1937
We have lost another loyal and dedicated classmate. Bill Sayre died of a heart attack en route home from his office on December 30. He will be very much missed at our reunions.
We Bankarts spent Thanksgiving in Virginia Beach baby-sitting our grandson while daughter-in-law flew to join husband Bill for a week near Spain. He's a lieutenant commander flying jets on the Kennedy now in the Mediterranean. A second reason for being there was to attend the wedding of Tom Breitinger, Jean and Bill's Navy son, at Fort Story chapel, which is small and unique. The wedding party and guests were hardly prepared for the wind chill factor along that beach area, which hovered around zero.
Back up to our fall reunion. We mentioned this trip to Sherry and Al Bryant, who decided to drive up from North Carolina to join the festivities and have a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at the Officer's Club in Oceana, the big Navy jet base. Next day we joined them in Williamsburg, where Al was investigating the possibilities of a '37 get-together at the next William and Mary game. More on that later. It was nice we could have '37 well represented at the wedding.
While there we got to visit with WhiteyFuller, who is well and griping about the poor calibre of the teams Dartmouth sends down their way, as expressed in a letter to this MAGAZINE last month.
Carl Erdman retired February 1 as executive vice president and treasurer of the American Bank & Trust Company of Pennsylvania, after 28 years of service. He served in many civic positions as well in the Reading area.
Ben Doran sent us a note that few of us attended the Princeton game, therefore Barbara and Hank Pierce's invitation to an aftergame party drew only an elite few! Maybe another year?
A note from Fred Bince, who picked up on our sojourn with the Stearns at Mona and DonOtis' lobster feed at that great restaurant in Kittery last June. He and Millie may well have been close by on that day, having bought a building lot on Gerrish Island about three clam shells away from that Chauncey Creek eatery. Their son spent some Navy time in Portsmouth, and after a number of visitations they fell in love with the area. They plan to build and are designing a passive solar envelope.
Pete Fitzherbert '36 read with interest of the Gordon Bennett Lounge which Charley Collis is sponsoring and about the search for a picture of Ben. Pete's wife's sister, Edith Leadbetter, was engaged to Benney and was the only survivor of their party at the Coconut Grove fire. She later married, but both she and her husband are deceased. The old Bennett home where Gordon grew up was supposed to be left to Dartmouth at the death of Dr. Bennett's second wife.
Bill Leonard was slated to retire in April at age 65 as president of CBS News but will continue for one more year according to his own wishes. Ex-mogul William Paley was the only other privileged character to do such a thing in that company.
The College has accepted two of Hal Putnam's paintings, which Hal describes as his best works. They hang in the new Blunt Alumni Center "Summer Sea" (18" X 24") and "English Garden" (36" X 48"). In Florida Hal has set up shop as a lawyer available for settling estates and doing other general business at Vero Beach.
Ben Marion loves his retirement place high on the coast of Maine but is suffering like all of us from inflation vs. his social security. He hopes to get something from his writing of articles and a book. Rog Keyes continues along in general practise of law in Rutland, Vt.
Since selling out his Sailfish (Alcort) business some time ago, Cort Heyniger kept looking for something to keep busy. A few years ago he joined up with the ex-assistant treasurer of the State of Connecticut to take over a small shop in Woodbury, Conn., called the Woodbury Blacksmith & Forge Company, where the two of them fabricate and repair things of metal and especially are known for reproductions of old-time hardware such as L hinges. This appears to be a labor of love, where hours put into the work mean nothing but pleasure. He told us Mutt Ray spoke to him about fixing some andirons awhile back, but Cort is still waiting!
10 Colby Road Wellesley, Mass. 02181
