1952

Yates P. Eckert, hardworking son of the Mohawk Valley, N.Y., did not want to retire in February 1993. "I was running a $3 billion trust department in New Haven grossing $l4 million a year. I loved it, but it was a stressful life, and that's what got me." A serious stroke forced him into involuntary retirement. He credits his wife, Mary (Smith '53), and the new Dartmouth- Mary Hitchcock Hospital for his nearly complete recovery.

He was just plain not ready to retire. He spent a lifetime in the brokerage and banking businesses in ever larger trust departments throughout the Northeast—Utica, Newark, New Jersey, Cleveland, and then New Haven. "I was a broker, then a stock picker and then an investment strategist," he describes himself.

The physical effects of the stroke have almost completely gone: just a little short-term memory loss. The worst part was the depression caused by abruptly leaving his life's work. That's where the rehabilitative therapy provided by Mary Hitchcock was so important. "I can't say enough about the place."

In order to be close to Mary Hitchcock and daughter Marcy, Pete and Mary took a temporary condominium in New London, N.H. When Pete recovered and Marcy moved to Syracuse, Pete and Mary moved back to the Mohawk Valley to a family summer home in Barneveld, N.Y., in the foothills of the Adirondacks 20 miles north of Utica. He is liking retirement now. "Retire as soon as you can," he advises. They have purchased a brandnew condominium in Sanibel, Fla. He can't wait to get there to do some serious sub-tropical gardening and take a whole bunch of new pictures. Happy years ahead.

10 Grove Street, Pittsford, NY