1953

Most observers of our class, and of Dartmouth generally, suspect that we are more apt to be irreverent than pious. With some exceptions we did little in college to justify any other characterization. A more recent assessment, however, would undoubtedly indicate that we have either changed or our faith, once latent, has emerged.

There were five individuals in our class who did not have to experience a conversion or rebirth. Ed Boyle, Gus McQuire,Boyd Johnson, and Dave Stowe were committed very early in their lives to the ministry or priesthood. Tom Fraser shared their commitment, was ordained, and became the pastor of a Presbyterian church in Baltimore. Tom, however, was killed in 1971 as a result of a fall.

The Reverend August McQuire, CSP, of Houston, Tex., grew up in Lowell, Mass., as a strongly committed Roman Catholic. He had chosen the priesthood before college, but in consideration of the magnitude of the decision, elected to attend Dartmouth to test the staying power of his commitment. After his second year, the commitment was as strong as ever, and there was also the realization that Dartmouth's curriculum did not provide the requisites for theological training. As a consequence, he left Dartmouth for a Paulist seminary in New Jersey. He was attracted to the Paulist religious order by their strong interest in campus ministries. Ordained in 1959, he has served as a parish priest in Toronto, upper Manhattan, and in Houston. Each of these parishes have had diverse ethnic compositions so that Gus has learned Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese to be effective in his ministry. This is no mean achievement for an individual who avoided language training at Dartmouth because of presumed difficulties. His language abilities have been strengthened by travel. He currently is rebuilding his church in Houston, as it was destroyed by fire last summer.

The Reverend Boyd Johnson of Woodbridge, Conn., received a master's in theology from Princeton and a master's in pastoral counseling from Temple. He was an assistant pastor at the Presbyterian church in Broomall, Pa., before serving as assistant minister at the American Church in Paris. His ministry at this, the largest and oldest American church abroad, was with students. Returning to the U.S. in 1959, he successively served in Congregational churches in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida before moving to Woodbridge, Conn., in the spring of 1985. It is obvious that vocational relocation is not limited to corporate America. Boyd and spouse Barbara have a son, Boyd, who is a scholar-athlete at Hamilton College, and twins Katherine and Timothy, who are at home in the fourth grade. Barbara has training in speech therapy, but like many clergy wives has little time to practice it as she is deeply involved in church activities. She does however, share the family's interest in sports.

The Reverend Edward Boyle, SJ, of Boston, Mass., graduated from Tuck, served in the navy, and worked for a year before entering the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He was ordained in 1969 and entered into a unique ministry. His "parish" is the Labor Guild, an organization of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Ed is the chaplain of the Guild and director of the Insititute of Industrial Relations. The organization has no parallel in the country. While Ed provides personnel counsel to the archdiocese, the principal activity is industrial relations. Their perspective is to apply Judeo-Christian ethical principles to the process of industrial relations. This means educating, encouraging, motivating, and serving as a conscience while providing spiritual guidance to both labor and management. The recent pastoral letter from the Catholic bishops on the U.S. economy embodies much of Ed's ministry.

The Reverend David Stowe, Sornerville, N.J., is an Episcopal priest. He went directly into seminary after college and was ordained in 1956. He has served as a curate in Collinswood, N.J., in a parish in Acton, Mass., and as a canon at a cathedral in Albany, N.Y. He became rector at St. John, Sormerville, in 1965. Parish priests are by definition teachers, counselors, administrators, and public speakers. Further it is expected that they serve on community boards, diocesan functions, and at tea. David does all of the above. It is a varied and demanding regimen. Spouse Priscilla is the director of a nursery school. She and David have a daughter, Barbara, who is an aide in a school for retarded children. Their older son, Thomas David Stowe, was a Marine killed by the terrorist bomb that blew up our peacekeepers' headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. The torturous reality of that tragedy is ever more real in the death of a classmate's son. The church, to which David has given his life's work, prods us to become involved, to spread the word, to pursue peace, and to aid the poor, among other goals. David and Priscilla's tragedy should serve as a powerful jolt to our consciences if we are in fact on the sidelines of the issues of our time.

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