Ford Whelden '25 Retires as Bequest Program Head

MOST men retire officially only once. But for Ford Hopkins Whelden '25, who retires at the end of this month as Executive Secretary of Dartmouth's Bequest and Estate Planning Program, this will be the second retirement in twenty years.

Back in 1946, Whelden had just got out of the U. S. Navy after a four-year hitch as a lieutenant commander with the Gulf Sea Frontiers Operation (antisubmarine warfare), and he was expecting to return to the Detroit brokerage firm of Watling, Lerchen and Company with which he had been associated for 15 years before the war. The firm had offered him a partnership to entice him back, but instead he "retired" and moved his family to Norwich, Vermont, so he could be near Dartmouth, some of his good 1925 classmates and, most importantly, the Big Green football teams.

But his retirement lasted only a matter of months. The late Sid Hayward '26, then Secretary of the College, knew of Whelden's long-time service to Dartmouth and 1925, and offered him a "part-time" position on the College staff, chiefly in the fund-raising area. Ford was delighted to have this new opportunity to work for the College.

Few alumni, if any, can match Whelden's record of service. He was active in the Dartmouth Club of Detroit for years, received two awards from them, and in 1939 was named Club Secretary of the Year. He began working for the Alumni Fund as 1925 regional agent for Michigan, moved on to become Assistant Head Agent and finally Head Agent, 1955-59. He was a member of the Dartmouth Alumni Council from 1932 to 1935, and while on the Council headed a survey committee for a Dartmouth bequest program, then was named the first chairman of the new program. The bequest operation didn't quite get off the ground at that time, and one of Whelden's first assignments after joining the College staff was to revive it.

Ford's first love, of course, is "the Great Class of 1925" (his phrase). He has held every office in his class - president, secretary, treasurer, agent, reunion chairman, editor of the 25th Year Report (and eight subsequent class reports), and chairman and Norwich-Hanover host for the 1925 fellowship. He is currently president of his class, having been unanimously reelected last June at 1925's 40th reunion.

Dartmouth is a shared devotion for Ford and his charming wife Gertie, and it gives them special pleasure that two of their daughters are married to Dartmouth men - Roxanne to Ed Isbey '51 and Priscilla to Al Rozycki '61. Their oldeSt daughter, Gertrude, is married to Charles Hull, who Ford says "always wanted to be a Dartmouth man," while Bonnie, the youngest, is unmarried. The Wheldens now have eight grandchildren.

Each fall the Dartmouth football team is hosted at the Whelden homestead and over the years Ford and Gertie have developed close friendships with most of the players and with many other Dartmouth students.

After joining the College staff in 1948 as an associate in fund raising, Ford moved into the development council area and in 1951 was named director of research for the newly created office of development at Dartmouth. Six years later (1957) he took on additional duties as executive secretary of Dartmouth's rapidly expanding Bequest and Estate Planning Program. During the years of his stewardship more than $17-million in bequests, lifetime gifts, life income agreements, and receipts from other trusts has come to the College.

Ford would be the first to disclaim credit for these important resources, but a few years ago the late Ernest Martin Hopkins, President-emeritus, sent him a letter, the concluding paragraph of which reads: "I have admired particularly your recognition of the virtues of the 'softsell' in your work. There may be a little less immediate return from this policy, but the eventual potentiality is far greater. But what you have already achieved in tangible results is enough to command the deep appreciation of any Dartmouth man. And this note is simply to say how completely you have mine."

Just this past month at the annual May meeting of Class Officers, the grateful members of the Association of Bequest and Estate Planning Chairmen, unanimously approved the following resolution:

WHEREAS Ford H. Whelden '25 since 1934 was a determined advocate of a bequest and estate planning program at Dartmouth and organized such a program in his own class in 1950, thus inspiring the inauguration of the College program the following year, and WHEREAS his dedicated leadership as executive secretary since 1957 has brought the Bequest and Estate Planning Program to its current preeminence as one of the 'Twin Pillars of Alumni Support' for Dartmouth, and WHEREAS he has given lavishly of his broad experience and expert knowledge to aid many other institutions in establishing deferred giving programs, and WHEREAS throughout his life he has shown his unquenchable loyalty and concern for Dartmouth as a club officer, Alumni Councilor, class officer, and administrator; now therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Dartmouth Bequest Chairmen, declare our profound admiration and gratitude to Ford H Whelden for his inspiring leadership of this program, his many services to Dartmouth and higher education generally, and especially for his unsurpassed love of this College and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in view of his pending retirement as executive secretary, we welcome with great pleasure his continued active participation in this Association as Bequest Chairman of his own class.

The next time you're in Hanover watch for a car with a Vermont license plate marked "FHW 25" - that will be Ford Whelden, probably on his way to some Dartmouth activity, for he's one alumnus who will never "retire" so long as there is one more job to be done for 1925 or the College.

Ford H. Whelden '25