1940
It's always sad to report the death of one of us, but Bob Bender passed away this summer. Our obituary to Bob appears in the obituary section at the back of this issue.
Checking back to correspondence not previously reported upon, I find a letter on hand from Bob Castle from Boise, Idaho, which I'll quote in part, "I sold the Chicago Flag & Decorating Co. last year for the purpose of moving out to the good country. I was stationed in Boise during the war and made and maintained many friends here. The only classmate I've been in contact with is Whit Miller. Two of my four grandchildren live in Seattle." An open invitation to any '40 who may find himself in the Cincinnati area comes from Bob "Tag" Tatgenhorst. It may seem a long time in the future, but Bob's got a summer cottage "with beds to spare."
After 30 years of service, ending at Ft. Monroe, Va., J. S. "Pat" Timothy finally retired as a Brigadier General at the beginning of last summer. Pat's now a resident of Arlington (a live resident, that is!) but does not inform us of any activity in which he might have become engaged. A long newsy epistle is also on hand from Jack Cowan a resident of Hamburg, N. Y. Hamburg missed being in the area which flooded much of the central tier of N. Y. State for which he's most thankful. He's also thankful for the success of major surgery which "removed some monumental gall stones that are a great testimony to gastronomical delights over the past fifty-odd years." As you read in our class newsletter from Jack McDonald, JackCowan attended our Princeton weekend informal reunion and was with us as well as visiting with his son Peter who's in the class of '76. Although small in stature, watch for Peter on future Big Green football teams as he won "most valuable back" on his high school eleven and was a Western New York State All-Star. The middle Cowan boy Charlie qualified for the summer Olympic trials in Kayaking, but missed making the U. S. team. The oldest son John is following in his great-grandfather's footsteps by attending Adrian College in southeastern Michigan. Last, but far from least of the newsworthy Cowans is wife Bobby who is a partner in the advertising firm of Cowan and Greene.
In the above I mentioned the 1940 Indian Drum in which Jack McDonald has been doing a tremendous job of reporting on all of us. Mid-October's nine page issue was one of the greatest ever and during the course of the Princeton weekend he and I agreed that he'd report on that reunion as the lead time for this column was so great that it would seem silly to be reading about that type event two plus months after the fact. For that reason I'm omitting a report on who was there—or at the Harvard and Yale games.
Way back last spring I mentioned BillRearden's promotion to chairman of his Philadelphia consulting management firm. In no uncertain terms Bill wants us all to know that they're not a "provincial Philadelphia outfit" but an international organization with 15 offices and that the corporate headquarters of the largest division has been moved to where such a headquarter should be—New York City! My apologies. A brief note from BobBreach merely states that "my irons are kept hot by lots of fires. Life is interesting —all four kids (kids no longer) help keep it that way." Stuart MacPhail checked in with a detailed report on Dick Gray's Freshwater Biological Institute. We mentioned Dick's work in a column almost two years ago, but so much has transpired since that time that I want to up-date us all. The Institute has not only gotten "off the ground" (and into fresh (not hot) water), but was the subject of a major telethon featuring actor Robert Vaughn and has caught the interest of Arthur Godfrey who's spending a major share of his valuable time supporting ecology. "Dick has traveled, talked, and written freshwater research for days and nights almost without stopping. How many times in our lifetime do we have a friend (or classmate) with a vision and dedication to pursue it for the benefit of us all," writes Stu. I concur wholeheartedly and if '40 wants more info, get in touch with me and I'll pass the word on to Messrs. Gray or MacPhail.
The Wisconsin Power & Light Company's stockholder's report features a photo of a Madison substation that won an award for excellence to the architectural firm of Sample and Potter. It doesn't say so, but as far as I'm concerned this must be NatSample's firm. Congratulations!
Also due felicitations (in case you missed it in the October "Give a Rouse for—" column) is HarryHoward who's been elected president of the American Can Company. Harry joined the Butterick Co. (dress patterns) in 1945, became its prexy in '62 and remained head of the Butterick division when American Can acquired it in 1968. In January of '71 Harry was made executive vice president of the parent company. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you'll be reading in this space that he's chairman and chief executive.
Last, but far from least, I have before me three clippings all relating to the news that Bill Mercer has been named a director of the First National Boston Corp. and it's principal subsidiary, First National Bank of Boston. In addition Bill's a director of John Hancock Mutual Life and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Almost at the beginning of this column I wrote of a classmate's retirement so it's fitting that I close on this note of one of our most active members.
Secretary, 200 sth Ave. New York, N. Y. 10010
Treasurer, 64 North Main Street Concord, N. H. 03301
