1934

Last month we touched on the jobs that occupy the still active '34s. Now, taking a look at the work arenas that occupied us: 47 percent stayed in the same arena throughout our careers, 13 percent changed just once, 12 percent twice, 13 percent three times, and 15 percent four or more. Just ten percent of us would have preferred a different career route. Those in architecture would have gained the most then writing, education, and law, and one each mentioned advertising, farming, "more creative work," and "a company that didn't go broke." No one mentioned a submerged longing for a medical career.

Speaking of jobs, we were a part of a mobile generation. We went where the jobs called us. That meant a frequent uprooting of home: 16 percent lived in six or more towns for at least a year, 22 percent in four or five, 18 percent in three, 21 percent in two, and 22 percent in just one. The big movers, with more than eight towns they called home for a year or more, were: Bill Adams, Charlie Armes, Grove Blood, Ed Davis, Earl Draper, Art Grimes, Dave Hill, Ed Kaiser, Ed Klee, Fritz Mosher, John Randall, Frank Sweetser, Roily Wilson, and Al Yankauer.

With all these moves, what is the current home situation for '34? From the questionnaires we learn that 83 percent currently own a home, 12 percent have a condo or co-op, five percent rent, and one has a mobile home. As you'll recall, 65 percent of the class reported having fully or mostly retired. A third of this group moved to a new area after retirement, a few moved locally, one moved and came back, and the rest did not move. One in eight retirees got a second home.

One of those who spent most of his career in one community is Hafey Arthur. He has just retired as a dedicated teacher of western history, especially English constitutional and naval history, in an Arlington, Mass., high school. After our reunion he finished the masterwork he's been researching and writing for a number of years, The Great Unclaimed Naval Revolution, 1795-1805. Then he rewarded himself and Lucy by taking off on a trip to England and the capitals of central Europe.

Another educator who is just retiring is Fritz Mosher. He couldn't make it back to reunion since his wife Edith has been recovering from being hit by a car in Java a year ago, and the recovery plan included a leisurely summer in England and Scotland. Fritz has been a professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia. Unlike Hafey, he has had nine different cities as home base for a year or more since '34: Syracuse, Knoxville, Chicago, Los Angeles, Arlington, Alexandria, Berkeley, Bologna (Italy), and Charlottesville.

One more of those mentioned above as having a flock of moves in pursuing a career is Roily Wilson, and while he and Mary Jane now have a home base in Washington, he keeps on the move to places most of us have only an inkling where to find on a map. His fall plans, related to Bob Griffin, show he is on his way via Yap and Palau to Tokyo (where son and family live), and then it's Jedda, Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Dakar, and, of course, Timbuktu, then Guinea-Bissau before landing in the Canaries and Madeira.

While many, like Roily and Fritz, were moving around, a surprising number stayed in their home communities. We'll check that out next time.

Our treasurer, Ed Brown, passed along a copy of his balance sheet for the class and lo! we not only are solvent, even with our gift of $1,984 (not $1,934) to the class of 1984, and can pay for this year's Alumni Magazine subscriptions (assuming you pay your dues), but there is a total surplus of $3,575.90 added to the coffers for the fiscal year ending September 1. The reunion was so well run that we ended in the black. Small wonder Ed got reelected treasurer at our 50th reunion by acclamation.

Now that we've had our big reunion and made that resounding million-dollar gift to the College, maybe we should look ahead and plan for reunions when we're not around. A life income trust with Dartmouth as ultimate beneficiary is one way to guarantee it. As Art Leonard, our bequest chairman, will be glad to explain, the trust can be set up so that after you pull up stakes the income or any share of it can go to the Alumni Fund in 1934's name as long as anyone from our class survives. A number of our classmates have set up such trusts, and there were departed classmates "present" in that way for our 50th.

By the time this reaches you, the football season will have crossed the final goal line. Let's hope it was a successful one especially in the reuning department.

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