1949
Nancy and Ray Rasenberger and their five kids are living it up in the Nation's Capital, where he is an attorney at Zuckert, Scoutt and Rasenberger. Ray writes: "Now that we have got things all straightened out here in Washington, it is time for you New York financiers to lead us out of our current economic crisis. Will six months be long enough? We had a visit from Barbara and Ray Truncellito last night who are here in Washington with their kids for some sightseeing. As you know, Ray's oldest son Jim is playing football at Dartmouth now. There are several younger boys coming along who also look like good football material as well as very nice kids. Was in Hanover a couple of weeks ago and had a chance to see the Trustees in action in several meetings to which they had invited a representative of the Alumni Council. I concluded we are fortunate to have some very able people managing Dartmouth College." No opinion, Ray, as to how long it will take to get the economy back on the upswing, but Jake Crouthamel will be glad there are some more Truncellito's coming along.
A press release from the National Life Insurance Company of Vermont announced that Marshall C. Belding earned membership in the 1975 President's Club in recognition of his sales achievements. Marshall is a repeat winner of this annual award, and his previous other honors include Agency Man of the Year, Life Insurance Leader of Michigan, and National Quality and Sales Achievement Awards. He is a Chartered Life Underwriter, the top professional educational title in the life insurance field. The release mentioned that all members of the 1975 President's Club are invited to an educational conference at the Bahamas Hotel in Freeport on Grand Bahama Island. Just the place for a course in how to sell insurance to scuba divers without getting sunburned or spilling the Planter's Punch!
The headliner of another PR release proclaimed "Becker Is Abrasive Executive," but in reading the text we were pleased to see that Brud Becker had gotten another promotion. "Roland G. Becker has been named vice president and sales manager of Abrasives and Tools, Inc., a New England industrial supply company with offices in Auburn and West Springfield. Most recently, Mr. Becker served as Manager of Market Planning and Marketing Services for the Bay State Abrasives Division of Dresser Industries, Inc. He joined the division as a sales engineer in 1951. He was appointed to the field sales organization in Ohio and later became assistant sales manager. He managed two industrial distributorships formerly owned by Bay State Abrasives in Georgia and Pennsylvania and was named to the market planning post in 1968, Mr. Becker has served on the safety and standards committee of the Grinding Wheel Institute. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Thayer School of Engineering, he also completed the school of Industrial Management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts, and a member of the Westborough School Committee. Mr. Becker is married and has two sons and one daughter, and lives at 167 Main Street, in Westborough, Mass."
Recently enjoyed lunch with Nick Sheppard, who is tax counsel for Continental Can Company here in New York. Nick and Betty and their four kids are located at 9 Chatham Road in Chappaqua. He hsas been with Continental for 15 years. He handles international taxes as well as domestic, and he had just gotten back from Latin America. Nick has also been active in the Marine Corps Reserve where he is now a full colonel. Quite an accomplishment for a weekend warrior!
There was a recent letter to the editor about Samson Occom which came from the Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Hamilton College, who is none other than our own Russell T. Blackwood. When he asked for a little more background plus some philosophical advice for the Sensational Seventies, Rus answered: "Actually, being Chairman of the Philosophy Department plus twenty cents will buy a cup of coffee, not much more. I don't have the temerity to offer words of wisdom to my classmates. However, I have been doing some work on Samson Occom's journals and believe that there are quotable quotes there which might provide interesting reflections for the newsletter. I will see if I can put something together - but it will take several weeks. Things here are at their usual hectic pace this time of year and time is a bit hard to come by. Occom, by the way, is quite a fascinating fellow. The problems he faced couldn't be more contemporary. He is, also by the way, buried in an unmarked grave just down the street from my house here in Clinton. That's something we'll have to do something about someday."
Tom Barr, was Dartmouth's official representative at the inauguration of a new president at Polytechnic Institute in New York. Tom is president of Barr & Barr Inc., which is in the engineering and construction business. He and Joan and their four children are living in Riverside, Conn.
Bill Turino recently joined Fahnestock & Co., an old line member of the New York Stock Exchange. He is at 110 Wall Street in the Institutional Services Department, which in layman's language means providing brokerage services to banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, and the like. We saw Bill not too long ago and he looks as great as ever.
When the Dow Jones reached a 1975 high of 848 on May 2, The Wall Street Journal turned to Mike Metz of Oppenheimer & Co. for his insights on the situation. He had a positive outlook, and noted among other things that investors were heartened that day by positive developments on the oil and energy front as Venezuela reduced prices on oil exports and there were indications that U.S. oil prices might be allowed to increase to their natural market level.
Several 49'ers are involved in oil exploration including Ed Leede and Beejie Newberry in Midland, Texas, and Ken McClain in Fort Worth who have been very successful as independent operators. Ed is still in great shape and to stay that way he built an air conditioned squash court under his front lawn! Several years ago Sandy and I were in Midland on business, and were the grateful recipients of hospitality from Beejie and his wife in the Midland Country Club and the Petroleum Club, which at the time were the only places in town you could partake of liquid refreshments to ward off the 110 degree heat. Ken's daughter Mary is graduating this month from San Marcos Baptist Academy and is headed for Trinty University in San Antonio in the fall.
It's Alumni Fund time. Send your check in pronto, to help repay Dartmouth for an outstanding educational experience. Our hard working class agents are faithfully trying to track down all '49ers. One asked for help in locating George(Bob) Purvis who lived at 708 North Huntle Drive in Los Angeles. How about it, Bob. Cap you or your old buddies let us know where to hit you up for a deserving cause?
A record turnout is expected for the 1949 Fall Reunion in Hanover, on the weekend of October 10-12. Plan to be there. Peter New, professor of Behavioral Sciences at The University of Toronto, has promised to make it this year, and will bring along the movie he made in China in 1973 entitled "The Barefoot Doctor." Class President Gordon Thomas at Continental Baking Co., P.O. Box 731, Rye, N.Y. 10580 would like to hear from any classmates who have suggestions for the Reunion, or who have an idea for a new class project, such as something we should do for Dartmouth. Best wishes for a great summer!
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