1953

International travel, semesters abroad, and language studies were relatively unique in the 1950s at Dartmouth. Now they are commonplace. A review of the 1953 Aegis indicates that French, Spanish, Germania, Russian, and Cosmopolitan Clubs existed. While the number of 1953 members in the club pictures would suggest that the clubs didn't flourish, they are a source of interesting profiles.

Ed Parsons, Cleveland, Ohio shared the leadership of the Russian Club, newly formed at that time by a Russian emigre, Mrs. Nadezhda Koroton. Ed's Russian civilization studies at Dartmouth were augmented by an intense immersion into the Russian language at Middlebury College. Following graduation from Dartmouth, he entered the foreign service school at Georgetown University. The recruiters of W.R. Grace and Company, however, persuaded him to join their company and assume responsibilities in South America. He split his time between Ecuador and Peru and was responsible for industrial marketing. Ed returned to the U.S. in 1963 to become a principal in Parsons and Company, Inc., a family company engaged in investment and mortgage banking. An activist, Ed founded the Dartmouth Club of Peru, became a teaching fellow at a South American university, sang in a choral society and was a founding member of the Bankers Club of Lima. No less active in the U.S., he has been instrumental in creating city-to-city programs between Cleveland and Lima, Peru and between Cleveland and Nizhni Novgorod in Russia. He serves on a number of boards relating to the arts and theater. He writes editorials and poetry. Of late, he has become increasingly interested in video to record events, its use in education, and, as an art form. Divorced, he has an eleven-yearold son who has generated much of the interest in video education.

Dick Morse, from Brookline, Mass., shared in the leadership of the Russian Club, majored in Russian civilization, and became fluent in Russian at the same Middlebury program as Ed Parsons. Following Dartmouth graduation, Dick spent four years in the navy, including tours in Japan and Washington, D.C. Dick and Claire, then a student at Wellesley College, were married while he was on tour in Japan. Upon discharge from the navy, Dick returned to Boston and joined a firm which produced children's mattresses and car beds. He then joined his family firm, Morse Shoe, a retail company which was in the process of expanding with their own manufacturing facilities. In 1970 Dick struck out on his own into a number of venture activities, including manufacturing, textiles, and shoes. His latest under- taking is a machine shop. Dick is deeply committed to community service. He is the vice chairman of the Farber Cancer Institute, a research and teaching hospital associated with Harvard. Two afternoons a week he teaches English to Russian emigres. Spouse Claire works as a guide at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Dick is addicted to fly fishing and the Boston Symphony, and the two of them use those widely differing interests to travel extensively. The Morses have three grown children: Joan, a graduate of Brown, is with an advertising agency in Providence; Stephen, a realtor in Los Angeles, graduated from Colorado College; and Jim is in Philadelphia working at a children's hospital while he earns his bachelor's degree.

Andris Padegs, Poughkeepsie, N.V., gained his language proficiency in a different way. He grew up in Latvia, a country seized by Russia in 1940 and invaded by the Germans in 1941. His family emigrated to Germany, where they spent the later part of World War II and came to the U.S. In 1949. He joined our class in the fall of 1950. Andris was a member of the Cosmopolitan Club, designed to further the understanding of different world cultures. He has done just that in his lifetime by furthering the understanding of the Latvian culture. Andris has served as a trustee of the Latvian Foundation, president of the mid-Hudson Latvian-American Association and has been organizer and participant in Latvian activities which promote its customs and art culture. After Dartmouth and Thayer, he earned his Ph.D. from Carnegie Institute and joined IBM in Poughkeepsie. He has had a distinguished career, designing IBM's largest and most successful systems. He has received numerous awards, holds four patents, and has published in technical journals. He and spouse Mara, also Latvian, have three children: Anita, a teacher, is a graduate of Hamilton; son, Gynt is earning an M.B.A. after graduating from S.U.N.Y. Albany; and Sandra, just graduated from Hartwick.

On a different note, there are a number classmates with whom we've lost touch. They are: Dick Badger, Bill Baughman,Preston Doane, Dan Dutcher, BarrickGroom, Herb Hartley, Dan Hoffman, BillJohl, George Kenny, Meade SchaffnerJr., Done W. Smith, Dick Trump and Don Weitz. Anyone who has knowledge of the current address or telephone numbers of these classmates are encourage to write or call Tom Bloomer, Don Goss, or the Alumni Records Office.

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