1923
The S.S. Hope recently returned to Brazil, this time to Maceio, an area with a desperate shortage of medical personnel and facilities. Among the Hope doctors, nurses, and technologists who are working with their Brazilian counterparts in a teaching - treatment program is our Dr. JimHennessy. Hope News, the ship's publication, carries a fine picture of Jim working with a patient at the Santa Casa Hospital. When the ship sails for home in December it will leave behind a legacy of knowledge that will enable the Brazilians, newly trained in North American medical techniques, to teach other doctors and paramedics.
Roy Height sends this word of thanks to the Class: "Please express for Adeline and me our sincere thanks to all of the classmates who inscribed and sent us postcards, taking time from a very busy reunion. 'Miss you.' and 'Wish you were here.' had always seemed corny expressions but when cards come in for some four days in bunches it is difficult to control the emotions. We finally learned it was our old friend Joe Millar who had organized and carried through this idea. Not only that but Joe took the time to gather all of the programs and other mementos of the Reunion and sent them to us. I can only say again how fortunate I am to have gone to Dartmouth and to have been associated with such classmates."
Jack Young had hoped to get to Reunion but at the last minute had to change his plans. After a protracted and sad illness Jack's wife Mary passed away on May 8. Our sympathy is extended to Jack and his family at this unhappy time in their lives.
Last August 5 President Kemeny gave the address at the Monadnock Summer Lyceum held in the Unitarian Church at Peterborough, N.H. He took a refreshing and perceptive look at the kind of education he believed the present day undergraduate will be happy to have had by the time he returns for his 25th Reunion. Former New Hampshire Governor Walter Peterson '47 introduced the President and afterward Walter and his wife Dorothy, who is Francis and MildredDonovan's very charming daughter, entertained some 30 of us and our wives at luncheon at their Peterborough home.
Pem and Bernice Whitcomb also had to pass up the Reunion at the last moment. Pem says he was "going around on three cylinders" and decided to have a lot of tests - all of which turned out fine. He and Bernice are now working on the Harvard Athletic Association for Gate 14 passes - as are several others of us - and plan to be at the tailgate on October 27 at the Stadium.
Ruel Smith who long has summered on Marthas Vineyard Island sent me a copy of the Vineyard Gazette Reader edited by Henry Beetle Hough who also edits the Vineyard Gazette, one of the most individualistic and readable journals in the country. The book's jacket includes a picture of Mr. Hough in his office. In the background hangs a motto which seems to me particularly timely. It reads: "The Knowledge which the Tardy Morrow Brings Impeaches not the Wisdom of today."
Ruel is spending a well-earned summer of reading and resting, in anticipation of an eighth and pictorial edition of the Golden Review which should make its appearance sometime this fall.
News of Phil Leighton last appeared in this column in 1959. It's a pleasure therefore to quote briefly from his recent letter to Clarence Goss: Phil writes from Fairhope, Ala. - "I retired from banking and real estate back in 1961. My wife had been active in buying and selling antiques since 1949 and it was only natural for me to continue on with her as I had assisted in my spare time. First it was early American antiques - furniture and oriental rugs mostly. As American things got scarce we started going to England where we concentrated on 17th and 18th century furniture and accessories. We found we had a bull by the tail and couldn't let go so we are still at it at our age. This is a strictly two person operation and we just close up when on buying trips. We usually spend three or four weeks in Mexico, which we love during the winter months, and with buying trips thrown in are away two to three months out of the years."
Clarence has had a number of fine letters this past summer from 1923 widows - GladysCreighton Day, Elizabeth Taylor, MarianShepard, Edith Rice, Sally Ferguson, and HelenBuffet among others. Helen encloses several excellent 1919 Delta Alpha snap shots and news' clippings. I suppose there is a very fine line between the nostalgic and the senilic. I must say nevertheless that I enjoy looking again at these old pictures. It has been alleged that our undergraduate years marked the full emergence of the College from the sweatshirt era. I wouldn't know about that but there is some supporting evidence to that effect in the dress of the sophomores who seem to be enjoying the Delta Alpha fun - neckties yet! - vests, jackets, and short haircuts! Shades of Bill Brock!!
A recent issue of the Falmouth, Mass., paper carries a fine picture of 12 gentlemen and one pretty girl who run the harbors and nearby waters of Falmouth. Included in the group is Pete Jones who is charged with the responsibility for the West Falmouth outer harbor.
Inadvertently an announcement of the death of Dr. Arthur Herbert Dearing was included in the July issue of the Alumni Magazine under the 1923 heading. Dr. Dearing was a member of the class of 1914.
It is with great sadness that I must tell you of the death on May 24 of Lou Wilcox's widow Peg. She died quietly in her sleep at her home in Etna. Since Lou's death Peg had continued her interest in the class and was a very real help to TedBarstow in compiling the most recent 1923 class directory.
Flanked by Father Truman Metzel Jr. '48and Grandfather Truman Metzel '23, thedistaff side, Su, plans a January transferfrom Lake Forest to Dartmouth 1976.
Secretary, Box 2, Francestown, N.H. 03043
Treasurer, 960 Longmeadow St. Longmeadow, Mass. 01106
