any friends of Jack outside the class wish to have a copy of this I shall be glad to see that they are furnished with it.

Rog Evans and John Butler drove up from New York to Boston for the services, and Rog has written me: "I understood from Cliff Bean that, unable to come Monday, Jim Coffin, Gene McQuesten, JimShanahan and probably Frank Bobst, too, got to Stoneham for the viewing Sunday afternoon. Yesterday morning, after a thaw had removed almost all trace of the heavy ice storm that had gripped the area for a week, it was sunny and almost Easter-like when Fred Bailey, Cliff Bean, John Butler, Dick Ellis, Rog Evans, Parker Hayden, Alex Jardine, Hobey Marble, and Dick Parkhurst met outside St. Patrick's Church and, at Kay's request, formed the double line through which Jack last entered and left mass there, and was laid to rest on a peaceful hill-top overlooking the town. Kay Parkhurst and Edna Marble also attended the services, then preceded us to Winchester where we had a wonderful coffee hour by the fireside at sightly Oak Knoll.

I understand that when Kay English came home late Thursday night from a meeting of her Urban Renewal Committee she found that Jack had had an ill turn, so sped him to the hospital where they learned that an operation was necessary. The surgeons therefore proceeded to operate, with Jack reassuring them by telling the chaplain, 'You brush your left ear, Father, while I say a 'Hail Mary,' and everything will be all right." It was, and is, in God's way.

Ken and Barbara Stowell are back home in San Francisco and happily set in an apartment at 72 Sixth Avenue, only 15 minutes' walk from their daughter Betsy's family, also close to regular exercise golfing in sunny Golden Gate Park, where the course is in "top shape." - Perc and Aline Burnham, from Las Rosas Apartmentos, Av. Las Flores No. 10, Chapalita, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, report the weather there delightful. . . . Ken Henderson says they hope to visit Japan and beyond in the spring. . . . Betty Wilson's grandson, Mark Stirling, arrived in fine shape December 23, the fifth wedding anniversary of his proud parents, Comdr. and Mrs. John Yamnicky. Betty went out to Lemoore, Calif., in November to be with Janet, as her husband was on sea duty and unable to be home for the big event. ... At the annual dinner of the Beth Israel Hospital held at the Statler Hilton Hotel, Boston, in late November 500 medical and community leaders were present. Max Bernkopf was elected an honorary life trustee. Max, who was at the time the honorary secretary of the hospital and who has devoted many years to civic endeavors, was first elected a trustee of the hospital in 1936. After important service on several hospital committees he was elected secretary in 1943, and became honorary secretary in 1961 Ten '16ers attended the Class Dinner at the Dartmouth Club, New York on December 9.

Secretary, Staples Point Freeport, Maine

Treasurer, 684 Burr St., Fairfield, Conn.